'It's been a whirlwind': Zack Polanski on storytelling, Zionism and Zackonomics
Political Thinking with Nick Robinson
BBC
4.6 • 2.5K Ratings
🗓️ 20 March 2026
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Few people have done more to shape politics in recent months than the Green Party Leader in England and Wales, Zack Polanski. In his Political Thinking debut, he tells Nick Robinson about his 'whirlwind' journey since becoming leader, saying that becoming PM is now 'in his mind' . He talks about his upbringing and Jewish identity and why he has now become a prominent critic of Israel. He explains his strong opposition to the war in Iran. He describes his plans to transform the capitalist model with a revolution based on 'Zackonomics'. And, asked about his earlier career as a hypnotherapist, he admits to 'cringing' when reminded that he once participated in a trial to help a woman increase her breast size.
Producers: Leela Padmanabhan and Flora Murray Editor: GIles Edwards
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | On Newscast, we are not in the business of telling you how to think. |
| 0:11.5 | We get the brightest minds from across the BBC to chat through the biggest stories. |
| 0:16.1 | You should leave feeling smarter about all the bonkers things in the news. |
| 0:19.7 | Listen to newscast every day on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:23.1 | Hello and welcome to political thinking. |
| 0:25.8 | A conversation with and not an interrogation of someone who shapes our political thinking |
| 0:31.1 | about what's shaped theirs. |
| 0:33.6 | Few people have done more in recent months to shape our politics than my guest this week, Zach Polanski. |
| 0:40.3 | He's not just transformed the fortune of the Green Party. He now leads, securing its first ever victory at a Westminster by-election, and going ahead of Labour in some opinion polls. |
| 0:50.5 | He's transformed the Greens' outlook, too. |
| 0:53.8 | Polansky speaks of himself, not just as a green, but as a socialist, determined to dismantle |
| 0:59.2 | the structures. He says, proper wealth and power. It's a long way from the views he once had |
| 1:05.1 | as an activist for the Liberal Democrats, after they'd joined the Conservatives in government |
| 1:09.8 | and after they'd imposed austerity |
| 1:12.1 | on the country. He's been on a personal as well as a political journey, brought up in a Jewish |
| 1:18.0 | household. He now leads a party that denounces Israel as a racist state. He's made a huge impact, |
| 1:24.8 | even though he's not, not yet, a member of Parliament. |
| 1:35.3 | Zach Polanski, welcome to political thinking. |
| 1:38.3 | Thank you very much for having me. |
| 1:40.3 | You've only been leader for six months. |
| 1:43.3 | It has been an extraordinary ride. You've gone from being |
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