The home of King's College London Politics Society's podcast. Our co-hosts Penelope and Valeria host episodes with a range of guests, including students and professionals, to unpack a wide variety of political issues. If you're interested in being a guest on our podcast, please get in touch at kclpolitics@gmail.com!
Co-hosted by Penelope Spencer-Simpson and Valeria Abram
Produced by Saf Riache
In collaboration with KCL Radio Society
LIVE: Careers in the Public Sector with Prof. Jonathan Portes
Valeria interviews Professor Jonathan Portes, a leading economist, about navigating rewarding careers within the public sector and politics.
14 Mar 2026TRANSCRIPT
Gaza from the Ground: Special Interview with Dana Hamdan
Penelope Spencer-Simpson and Samuel Lee interview Gaza resident Dana Hamdan about her experiences living through conflict, offering a firsthand perspective on the humanitarian crisis.
3 Feb 2026TRANSCRIPT
Women on the Right in Britain and Beyond
Host Penelope Spencer-Simpson interviews King's student Pearl Hannaford about right-wing women, British politics, and feminism.
12 Dec 2025
Venezuela: History, Politics, and Hope
First-year PPE student Carmen Gomez discusses Venezuela's history, current politics, and emerging hope with host Valeria Abram in this interview.
21 Nov 2025
Power, Politics, and Perception: How Media Shapes Women Leaders and Latin American Politics
Valeria Abram interviews Daniela Denyer, President of the KCL Women in Politics Society, exploring how media perception influences female leaders in Latin American politics.
8 Nov 2025
Simon Marks talks Journalism, US Politics, and New Technology
Emmy Award-winning journalist Simon Marks discusses the evolving journalism industry, US politics, and technology's impact in this interview with hosts Penelope Spencer-Simpson and Valeria Abram.
24 Oct 2025
Mind the Gap: The Politics of Socioeconomic Gaps at University
Host Penelope Spencer-Simpson interviews working-class student Ava Davies about how living costs and classism impact university students economically and socially.
19 Mar 2025
The Prison-Industrial Complex: Profits, privatisation, and incarceration.
In this episode of Pulse of the Politic, Charlie talks to Anna-Julia, a first-year War Studies student who wrote an article in The Dialogue entitled "2.3 Million Shackles: Understanding the Prison Industrial Complex".
If you would like to read the article, check out the latest edition of The Dialogue (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MPWeZmajZfOudUFsGGbSGsqLVRZterO_/view?usp=sharing).
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
16 Feb 2025
Invisible Islands: Exploring Small Island Developing States with Dr Hillary Briffa
In this episode of Politisphere, Erik talks to Professor Hillary Briffa from King's College London. Dr. Briffa is a senior lecturer on the National Security Studies course and is the founding member of the Centre for Grand Strategy.
If you are interested in learning more about SIDS (which you should be), then please check out the following material:
https://www.undp.org/latin-america/small-island-developing-states (https://www.undp.org/latin-america/small-island-developing-states)
https://sdgs.un.org/smallislands/about-small-island-developing-states (https://sdgs.un.org/smallislands/about-small-island-developing-states)
https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/publications/cc_sids.pdf (https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/publications/cc_sids.pdf)
More on Tuvalu's digital statehood:
https://www.tuvalu.tv/# (https://www.tuvalu.tv/#)
If you want to check out Dr. Briffa, here is her profile and one of her papers on Small Island States:
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/hillary-briffa (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/hillary-briffa)
Briffa, Hillary. 2021. “The Integrated Review and the View from Small States: Time to Think Smaller?” In The Integrated Review in Context: A Strategy Fit for the 2020s?,edited by Joe Devanny and John Gearson, 86–92. Centre for Defence Studies. https://www.kcl.ac.uk/the-integrated-review-and-the-view-from-small-states-time-to-think-smaller (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/the-integrated-review-and-the-view-from-small-states-time-to-think-smaller)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
16 Dec 2024
Electoral Reform: what is it and why do we need it? In conversation with Make Votes Matter
In this episode, Charlie speaks to Olivia Standing from Make Votes Matter, a youth organisation campaigning for proportional representation in the UK. If anyone would like to learn more about Make Votes Matter and electoral reform as a whole, you can find them here:
https://makevotesmatter.org.uk/young-mvm/ (https://makevotesmatter.org.uk/young-mvm/)
https://makevotesmatter.org.uk/ (https://makevotesmatter.org.uk/)
Instagram
@makevotesmatterofficial (@makevotesmatterofficial)
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@MakeVotesMatter (@MakeVotesMatter)
I hope everyone enjoys listening to the episode!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
3 Nov 2024
The Value of Oil: A political analysis
KCL Politics Podcast hosts Erik, Sophia Naraghi, and Maria Howard delve into the geopolitics of oil, exploring the complex relationships between energy production, global power dynamics, and economic stability.
