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Alas Vine & Hitchens

Alas Vine & Hitchens

Written by: Daily Mail
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What's the Big Idea? Finally, Sarah Vine (once memorably described as being ‘like and loathed in equal measure, divisive, but never indecisive’) and Peter Hitchens (a man whose writing a critic was called to compare to a Guardsman’s boot: ‘as highly polished and potentially lethal’) meet once a week to look at the world and mutter, alas… Acclaimed columnist and journalist Sarah Vine and best-selling author and broadcaster Peter Hitchens discuss and dissect social, economic, and pop cultural flotsam and jetsam that have risen out of the dark waters of that week’s news.


Taking one big idea each episode and pulling it apart with élan, imagine Vine and Hitchens respective columns brought to life and then skewered, scoffed at, debated, and given the full weight of Vine and Hitchens impenetrable gaze. Though an accord might not always be reached, it’s the journey that matters.


Whether it’s the tech bros gone rogue – Meta tearing up its own rule book on fact checking, Musk attempting to influence governmental policy, or the knotty subject on society’s ever-increasing reliance on anti-depressants to treat what might just be the modern malaise and not depression at all. Or, evil, nature or nurture? Does evil actually exist or is it an idea that hangs over us, or do we just sometime embody it and the actions themselves are evil, not the individual? All this and more are to be pored over, one towering topic each week discussed with humour, insight, and real understanding.

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

Daily Mail Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Voting for Beginners and the End of the PM

    Voting for Beginners and the End of the PM
    May 13 2026

    On this week’s episode, Peter will be telling us why first past the post is a much more preferable voting model to proportional representation. And sticking with the electorate, Sarah will be asking if there should be a general election if Keir Starmer finally falls on his sword.

    And the pair pore over our latest mailbag to answer listener questions on the ‘sovereign’ bases in Cyprus, go back and forth on the latest report on the October 7th attacks. Why has the city of Coventry gone to wrack and ruin since Peter left and do either enjoy the cut and thrust of social media? Peter, you may be surprised to find, is all for it.


    On our reading and watch list this week:

    · In The Wet – Nevil Shute

    · Lost Coventry – David McGrory

    · 10/7: 100 Human Stories – Lee Yaron


    Please do get in touch, email: Alas@dailymail.co.uk you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on Whatsapp – on 07796 657512, start your message with the word ‘alas’.

    Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter Hitchens

    Producer: Philip Wilding

    Editor: Chelsey Moore

    Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

    Executive Producer: Jamie East

    A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular

    To get in touch email alas@mailonline.co.uk, you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on WhatsApp - on 07796 657512 start your message with the word 'alas'


    Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter Hitchens

    Producer: Phillip Wilding

    Editor: Chelsey Moore

    Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

    Executive Producer: Jamie East


    A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    41 mins
  • 2000 Days of Lucy Letby and the Badenoch Bounce

    2000 Days of Lucy Letby and the Badenoch Bounce
    May 6 2026

    On this week’s episode, Peter would like to know why Lucy Letby has been in prison for 2,000 days while there is still little to no evidence against her. And Sarah – struggling valiantly with bronchitis - will be telling you why she was right about Kemi Badenoch all along.

    And the pair pore over our latest mailbag to ask whatever happened to civilised political debate and can it possibly ever return? Peter doesn’t hold back on his thoughts on Tom Holland’ s Dominion, we hear from a honeymooning listener who’s been traversing Japan by train while listening to Alas… And King Charles II gets a mention, no surprises there.


    On our reading and watch list this week:

    · Short Breaks in Mordor: Dawns and Departures of a Scribbler's Life – Peter Hitchens

    · Blue Ambition: The Unauthorised Biography of Kemi Badenoch - Lord Ashcroft

    · Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind - Tom Holland


    Please do get in touch, email: Alas@dailymail.co.uk you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on Whatsapp – on 07796 657512, start your message with the word ‘alas’.

    Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter Hitchens

    Producer: Philip Wilding

    Editor: Chelsey Moore

    Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

    Executive Producer: Jamie East

    A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular

    To get in touch email alas@mailonline.co.uk, you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on WhatsApp - on 07796 657512 start your message with the word 'alas'


    Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter Hitchens

    Producer: Phillip Wilding

    Editor: Chelsey Moore

    Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

    Executive Producer: Jamie East


    A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    32 mins
  • The Recurring Assassin and Falkland Sovereignty

    The Recurring Assassin and Falkland Sovereignty
    Apr 29 2026

    On this week’s episode, Peter would like to talk about the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, and the time his dad moved a gun across the island, while Sarah wants to talk about yet another attempt on Trump’s life and why security for MPs is so lax in the UK.


    And the pair pore over our latest mailbag to ask has the Starmer Project corrupted Labour? The latest update on Peter’s long-awaited book about the car (don’t hold your breath), what do the pair really think of psychology? And a teacher writes from Spain to tell us how the changing of the clocks is dumbing down her pupils.


    On our reading and watch list this week:

    · The Wizard Of The Kremlin – Giuliano da Empoli

    · Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good – James Davies

    · The Truth About the Drug Companies: How they deceive us and what to do about it - Marcia Angell


    Please do get in touch, email: Alas@dailymail.co.uk you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on Whatsapp – on 07796 657512, start your message with the word ‘alas’.

    Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter Hitchens

    Producer: Philip Wilding

    Editor: Chelsey Moore

    Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

    Executive Producer: Jamie East

    A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular


    To get in touch email alas@mailonline.co.uk, you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on WhatsApp - on 07796 657512 start your message with the word 'alas'


    Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter Hitchens

    Producer: Phillip Wilding

    Editor: Chelsey Moore

    Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

    Executive Producer: Jamie East


    A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    43 mins
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