meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Political Currency

EMQs: Will the AI bubble burst?

Political Currency

Persephonica

Money, Politics, Economy, News, Ed Balls, Business, George Osborne, Westminster

4.11.5K Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2026

⏱️ 34 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On the heels of the AI Impact Summit, former advisor to Nick Clegg and author Verity Harding asks how Ed Balls and George Osborne’s experiences of the dot com bubble and rise of social media can inform the current government’s approach to AI. They also discuss whether AI is heading for its own Dot Com crash.


And, what’s in a Department Name? More than you’d think apparently. The pair get surprisingly passionate about the joys of a government department rebrand - reminiscing on the coalitions unpicking of the Whitehall reorganisation done by New Labour. Ed is still bitterly disappointed at the abandonment of the DCSF.


And, turning to the appointment of Antonia Romeo as Cabinet Secretary - and the wave of misogynistic commentary that followed - Ed and George ask, given her obvious qualifications, why didn’t Keir Starmer appoint her sooner? 


Finally, former civil servant Tamara Finkelstein asks why investment into UK deep tech startups is so lacking, and what can be done to close the gap with the US? Ed and George pose a challenge to the government to address this issue sooner rather than later.


We love hearing from you, so please don’t forget to send all your EMQs to questions@politicalcurrency and make sure to include a voice note of your question.


Thanks for listening. To get episodes early and ad- free join Political Currency Gold or our Kitchen Cabinet. If you want even more perks including our exclusive newsletter, join our Kitchen Cabinet today:


👉 patreon.com/politicalcurrency

👉 Apple Podcasts


Please note: Kitchen Cabinet is only available via Patreon.


Credits:


Research: Sam Burton

Production: Caillin McDaid, Caitlin Hanrahan & Eve Jones 

Video Editor: Avi Asher

Executive Producer: Ellie Clifford


Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

The Chancellor of the Exchequer.

0:02.0

Getting a lesson from the Shadow Chancellor in how to balance the books,

0:05.0

it's like getting a lesson from Dracula and how to look after a blood pack.

0:08.0

Ed Balls.

0:10.0

As steady as she goes, budget.

0:13.0

What kind of ship does he think he's on, the Titanic?

0:16.0

Themary Celeste.

0:17.0

Welcome to EMQs from Political Currency

0:20.0

with Ed Balls and George Osborne.

0:27.4

So hello and welcome to EMQ's ex-minister's questions.

0:30.9

This is the first time back in our studio since we won our political podcast of the year award.

0:38.0

I finally...

0:38.5

Did we win?

0:39.2

We did, actually.

0:39.9

Oh, good.

0:40.3

I actually also brought into the studio to go on to our mantle piece here,

0:44.8

Ellie Clifford's Political Producer of the Year award as well.

0:50.0

So that's also very exciting.

0:51.6

Where's mine?

0:52.7

I forgot to bring the trophy in. Did you? Yes. Anyway, I've got it at home. In that case, look, we'll look forward to getting it in May then. Yeah. Now, look, we have got, on the table in front of us, we've got all sorts of treats in boxes. And these all come from our friends at Amazon. I think you've heard of them.

1:12.1

OMG congrats, it says. And we've got a little card here with a big love heart on it. And it goes,

1:17.8

Dear Dino, he's the founder of Percivonica, our production company. Ellie, our producer of the year,

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Persephonica, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Persephonica and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.