On: The Dacre dynasty: how Britain’s rightwing press was radicalised - podcast

August 11, 2026

The afternoon sun slants through the study window, catching motes of dust above the samovar that hasn’t been polished in weeks. Someone was speaking loudly on the wireless about newspapers and radicalization - words that sound important but mean nothing, like a doctor describing symptoms while refusing to diagnose the disease.

Downstairs, the cook argues with the grocer’s boy about the price of onions. Their voices rise and fall, punctuated by the thump of parcels dropped on the kitchen table. It occurs to me that anger, too, is a commodity - carefully weighed, packaged, and sold at a premium to those who can’t afford anything else.

The neighbor’s dog barks three times, then stops. A carriage passes in the street, its wheels crunching gravel in the exact rhythm of a man tapping his fingers while waiting for someone to agree with him.

I pour another cup of tea. It has gone cold.