Never Mind The Bar Charts

It's crucial that apps designed to help us battle coronavirus also protect our privacy as otherwise their take-up and so public health will suffer. That's the key point made by the Open Rights Group's Jim Killock in the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts as we discussed the potential risks to our civil liberties from the different attempts to track who people have been in contact with. Such contact tracing is essential to tackling coronavirus, but how can it be done best? Listen to find out... Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes How Australia is legislating for a contact tracing app in ways that protect people's rights. The German approach to protecting civil liberties while tracking people to tackle coronavirus. Problems with the British approach. Join the Open Rights Group. Jim Killock on Twitter. Photo credit: Rieo from Pixabay. Enjoy the show? Spread the word Follow the show on Twitter. Like the show on Facebook.

In the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I talked with Ben Johnson, a former Liberal Democrat councillor in Southwark with a PhD on the influenza virus from Public Health England and the University of Reading, and now working for Nature, one of the world’s most famous and respected scientific journals. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Sunder Katwala interview on coronavirus. Bicester Village train station signs. Phil Cowley on why Hong Kong reacted so quickly to coronavirus. IFS data on key worker salaries. My book Bad News, including a section on how different types of death get very different levels of media coverage. How cats took over the world. Find Ben on Twitter at @DrBenJohnson. Photo credit for episode image: Brian McGowan on Unsplash. Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let your friends and collea

In the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I talk with Duncan Brack, the closest thing the party has to an official historian, about the lessons for the Liberal Democrats from the last time that a Conservative government was defeated. A key part of that was cross-party cooperation so we dive into what then party leader Paddy Ashdown's plans were, what worked, what didn't work and what lessons apply to this Parliament. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Lessons from the Ashdown-Blair ‘Project’ - Duncan Brack's book chapter on the topic. The Cook-Maclennan talks. Ways for parties to cooperate without making seat deals. Never Mind The Bar Charts on Paddy Ashdown's legacy. Never Mind The Bar Charts on what it's like working with Dominic Cummings. Coalition Diaries by David Laws - Amazon / Waterstones Who Killed Kitchener? The Life and Death of Britain's most famous War Minister by David Laws - Amazon / Waterstones Duncan Brack on

In the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I talk with Sunder Katwala from the British Future think tank. Along with discussing civil rights in the age of coronavirus and the impact on BAME communities, he raised the important issue of the human bias towards pessimism and its impact on our reactions to the coronavirus crisis. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Sunder on how the Liberal Democrats can improve their diversity. The University of Leicester study into who has caught Covid-19. Research into our pessimism bias. Sunder on Twitter. British Future. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow: Amazon / Waterstones. John Maynard Keynes by Robert Skidelsky: Amazon / Waterstones. Image by Jasmin Sessler from Pixabay. Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let your friends and colleagues know about it too.

In the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I talked with the chief executive of Demos, Polly Mackenzie, about the impact of coronavirus on public policy. We got a bonus bit of background music courtesy of one of her children and a piano. As with the other shows since coronavirus, this one was recorded over video call so apologies for the occasional blip in sound quality. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes The Demos website, including the old content being re-released as discussed in the show. The previous show with Phil Cowley and that Martin Kettle piece. Nervous States: how feeling took over the world by William Davies - Amazon / Waterstones. Georgette Heyer's books - Amazon / Waterstones. Polly's previous appearance on Never Mind The Bar Charts. Follow Polly on Twitter. Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let

In a special tie-up with the Lib Dem Podcast, I'm interviewed by Cllr John Potter about the decision to postpone the Liberal Democrat leadership election and whether or not the party's autumn federal conference should be cancelled. Show notes Leadership election postponed The Lib Dem Podcast: Twitter / Instagram / iTunes

In the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I speak with Professor Phil Cowley, one of Britain’s leading political scientists, co-author for several general elections of authoritative Nuffield study and someone who casts the net so widely in his research that I occasionally appear in his footnotes. Phil’s been on my list of possible guests for a while, but I particularly wanted to talk to him now as he’s currently living in Hong Kong, somewhere that’s been much in the news here in the UK for comparisons over how coronavirus is being tackled in each place. We also talk about what this all means for British politics, and Phil's picks for books to read at the moment. Show notes Martin Kettle's piece on the possible (non-)impact of coronavirus on politics. Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World by Laura Spinney - Amazon / Waterstones. Agent Jack by Rob Hutton - Amazon / Waterstones. Electoral Shocks: The Volatile Voter in a Turbulent World - Amazon / Waterstones. Phil Cowl

Before the coronavirus crisis hit, I recorded a podcast with my published, Biteback Books, about my new book, Bad News. Listen to find out how you can make sense of the news all around us, the problem with news coverage on gun control, the (lack of a problem) with news echo chambers and filter bubbles, why I look back on my daily commute in years past with amazement and how I came to write Bad News. Show notes Biteback Chats Books podcast. Buy Bad News from Waterstones, Amazon, Biteback or Hive. Music: Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod / Link / License.

In the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I welcomed back to the show academic Paula Surridge. We talked about what the British Election Study is and what its polling data from the 2019 general election shows, including its implications for the future for the Liberal Democrats. Show notes Paula Surridge on Twitter. Is politics still about left versus right? - the previous show with Paula Surridge. The British Election Study (BES). Sign up for more polling news with Polling UnPacked. Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let your friends and colleagues know about it too.

