E1: Mark Blyth

What does a banking crash have to do with frontline services quietly collapsing a decade later? In this episode, Mark and Howard are joined by award-winning political scientist and economist Mark Blyth (Brown University) to trace the “breadcrumb trail” from 2008 to today’s brittle institutions, hollowed-out state capacity, and a politics increasingly powered by distraction — mostly in the UK, but with familiar echoes across the West.

Warning: This was recorded late on a Friday night and the conversation got… enthusiastic at times. Apologies for the salty language, but we’re talking about difficult issues and with deep feeling.