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PODCAST

Planet Normal

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.

society & culture news commentary

All Episodes

1:31:00

Planet Normal: Live, with Lionel Shriver and Suella...

Planet Normal ·

2026/02/26

You can watch this recording on YouTube: https://youtu.be/lFRwaTYK-mMYour co-pilots have braved the atmosphere of planet Earth as the rocket touches down at the Emmanuel Centre in London for a live recording of Planet Normal!To mark the occasion, your co-pilots are joined by two of the most fearless voices to navigate a country they fear is currently on an ‘economic cliff edge’.The first revered stowaway on the rocket today is Lionel Shriver: The celebrated satirical novelist discusses her

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1:16:57

Reform launch their top team, as Starmer U-turns -...

Planet Normal ·

2026/02/19

Book your tickets for Planet Normal: LIVE on the 24th February: telegraph.co.uk/planetnormallive |You can watch this episode of Planet Normal on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_jt6Hy7NYvUOn this week’s flight through the sanctuary of sweet reason, co-pilots Pearson and Halligan examine the rapid rise of Reform’s new "Shadow Cabinet," including Robert Jenrick’s debut as Shadow Chancellor and his mission to position the party as the new vanguard of fiscal prudence.Alison and Liam also debate the "gratitude

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1:16:46

Tick tock, Sir Keir’s against the clock

Planet Normal ·

2026/02/12

Book your tickets for Planet Normal: LIVE on the 24th February: telegraph.co.uk/planetnormallive |You can watch this episode of Planet Normal on YouTube: https://youtu.be/LFlJivPsT9AFollowing a scorching column by their colleague Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, co-pilots Pearson and Halligan discuss whether Britain is becoming "ungovernable" as sovereign bond yields spiral and the Prime Minister appears increasingly held hostage by the hard-Left of his own party.Allison questions the mandate of a leader

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1:07:00

The Mandelson quagmire and murky dealing of Chagos

Planet Normal ·

2026/02/05

Book your tickets for Planet Normal: LIVE on the 24th February: telegraph.co.uk/planetnormallive |You can watch this episode of Planet Normal on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wh42OqWtzDAAs the Prime Minister vows to release the ‘Mandelson Files’ pressure on who knew what, and when is mounting on Labour. Repeat stowaway former head of Mi6 Sir Richard Dearlove is on hand to give his expert analysis on the unfolding situation.Allison is disgusted by the continuing scandal of Peter Mandelson and is in

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59:08

Starmer’s Shameful Soldier Witch Hunt

Planet Normal ·

2026/01/28

You can watch this episode of Planet Normal on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4f7eZbkA91QIt'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

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1:02:57

Robert Jenrick's Reform defection and the Greenland rift

Planet Normal ·

2026/01/22

You can watch this episode of Planet Normal on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mwWiWA21r1UThe 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

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59:12

Best Voyages from the Rocket 2025 Episode 3

Planet Normal ·

2026/01/15

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

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1:05:58

Best Voyages from the Rocket 2025 Episode 2

Planet Normal ·

2026/01/08

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

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1:06:42

Best Voyages from the Rocket 2025 Episode 1

Planet Normal ·

2026/01/01

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

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1:00:49

Rocket around the Christmas Tree!

Planet Normal ·

2025/12/25

It’s a Merry Christmas from the Rocket of right thinking at Planet Normal to everyone stuck on Planet EarthYour 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

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1:10:22

Festive flu and the West’s cowardly silence after the...

