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From Trump to Corbyn: How Social Media Shapes Politics

Musician and activist Billy Bragg on the 'Twitterisation of debate', the new working class and why protest songs don't make a difference.

The singer, songwriter and political activist Billy Bragg thinks there’s a crisis of accountability in politics (23:51). To fix it, he says we need to reform the House of Lords (27:55) and redefine what liberty means in the age of social media (25:17).

A socialist and anti-racism campaigner who grew up in a community where the main employer was the local Ford car factory (3:35), Billy talks to Amol about class in modern Britain (15:47) and sets out the challenges facing democracy today (20:38).

He also argues that there’s a link between Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn and Nigel Farage (31:37), warns that Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is in danger of losing the working class (31:14) and offers his advice to young musicians (39:12).

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Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Izzy Rowley. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Mike Regaard and Chris Ablakwa. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

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