Steve - @guitarmoog - and Chris - @ottocrat - investigate cakeism: the philosophy of having your cake and eating it, as preached and practised by the British government in its approach to Brexit. Each week, we explore the latest developments as we head towards Brexit and spend time wading through the weeds from the perspective of two long-standing Brussels and UK government insiders. Our aim: to inform you, our listeners, about EU realities and so, hopefully, to equip you to spot lies and to…
Shaky having long lost our podcast legs, Steve and Chris give in to temptation and return with a one-off ten-year anniversary special to mark a decade since that benighted referendum and the world of pain that followed. Recorded on 9 June 2026, for release on the anniversary of the Brexit referendum (23 June), Chris and Steve catch up on each others' lives since they last recorded the Cakewatch…
Steve is back, but as a guest, and joined by Ian Dunt to reflect on what makes a liberal, how to win the culture war, and whether we remember anything from our undergraduate days. Swearing. Buy Ian Dunt's new book, How To Be A Liberal, from Canbury Press. Audio clips from Patrick Tull's reading of Treason's Harbour by Patrick O'Brian Special Guests: Ian Dunt and Steve Bullock.
Chris and Garvan Walshe catch up on how they handled lockdown, what to expect next, and what has changed since they last recorded the podcast together, in November 2018. Just as it did two years ago, the Northern Ireland backstop features heavily in Lie of the Week. Also, will the Conservative Party have the good sense to ditch its current leader? Special Guest: Garvan Walshe.
Alviina Alametsä is a Green Party MEP from Finland. She took up her seat only in February 2020, after it was vacated by a departing UK MEP. Cakewatch likes to think that she took one previously occupied by a Faragist. Alviina's particular policy interests are public mental health and conflict resolution, so who better to talk about tackling the Brexit aftermath? Alviina draws on her own experience…
Trade expert David Henig joins the podcast again for our first survey of the post B-day wreckage. With the EU and the UK apparently offering different visions of their future relationship, which one is the more realistic? Hahaha no seriously, which? Special Guest: David Henig.
For our final podcast before Brexit, we're joined again by Tanja Bueltmann to talk about coping strategies, Steve's album of ambient prozac, and the ongoing work to support EU citizens in the UK as they face mounting hostility and an unforgiving bureaucracy. You can get Steve's album here, and become an EU Citizens' Champion . We're dedicating this episode to the memory of our friend and colleague…
The aftermath. Rather than wallow in despair we look back on a fight well fought, and the friends that have joined us on the podcast. We also reflect a little bit on what the future will bring. It's not pretty, so we need to find strategies to help us through the dark times ahead. Thank you to all our guests who have helped us out on the podcast over the last 67 episodes: Alyn Smith Andy of…
We cut to the chase. Nothing is more important than this. On Thursday, vote for the candidate most likely to beat Boris Johnson. Because if you don't, if he wins, our country will become unrecognisable. This will be the defining battle of our culture war.
Brexit flowchart hero and EU Twitter legend Jon Worth joins Chris this week to take a deeper dive into tactical voting in the UK's general election - where is a tactical vote needed, how to work out where a tactical vote should go, and what might happen? All in the service of depriving Boris Johnson of a working majority and so keeping our hopes of remaining in the EU alive. Jon and Chris also…
Steve studied moral philosophy. (So did Chris but he doesn't get a word in edgeways.) We look at the ethics of tactical voting in the 2019 general election, and why you should hold your nose and vote for a candidate from a party you might not endorse as a party of government. Not just because you want to Remain in the EU, but also because you want to avert a catastrophic Johnson majority and…