In this PPF+ bonus episode David talks to Nic Cheeseman about the idea of guaranteeing female representation in parliament. Where does it already happen? How does it work? What difference does it make? And what about all the other groups and identities that might want guaranteed representation too – should everyone get a parliament that has someone like them in it? Or would that make things even worse?

In this PPF+ bonus episode David talks to Hannah White, Director of the Institute for Government, about the changes that could improve the quality of political decision-making. Does the problem lie with politicians or bureaucrats? How could expertise be better deployed in government? What makes long-term thinking so hard? And where to start in reforming the system?

David and Lea explore what dignity has come to mean in the political and social media landscape of the 21st century. Can we recover the true meaning of the foundational idea of the UN that ‘all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and in rights’? How does dignity get enshrined in a constitution and why does it keep going wrong? When does caring about your dignity end up destroying it?

Today’s bonus episode is part 2 of David’s conversation with journalist and historian Fintan O’Toole about the trials that followed the 1916 Easter Rising. Who was Sir Roger Casement and why was his case treated so differently? How did it become both one of the great dramas and one of the great scandals of the age? What was the part played by George Bernard Shaw? And what is the legacy of all these events today?

Today’s bonus episode is the second part of David’s conversation with Robert Saunders on the anniversary of Britain’s lowest-ever recorded rate of peacetime unemployment. How has the politics of work got mixed up with the politics of immigration? Do we know what counts as a job anymore? Is there such a thing as the dignity of labour in the 21st century? Plus: how should we draw the line between unemployment and disability?

Today’s bonus episode on PPF+ is the second part of David’s conversation with Alexander Douglas in which they discuss how the ideas of the French philosopher Rene Girard got taken up and corrupted by Silicon Valley. How can we escape endless pursuit of mimetic identity whereby we copy others in our desire to be ourselves? What is ‘impostor syndrome’? And can a higher power help us escape the self?