We interview the teenager that made Brian Rose 'rage quit'
Plus square burgers, Muppet ballet and Tube cannibals.
A couple of weeks ago we brought you the story that a youth politics podcast had managed to annoy Mayoral candidate and pinstripe fetishist Brian Rose so much that he ended their interview early and then attempted to block the recording being uploaded to YouTube.
The video was finally published and Rose received a relatively woeful 30,000 votes, coming behind a YouTuber whose other achievements include dressing up as a hedge.
We could have left it there, but we were so impressed and cheered by what Politics Relaxed were doing that we got in touch with the founder of the podcast, fifteen-year-old Felix Von der Geest, to ask him what the plan for world domination looks like, who his dream interview would be, and what he thinks about men who drive around London in a bus with their face plastered on the side.
Tell us how Politics Relaxed came about and where your interest in politics comes from.
I started Politics Relaxed around eight or nine months ago. I have always been interested in politics. I think it started in around 2016 during the Trump campaign, and at first seeing it as a joke. From there my fascination grew.
We started during lockdown and I had a small group of people I would regularly debate with on Instagram, and I just decided to record stuff each week. It was only in the last few months we really started to get more professional. We now have a website and around nine dedicated writers. Our panel is a lot more wide-ranging as well, and we have had many fantastic interviews.
Why did you want to interview Brian Rose?
My interest in Brian began when I saw his battle bus. There was something slightly weird about travelling around London in a bus with your face plastered on it. I thought the fact he was so out of touch, yet seemingly oblivious, was interesting plus his personality seems very over the top and I wanted to try and remove that. It was only when I got the interview that I started researching his business dealings.
What's your personal opinion of his campaign?
His campaign was shrouded in controversy from the very beginning. He always seems to be embroiled in some sort of controversy, whether it is being arrested for breaking Covid rules or being questioned over his business practices.
It is evident the campaign has money behind it, he has paid for advertising across YouTube and the country, and in a Mail+ interview he admitted to betting on himself. After Saturday’s results we know the money has not been well spent as Londoners voted resoundingly against him.
You mention at the end of the video that there is more to come on Mr Rose. Can you tell us what you've got coming up?
I have been looking into Brian’s other ventures, but I think it is key as an organisation we are not defined by one interview. I am looking into a short film about the whole experience, but we will have to see.
There's been some debate over the past few years about reducing the voting age to 16, is that something you'd be in favour of?
I think our electoral system definitely needs reform. The voting age does need to be reduced to 16. As someone trying to get young people into politics, the key way would be to give them the chance to partake in our democratic processes. Especially with climate change being such a huge issue, it is vital our young people get a say in their future.
As a fifteen-year-old who's lived in London all his life, what would you say are the main issues that affect you?
I am very lucky not to have to worry about a lot of these issues, but I know there are thousands of young people in London whose parents are struggling to put food on the table. I am extremely worried for young Londoners with the funding cuts to youth services and the sharp increase in knife crime.
The climate emergency is a growing issue in London but I am confident Sadiq Kahn can make London net zero by 2030 as he has pledged.
For me personally I think it is the mental health crisis. My mum is a psychiatrist working in the NHS and I see it with many around me, our young people are more stressed, anxious and sad than ever before. There are a plethora of issues in London that urgently need solving for young people and I hope our politicians look to address them.
What would you ask Sadiq Khan if you had the chance to interview him?
That is a really hard question. I would have to ask him why so many kids are being killed on the streets of London after four years of his tenure.
Who is on your dream list of interviewees?
Anyone from this current cabinet, or Keir Starmer for sure.
What would you say to other young people in London if they wanted to learn more about politics or get involved in political issues?
There are so many things you can do! In terms of learning more you can always watch our podcast and follow our website. News sites like TL;DR are really good for short to the point videos to learn. I am always up for a debate on Instagram as well.
In terms of getting involved, you can always register for your favourite party, or another great way is to email your MP, especially when you feel strongly about an issue. A key one for me is use your voice. I’m always posting about politics and it is a great way to encourage (healthy) debate.
We are always happy to have more on our team so please email us. After Covid hopefully we will be allowed back in the Houses of Parliament were you can watch debate, and in London there are always protests going on!
Where can we get more of Politics Relaxed and which episodes should people start with?
We are on YouTube as our main platform, however, I do also upload to other podcasting sites sometimes. I would definitely recommend our interviews (for example: James O’Brien, Vince Cable, Monica Harding) and each week we also talk about the news that week. You can also look at our website for our journalism.
And the rest
Sad news about the Minke whale that was rescued from the Thames on Sunday night. After it was freed from Richmond Lock it became stranded again in Teddington late on Monday morning, and it was put down around 6pm on Monday evening “to end its suffering”.
