Thinking Class

John Gillam

Thinking Class is a weekly long-form interview podcast about history, culture, civilisation, and the moral and political challenges facing England, Britain and the West. Expect depth and clarity over headlines and hot-takes.  Hosted by John Gillam, the show features serious conversations with historians, academics, and thinkers including David Starkey, Peter Hitchens, Roy Baumeister, Lord Nigel Biggar, Eric Kaufmann, Robert Tombs, Alan Macfarlane, Lord Jonathan Sumption, David Goodhart, Lionel Shriver, Paul Embery and others.

  1. 5 DAYS AGO

    #119 - John Waters - Ireland's Moral Revolution And The Crisis Of Authority

    John Waters is an Irish journalist, author, and columnist known for his work with Hot Press, The Irish Times, and The Irish Independent. He has written on social and political issues, specialising in father's rights and cultural critiques.  Ireland changed faster than almost any country in the West. The question now is whether the Irish still recognise the nation they live in. In this episode of Thinking Class, we discuss the moral, cultural and demographic transformation of Ireland over the course of John Waters' lifetime. We explore the Ireland of his youth — ethnically and culturally homogeneous, Catholic, rule-bound, often austere, but also warm, coherent and recognisable — and contrast it with the globalised, post-Catholic, media-managed Ireland of today. We think out loud about: the collapse of the old moral orderthe rise of a new elite classthe decline of journalism and honest public speechthe Enoch Burke case and the Irish judiciaryimmigration, demographic change and public silenceIreland as an economic zone rather than a nationthe relationship between Ireland, Britain and the wider WestJohn Waters is one of Ireland’s most distinctive dissident voices. A former mainstream journalist, he has spent decades chronicling the moral and institutional transformation of Ireland and reflecting on what that change means for ordinary people, national identity and the future of democracy. This is a conversation about Ireland and about what happens when a country forgets how to tell the truth about itself. Links Visit John Waters website: https://www.johnwaters.ie/Read John Waters Unchained: https://johnwaters.substack.com/About Thinking Class: Thinking Class is an independent forum for long-form inquiry examining the political, cultural and civilisational questions shaping England, Britain and the West. Hosted by John Gillam, the show features serious conversations with historians, legal scholars, economists, theologians, politicians, and public intellectuals. Thinking Class is concerned with discovering long-term patterns over headlines and hot-takes. Expect historically-grounded analysis on matters of national character, institutions, demography, democracy, identity, inheritance, institutional continuity and social change. New episodes every week. ▶️ Subscribe on YouTube 🎧 Follow on Spotify 📰 Read on Substack 🐦 Follow on X

    1h 6m

  2. 6 MAR

    #118 - Michael Reiners - Did England Quietly Disappear? Constitutional Change and the Future of the United Kingdom

    Michael Reiners is a writer, lawyer, and architectural historian. Michael is the founder of the Reiners Project, which publishes essays, draft legislation and commentary on English constitutional law and the art and architectural landscape.  Britain’s constitutional settlement has changed more in the last few decades than most people realise — and the consequences now reach into identity, speech, governance, and the question of who the country is for. This episode forms part of Thinking Class’ ongoing inquiry: The Question of the West — examining the political, cultural, and civilisational foundations of our common life. We discuss the “Yookayification” idea, the logic (and risks) of a Great Repeal approach to post-1997 constitutional reforms, and why any serious reform programme would need to confront the reality of the permanent state — the administrative machinery and quasi-independent bodies that can constrain elected power. Topics we explore: England vs Britain vs the UK — what the words actually mean (and how they changed)Why “UK” is a very recent political identityIdentity, citizenship, and why law doesn’t always reflect reality“Yookay-ification”, naming, and the politics of placeDevolution, Human Rights, Equality frameworks — and unintended consequencesWhat a serious constitutional “reset” would require (and what could go wrong)The “permanent state” problem: how reform attempts get contained or neutralisedWhat cultural restoration could look like beyond slogansLinks Follow Michael Reiners on X: https://x.com/MCRReinersVisit the Reiners Project: https://reiners.org.uk/About Thinking Class: Thinking Class is an independent forum for long-form inquiry examining the political, cultural and civilisational questions shaping England, Britain and the West. Hosted by John Gillam, the show features serious conversations with historians, legal scholars, economists, theologians, politicians, and public intellectuals. Thinking Class is concerned with discovering long-term patterns over headlines and hot-takes. Expect historically-grounded analysis on matters of national character, institutions, demography, democracy, identity, inheritance, institutional continuity and social change. New episodes every week. ▶️ Subscribe on YouTube 🎧 Follow on Spotify 📰 Read on Substack 🐦 Follow on X

