HeyJaredReality Check
Reality Check cuts through the spin and explains the numbers behind the noise. In each episode, The Spectator’s economics editor Michael Simmons and in-the-know guests will make a data-driven case on a story hogging the headlines. Hosted on Acast.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 13
- Latest publication
- Sep 16, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 4, 2026
Latest episodes
The AI apocalypse is just good marketing (opens the original)
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Some whistleblowers from the AI industry claim there is a more than 10% chance that artificial intelligence could wipe out humanity within a few years. A group of mostly Labour MPs has written to Andy Burnham calling for action on existential AI risk, while conceding there is little the British government can do about it alone. Michael Simmons speaks to John Power about the incentives behind the warnings, whether AI can realistically be regulated and why more mundane harms, from AI-written compl
LIVE | Wealth tax debate: Arthur Laffer vs Aaron Bastani (opens the original)
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Arthur Laffer, the economist, former adviser to Ronald Reagan and architect of the Laffer Curve, goes head-to-head with journalist and left-wing author Aaron Bastani over one question: should Britain introduce a wealth tax? Chaired by The Spectator’s economics editor and host of the Reality Check podcast, Michael Simmons, they debate whether a wealth tax could raise significant revenue, or simply drive wealth and investment out of the UK. Spectator subscribers can watch the full debate at spect
Budget 2026: who is left to tax? (opens the original)
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With two months to go until Andy Burnham and John Healey’s first Budget, speculation about tax rises is already beginning. But how much should we believe? Michael Simmons looks at five facts about Britain’s tax system that should shape the debate – from a tax burden heading towards post-war highs to the surprising reality that taxes on the average worker remain relatively low. And with the wealthy already heavily squeezed, is there really anyone left to tax? This episode is brought to you by Art
The ADHD boom: are we medicalising normal behaviour? (opens the original)
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The backlash to Channel 4’s The Great ADHD Myth has reignited a fierce debate over how we diagnose ADHD – and whether that debate itself is becoming impossible to have. Michael Simmons looks at the extraordinary rise in diagnoses, the gap between recorded cases and underlying prevalence, and asks whether we are increasingly medicalising normal variations in behaviour. Is Britain finally recognising a vast amount of unmet need – or has diagnosis begun to serve a social as well as a medical functi
Heatwave: the truth about Britain’s water crisis – and what it means for net zero (opens the original)
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Britain is in the grip of another hot, dry summer, with hosepipe bans in force and fears growing about the country’s water supply. But are we really running out of water? Michael Simmons is joined by Reality Check reporter John Power to explain what is actually behind the shortages, whether Britain needs more reservoirs and why nationalising the water companies may not be the answer. They also ask what the drought tells us about the future of net zero – and how Britain should adapt to a changing
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