
What's the Big Idea? Finally, Sarah Vine (once memorably described as being ‘like and loathed in equal measure, divisive, but never indecisive’) and Peter Hitchens (a man whose writing a critic was called to compare to a Guardsman’s boot: ‘as highly polished and potentially lethal’) meet once a week to look at the world and mutter, alas… Acclaimed columnist and journalist Sarah Vine and best-selli... more
| Publishes | Weekly | Episodes | 73 | Founded | 2 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Category | News | |||

On this week’s episode, as the funeral of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei continues, Peter will be looking at the current situation in Iran and then Sarah and Peter will be comparing notes on their Desert Island Discs (Sarah tries unsuccessfull... more
On this week’s episode, Peter would like to know why Labour are taxing some private schools out of business and Sarah is asking if should we even care that Prince Harry might be coming back to the UK?
And the pair pore over our mailbag to chat about... more
On this week’s episode, Sarah speaks candidly about her father’s recent passing, both muse on the brutality of modern politics as Kier Starmer steps down and Peter wonders why some nations crave war.
And the pair pore over our mailbag prompting Pete... more
On this week’s episode, Sarah’s asking is eighty too old to be a world leader or any kind of politician and Peter would like to know why the Thought Police are coming after Janet and John.
And the pair pore over our mailbag to consider why Peter is ... more
People also subscribe to these shows.





Peter Hitchens tells all and sundry that he was once a Trotskyist. That ideological bent, combined with Thought & Word Police Vigilance, remains with Hitchens to this day and notwithstanding his renunciation of Peter the Younger’s Belief Systems. This makes for a despondent listen as incontestably evidenced by the Vine & Hitchens ‘War on Iran’ debate-cum-Hitchens-Purity-Gotcha-and-Gotcha- and-Gotcha. No nuance, no insight, no geopolitics, no Real Politic, just the avowed and incontestable Peter ... more
But could someone tell Sarah Vine that the BBC can’t just sell iPlayer round the world like Netflix due to significant complexities around rights restrictions. People at the BBC aren’t so stupid that they’ve just never thought of that….
Peter Hitchens legend. Doesn’t give a fig, wish there were more like him. Keep saying what is right Peter!
Funny, intelligent and insightful. A wonderful podcast which I hope continues for a long time.
Funny, intelligent and insightful. A wonderful podcast which I hope continues for a long time.
Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.
How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.
Apple Podcasts | #175 | |
Apple Podcasts | #140 |
Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.
Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.
| Listeners per Episode | |
|---|---|
| Gender Skew | |
| Location | |
| Interests | |
| Professions | |
| Age Range | |
| Household Income | |
| Social Media Reach |
Two veteran British commentators dissect big ideas each episode, often tying political, cultural, and social topics to current events and historical context. Exchanges are brisk, provocative, and laced with humor, offering sharp takes on policy, media, technology, and everyday life in the UK. Noteworthy is a willingness to challenge prevailing narratives, mix personal anecdotes with policy critique, and invite readers' letters into the banter. The show frequently features long-form, debate-heavy conversations between the two hosts, delivering a distinctive voice that blends conservative-leaning analysis with candid cultural commentary. This makes it appealing to listeners who enjoy unabashed analysis, crisp debate, and a no-nonsense approac... more
Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for Alas Vine & Hitchens. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to Alas Vine & Hitchens and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.
Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for three million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for Alas Vine & Hitchens, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.
Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for Alas Vine & Hitchens, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.
To see how many followers or subscribers Alas Vine & Hitchens has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.
These podcasts share a similar audience with Alas Vine & Hitchens:
1. Planet Normal
2. The Daily T
3. Quite right!
4. The Sceptic
5. The spiked podcast
Alas Vine & Hitchens launched 2 years ago and published 73 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.
Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for Alas Vine & Hitchens from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.
View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.
Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of Alas Vine & Hitchens. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.
Recent guests on Alas Vine & Hitchens include:
1. Nadine Dorries
2. Angela Rayner
3. Keir Starmer
4. Jacob Rees-Mogg
5. John Lee
6. Kelly Seaton
7. Peter Hitchens
8. Katie Hind
To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.