All human life is here. Dogma, closed minds, modern slavery, net zero and why Peter will never enter the House of Lords - though he will take tea there – and why you’ll never find letters after his name.  Sarah asks why Labour are pushing for a new deal with China at the risk of human rights violation and why did Margaret Thatcher think you could drive the 5 plus miles from Downing Street to Dulwich – turns out, outriders on motorbikes help.  And both wonder when did the honours system become such an ‘inverted pyramid of piffle’? Word for word. On our reading list this week:  ·      HMS Ulysses – Alistair MacLean ·      The Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher: From Grocer’s Daughter to Iron Lady – John Campbell ·      The People’s Trilogy - Frank Dikötter 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’.   Take our show survey at: https://ex-plorsurvey.com/survey/selfserve/550/g517/250305?list=9   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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To paraphrase Edwin Starr; work, what is it good for, absolutely nothing… At least according to Gen Z.  Reports suggest that a whole generation might be ready to give up work, which, coincidentally, is how Peter felt every day as a younger man when he was mucking out pigs on the farm, while Sarah’s eighteen-hour days in Hobbs only finally relented when she found herself talking to a drunken sub editor in a pub who was baffled by his new mac at work, just as Sarah had learnt how to use one… Elsewhere, we take to the seas as Peter asks why our submariners are spending over 200 days underwater at a time and why do we cling to the notion that we need a cold war superweapon like the atomic bomb and what really happens when you try to launch a Trident missile at sea? Nothing good, apparently. And what tests do you have to pass if, God forbid, you have to stand in for the PM one day?  On our reading list this week:  ·      Simple Subs Book – Leslie Sellers ·      The Silent Deep: The Royal Navy Submarine Service Since 1945 – James Jinks & Peter Hennessy ·      The Hunt For Red October - Tom Clancy 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: Philip Wilding Editor: Chelsey Moore Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East   A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lockdown saw Peter Hitchens riding through Hyde Park in a Polish gas mask hissing the word ‘virus’ at strangers. Sarah Vine spent hers in Waitrose checking produce until an outraged fellow shopper saw her return over ripe veg to the shelves and accuse her of spreading ‘covid tomatoes!’. Whatever they are. Both struggled with lockdown – especially as Sarah was sharing a home with Michael Gove, who was very much behind his Party’s policy to close things down – but, five years later, what did they make of the seismic period when Britain turned out the lights? Also, Peter asks why the hell can’t the west stay out of other country’s business, unless those despots or dictators can make life easier for us? It’s enough to make cynics of us all. On our reading list this week:  ·      Lockdown Secrets – Eleanor Tattersfield ·      Catch Your Breath – Ed Patrick ·      The Great War For Civilisation – Robert Fisk 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: Philip Wilding Editor: Chelsey Moore Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini Executive Producer: Jamie East   A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices