The first cut on this record has been cross-format focused for Airplay success.

The men beat on their drums. I'm going to be. I'm going to

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and Hello and welcome to Politics Theory Other. My name is Alex Doherty and today I'll be talking with

David Edgerton about British declineism, the way declinist narratives structure

our understanding of modern British history, and the political uses to which declineism has been put,

both on the left and the right. You can listen to PTO on iTunes, ACAST and SoundCloud,

and you can also follow the show on Facebook and Twitter. The handle is at poll theory other.

And if you enjoy the show, please consider rating or reviewing it on iTunes.

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You can find a Patreon page at patreon.com forward slash poll theory other.

Before we get to today's interview with David,

here's a brief snippet from the latest episode of Red Hacks,

a series of conversations with leading journalists on doing journalism in a near liberal world,

presented by Joanna Romero. In the latest episode, which will be out later in the week, Joanna interviewed

George Eaton, deputy editor of the new statesman. I'd always been quite disappointed while I was at university that British politics seemed so dull by comparison with previous decades and with other European countries. And it felt very dull

because in 2005, particularly that election, you had Labour and the Conservative both stand

on manifestos that were not far apart in terms of policy. And it felt like the parameters

of the debate were very narrow. That then started to change, of course, with the 2008 financial crisis.

...