The Future of Democracy

My first Reith Lecture drops today at 9AM UK time

The rusty gears creak into motion, steam begins belching from the machine, and the Substack is back…

Regular readers will know that my Substacking has slowed, some might even say stopped, since I announced a few months ago that I am this year’s BBC Reith Lecturer. I am giving four lectures under the theme of Our Democratic Future.

A huge honour. And also a major commitment because I had to write Reith Lectures rather than Substack posts. You will be delighted to know the lectures are not 10,000 words long and full of arcane references and snazzy graphs. Or perhaps that’s what you wanted but it doesn’t work over radio.

My first lecture on The Future of Democracy broadcasts an hour or so after you get this email. It’s on Radio 4 at 9AM British time following directly after the Today Programme. If you have missed it fear not. It is also on Radio 4 in the Sunday graveyard slot of 11PM British time, when I would imagine the audience of insomniacs and tired fishermen will most enjoy it.

And of course for those of you with ‘nonlinear’ media consumption preferences, it will be available on BBC Sounds to listen to at your pleasure. The website to listen to it is linked right here. And if you want to read a little more about the series the BBC have a nice article here.

Obviously, I don’t want to spoil your excitement but as a little teaser here are some of the subjects I cover in the lecture and Q&A: threats to democracy, polarisation, artificial intelligence, who Labour voters want their kids to marry, what if anything should replace the House of Lords, the benefits of PR vs first past the post, and the similarity between global democracy and Kate Bush.

There are an amazing array of well-known guests in the audience from politics, media, academia, and the normal world. It was huge fun for me and hopefully it will be for you.

And don’t take my word for it. The Times called the lecture ‘a chewy, important, absorbing listen. As it should be’. The Observer remarked that ‘his accessible lectures and the calm environment he creates for audience questions seem in themselves to make a positive contribution to democracy’. Who said I couldn’t improve democracy?

So please do listen. It’s the first of four lectures - next week I talk about the Future of Security in Berlin, then the following week, the Future of Solidarity in Sunderland, and finally the Future of Prosperity in Atlanta, where I am currently sitting writing this post before giving my final lecture. Wish me luck (actually it will already have happened by the time you read this but non-linear median consumption and all that).

And if you are interested in the ideas from the lectures, they build off my book Why Politics Fails, now conveniently available in paperback at even more bookstores than the hardback was! You can order from Waterstones here. Or at the behemoth here. North Americans head here (not PB yet). It’s also now available in Spanish and Greek bookstores in translation. German, Portuguese, Japanese, Korea, Chinese, to come.