Best politics podcasts: from Westminster Insider to Autocracy in America
Make sense of it all with our pick of the top current affairs shows
With the news moving at breakneck speed, keeping up with what’s going on around the world can feel daunting. Politics podcasts are a great way to delve into the most pressing issues – without drowning in the noise. Here’s our pick of the shows worth listening to, offering the very best analysis and debate.
Autocracy in America
During the first Trump administration, when liberal commentators warned that America was “descending into a fascist police state and the president was probably about to start bombing Canada”, you could believe that they were suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome”, said James Marriott in The Times. Today, you feel the condition should be renamed as “Accurate Perception of Reality Syndrome”. As such, the new series of Anne Applebaum’s “Autocracy in America” could scarcely be more timely; nor its first episode – about the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) – more topical. We hear from George Retes, a US military veteran who was driving to work when he was dragged from his car by ICE agents and held for three days with “no phone call, no lawyer, no shower, no nothing”. Legal expert Liza Goitein argues that “we’re moving towards a status quo in which the cities of this country really feel like police states”. Ten years ago, I’d have thought: “Come off it. Not in America. Not in the 21st century. Well, now it all sounds frighteningly plausible.”
Political Currency
“The Rest Is Politics” is “one of the more unexpected success stories in podcasting”, said Fiona Sturges in the Financial Times. It was only a matter of time before “another political odd couple” attempted “to pull off the same trick”.
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George Osborne and Ed Balls are the perfect “political rivals” to capitalise on the “frenemies” model. The Tory and Labour pair “come together to chew over the latest economic stories”, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience with them. There are a few inevitable “teething problems” and they are yet to reach the “bromance levels of [Rory] Stewart and [Alastair] Campbell” from “The Rest Is Politics”. But things “perk up” when Balls starts sharing stories about the former Prince Andrew during his time as treasury minister, and Osborne adds his own “quips”. This is the “kind of repartee” the show needs more of if it is to compete with the rival show. “We’ll have to wait and see whether our hosts are up to the task.”
The Crisis Room
I found “The Wargame” “marvellously compelling” and “frighteningly plausible”, said James Marriott in The Times. I was also impressed by “The Crisis Room”, a current-affairs show from Global that’s “refreshingly serious” and “seriously good” – and which also features Rudd. On this one, she is joined by Mark Urban, the historian, journalist and defence expert who was diplomatic editor of “Newsnight” until 2024, and former senior CIA operations officer Marc Polymeropoulos. Highly decorated, he was at the agency for 26 years, and specialised in counterterrorism. Their brief is to discuss “the biggest crises shaping the UK and the world”. Alas, it is a long agenda, but these three clearly know their stuff. “I suspect when fresh disasters hit, the politician, the journalist and the intelligence officer will be the team we turn to” from now on.
Newscast
Newscast is a "show that knows what it is and who it's for", said Miranda Sawyer in The Observer. The daily news podcast from the BBC is aimed at anyone who wants to "dive into the day's big stories". "Everyone on the show has the advantage of actually still being involved in the areas they're talking about," and there's plenty of journalistic clout to go round. Presented by the BBC's former chief political correspondent, Adam Fleming, and political editor Chris Mason, with other heavy-hitters pitching in, listeners are in expert hands. That's not to say it's a purely academic listen. Newscast's "briskness and jollity" combined with a strong community spirit keeps its audience, like the presenters, very much on the ball.
Today in Focus
The Guardian's flagship podcast, "Today in Focus" is simply a "really great show for keeping up with world events big and small," said Andrzej Lukowski in Time Out. Hosts Helen Pidd and Michael Safi preside over an atmosphere "slightly less formal" than many traditional news podcasts, drawing on a wealth of experienced journalists who bring expert insights to each topic. True to its name, "Today in Focus" thoroughly explores a new story every day, tackling both under-the-radar issues and those which loom large in the headlines. The podcast is unique for avoiding the discussion-based format of its peers. Its "documentary sensibility," said Charlotte Tobitt of The Press Gazette, is very much deliberate. Many episodes move their audiences just as much as they inform.
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Westminster Insider
Politico's "thought-provoking" weekly podcast takes listeners into the House of Commons to discover "what life is really like" for the people inside, said Vicky Jessop in London's The Standard. Delving into questions "you might not even have even thought to ask before", like what happens behind closed doors during mysterious COBRA meetings when a crisis hits the UK, this is one for "true political nerds". A "proper gem".
Democracy's Year of Peril
I'm a "sucker for a podcast with a gloomy, portentous title", said James Marriott in The Times. In 2023, the chief economics commentator and "chief Jeremiah" of the Financial Times, Martin Wolf, made a terrific series called "The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism". It was "doom on a grand canvas": very much my bag. Now, he is back with another intellectually inspiring, yet extremely unnerving, podcast called "Democracy's Year of Peril", in which he interviews leading political thinkers about the future of Western liberal democracy.
Robert Kagan warns that the US is a "voluntary association of states" that may not hang together for ever. Fiona Hill explains why she thinks America is already in a state of "cold civil war". Anne Applebaum tells us that European diplomats are preparing for a world in which America is no longer a democracy. "Depressed yet? Yes? Good. And we're only just warming up."
The Rest is Politics
The "staggeringly popular political podcasting behemoth", as The Irish Times' Fiona McCann called it, is yet another blockbuster produced by Gary Lineker's wildly successful Goalhanger Podcasts.
Fronted by former Blairite spin doctor Alastair Campbell and ex-Conservative minister and "awkward nerd" Rory Stewart, its red-blue logo makes clear the divide between the two, said Samuel Rubinstein in The Spectator.
But although it’s definitely serious, it’s also "kind of a balm, and pretty chummy" said The Irish Times. But these two are "wildly well informed" and "personally invested in how these structures play out on issues from prison reform to public education". Listen in for "astoundingly articulate, generally polite and largely reasonable gentlemen".
Electoral Dysfunction
Each week on Sky News' "Electoral Dysfunction", political editor Beth Rigby, former Labour MP Harriet Harman and the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson bring their "no-nonsense styles and decades of experience" to bear.
The podcast aims to "try and attract people that don't necessarily live and breathe politics", Rigby told Press Gazette. It takes a weekly look at political leaders and their policies, and promises to offer a "less formal" side of political journalism, said Rigby. "Honestly, it's quite rude as well."
The Daily T
Recorded straight from The Telegraph's newsroom, this daily news and right-of-centre politics pod has the paper’s director of audio, Camilla Tominey, and the former editorial director of BBC News, Kamal Ahmed at the helm.
"Camilla and I will have all this brilliant journalism at our fingertips," said Ahmed in The Telegraph prior to the launch last May of the podcast, which is filmed. YouTube Shorts and clips are an "incredibly important part of what we want this podcast to be", Ahmed told Press Gazette.
Tominey pointed out to The Telegraph that they fill a "gap in the market for something that hasn't been designed by a left-wing committee". They have rather different political persuasions, though, which was part of the appeal for Tominey, who aims for what she describes as "agreeable disagreement". The pair secured the first in-depth campaign trail interview with Rishi Sunak, asking about both his proposals for national service and his appreciation of "Star Wars".
The Week Unwrapped
Have you missed the biggest news of the week? Or at least the stories which will shape our lives in years to come, when the passing hype of the day's headlines have faded from memory. That's the premise of The Week's own award-winning podcast, "The Week Unwrapped", which seeks out under-reported stories with unexpected consequences, from the world-changing to the small but personally significant.
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