Dr Ruth Smith

If you’re feeling as concerned as I am about domestic and international politics, I recommend subscribing to this fabulous podcast @quietriotpod.bsky.social

It is a rare show that manages to bring the political temperature down without dumbing down, and is a tonic in the current political climate.

Tip-top listening recommendation!

PANDORA: Worst. Unboxing. Video. Ever. Podcast Episode · Alex Andreou's Podyssey · 25 February · 1h 31m

🆕 2.2 PANDORA: Worst. Unboxing. Video. Ever. 📦

Wicked troublemaker or the victim of history's longest smear campaign? This episode is one WILD ride. And it includes some of my favourite cinematic references.

🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/4E7j...

🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...

What’s ‘family voting’ and ‘Sectarianism’ refer to here, I wonder?

Are they by any chance hinting to muslim men forcing the females in their households to vote for a white female plumber who belongs to a Party led by a gay Jewish man? 🤔

Thank you for the laughter this morning btw. I needed it 😂

PROMETHEUS: I Don't Want to Set The World On Fire Podcast Episode · Alex Andreou's Podyssey · 08/02/2026 · 1h 28m

🆕 PROMETHEUS: I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire

One man; several contradictory myths.

Is he protector or disruptor? Genius or arsonist?

Season 2 of Podyssey kicks off with an absolute belter.

🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/0s0L...

🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...

Do you feel overwhelmed? Tired? Exhausted with the constant news cycle?

I want you to know: that's their goal.

They want you checked out. They want you burnt out. I get it. I feel it.

Take a break, but don't give up. When you give up, they win.

BONUS - How Do You Like Them Golden Apples?

BRAND NEW 🍏 How Do You Like Them Apples? 🍎

From the Garden of Hesperides to the Garden of Eden, from the Atalanta and the Trojan War to The Beatles and the iPhone, apples are laden with often conflicting symbolism.

🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/70jw...

🎧 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...

This is what is happening. It is cynical. It is strategic. It is organised. It is well funded.

And we need to pay attention.

The far right - and their cheerleaders, mimics, tribute acts, and handmaidens have identified two presentational frameworks that give them cut-through and traction. 1/7

On #BBCQT - Fiona Bruce said that the audience and public didn't want to press Reform UK on their dodgy links to Russia.

I disagree.

RT if you agree it's in the public interest for Reform to explain about their links to Russian money and bribery!

I feel like this photo of masked, armed men pepper spraying a pastor protecting his community is going to be a defining picture of this moment in America for a long, long time.

Nigel Farage wants to drag Britain down the same road as Trump’s America: chaos, division and fear. Our NHS, our rights and our communities are at risk. Do not let Trump’s America become Farage’s Britain.

I need you to understand what this country feels like right now for those of us who look different. I'm sitting here, trying to plan for Saturday, make sure I don't even need to go to the corner shop for milk, like it's Christmas Day or lockdown. Why? Because I live near where Yaxley-Lennon will 1/

What might be more surprising is how closely Trump’s view of the prerogatives and entitlements of abusive husbands towards their abused wives mirror his own sense of his prerogatives and entitlements as president towards his abused country. Throughout his second term, Trump has spoken of the 2024 election in terms similar to the way that Hale spoke of the marriage vow: as an irrevocable grant of total power. He believes, he says, that because he won the 2024 election, that there are now no more rights that Americans have that he must respect: that he can discard the will of Congress, fire civil servants at will, kidnap our neighbors and invade our cities.

I wrote about Trump’s comments trivializing domestic violence, and tried to chart the parallels between his own theory of governance and the logic of abusers. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I’ve never been more scared about the state of the world

Farage has gone to the US to tell them Britain is ”awful” - If you don’t like it over here Nigel maybe don’t catch a return flight?

Cooper suggests asylum seekers could be moved into warehouses instead of hotels – UK politics live Home secretary says government aims to ‘shrink the whole asylum system’ and is looking at ‘military and industrial sites’

When centrists adopt far-right rhetoric, they don’t make themselves stronger. They make themselves look inauthentic, legitimise the far right, and shift the political debate onto terrain defined by their opponents.
www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

NOT a small part. A big, big, big part. I am a glorified audio stenographer, to these fabulous women.

Sorry, but wtaf? This does absolutely nothing but ensure that even more people, including children, have to use irregular crossings, and blocks people who even this government have recognised are refugees from being with their families. This is utterly sickening from Labour. 1/

Season Finale! I’m so proud to have been a small part of this podcast with my fellow experts. But the credit goes to @sturdyalex.bsky.social who has worked incredibly hard and produced an outstanding podcast. He really is as lovely, inclusive, funny and clever as he comes across on his podcasts 💜

MEDUSA - Here's Looking at You, Kid Podcast Episode · Alex Andreou's Podyssey · 01/09/2025 · 1h 35m

🐍 MEDUSA - Here's Looking At You, Kid 🪦

Before Medusa was monstrous, she was beautiful. And before she was beautiful, she was powerful. She is a riddle that defies solution, from a time before the shape of things was settled.

🍊 open.spotify.com/episode/67sR...

🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...

🚨 BREAKING: Russia has struck the EU delegation building in Kyiv.

Read the developing story: ow.ly/N2RW50WNllP

Well said David - I couldn’t agree more!

Here’s my take. I resent having to hear voices that I trust endorsing a platform that erodes the value and viability of our profession. As a kicker, they are helping to line the pockets of US tech bros and investors whose values I (and I suspect they) find repellent. 🤑💰 #podcast #advertising

Fellow therapists: do you also feel uneasy with BetterHelp ads on every podcast?

I can’t identify the source of my concern but I’m aware of the criticisms (low pay/high caseloads, mismatch in client needs and therapist expertise)

Does it erode trust in #therapy?

#counselling #psychotherapy

This is probably the episode that I would Clockwork-Orange-force every Labour politician to listen to.

The amount of work that went into this 75 minutes almost killed me. I hope you get a lot of joy and insight from it. x

Actual question: It has been only 72 hours since the disastrous puppeteer/puppet show in Anchorage.

Has there yet been a background story on how, and by whom, this emergency intervention of *eight* big-time world leaders was pulled together, over a weekend?

YouTube video by Sky News Watch Sky News

On Sky News from 12:30 giving a view on today's stories. You can watch live here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDvs...

Trump mentions NYC, Baltimore, and Oakland, says "they're so far gone," and adds, "this will go further. We'll starting very strongly with DC."

Donald J. Trump & ( @realDonald Trump Washington, D.C. will be LIBERATED today! Crime, Savagery, Filth, and Scum will DISAPPEAR. I will, MAKE OUR CAPITAL GREAT AGAIN! The days of ruthlessly killing, or hurting, innocent people, are OVER! I quickly fixed the Border (ZERO ILLEGALS in last 3 months!), D.C. is next!!! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DJT

Trump whipping himself up about cracking down on DC.

The language - “savagery, filth and scum” - should worry any right-minded person.

#BREAKING | CNN’s Matthew Chance joins the Jordanian air force in a flight over Gaza and gets an aerial view of the widespread destruction caused by the Israeli military after almost two years of genocide war.

This is despite Israeli limitations on recording Gaza