Daily: PUPPET MASTERS, LOST GOLDEN AGES – The myths that hold Labour back, with Nick Cohen

<p>Your opponents are lower than vermin. Politics is a righteous battle of absolute good against absolute evil. A secret cabal controls everything. And only a return to a past Eden can solve our problems. Why do these simplistic myths grip the Left so strongly, and can Labour ever free itself from them? Nick Cohen talks to <strong>Chris Clarke</strong>, author of <em>The Dark Knight And The Puppet Master</em>, about these fantasies of hidden power and betrayal are not just a Corbynist trait, how they lead Labour zealots to look for traitors not converts, and what the paranoid style on the Left shares with the populist far Right.&nbsp;</p><ul><li><em>“The Dark Knight myth stops you understanding other people. The Puppet Master myth stops you understanding power. And the Golden Age myth stops you understanding change.”</em></li><li><em>“Both right- and left-wing populists depend on these myths of golden ages and puppet masters.”</em></li><li><em>“The idea of a glorious socialist past of banners and brass bands that was usurped by evil men in shiny suits is just not true.”&nbsp;</em></li><li><em>“When you talk about never kissing a Tory, you’re writing off huge swathes of the voters you need.”</em></li></ul><p><em>Presented by Nick Cohen. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. </em><strong><em>THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production</em></strong></p> &#10;&nbsp;<br /><hr><p style='color: grey; font - size: 0.75em; '>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>