#139 - Tom Ough & Calum Drysdale - How Britain Forgot How To Build And Why The Consequences Are Coming

Tom Ough is Senior Editor at UnHerd and author of The Anti-Catastrophe League. Calum Drysdale is an engineer and writer. Together they host Anglofuturism — a podcast exploring ambitious, outlandish, and remarkably achievable ideas to revitalise Britain from their thatched space station. Robert Jenrick declared himself an Anglofuturist at a 2025 conference. Curtis Yarvin has appeared on their show.

In this conversation, we think out loud about:

— What Anglofuturism actually is — and whether the Britain it imagines is one that also knows who built it and why it matters
— Whether you can be an Anglofuturist without being a cultural conservative — and whether material renewal without cultural renewal is just efficiency
— Whether Britain can become Europe's energy powerhouse — offshore wind, Rolls-Royce SMRs, North Sea oil, battery storage — without paving over the green and pleasant land
— Whether population growth is necessary for prosperity — or whether a high-tech, high-skill country can stabilise its population and still thrive
— Why the technocratic class that would need to deliver the Anglofuturist future is the same class that produced the decline — and whether it can be removed
— The demographic question that Anglofuturism cannot avoid — and what "a future that feels like home" requires
— Whether beauty is a non-negotiable — and who decides what beautiful means when the institutions that once knew have been captured
— What the ordinary Briton, the CEO, and the Prime Minister should each do on Monday morning

Find Anglofuturism:
Substack: anglofuturism.substack.com
YouTube: youtube.com/@anglofuturism
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/0PxQEO62ESL7DYmZHLgQID

Related episodes you might enjoy:
— Pierre d'Alancaisez — The Custodians Of Beauty Became Its Gravediggers: https://youtu.be/KXn2z3mfCDk
— William Clouston — Why British Politics Governs Against The National Interest: https://youtu.be/Rm2Qp-1qnJw
— Michael Lind — Why America & Britain Keep Betraying Their Working Class: https://youtu.be/YN212csIsvU
— Jonathan Rose — What The British Working Class Lost And Who Is Responsible: https://youtu.be/OKHcEo2QrJg
— Lord Tony Sewell — Life At The Bottom In Broken Britain: https://youtu.be/WKf26_Va_yM

The Call of England - a documentary series retracing a 1927 journey through England to discover what remains of the national inheritance:

• Watch Episode 1 here: https://youtu.be/muBQWIP6ZQQ
• Watch Episode 2 here: https://youtu.be/jbVZfSR3ZF4

Thinking Class is a long-form interview podcast on the cultural, historical and civilisational forces shaping England, Britain, the Anglosphere and the wider West. Hosted by John Gillam.

▶ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThinkingClass
✍ Substack: https://thinkingclass.substack.com
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/37vvzrlxpo8eORDoTDRtbH
🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/thinking-class/id1717021615
🐦 X: https://x.com/thinkingclasses

New episodes every Thursday at 3pm.