The City of London Corporation has released “a visualisation” of what the Square Mile’s skyline could look like in the next few years. It includes half-a-dozen towers in the ‘City Cluster’ area (i.e. next to the Walkie-Talkie building). The City of London Corp have said that “These new CGI images clearly illustrate that the City office is here to stay, and the future of the Square Mile remains bright.” We call that the ‘Field of Dreams’ approach to city planning.
Did someone way Walkie-Talkie building? Turns out the building reopened its ‘Sky Garden’ last month, only for police to show up on the day to let them know they were in breach of Covid regulations (what with it being indoors and everything). Apparently there were no fines handed out as managers “had been given misleading information by the council.” Do they not have Google up there?
Maybe the managers at the Sky Garden were just confused due to Managerial Covid Burnout. Yes it’s ‘Dubious PR Survey’ time! This time it’s the turn of “not-for-profit healthcare provider” Benenden Health, who have gone out of their way to show just how poorly we all are, and discovered that “Nearly two thirds of managers in Greater London have experienced burnout at work because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a sixth considering quitting their job as a result”. The survey also ‘revealed’ that Covid makes London’s managers anxious, causes mood swings, plays havoc with their diet and makes them drink more alcohol. Now tell us something we don’t know.
Remember a few weeks ago, when The Standard reported that ‘trial testing’ had begun on Crossrail, and that turned out to be totally wrong? Well, the good news is that trial testing actually started this week. According to the Murky Depths blog “four trains per hour [are] running between Abbey Wood and Paddington,” and we’ve also seen confirmation that life is slowly coming to Crossrail over on Twitter, including from this guy who’s one of the drivers. All together now: Purple Train! Purple Train!
Poor Sadiq Khan. He wins the Mayoral election, skips into his office to start his second term… And finds a tube strike threat waiting for him. This time it’s about a plan to to abolish the Night Tube train drivers’ grade, which essentially means that TFL want to get rid of night-specific staff, and instead just add night shifts to the rota of general drivers. The RMT is saying this will “threaten 200 jobs and disrupt the work-life balance of 3,000 drivers,” while TFL claim that the changes will help them “provide a regular Tube service and create more flexibility for our staff” and that it “will not result in any job losses.”
If you voted for Sadiq then you are either a ‘metrosexual’ or a ‘Corbynite’ according to Melanie McDonagh at the New Statesman. Melanie has penned an editorial about the Tory party’s conspicuous lack of support for Shaun Bailey, comparing it to the backing that “Old Etonian, blond, blue-eyed, Zac Goldsmith” got. And it’s hard to argue with that. Just try not to throw up in your mouth when she describes Zac as “comely”.
Last bit of Sadiq news for today: The Mayor has announced a £6m campaign to give tourism a “shot in the arm” (we’re assuming the pun is intended), and it’s called… Let’s Do London. Despite the fact that it sounds mildly threatening (try saying it in the style of Ray Winstone), Let’s Do London is the “biggest domestic tourism campaign the capital has ever seen” and includes “a programme of one-off events with some of the capital’s best-known cultural institutions” as well as “public art installations” (like the Hockney billboard in Piccadilly Circus we mentioned last week). The campaign is due to kick off properly later this month.
By far the nicest thing to come out of the Let’s Do London campaign so far though, is the revival of this 1931 TFL poster called ‘The West End is Awakening’. There’s a “modernised edition” on display in Zone 1 Tube stations from today.
Get your Allen keys ready, it looks like Ikea might be coming to the West End. Apparently the company is in “advanced talks” to take over the former Topshop store on Oxford Street (currently on the market for £420million), after they passed on the old BHS building.
Also coming to London very soon: Square burgers. Yes, Wendy’s is returning to the capital after almost 20 years, and they’re opening branches in Stratford and (if you believe Hot Dinners) “in a former Barclays branch just a few hundred metres from East Croydon station.”
Steve McQueen’s Small Axe series was one of our favourite cultural moments of last year, so it’s great to see that Sir Steve’s next production will cover three pivotal moments of London history, all from 1981: the New Cross fire, the Brixton ‘riots’ and the Black People's Day of Action in New Cross. More details from the BBC here.
Right now, there is no statue commemorating William Butler Yeats anywhere in the UK. But that might be about to change thanks to the residents of Bedford Park in Chiswick who’ve commissioned a sculpture to be erected in the area. Yeats spent a good deal of his life there, and it’s where he wrote The Lake Isle of Innisfree. The group have launched a crowdfunding appeal to raise £135,000 to cover the cost of the artwork and installation. And, as we write this, they’re already over the £100k mark.
Do you like puppets? What about ballet? Well, you are in luck, because Jim Henson’s masterpiece The Dark Crystal has been transformed into “a new dance work for family audiences” and it’s coming to the Royal Opera House later this year:
Or, if you prefer 70s cult cannibal horror on the London Underground, then set your VHS recorder for Death Line on Talking Pictures TV, Friday at 9:30pm. (Then read this essay from Little White Lies on why the film “is essential viewing in the wake of the recent Grenfell tragedy”.)