    1h 4m

  3. 27 FEB

    #117 - Lord Nigel Biggar - The New Dark Age: How Britain's Institutions Became Afraid Of The Truth

    Lord Nigel Biggar is an Anglican priest, theologian, and moral philosopher, a member of the House of Lords, and Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology at the University of Oxford.  His most recent books are The New Dark Age: Why Liberals Must Win The Culture War, Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning (2023), What’s Wrong with Rights?, In Defence of War, and Between Kin and Cosmopolis: An Ethic of the Nation. In the press he has written articles for the Financial Times, the (London) Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Spectator, the (Glasgow} Herald, the Irish Times, Standpoint, The Critic, The Article, UnHerd and Quillette.   Britain’s institutions are drifting toward a “new dark age” — where truth-seeking is replaced by intimidation and ideological enforcement. This episode forms part of Thinking Class’ ongoing inquiry: The Question of the West — examining the political, cultural, and civilisational foundations of our common life. Lord Nigel Biggar explains what’s happening inside universities, how liberal argument breaks down, and what citizens can do to push back In this conversation we discuss: free speech as a civic necessity, why institutions reward intellectual vice, how debate collapses into smears, and why Biggar warns a “new dark age” is possible unless liberal habits of mind are defended. Links The New Dark Age:: https://amzn.to/4kT9NWCLord Biggar's books: https://amzn.to/4cfUPaZThe Biggar Picture: https://www.nigelbiggar.co.uk/About Thinking Class: Thinking Class is an independent forum for long-form inquiry examining the political, cultural and civilisational questions shaping England, Britain and the West. Hosted by John Gillam, the show features serious conversations with historians, legal scholars, economists, theologians, politicians, and public intellectuals. Thinking Class is concerned with discovering long-term patterns over headlines and hot-takes. Expect historically-grounded analysis on matters of national character, institutions, demography, democracy, identity, inheritance, institutional continuity and social change. New episodes every week. ▶️ Subscribe on YouTube 🎧 Follow on Spotify 📰 Read on Substack 🐦 Follow on X

    59 min

  4. 20 FEB

    #116 - Lionel Shriver - A Better Life? Immigration, Demography, and Belonging In The West

    Lionel Shriver is a novelist and columnist at The Spectator, and the author of We Need to Talk About Kevin, Mania, and A Better Life among many other books. Lionel Shriver returns to Thinking Class to discuss mass immigration in the West—not as an abstract moral debate, but as a lived experience reshaping belonging, institutions, and politics. We start with Lionel’s new novel A Better Life, which tackles immigration through fiction from the host-country’s point of view. We explore why the “native-born” perspective is rarely told, what happens when immigration becomes mass-scale, and why voters increasingly feel unheard as demography, welfare states, and legal frameworks collide. We also discuss:  the moral complexity of immigration, why “a better life” can become an argument for open borders, how asylum systems are gamed, the sex divide on immigration, the feminisation of institutions, the crisis of male purpose, and whether low birth-rates signal a culture that no longer believes in itself.Support Lionel Shrivers work:  Books: https://amzn.to/4apdqQFA Better Life: https://amzn.to/4c3nPCJLionel Shriver at The Spectator: https://spectator.com/writer/lionel-shriver/About Thinking Class: Thinking Class is a long-form interview podcast exploring the cultural, historical, and moral forces shaping England, Britain, and the wider Western world. Hosted by John Gillam, the show features serious conversations with historians, academics, and independent thinkers. Thinking Class is concerned with discovering long-term patterns over headlines and hot-takes. Expect historically-grounded analysis on matters of national character, institutions, demography, belief, and political legitimacy. New episodes every week. ▶️ Subscribe on YouTube 🎧 Follow on Spotify 📰 Read on Substack 🐦 Follow on X

    1h 2m

  5. 13 FEB

    #115 - Lord Jonathan Sumption - Can Democracy Survive the Britain We’re Becoming?

