Who wins? You Decide.

Guten Tag!

I’d like to start this week’s blog by thanking you for reading it. Whether it is the comedy of winding up a troll called ‘Michelle Ben’ or the more serious topics including self harm and coping with bi-polar, your feedback has been constructive and supportive; so please keep it coming here or on my twitter. Last week, I explored whether seeing the consequences of violence through visits to places like a concentration camp or the site of the Twin Towers, could actually re-sensitise people and deter them from the violence of war or gang crime or school shootings.

This week we ask for something more jovial.

I am proud (ish) to co-produce and co-present a radio-style podcast called Off The Radar. Originally the show started as a comedy chat between friends discussing some of the interesting bits of news which was not important enough to be covered by the mainstream media; in essence it was news that fell Off the Radar. Over the past three years the show has evolved and includes comedy, stupidity and serious political debate. Recently we have been discussing the campaign of the major political parties in the run-up to this year’s General Election and trying to engage more of our generation in politics and in the election of who runs their country. In the last General Election only 44% of our age group (18-25) voted. I honestly think that a podcast like ours can help engage the 18-30 age group into at least caring who is elected.

Personally I am not a fan of TOWIE and Geordie Shore (The Party Party) or I’m a Celebrity The Voice The X Factor Britain’s Got Talent Get Me Out of Here but the ratings prove these reality shows (and in some cases I use the word reality rather loosely) are extremely popular with our target age group. So why is the biggest ‘reality’ event not engaging the public in the same way?

With only a month to go, are parties focusing on the majority of the public who are an aging population who might be thinking more of the NHS, immigration and their retirement than perhaps our target group is?

What are the factors that are important to anyone under the age of 30? NHS? Continuing to increase the tax-free income allowance? Benefits? Education? Issues around housing?

I would love for you to listen to our podcast where in-between some stupidity, rude language and comedy is some interesting political debate. For example, in a recent episode we all took an online test to see who’s policies match our opinion. Generally I would consider myself a conservative, although only because I have less faith in the other parties, but according to the online test my opinions are a much better match for the Liberal Democrats than anyone else. This, however, creates another problem; Do I vote for the Tories when I actually prefer the idea of Tories in a coalition to a Tory majority? Does that mean I should then vote for Lib Dem but given the current polls is that just a waste of a vote or will their percentage be the key piece in the Westminster jigsaw? And if that does give them the power of completing a coalition could we end up with another 4 years of Tory/Lib Dems (which is my preference as it is the lesser of all evils) or would they side with Labour and SNP?

With sport, strategy is key and with reality TV so is the personality of the person.  I am proud of the debates we have each episode as each of us offers a different political background yet unified in our confusion as to where our vote should go.

Unlike all those reality shows, your vote really does matter and really could make the difference between a Tory/UKIP sandwich or a Labour/SNP Panini.

 After all; who wins?: You Decide.

You can listen to all the episodes and watch our live episodes of the Off The Radar on our Facebook page but please be warned – it is in some places silly, rude and crude.

The deadline to register to vote is 20^th April 2015:   https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

Off the Radar - Snyders of Hannover by Offtheradarpodcast on Mixcloud