Planet Normal ·

2025/12/18

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

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1:13:11

Reform and Farage smears only make the Party stronger

Planet Normal ·

2025/12/11

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

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1:00:47

Liar, liar, Reeves’ pants are on fire

Planet Normal ·

2025/12/04

With reaction to the autumn Budget still on the lips of news outlets everywhere, your co-pilots are here to make sense of the chaos.Allison doesn’t hold back and thinks Reeves has ‘lied’ to the electorate and inflated her own words in order to try and sneak her Budget past everyone.Meanwhile Liam thinks the fighting between Number 10 and 11 is harming the economy on a fundamental scale.Meanwhile stowaway Lord Nigel Biggar tells the co-pilots why history should recognise the UK fought against slavery

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56:08

Reeves Budget snowstorm of discontent

Planet Normal ·

2025/11/26

The rocket of right thinking is back for a crucial Budget Special as Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveils her second major fiscal statement. Her new £30 billion tax rise means a staggering £70 billion increase in just two years, the most "punitive tax raising budget in more than three decades".Joining the co-pilots to dissect the numbers is the brilliant Telegraph columnist, Roger Bootle. Roger reveals why he thinks the budget will land "very badly with business" and discusses the "scandalous" leak of

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1:03:15

Reeves reverse ferret and Mahmood's immigration gamble

Planet Normal ·

2025/11/20

This week the Rocket welcomes former Prime Minister Liz Truss to discuss next week’s Budget as well as the co-pilots diving into the latest political issues. From the dramatic U-turn on immigration by the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to the creeping tax rises hidden in Rachel Reeves's upcoming budget, there’s more than enough madness to unpack.They ask if the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's new rhetoric to crack down on immigration is real, and will her plans work? Alison dissects the

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1:08:35

March of the BBC’s ‘tinfoil hat’ brigade

Planet Normal ·

2025/11/13

After a Telegraph bombshell, both the BBC Director-General and Head of BBC News are OUT as the corporation is exposed for its "FAR LEFT ideological capture".Our co-pilots take a look at the shocking truth behind the billion-dollar lawsuit threat from President Donald Trump after a Panorama team edited his speech on January 6th 2021. Allison details the biased coverage of Israel and Gaza as well as gender issues, where "smug and arrogant" staffers tried to censor news and silence "normal women".As

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53:24

Home Office fails to secure its own ‘fit note’

Planet Normal ·

2025/11/06

Following the speech from Chancellor Rachel Reeves acknowledging tax rises are coming round the mountain, your co-pilots are here to wade through the incoming madness.Assisting co-pilot Halligan this week is returning guest Nick Timothy MP to give us some keen insight into the crumbling Home Office.Liam thinks the Chancellor’s speech was a predictable move and has been warning since the election taxes would have to go up as spending rises and welfare cuts avoided.Nick reveals the details surrounding

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1:02:41

Labour’s asylum seeker 'Carry On'

Planet Normal ·

2025/10/30

Our co-pilots, energised from their trip down to earth for the live show at the Battle of Ideas festival last week, are back on the Rocket to try and make sense of a week of madness!They address the growing discontent following a string of high-profile incidents involving illegal migrants, most recently in Uxbridge.The discussion turns into a blistering attack on the Home Office and the entire Civil Service, who the co-pilots argue, are actively stifling political reform and preventing any

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1:22:38

Planet Normal: Live Special at the Battle of Ideas 2025

Planet Normal ·

2025/10/22

This episode was recorded live at the Battle of Ideas Festival in London on 19th October 2025In this very special episode of Planet Normal, the rocket beams in live from the Battle of Ideas Festival featuring not one, but two very special stowaways..Labour Life Peer, Lord Maurice Glasman, founder of the Blue Labour movement, shares his thoughts on the state of the Labour Party and slams the progressive policies which he argues is destroying its traditional party roots.Inspirational sailor and author

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1:02:52

Trump’s peace plan and the China spy row unfurling in...

Planet Normal ·

2025/10/15

With co-pilot Halligan off the train and back in the rocket the team has returned to wade through the madness.As Donald Trump declares “peace in the Middle East” Liam and Allison take their hats off to him as they credit his deal that led to the release of all the remaining hostages, as co-pilot Pearson reflects on the stark reality of Hamas's true face and Starmer’s attempts to claim credit were slapped down by Trump with disdain.Back home, the UK political landscape is rocked by astonishing polls,

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