Episode 014

In the 1970s, Britain was in a deep political and economic crisis: a class struggle was raging, a Labour government clung to power and a resurgent right led by Margaret Thatcher wrestled for the reins. The now noble Lord Dobbs, then plain Michael, was at the center of the maelstrom. When it was all over and Dobbs had been discarded by the Iron Lady, he wrote the House of Cards, now an award winning US TV series with a clutch of Emmys and Golden Globes. Sputnik went to the heart of the British establishment, to speak to the creator of this bleak but all too plausible novel…

And since 1970, Sir Gerald Kaufman PC has been a British Labour MP and is generally acknowledged as the best foreign secretary Britain never had. He talks about his relatives who were murdered in the Holocaust and how as a child he grew up an ardent supporter of the state of Israel. Now, he is the clearest most authoritative voice calling for international sanctions against Israel and justice for those who live in a sea of misery on the Gaza Strip.