21 Oct 2024
Why should you care about politics? With Sophie Harborne
In the first episode of Pulse of the Politic, our host Charlie Ackland speaks to Sophie Harborne, founder of DemocraFest, the UK's first Democracy festival. What is it like working in parliament? What changes need to take place to build a greater democratic environment? Sophie offers an engaging insight into these topics and many more.
If you're interested in DemocraFest, and would like to learn more about it, check out the website at https://www.democrafest.co.uk/.
Pulse of the Politic is a student podcast series aimed around getting to the beating heart of political discourse, an attempt to find answers to some of the most pressing political questions of our time.
Our first season is focused on the importance of political discussion and engagement, as we, the KCL Politics society believe that politics begins at the doorstep of conversation and debate.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
24 Sept 2024
How to engage with the media: Truth-seeking in journalism and the rise of fake news
In the inaugural episode of PolitiSphere, Erik talks to Benjamin Evans, deputy editor-in-chief of Roar News, about the fundamentals of journalism, how to report accurately and efficiently, and what the consequences are if the truth is not achieved.
Recommended reading to explore:
Ward, Stephen J. A. “‘Digital Reliance’: Public Confidence in Media in a Digital Era.” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs 18, no. 3 (2017): 3–10. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26395918.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zwcgn9q.
Schulman, Roy, and David Siman-Tov. “From Biological Weapons to Miracle Drugs: Fake News about the Coronavirus Pandemic.” Institute for National Security Studies, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep23529.
Schudson, Michael. “Reluctant Stewards: Journalism in a Democratic Society.” Daedalus 142, no. 2 (2013): 159–76. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43297240.
Young, Mary Lynn, and Candis Callison. “Data Journalism: In Whose Interests?” In The Data Journalism Handbook: Towards A Critical Data Practice, edited by Liliana Bounegru and Jonathan Gray, 379–87. Amsterdam University Press, 2021. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1qr6smr.54.
Please contact kclpolitics@gmail.com for any inquiries.
Instagram: kclpolitics
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20 Mar 2024
Back to Basics 01: Policy
On this episode of Back to Basics we discuss government policy, how it is made and implemented, and what the problems are with the process. Joined by Glenn from KCL's Policy Research Centre, and this week hosted by producer Kate Bugos. As always, find us on instagram @kclpolitics, and find the Policy Research Centre @kcl_research.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
4 Mar 2024
PolSoc Election Special: Vice Presidential Debate
Listen to the four candidates for Politics Society Vice President, Ruby Freeland, Ileana Oprescu, Francesco Teissèdre, and Diana Potra answer questions and debate in this special election episode. Cast your votes at https://elections.kclsu.org/elections/postsandcandidates/232/ from March 4th.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
3 Mar 2024
PolSoc Election Special: Presidential Debate
Listen to the two candidates for Politics Society President, Abhi Noorty and Josh Robinson, answer questions and debate in this special election episode. Cast your votes at https://elections.kclsu.org/elections/postsandcandidates/232/ from March 4th.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
8 Feb 2024
Politics 411: Australian Indigenous Voice, Cabinet Reshuffles, and Lord Cameron?
For the first episode of Politics 411, take a look back at some key moments from the end of 2023 in Australia and the UK. With guests Florence and Josh.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
26 Jan 2024
Welcome to KCL Politics Podcasts
Welcome to Kings College London’s Politics Society Podcast! So excited to be sharing our two new podcasts with you, Politics 411 and Back to Basics. Check back every week for brand new content demystifying the world of political theory and current affairs. For more information or to get involved, check out the links here: https://linktr.ee/kclpolitics (https://linktr.ee/kclpolitics)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
Inside a recent episode
LIVE: Careers in the Public Sector with Prof. Jonathan Portes
Published 9 Apr 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] So I came to the end of my degree, and I didn't really know what to do. And I'd heard that the civil service exam and the whole interview and exam process for the civil service actually quite interesting and stimulating the sort of thing that I was good at. And I was very interested in politics. I'd always been very interested in politics. So I thought, well, I might as well try it. And I didn't have anything else that I really wanted to do. So I did it. And I did well. And I got in. And I ended up, so I joined the Treasury straight away from undergraduates. And so to be clear, there are various different streams that you can join the civil service. […]
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