    Lord Jonathan Sumption is a British judge and historian, who served as a Supreme Court Justice from 2012 – 2018. He is the author of The Challenges of Democracy And The Rule Of Law, the Sunday Times bestseller Trials of the State, Law in a Time of Crisis, and Divided Houses, which won the 2009 Wolfson History Prize. Across Britain and the wider West democratic decision-making is increasingly being hollowed out by courts, by bureaucracies, by delayed elections, by restrictions on speech, and by a political class that often appears unwilling to govern according to the public will. In this episode of Thinking Class, Lord Jonathan Sumption examines whether democracy and the rule of law can survive the conditions we are now creating. We explore: What democracy and the rule of law actually are, and how historically fragile they’ve always beenBritain’s legal inheritance and the health of the Rule of LawWhether freedom of expression is a precondition for democratic legitimacyThe effects of mass immigration, sectarian politics, and demographic change on democratic consentWhether universal suffrage can function without a shared political communityAnd whether the greatest threat to democracy comes from our institutions or from ourselvesThis is a sober, historically grounded conversation about law, legitimacy, and the future of self-government in Britain and the West. About Thinking Class: Thinking Class is a long-form interview podcast exploring the cultural, historical, and moral forces shaping England, Britain, and the wider Western world. Hosted by John Gillam, the show features serious conversations with historians, academics, and independent thinkers. Thinking Class is concerned with discovering long-term patterns over headlines and hot-takes. Expect historically-grounded analysis on matters of national character, institutions, demography, belief, and political legitimacy. New episodes every week. ▶️ Subscribe on YouTube 🎧 Follow on Spotify 📰 Read on Substack 🐦 Follow on X

    58 min

  6. 6 FEB

    #114 - Dr Carrie Gress - How Feminism Became the West’s New Moral Authority

    Dr Carrie Gress has a doctorate in philosophy from the Catholic University of America and is the editor at the online women’s magazine Theology of Home. Carrie’s work has appeared in numerous publications, including National Review, Daily Caller, Daily Wire, First Things, Newsweek, The American Spectator, The Catholic Thing, The Federalist, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Examiner. She is a frequent radio and podcast guest and has appeared on Fox, BBC, CBC, EWTN, OAN, and Russia Times television. She is the best-selling author of eleven books including The Marian Option, and The Anti-Mary Exposed, The End of Woman: How Smashing The Patriarchy Destroyed Us, Theology of Home and, her latest book, Something Wicked: Why Feminism Can't Be Fused With Christianity. She co-authored City of Saints; A Pilgrim’s Guide to John Paul II’s Krakow with George Weigel.  Carrie has lived and worked professionally in Washington, D.C. and Rome, Italy and her work has been translated into nine languages. In this episode of Thinking Class, Carrie  and I examine how feminism has transformed the understanding of womanhood, relationships between men and women, and the moral foundations of Western society. We explore why motherhood has been devalued, how the promise of liberation has coincided with rising anxiety and loneliness among women, and why feminism increasingly positions men and women as competitors rather than complementary partners. Carrie explains how feminism has come to function as a shadow church while displacing older sources of dignity, obligation, and community. Drawing on history, theology, psychology, and culture, we discuss the connection between feminism and Marxist thought, the emotional mobilisation of women for political ends, the neglect of men’s roles and gifts, and why a renewal of local relationships, family life, and moral seriousness is essential if the West is to recover a more humane vision of flourishing. If you value serious, historically grounded conversations about Britain, the West, and the civilisational forces shaping our lives, please subscribe to Thinking Class, like the episode, and share it with others who want to think more deeply about what we have inherited, and what we owe the future. Buy Dr Carrie Gress' books: https://amzn.to/4qgVa0gVisit her website: https://www.carriegress.com/aboutSubscribe to the Theology of Home Substack: https://theologyofhome.substack.com/About Thinking Class: Thinking Class is a long-form interview podcast exploring the cultural, historical, and moral forces shaping England, Britain, and the wider Western world. Hosted by John Gillam, the show features serious conversations with historians, academics, and independent thinkers. Thinking Class is concerned with discovering long-term patterns over headlines and hot-takes. Expect historically-grounded analysis on matters of national character, institutions, demography, belief, and political legitimacy. New episodes every week. ▶️ Subscribe on YouTube 🎧 Follow on Spotify 📰 Read on Substack 🐦 Follow on X

    1 hr

  7. 30 JAN

    #113 - Bijan Omrani & Alka Sehgal-Cuthbert - Britain’s Cultural Inheritance Is Being Squandered And We’re Living With the Consequences

