Welcome to Pen Portrait, our new interview series with the people shaping ideas about the future. These Q&As will shed light on how they think about work, lifestyle, and culture. For the first edition, we put over a dozen rapid-fire questions to journalist and Arguably co-founder George Eaton.
What are you working on right now?
I’ve just launched Arguably, a new Substack title focused on progressive ideas and debate. In a hyperactive media age, we’re trying to offer something different.
How is the world different now compared to when you were a child?
It’s the Great Fragmentation: the end of the era of two-party politics, four TV channels, and the top 40 actually meaning something.
What makes you most optimistic about the future?
Those start-up founders and thinkers trying to work out how to harness AI and other innovations for the common good.
What got you interested in politics?
Reading NME when albums from bands like Radiohead and the Manics still resembled mini-manifestos. And stories from my Polish grandparents who lived through the Second World War and came to England to escape Stalinisation.
Does keeping up with ‘the discourse’ matter?
Yes, the posting-to-policy pipeline is real. But swim in it, rather than getting lost in it.
What’s your most active WhatsApp group?
A group of centrist and leftie friends who disagree agreeably.
What’s the best place for a lunch meeting?
I’m fond of Aya & Suki on Broadway Market and Common Ground in Stroud Green.
Whose byline will ensure you always read an article?
The Economist’s Bagehot, or Duncan Robinson, for the combination of political economy, sociology, and reportage.
What’s your favourite podcast?
Not Another One, a podcast with Steve Richards, Miranda Green, Tim Montgomerie, and Iain Martin. They all represent different ideological traditions and I usually learn something new.
What would you serve up for a dinner party?
Korean fried tofu, sticky rice, and sweetheart cabbage. My wife Jen is vegan and introduced me to it.
What was the last film you saw in a cinema?
The Drama with Zendaya and Robert Pattinson at Crouch End Picturehouse, a black comedy that had everyone laughing or cringing.
Which generation has it worst?
Gen X, often overwhelmed by caring responsibilities for children and elderly parents, but also mostly forgotten.
What book are you reading right now?
Adrian Wooldridge’s history and defence of liberalism, Centrists of the World Unite, which distils the past and present into 300-odd pages.
What’s your favourite album?
Radiohead’s OK Computer, an extraordinary work that, nearly 30 years on, still feels as if it was written from the future.
What’s the best emoji?
😎
Which social media site do you spend the most time on?
Bluesky, the best place for crunchy policy debates.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
My first editor at the New Statesman, Jason Cowley, always encouraged me to put in as many calls as possible, however strong your premise. That proved invaluable.
How does change happen?
When the ideas lying around match the political needs of the moment.
George Eaton is editor-in-chief and co-founder of Arguably He previously spent 17 years at the New Statesman. You can find him on X and Bluesky.
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