- 1 hour 5 minutes199. Is Trump's Chaos Pushing Iceland Towards the EU? (Prime Minister of Iceland, Kristrún Frostadóttir)
What are the real reasons Iceland has brought forward its vote on restarting accession talks with the EU? What lessons did the Prime Minister learn from watching Brexit unfold while living in the UK, and how have those experiences shaped her government's approach to Iceland's EU campaign? How did the Social Democrats go from three MPs to running the country?
Alastair and Rory are joined by Kristrún Frostadóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland, to discuss all these questions and more.
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Social Producer: Celine Charles
Video Editor: Josh Smith
Assistant Producer: Daisy Alston-Horne
Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen
General Manager: Tom Whiter
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26 July 2026, 11:00 pm - 52 minutes 51 seconds198. How Trump’s Imperial Presidency Really Works
How does the most chaotic White House in history actually make decisions? How did Netanyahu sell Trump on a regime change war in Iran? Who is the only world leader Trump is truly afraid of?
Alastair is joined by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, White House correspondents for the New York Times and authors of 'Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump' to discuss all these questions and more.
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Instagram: @restispolitics
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Email: [email protected]
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Social Producer: Celine Charles
Video Editor: Caroline Kaye
Assistant Producer: Daisy Alston-Horne
Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen
General Manager: Tom Whiter
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19 July 2026, 11:00 pm - 1 hour 11 minutes197. The Billionaire Tax Debate (Gabriel Zucman)
Can the super rich ever be fairly taxed, or are there too many functioning tax havens? Can capitalism survive the ever growing disparity between the top 1% and the rest? Should billionaires exist at all?
Rory and Alastair are joined by economist Gabriel Zucman to answer all this and more.
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Social Producer: Celine Charles
Video Editor: Lorcan Moullier
Videographer: James Clayden
Assistant Producer: Daisy Alston-Horne
Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen
General Manager: Tom Whiter
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12 July 2026, 11:45 pm - 1 hour 12 minutes196. How America Talks Itself Into Endless Wars
What does the gap between American foreign policy rhetoric and reality reveal about the failures of its military interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Iran? In an age of algorithm-driven political polarisation, can authentic political speech still break through, or has social media made Trump-style fragmentation impossible to overcome? Is Donald Trump an anomaly in American politics, or part of a recurring historical cycle - and what does this suggest about America's future?
Alastair and Rory are joined by Ben Rhodes, Barack Obama's former speechwriter and Deputy National Security advisor, to answer all of these questions and more.
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Join The Rest Is Politics Plus. Start your free trial at therestispolitics.com to unlock exclusive bonus content – including Rory and Alastair’s miniseries – plus ad-free listening, early access to episodes and live show tickets, exclusive newsletters, discounted book prices, and a private chatroom on Discord.
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Barack Obama's 2009 speech on a 'New Strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan', as mentioned by Rory.
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Social Producer: Celine Charles
Video Editor: Josh Smith, Caroline Kaye
Assistant Producer: Daisy Alston-Horne
Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen
General Manager: Tom Whiter
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5 July 2026, 11:00 pm - 1 hour 10 minutes195. Can the West Reclaim its Power from Trump? (Malcolm Turnbull)
As Western nations become increasingly dependent on the US for AI, satellite infrastructure, and defence, are they sacrificing sovereignty in exchange for American security? Can middle powers such as Australia and the UK pursue genuinely independent foreign and defence policies when a Trump-led America prioritises its own interests? Is AUKUS a genuine security partnership, or is Australia bankrolling American and British interests?
Alastair and Rory are joined by Malcolm Turnbull, former Prime Minister of Australia, to discuss all of these questions and more.
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Twitter: @restispolitics
Email: [email protected]
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Social Producer: Celine Charles
Video Editor: Josh Smith
Assistant Producer: Daisy Alston-Horne
Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen
General Manager: Tom Whiter
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28 June 2026, 11:00 pm - 1 hour 3 minutes194. Is Putin Losing His Grip on Russia?
