Planet Normal

0.0 (0)
SOCIETY & CULTURE

The podcast that speaks your language. News and views from beyond the bubble with Telegraph columnists, Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan, every Thursday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1 DAY AGO

Starmer’s Shameful Soldier Witch Hunt

You can watch this episode of Planet Normal on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4f7eZbkA91Q It's been a week of defections, rejections and tantrums in the world of politics, and your co pilots are here to wade through the madness. After the Telegraph published an article outlining the role Starmer took in prosecuting soldiers your co-pilots speak to General Sir Peter Wall to delve deeper into the scandal. Allison thinks Starmer ‘isn’t for Britain’ and his human right activism undermines the important role the British Army plays in the defence of our Country. Liam thinks as China starts to overtake the US economically the West will have to deal with them, but at what cost will this be to British business and values? Planet Normal Live! You can purchase your ticket here: telegraph.co.uk/planetnormallive Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor | Read Allison ‘Suella Braverman has been vilified for telling the truth’ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/27/suella-braverman-has-been-vilified-for-telling-the-truth/ | Read Allison ‘Never again’ feels like an increasingly hollow promise’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/28/holocaust-survivors-anti-semitism/ | Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | Read Liam ‘Peace may be coming but Ukraine has changed the world forever’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/01/25/peace-may-be-coming-but-ukraine-changed-the-world-forever/ | Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ | Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ | Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ | Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk | For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal | Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

59 min
22 JAN

Robert Jenrick's Reform defection and the Greenland rift

You can watch this episode of Planet Normal on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mwWiWA21r1U The rocket of right thinking is back with a blast and a very special defector is aboard. Robert Jenrick is strapped in to tell our intrepid co-pilots why he has joined Reform UK and why he thinks the Conservatives didn’t deserve ‘a second chance’. Your co-pilots return to the cockpit to navigate a world that has grown increasingly volatile in just the first few weeks of 2026. They discuss whether this is a ‘survival of the wettest’ moment for Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative Party and if Robert Jenrick is the ‘first olive out of the jar’ that will lead to a cascade of further defections. Alison returns from her time in the Australian Outback. She shares her reflections on why Australia feels like a ‘livable, optimistic society’ compared to the UK As Donald Trump takes the stage at Davos, the world is reeling from his demand that the US should run Greenland. Liam breaks down the ‘method in the madness’, explaining the critical importance of Greenland’s rare earth minerals for the global semiconductor industry and the strategic value of the melting Northwest Passage. Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor | Read Allison ‘Forget just under-16s, we all desperately need a social media ban’ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/21/we-desperately-need-social-media-ban/ | Read Allison ‘If the Tories can’t admit Britain is broken, they really are finished’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/20/britain-is-broken-reform-tories-kemi-badenoch/ | Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | Read Liam ‘The war on the horizon that global economies haven’t priced in’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/01/18/china-america-taiwan-clash-global-economies-not-priced-in/ | Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ | Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ | Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ | Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk | For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal | Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1h 3m
15 JAN

Best Voyages from the Rocket 2025 Episode 3

The winter break continues on Planet Normal! In this, the third and final part of the three part best of the rocket series, our co-pilots take a look back at some of their most explosive voyages on the rocket of right thinking from 2025, before our intrepid co-pilots return next week! Back in November Liam spoke to Scottish born Rosie Kay who enjoyed a highly successful international career as a performer and choreographer, and in 2004 established the Rosie Kay dance company. Rosie tells the co-pilots how she was ousted from her own company following controversy of her ‘gender critical views’. We also feature a special report not from Planet Normal, but Planet Earth, when back in October, Co-Pilot Pearson joined the Pink Ladies Protest in Westminster. The Pink Ladies formed a network to take a stand against the impact of illegal migrant hotels on the safety of women and girls and communities up and down the country. And finally we hear from Tory heavyweight Suela Braverman who tells out co-pilots what she thinks Conservative party policy should be towards the ECHR. Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ | Read Allison 'Twitter makes Two-Tier Keir look ridiculous, so of course he wants to ban it' : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/14/two-tier-keir-ban-twitter/ | Read Allison 'The West Midlands police chief represents everything that’s wrong with Britain': https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/13/west-midlands-police-chief/ | Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ | Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk | For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal | Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

