Failed State: Inside Britain’s Governance Crisis | Sam Freedman

Hidden Forces

Demetri Kofinas

Government, Business

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 7 August 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Episode 433 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Sam Freedman, a former senior policy advisor in the UK's Department for Education, political analyst, and the author of "Failed State," a timely exploration of the deep-rooted dysfunction within British governance and how to fix it.

In their conversation, Sam Freedman examines the origins and nature of the current crisis, focusing on issues such as extreme centralization, the dominance of executive power, and the corrosive impact of modern media dynamics on politics and policymaking. He also takes listeners through several critical turning points in recent British political history, explaining how the solutions to past crises have, paradoxically, laid the groundwork for today's dysfunction.

The episode ends with an exploration of Sam’s proposed radical institutional reforms, why incremental solutions are insufficient, and how these issues compare to those facing the United States and other western democracies. The two discuss decentralization, the strengthening of parliamentary scrutiny, civil service reform, and the complex interplay between governance, media influence, and public trust in political institutions.

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Episode Recorded on 07/31/2025

Transcript

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0:00.0	What's up, everybody? My name is Demetri Gaffinus, and you're listening to Hidden Forces,
0:06.1	a podcast that inspires investors, entrepreneurs, and everyday citizens to challenge consensus
0:12.8	narratives and learn how to think critically about the systems of power shaping our world.
0:18.6	My guest in this episode of Hidden Forces is Sam Friedman, a former
0:22.3	senior policy advisor in the UK's Department for Education, a political analyst, and the author
0:28.0	of Failed State, a timely exploration of the deep-rooted dysfunction within British governance
0:33.8	and how to fix it. Sam and I examine the origins and nature of the current crisis
0:39.8	that he identifies, focusing on issues such as extreme centralization, the dominance of executive
0:45.0	power, and the corrosive impact of modern media dynamics on politics and policymaking.
0:51.2	He also takes us through several critical turning points in recent British political
0:55.0	history, explaining how the solutions to past crises have, paradoxically, laid the groundwork
1:00.7	for today's dysfunction. The episode ends with an exploration of Sam's proposed radical
1:06.3	institutional reforms, why incremental solutions are insufficient, and how these issues compare
1:11.9	to those facing the United States and other Western democracies.
1:15.8	We discussed decentralization, the strengthening of parliamentary scrutiny, civil service
1:20.9	reform, and the complex interplay between governance, media influence, and public trust
1:26.4	in political institutions.
1:28.3	If you want access to the transcripts and intelligence reports for this and other episodes,
1:33.3	which includes summary sections with key takeaways, you can access those by subscribing
1:37.3	to our supernerd tier at hiddenforces.io slash subscribe.
1:42.3	If you want to join in on the conversation and become a member of the Hidden Forces genius community,
1:47.7	which includes Q&A calls with guests, discounted access to third-party research and analysis,
	...

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