Hello and welcome to rock and roll politics, the podcast with me, Steve Richards.

Thank you very much for tuning in.

This is part one of our two-parter each week.

And as ever, we've got so much to cram in in our time together. If it's okay, and hopefully,

briefly, I will reflect on a couple of themes. The furority over the Epstein revelations that continue to

erupt with, I think, limited political lessons. And a brief thought on this fascinating

by-election that is being fought out with great intensity and with great speed. And it is so

interesting in terms of how it reflects the kind of changing political landscape and the

calculations voters have to make in a way that I think will also apply to the UK-wide general election in about 25 years' time.

There are so many references to it, you know, with opinion polls every week about the...

Anyway, and I'm going to fall into the trap by referring to it.

And then we go to some brilliant, brilliant emails from all of you.

There are so many. I'm going to try

and get in as many as possible, and they are all connected to themes erupting around us at the

moment, but delve a little deeper than any equivalent podcast. We in the Cooperative Delve Deep.

Just before all of that, a reminder that the first live show

of the year is on February the 11th, Wednesday week, depending on when you're listening to this

podcast. It may be in just a few days' time if you're listening to it a bit later on in the week.

But so much has happened since the last show.

I always say it will be a brand new show.

And I said that at the end of the last one in December,

our Christmas special at King's Place,

...