In this episode we hear from Dr Athanassios Gouglas on the subject of special advisors. Dr Gouglas is a politics lecturer at the university of Exeter and you can find out more about his research here: https://politics.exeter.ac.uk/staff/gouglas/ In the coversation we cover why special advisors came into being, the benefits and tensions they produce in the system, and more! Dr Gouglas kindly supplied the following reading suggestions for those keen to go deeper into the topic: United Kingdom Blick, A. (2004). People who live in the dark. The history of the special adviser in British politics. London : Politico's, 2004.Yong, B. & Hazell, R. (2014). Special Advisers: Who they are, what they do and why they matter. Oxford and Portland, Oregon: Hart Publishing.Orchard D, Gouglas A, Pickering H (2023). Life after Whitehall: the career moves of British special advisers. British Journal of Politics and International Relations Abstract. DOI.https://doi.org/10.1177/13691481221144228Internationally comparative Shaw, R. (eds) (2023) Handbook of Ministerial and Political Advisers. Edward-Elgar. https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-on-ministerial-and-political-advisers-9781800886575.htmlGouglas, A. (2023). The story so far: what we know (and don’t know) about ministerial advisers. In Richard Shaw (eds) (2023) Handbook of Ministerial and Political Advisers. Edward-Elgar. https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-on-ministerial-and-political-advisers-9781800886575.htmlGouglas, A. (forthcoming). Political Advisers in Modern Democracies. Dark Masters? Edward-Elgar.Meert, A., Pickering, H. Brans, M. Gouglas, A. (2023). ‘Systematic literature reviews: opportunities and limits in ministerial adviser research’. In Richard Shaw (eds) (2023) Handbook of Ministerial and Political Advisers. Edward-Elgar. https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-on-ministerial-and-political-advisers-9781800886575.html