In the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, I talk with Councillor Anton Georgiou from Brent, who won a spectacular by-election victory in January and is now getting to enjoy being a councillor. What's it like? How did he win? And how can others emulate him? Listen to find out... Show notes Anton Georgiou's by-election victory. His tweets about being a councillor. The importance of pointing at potholes. Daniel Brown, former Lib Dem councillor for Alperton and his autocorrection tip. Siobhan Benita's campaign to be Mayor of London. Stephen Robinson on what it's like to be a council leader. ALDC. Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let your friends and colleagues know about it too.

In this episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, the Liberal Democrat leader of Chelmsford Council, Stephen Robinson is interviewed about what Lib Dem council leader does, and how he got to be one in the first place. Show notes: The Chelmsford team were great at welcoming and making good use of volunteers who came to help. Read the then Conservative leader of Chelmsford Council explaining before polling day that, "we have mostly avoided canvassing up to now". A big vote increase but a long way off winning: the Chelmsford result at the 2019 general election. Black Box Thinking: the lessons of marginal gains. Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let your friends and colleagues know about it too.

Professor Tim Bale, one of the leading experts in political party membership, talks about who joins parties, why they join and how those who join the Liberal Democrats differ from those who join other parties. Plus he gives his top tips on how to persuade people to join a party. Show notes: Footsoldiers: political party membership in the 21st century. Why supporters don't always join parties. The research on how to get members involved. Five Year Mission: Tim Bale's study of Ed Miliband. Tim Bale used the phrase, "That's a great question". Here's a whole other podcast episode just about that phase, from Freakonomics. The previous Never Mind The Bar Charts show with Paula Surridge. The preamble to the Liberal Democrat constitution. Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let your friends and colleagues know about it too.

Welcome to the first episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts's second season, featuring for the first special guest former Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone. Show notes: Lynne Featherstone's book on legalising same-sex marriage. The Guardian story which chose to highlight a coffee shop in the headline rather than a library. Lynne Featherstone and a pothole. An example of the sort of local campaigning that was so central to Lynne Featherstone's electoral successes. Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let your friends and colleagues know about it too.

In the final episode of season one, Mark and Stephen pick over the general election result, another less important election result and the plans for Season 2 of Never Mind The Bar Charts. Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let your friends and colleagues know about it too.

Welcome to the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, taking a look at the key role for targeting in general elections, how the Lib Dem Brexit policy is going down with voters, some seats to watch out for on election night and a very large number of digressions. Show notes Reactions to Jo Swinson's interview with Andrew Neil. The BBC's fact check of that interview. Fiona Bruce's Question Time mistake. The Boris Johnson interview question about him lying, missing any of the obvious follow-ups. The latest YouGov polling on revoking Article 50, along with evidence from earlier in the year: #1, #2 and #3. How to make a difference in the last week of the election. How Lib Dem members can find a target seat to help in. Fact check: thanks to @SoupDragon0 for pointing out a mistake in the episode about the letters than British Prime Ministers write setting out what to do with the country's nuclear weapons. Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook.

In Episode #24, Stephen and Mark take a look at how the Liberal Democrat general election campaign is going so far. They used a blog post from Mark about the YouGov MRP results to structure their discussion, so here as the show notes is an updated version of that post: https://www.markpack.org.uk/160501/yougov-mrp-polling/. Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let your friends and colleagues know about it too.

Welcome to the latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts, which takes a look at the general election and in particular the policy-heavy message the Liberal Democrats are pushing. Show notes The David Davis 'look, no notes' photo. One, two, three, four Lib Dem candidate problems. Not Enough Campagne podcast on the impact of candidate deals. A summary of the Liberal Democrat policies. The problem with the Liberal Democrat message in 2005. Liberal Democrat party committee election results. Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let your friends and colleagues know about it too.

With the general election underway, Stephen Tall and Mark Pack discuss how things are going so far for the Liberal Democrats, what the constituency polls are saying, the role of bar charts and the latest on the party's internal elections. Show notes What the national opinion polls are saying. All the constituency polls made public so far. The full list of Unite to Remain seat arrangements. What went wrong with the Liberal Democrat constituency polling in 2015? Responsible bar charting. More information on voting in the Liberal Democrat internal elections. Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let your friends and colleagues know about it too. Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let your friends and colleagues know about it too.

Once again, an MP has kindly timed their decision to join the Liberal Democrats for just before the recording of an episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts. So Stephen and I discussed the party's latest Parliamentary recruit along with the outlook for the general election. Show notes Antoinette Sandbach joins the Liberal Democrats. How many Liberal Democrat MPs are there now? The new Liberal Democrat election slogan. Got problems voting in the Liberal Democrat internal elections? Email elections@libdems.org.uk. Find Never Mind The Bar Charts on social media Like the show? Do follow on Twitter or Facebook. It's a great way to hear more about the podcast - and to let your friends and colleagues know about it too.

In the first live audience recording of Never Mind The Bar Charts, host Stephen Tall talks to two people who have worked with Dominic Cumnings: Polly Mackenzie and Sean Kemp.