With war fatigue growing and polls showing increasing dissatisfaction with life in Russia, is Vladimir Putin beginning to lose control? What is really happening inside Russia today? And what is it like to report the truth from inside one of the world's most repressive states?
Alastair and Rory are joined by Steve Rosenberg, Russia Editor for BBC News, to answer all of these questions and more.
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Social Producer: Emma Jackson
Video Editor: Josh Smith
Assistant Producer: Daisy Alston-Horne
Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen
General Manager: Tom Whiter
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21 June 2026, 11:00 pm - 1 hour 18 minutes193. James Cleverly: Why Has There Been A Radical Shift On The Right?
What does James Cleverly think of Nigel Farage and Reform? How does Cleverly explain his unexpected exit from the Tory leadership race? What could the future of AI in Great Britain look like under different leadership?
Sir James Cleverly joins Rory and Alastair to answer all these questions and more.
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Email: [email protected]
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Social Producer: Celine Charles
Video Editor: Josh Smith
Assistant Producer: Daisy Alston-Horne
Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen
General Manager: Tom Whiter
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14 June 2026, 11:05 pm - 1 hour 2 minutes192. Are We On The Brink Of World War III? (Odd Arne Westad)
How similar is today's world to the months before the outbreak of World War I? Could Taiwan, India-China tensions, or an unforeseen crisis be the spark that sets the world ablaze? Are our leaders too consumed by domestic politics to prevent a catastrophic great power war?
Alastair and Rory are joined by Historian Odd Arne Westad to discuss all these questions and more.
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Email: [email protected]
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Social Producer: Celine Charles
Video Editor: Josh Smith
Assistant Producer: Daisy Alston-Horne
Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen
General Manager: Tom Whiter
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7 June 2026, 11:00 pm - 1 hour 7 minutes191. Is It Already Too Late to Control AI? (Anthropic Co-Founder, Jack Clark)
Why is one of AI's most powerful insiders scared of what he's building? Who's really in charge of the technology reshaping our world? Is it too late for governments to regulate it?
Rory and Matt Clifford are joined by Jack Clark, Co-Founder of Anthropic, to answer all these questions and more.
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Email: [email protected]
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Social Producer: Celine Charles
Video Editor: Josh Smith
Assistant Producer: Daisy Alston-Horne
Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen
General Manager: Tom Whiter
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31 May 2026, 11:00 pm - 1 hour 12 minutes190. How the Media Still Misunderstands Trump (Tina Brown)
Why does Trump understand the media better than the media understands him? Are tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos more dangerous to journalism than Rupert Murdoch ever was? What did Tina Brown see change in Trump from the '80s to now, and when did he turn "dark"?
Alastair and Rory are joined by Tina Brown, author of the Substack 'Fresh Hell' and former editor-in-chief of Tatler, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker, to discuss all these questions and more.
Find out more about Truth Tellers here.
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Instagram: @restispolitics
Twitter: @restispolitics
Email: [email protected]
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Social Producer: Celine Charles
Video Editor: Josh Smith, Joe Petit
Assistant Producer: Daisy Alston-Horne
Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen
General Manager: Tom Whiter
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24 May 2026, 11:00 pm - 1 hour 13 minutes189. Rahm Emanuel: China, Technology, and the Future of the Democratic Party
Will Rahm Emanuel run to be the next President of the United States? What were the underlying policy disagreements regarding West Bank settlements that led to Benjamin Netanyahu publicly attacking Rahm Emanuel? And, what approach would he take to handle the conflict with Iran and modernise the United States' relationships with Europe?
Rory and Alastair are joined by American politician and diplomat, Rahm Emanuel, to discuss all this and more.
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Instagram: @restispolitics
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Email: [email protected]
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Social Producer: Celine Charles
Video Editor: Bruno Di Castri
Assistant Producer: Daisy Alston-Horne
Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen
Exec Producer: Chris Sawyer
General Manager: Tom Whiter
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