James Bloodworth is an author and political journalist. A former editor of the blog Left Foot Forward, James’ work has appeared in The Guardian, The Spectator, the New Statesman and The Wall Street Journal. Author of ‘The Myth of Meritocracy’ and ‘Hired: Six Months Undercover in Low Wage Britain’, his work was long-listed for the 2019 Orwell Prize. In this in-depth interview, James discusses his experience going undercover in the low wage economy for his book ‘Hired’ – and why a number of his discoveries, including Amazon workers urinating in coke bottles, made international news; reflects on his political journey, from Trotskyism and ultimately moving to the progressive centre-left – recently reserving his most strident criticism for his former far-left colleagues; and shares the plans for his next book which tracks how people become “radicalised into the manosphere” – arguing the growth of toxic masculinity and how our shared complacency ignores a very real threat.