59 min
8 JAN

Best Voyages from the Rocket 2025 Episode 2

In our second episode of the Best of the Rocket 2025, co-pilots Pearson and Halligan dive deep into the past year’s archives and bring you some of their most intriguing and provocative voyages on the rocket of right thinking, from this past year. This week the Rocket has made a stop at Westminster with Conservative MP Helen Whately, coming on board to discuss her having one of the toughest briefs in politics - identifying welfare savings. Helen's former party colleague and high-profile defector to Reform UK Danny Kruger, is asked by Allison if he felt a bit guilty jumping ship at a time when his defection would do serious damage to a struggling Tory party. And Tory Grandee Lord Peter Lilley, gives his thoughts on why Britain should leave the European Convention on Human Rights Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/l... | Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a... | Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/pod... | Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk | For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal | Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1h 6m
1 JAN

Best Voyages from the Rocket 2025 Episode 1

In this, the first of the Best of the Rocket 2025, co-pilots Pearson and Halligan dig into the data files for some of their most explosive voyages on the rocket of right thinking from this year. There’s been no shortage of madness on the rocket over the past few months, the peak of which was definitely when Chancellor Rachel Reeves cried in the Commons and the leader of the RMT said ‘stuff it’ to the markets. There’s also been an abundance of politicians and political agitators that have graced the rocket this year, and we begin with discussions surrounding the bias of the BBC with Jake Wallis Simons, and Epping Reform deputy leader, Orla Minihane. Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/l... | Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a... | Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/pod... | Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk | For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal | Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1h 7m
25/12/2025

Rocket around the Christmas Tree!

It’s a Merry Christmas from the Rocket of right thinking at Planet Normal to everyone stuck on Planet Earth Your intrepid co-pilots reflect on a year of political thrills and economic spills, honouring the "citizens of Planet Normal" while handing out awards to the figures in public life who impressed - and those who most certainly did not. Amidst the Christmas cheer, your hosts offer a heartfelt thank you to their "intelligent and inspired" listeners for their tireless contributions throughout a tough year, before signing off with a promise of more wit, reason, and levity when the podcast returns in mid-January. The festive spirit is bolstered by a special interview with British tennis star and Wimbledon doubles champion Henry Patten who straps in to tell us what a Wimbledon champion has for Christmas Dinner and shares his journey from the grass courts to the top of the sporting world. Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor | Read Allison 'Non-crime hate incidents may be gone, but don’t expect the police to stop censoring you': https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12/23/good-riddance-to-non-crime-hate-incidents/ | Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | Read Liam ‘Why I’m not cheering the pre-Christmas rate cut’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/12/21/why-im-not-cheering-the-pre-christmas-rate-cut/ | Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ | Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ | Read Tim Sigsworth ‘Father Christmas is ‘too white’’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12/21/santas-naughty-list-too-colonial-museum/ | Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ | Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk | For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal | Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1h 1m
18/12/2025

Festive flu and the West’s cowardly silence after the Bondi massacre

Your Co-pilots reflect on a sombre week as the festive season is overshadowed by the beach massacre in Sydney earlier this week. Co-pilot Pearson delivers a blistering critique of Western leaders whom she accuses of failing to confront the root of Islamist extremism. Liam connects the tragedy to the rising sense of fear among the Jewish community in the UK, arguing that the ‘aggressive’ weekly protests should not be allowed to continue in the Capital. On the economic front, Liam warns of rising youth unemployment and Ed Miliband’s growing European isolation on Net Zero following the EU's retreat from petrol car bans. And the Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Claire Couthino, straps in to tell your co-pilots why Labour’s Net Zero drive won’t encourage economic growth. Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor | Read Allison ‘It’s time to end the cowardly appeasement of radical Islamism’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12/16/bondi-beach-jewish-massacre-allison-pearson/ | Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | Read Liam ‘Labour’s nutty EV policies are pushing us towards economic catastrophe’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/12/14/labour-ev-policies-pushing-towards-economic-catastrophe/ | Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ | Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ | Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ | Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk | For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal | Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1h 10m
11/12/2025

