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Planet Normal

Planet Normal

By: The Telegraph
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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.

© Copyright 2022. All rights reserved.
Politics & Government Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Anti-semitism is clearly out of control in the UK
    Mar 26 2026

    You can watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/z53vu3azxZs


    In this week’s dispatch from the sanctuary of sweet reason, your co-pilots of sanity Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson, address the rise of antisemitic attacks in Britain, including the chilling firebombing of Jewish charity ambulances in North London.


    Alison shares her continuing case against Essex’s police and crime commissioner, as well as the county’s police force over a post on X, which has since been deleted, which led officers to investigate her for a potential offence of ‘inciting racial hatred’.


    Liam is dismayed at the cognitive dissonance in government promising an ‘AI revolution’ while the national grid remains unfit for purpose, warning that the government’s green activists are threatening the very data centers needed for the technological future they claim to champion.


    Returning stowaway is former adviser to then-Chancellor George Osborne, Helen Thomas, CEO of Blonde Money who tells your co-pilots why Labour is signing its own death warrant…


    Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor |

    Read Allison ‘If Nadiya Hussain thinks she’s suffered from BBC discrimination, she should try being a white man’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/18/nadiya-hussain-bbc-discrimination/ |

    Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |

    Read ‘Allison Pearson sues police chief over social media investigation’: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/24/allison-pearson-sues-essex-police-chief-social-media/ |

    Read Liam ‘Artificial intelligence won’t solve Britain’s looming fiscal crisis’:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/03/22/artificial-intelligence-wont-solve-looming-fiscal-crisis/ |

    Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |

    Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |

    Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |

    Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk |

    For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 2 mins
  • UK Meningitis outbreak and Starmer’s abortion policy shame
    Mar 19 2026

    You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QVXFsa07Rpo


    In this week’s dispatch from the sanctuary of sweet reason, co-pilots Pearson and Halligan examine a growing sense of national insecurity as Britain faces a perfect storm of energy, military, and financial fragility, and the unfolding meningitis outbreak.


    With oil climbing back above $100 a barrel and the Strait of Hormuz remaining shut, Liam argues that it is time for the government to junk the ‘Net Zero virtue signalling’ and urgently greenlight drilling in the North Sea.


    Allison discusses her recent column on a controversial clause in the Crime and Policing Bill that would effectively ‘descriminalise’ abortion up to birth. Labelling the move ‘legalised infantcide’ she and Liam explore the ethical implication of late-term viability, drawing on Allison’s moving personal experiences and her observations from a neonatal ICU.


    The duo are joined in the rocket by Linden Kemkaran, the Reform UK leader of Kent County Council. Representing the ‘border county’ at the forefront of the small boats crisis, she discusses her decision to declare an ‘illegal migration emergency’ and her demand for the government to provide full funding for the local impact of arrivals.


    Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor |

    Read Allison ‘Britain is about to make a sickening change to the abortion law’:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/17/britain-sickening-change-to-abortion-law/ |

    Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |

    Read Liam ‘Labour needs to be grown-up about the North Sea’:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/03/15/labour-needs-to-be-grown-up-about-the-north-sea/ |

    Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |

    Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |

    Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |

    Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk |

    For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 10 mins
  • The Iran war lays bare the betrayal of Britain’s energy security
    Mar 12 2026

    You can watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/uRceQCyRYIU


    It’s markets this, oil prices that, and what will happen next, so your co-pilots are blasting in to make sense of the tsunami of news flooding across the globe from the Middle East and the war with Iran.


    Allison points to the shame of all governments for not protecting British interests and defence strategy has left us woefully unprepared for any disruption to energy supplies. And as the news is pointing away from the UK Allison has spied Labour still pressing ahead with a definition of Islamophobia and potentially curbing Free Speech in the process.


    Liam looks at the economic fallout as the Strait of Hormuz continues to be closed and Iran attacks cargo ships, and brings on board journalist and energy market expert Andrew Critchlow to discuss the UK’s energy security and strategy.



    Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor |

    Read Allison ‘The BBC is not living up to the ‘British’ part of its name’:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/11/bbc-boat-race-cancellation-crufts/ |

    Read Allison ‘Starmer is pandering to Islamist extremists to save his own skin https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/10/keir-starmer-islamism-concerns-hannah-spencer/ |

    Read more from Allison: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/a/ak-ao/allison-pearson/ |

    Read Liam ‘Britain needs economic security – and a sovereign wealth fund’:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/03/08/britain-needs-economic-security-sovereign-wealth-fund/ |

    Read more from Liam: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/liam-halligan/ |

    Read Liam’s Substack: https://liamhalligan.substack.com/ |

    Need help subscribing or reviewing? Learn more about podcasts here:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/radio/podcasts/podcast-can-find-best-ones-listen/ |

    Email: planetnormal@telegraph.co.uk |

    For 30 days’ free access to The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/normal |

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    58 mins
All stars
Most relevant
What’s not to love about a podcast that speaks the thoughts of most people freely. Planet Normal is simply and plainly speaking generally centrist type thoughts. The type of thoughts that are, worryingly, being increasingly touted as bigoted and far right, or, overblown as dangerous by numerous Legacy Media outlets who’s presenter’s/editors/journalists/backers now seem to live in an ideological bubble that no one normal can identify with, and instantly cancel or target as bigots anyone who has a thought that does not strictly align with their chosen rhetoric. So, shame, shame, shame on main stream & legacy media, and WELL DONE Rocket Pilots who got me through lockdown with some sanity left. THANK YOU. Never give up, never surrender.

Love love love… freedom of speech and polite debate

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PN used to be great but it's refusal
to acknowledge the possibility of vaccine harm is infuriating. This week Andrew Bridgen spoke very powerfully about this to an empty Parliament...yet this bombshell was completely ignored!. But because PN supported the vaccine they cannot possibly do an about face as the facts change.!.
Also Haligan's refusal to discuss immigration without banging on about his Irish ancestory growing up in London..tolerance bla bla bla yada yada every time is becoming boring and patronising. He's too cosy with his chums in power to be the voice of reason we need.

Still good but..

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A fantastic insight into the statistics and human stories behind the pandemic. A must-listen every week.

Required listening to stay sane!

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I really enjoy this podcast. Allison Pearson and Liam Halligan have great chemistry and are fearless in their opinions. Interesting guests and relevant topics

I look forward to it every week

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I really look forward to Thursdays and the new edition of Planet Normal. Allison and Liam, our pilot and co-pilot who both write for the Telegraph put the week's events into perspective, pulling apart inflated numbers and mis-information - especially regarding the Covid pandemic and the one sided, misleading and downright dishonest science presented by the media. Their knowledgeable guests are often people shunned by the BBC and other media as they don't toe the party line. A real breath of fresh air.

A brilliant podcast

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