    Dr. Bijan Omrani is a classicist, historian, and Oxford-educated barrister. His research explores questions of religious history and cultural identity, spanning from ancient Roman Greece to Afghanistan and the Silk Road. He has taught Classics at Eton College and Westminster School, is a former editor of Asian Affairs, and currently serves as a Research Fellow at the University of Exeter. He is also a churchwarden. Dr. Alka Sehgal-Cuthbert is the director of the organisation Don't Divide Us. She is an educator, academic, author, and campaigner who believes passionately in the essential importance of impartiality.  What does it mean to steward a civilisation? For centuries, England’s institutions — churches, schools, charities, civic bodies, even industries — were shaped by a Christian understanding of stewardship: the belief that what we inherit is held in trust, not owned outright; that culture, faith, and place impose obligations as well as rights. In this episode of Thinking Class, Bijan and Alka and I examine how far Britain has drifted from that inheritance, and what the consequences have been for its institutions, culture, and public life. We begin with the Christian idea of stewardship itself, before exploring: The disappearance of cultural knowledge once taken for granted — scripture, song, manners, dress, and shared moral reference pointsHow stewardship historically shaped the governance of England’s public institutionsWhere those institutions are now breaking with that inheritanceThe Church of England’s Project Spire and the logic behind its reparations agendaHow today’s political and cultural elites compare with earlier generations of stewardsThe decline of civic responsibility and the erosion of the “little platoons” of societyWhy fewer people now see themselves as custodians of what they have inheritedAnd what, if anything, might be done to recover a culture of stewardshipThis is a conversation about inheritance, obligation, and continuity — and about what is lost when a civilisation forgets that it is something to be kept, not endlessly reinvented. Guest work: Buy God is an Englishman by Bijan OmraniFollow Bijan Omrani on XRead Bijan Omrani's writing in The Telegraph and The CriticVisit Alka Sehgal Cuthbert's websiteFollow Alka Sehgal-Cuthbert on XVisit the Don’t Divide Us websiteAbout Thinking Class: Thinking Class is a long-form interview podcast exploring the cultural, historical, and moral forces shaping England, Britain, and the wider Western world. Hosted by John Gillam, the show features serious conversations with historians, academics, and independent thinkers. Thinking Class is concerned with discovering long-term patterns over headlines and hot-takes. Expect historically-grounded analysis on matters of national character, institutions, demography, belief, and political legitimacy. New episodes every week. ▶️ Subscribe on YouTube 🎧 Follow on Spotify 📰 Read on Substack 🐦 Follow on X

    1h 8m

  8. 23 JAN

    #112 - Firas Modad - Britain Is Losing Control At Home and Abroad: Demographics, Sovereignty, And Power

    Firas Modad is an analyst and political economist focused on the Middle East and global geopolitics. He runs his own consultancy, Modad Geopolitics, helping companies and investors understand the commercial impact of political, economic, and security risks they face. Firas Modad is a host on Podcast of the LotusEaters. Firas examines how Britain’s security is being quietly undermined at home and abroad, and why so few in the political class are willing to confront the scale of the problem. In this conversation, we think out loud about: Britain’s internal security and the risks of social balkanisationThe emergence of tiered citizenship and the limits of multicultural governanceWhether remigration is politically or morally conceivableBritain’s relationship with the United States in an era of shifting powerWhether a sovereign Britain can meaningfully escape the EU’s orbitChina, offshoring, and the long-term consequences of deindustrialisationThe Middle East, Iran, and the possibility of a rising Islamic imperial orderWhy some global crises provoke moral outrage in Britain while others are met with silenceWhat Firas has changed his mind about during his life and whySubscribe to Modad Geopolitics Substack here: https://www.modadgeopolitics.com/ About Thinking Class: Thinking Class is a long-form interview podcast exploring the cultural, historical, and moral forces shaping England, Britain, and the wider Western world. Hosted by John Gillam, the show features serious conversations with historians, academics, and independent thinkers. Thinking Class is concerned with discovering long-term patterns over headlines and hot-takes. Expect historically-grounded analysis on matters of national character, institutions, demography, belief, and political legitimacy. New episodes every week. ▶️ Subscribe on YouTube 🎧 Follow on Spotify 📰 Read on Substack 🐦 Follow on X

    1h 22m
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4.9
out of 5
18 Ratings

About

Thinking Class is a weekly long-form interview podcast about history, culture, civilisation, and the moral and political challenges facing England, Britain and the West. Expect depth and clarity over headlines and hot-takes.  Hosted by John Gillam, the show features serious conversations with historians, academics, and thinkers including David Starkey, Peter Hitchens, Roy Baumeister, Lord Nigel Biggar, Eric Kaufmann, Robert Tombs, Alan Macfarlane, Lord Jonathan Sumption, David Goodhart, Lionel Shriver, Paul Embery and others.

Information

  • Creator
    John Gillam
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    118
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Thinking Class
  • Show Website
    Thinking Class

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