Reform and Farage smears only make the Party stronger

Co-Pilots Pearson and Halligan tackle a week of political and economic madness. Starmer is dismissed as a "caretaker Prime Minister" with a weak mandate, having been supported by only 20% of the electorate. Your hosts dissect Chancellor Rachel Reeves' job tax hike and her "benefits street Budget" which funds the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap by ‘punishing 340,000 working people’ with frozen tax thresholds. They confront the escalating migration crisis, discussing the rise of illegal arrivals and the national emergency posed by migrants linked to attacks on women. Meanwhile Reform stowaway Zia Yusuf tells the co-pilots why the smear campaign against Party leader, Nigel Farage, is one of the most ‘ coordinated smear campaigns. I can remember in my lifetime’... Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor | Read Allison ‘A comeback? What planet is vile Huw Edwards living on?’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12/09/huw-edwards-allison-pearson-comeback/ | Read Allison ‘Is this the scandal that will finally kill Strictly?’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2025/12/10/scandal-finally-kill-strictly-allison-pearson/ | Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ | Read Liam ‘The ghost of economic meltdown hangs over this festive season’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/12/07/the-ghost-of-economic-meltdown-hangs-over-festive-season/ | Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ | Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ | Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ | Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk | For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal | Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1h 13m

See All (291)

Murder in the Masai Mara When Julie Ward vanishes mysteriously in the Masai Mara in 1988, her father begins a hunt for answers that stretches from a safari lodge in Kenya to MI6’s headquarters in London. The case was never solved. Nearly four decades on, The Telegraph Deputy Investigations Editor Katherine Rushton pours over classified documents, interviews the people tangled in the case, and travels to Kenya to try to understand:who tried to stop her murder being solved. What happened to Julie Ward, why did the Kenyan authorities try to cover it up, and why were MI6 agents involved? Telegraph Investigates: Discover The Telegraph’s most gripping and hard-hitting investigative journalism, all in one place. Go behind the scenes with our top reporters as they uncover untold stories, expose injustices, and reveal shocking criminal revelations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

0.0 (0)

DOCUMENTARY
The world’s most listened to, and award-winning, podcast covering the war in Ukraine. Every weekday, the Telegraph's top journalists analyse the conflict from all angles – just as they have since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, when tanks, jets and troops crossed Ukraine's borders. Downloaded over 120 million times and trusted by listeners worldwide, the team considers military strategy, history, weaponry, economics, refugee crises, culture, and daily life in Vladimir Putin's autocratic Russia and Volodymyr Zelensky's democratic Ukraine. Our correspondents on the ground talk to experts and civilians to cover every aspect of Russia's brutal invasion. We are also available in both Ukrainian and Russian, so that people on both sides of the battle lines and across the region – including Central Asia and the Caucasus – have access to accurate reporting. We use cutting-edge AI technology to make this possible. Just search Україна: Останні Новини (Ukr) and Украина: Последние Новости (Ru) on your on your preferred podcast app to find them. Or find them here: https://linktr.ee/ukrainethelatest A new weekly newsletter is also available, where we answer your questions, provide recommended reading, and give exclusive analysis and behind-the-scenes insights – plus maps of the frontlines and diagrams of weapons to complement our daily reporting. It’s free for everyone, including non-subscribers. Join here: https://secure.telegraph.co.uk/customer/secure/newsletter/ukraine/ Telegraph subscribers get early access to bonus episodes of Ukraine: The Latest and our sister podcast Battle Lines. You can subscribe within The Telegraph app, or tap on ‘Already a subscriber’ at the top of this page to log in to link your existing subscription. For more information, head to: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/contact-us/telegraph-subscription-bonus-content-apple-podcasts/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

0.0 (0)

DAILY NEWS