The Book Club | 4 May 2022 | 0h 46m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Simon Kuper about his book Chums: How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories Took Over the UK. Backgrounds how the social and psychological dynamics of the UK’s present government were shaped by 1980s Oxford University where many of those now in power first met. Argues that Boris Johnson’s love of winging it was nurtured in the tutorial culture of his Balliol days; that the dynamics of Tory leadership contests are throwbacks to the Oxford Union; that Brexit was a jobs-protection scheme for the old-fashioned ruling class; and that argues for being more like Germany, with less emphasis on rhetorical skills.