Podcasts By The Scottish Parliament

The Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, Ken Macintosh MSP, sits down with the President (Speaker) of the State Parliament of Lower Saxony, Dr Gabriele Andretta, during her visit to Holyrood. They discuss Scottish Parliament's 20th anniversary, as well as the shared challenges both regions face today.

The First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon MSP, answered questions from MSPs in The Scottish Parliament on the 10th January 2019.

Recorded at the Festival of Politics in 2018.

Despite boasting a 40-year political career in local and national government, it could be argued that Dame Margaret Hodge really came to public prominence in 2010 as the fearsome Chair of the Public Accounts Committee overseeing £750 billion of public expenditure annually.  Join the Presiding Officer and Dame Margaret Hodge to discuss her book, Called to Account; How Corporate Bad Behaviour and Government Waste Combine to Cost Us Millions, and her Committee’s dogged pursuit of transparency and accountability in grilling everyone from corporate giants Amazon, Starbucks and Google to civil servants and HMRC. 

Recorded at the Festival of Politics in 2018.

She is the doyenne of classical scholars; fond of Anglo-Saxon expletives and a feminist to her bones. Professor Mary Beard is the academic who wrote and presented on the BBC Civilisations series; authored the globally best-selling book Women and Power and is the poster woman for every opinionated, outspoken and fan who recognises misogyny did not cease post the ancient world. Join the Presiding Officer and Professor Mary Beard to discuss her trajectory from scholar to public combatant in febrile debates on everything from #MeToo; to no-platforming and Pompeii; in this unmissable exhilarating event.

Recorded at the Festival of Politics in 2018.

Lord Michael Heseltine is often accorded the title, Conservative grandee, reflecting a distinguished career at the heart of politics and a party he served for 35 years as MP, including ministerial office in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major, not least as Deputy Prime Minister. Join Lord Heseltine in conversation with the Presiding Officer as they discuss a life at Westminster as President of the Board of Trade, Defence Minister; champion of urban renewal and as arch critic of Brexit, having described the 2016 Referendum result as – “the greatest constitutional crisis of modern times.” A must for any fan of politics.

 

The First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon MSP, answered questions from MSPs in The Scottish Parliament on the 20th of December 2018.

A recording from the Festival of Politics session titled “Russia VS the West”.

 

Relations between Russia and the West may be at a chilly low, but if the Cold War was a battle of military and ideological rivalries then current tensions are more a chess game of great power politics. Listen to chair Jason Boxt, U.S. pollster and a panel of experts including Professor Vera Tolz, University of Manchester; and Sergey Utkin, Primakov National Research Institute and John Lough an Associate Fellow of the Russia & Eurasia Programme at Chatham House discuss the political game-plan at the Festival of Politics 2018.

 

The First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon MSP, answered questions from MSPs in The Scottish Parliament on the 13th of December 2018.

Part 2 of a 2 part podcast recorded at the 'Rights Take Over' event in the Scottish Parliament, held to mark the 70th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights on 10th December 2018.

Featuring a panel discussion on human rights with Amazl Azzudin, Davie Donaldson, Dr. Donald Macaskill, and Dr. Sally Witcher OBE.

Part 1 of a 2 part podcast recorded at the 'Rights Take Over' event in the Scottish Parliament, held to mark the 70th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights on 10th December 2018.

Featuring speeches from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP, Deputy Presiding Officer Christine Grahame MSP, Ruth Maguire MSP, Convener of the EHRiC Committee, Judith Robertson, chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, and Bianca Jagger, Founder, President and Chief Executive of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation.