• What drives China’s strongman?
    Jun 5 2025

    Gideon Rachman and China historian Rana Mitter discuss the evolution of Xi Jinping from internal exile, to party apparatchik, to strongman leader. What motivates Xi and what’s behind his friendship with the Russian leader? This episode is an edited recording of an event organised by Intelligence Squared that took place in central London late last month. Clip: CGTN


    Free links to read more on this topic:

    Donald Trump says China’s Xi Jinping is ‘hard to make a deal with’

    Xi’s history shapes China’s diplomatic strategy

    Chinese defence minister set to skip security forum in Singapore

    China’s Xi Jinping likens ‘US hegemony’ to ‘fascist forces’ ahead of Vladimir Putin summit

    Xi and Putin are the greatest beneficiaries of Trump’s chaos


    Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

    Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.

    Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachman


    Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    31 mins
  • Coming soon: Martin Wolf and Paul Krugman in conversation
    Jun 4 2025

    In a special six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman discuss the economic events reshaping the world in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s election.


    Subscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

    Episodes will also be available on the FT’s YouTube channel.


    If you’d like to get in touch and ask Martin and Paul a question, please email economics.show@ft.com


    Read Martin’s FT column here


    Subscribe to Paul’s substack here


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    2 mins
  • A foreign policy debrief with Jake Sullivan
    May 29 2025

    President Biden’s time in office was a momentous period in world affairs and American foreign policy. The Taliban returned to rule Afghanistan, Russia invaded Ukraine, and Hamas attacked Israel all on the watch of National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan.

    Gideon talks to Sullivan about the Biden legacy and hears how and why events unfolded and what the Trump administration is doing now.


    Clips: BBC, CBS, Sky News, The Guardian, Radio Free Europe, CGTN


    Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachman


    More on this topic:

    Europe needs to keep up the pressure on Netanyahu

    Putin thinks that time is on his side

    Former national security adviser Jake Sullivan: ‘The core engines of American power are humming


    Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

    Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Clare Williamson. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.


    Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    52 mins
  • Is Trump a threat or an opportunity for the EU?
    May 22 2025

    The EU is in Donald Trump’s cross hairs. So how should it respond? In this week’s episode, Paschal Donohoe, Ireland’s finance minister and president of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, discusses whether the euro can challenge the dollar. He tells Gideon that European integration should go even further - and makes the case for immigration and a new relationship between the EU and the UK.

    Clips: Euronews,PBS Newshour


    Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachman


    More on this topic:

    Why the EU beats Trump at the art of the deal

    How the UK and EU thrashed out a post-Brexit reset in relations

    Donald Trump says US will ‘100%’ strike trade deal with EU

    Euro has ‘clear path’ towards greater reserve currency use, says Eurogroup president


    Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

    Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Clare Williamson. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.


    Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    27 mins
  • India and Pakistan: what now?
    May 15 2025

    After a short but intense clash, a ceasefire is holding between India and Pakistan, but tensions remain high. Both sides claim victory, but the rapid escalation in the conflict bodes ill for future diplomacy between the two countries. Gideon talks to Professor Sushant Singh, lecturer in south Asian Studies at Yale University, about the conflict and what’s at stake if tensions escalate again. Clips: Times of India, Fox News


    Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachman


    More on this topic:

    How India and Pakistan pulled back from brink of war

    India and Pakistan’s fragile ceasefire holds after alleged breaches

    ​​Narendra Modi says India has proved ‘superiority’ over Pakistan in clashes

    India and Pakistan: a conflict in the hands of two religious strongmen

    Military briefing: India and Pakistan test red lines of nuclear rivalry


    Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

    Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Clare Williamson. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.


    Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    22 mins
  • How can Democrats combat Donald Trump?
    May 8 2025

    Donald Trump continues to issue a blizzard of controversial statements and executive orders. His political opponents often seem confused, even stunned. So how should the Democratic party take on the US president? Gideon talks to Senator Andy Kim, a new Democrat from New Jersey, on the merits of different approaches to opposition and what is needed to win back voters.


    Clips: KTVU Fox

    This is Gavin Newsom


    Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachman


    More on this topic:

    Take no comfort from America’s Trump backlash

    ‘Nadir for the party’: US Democrats edge towards civil war

    Lessons from Russia, Turkey and India for Trump’s America

    Traders made $100mn from buying Melania Trump memecoin before launch

    Trump’s assault on the rule of law: ‘the speed and intent is remarkable’


    Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

    Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Clare Williamson. The executive producer is Flo Phillips and the sound design is by Breen Turner.


    Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    28 mins
  • Are we any closer to peace in Ukraine?
    May 1 2025

    US efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine have so far not yielded anything close to a peace deal. Both Russia and Ukraine have objected to some aspects of the Trump administration’s plan. What – if anything – might make a lasting peace possible? Gideon Rachman speaks to Sir Lawrence Freedman, emeritus professor of war studies at King’s College London, about what each party wants from a peace deal.


    Free links to read more on this topic:

    Podcast: Future weapons: Ukraine’s army of drone: https://on.ft.com/3GKlW00

    US and Ukraine sign natural resources deal https://on.ft.com/4iRd4mY

    Steve Witkoff, the Trump loyalist disrupting diplomacy https://on.ft.com/3EKE89q


    Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe. Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Sound design is by Breen Turner.


    Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    21 mins
  • El Salvador’s ‘jailer for hire’
    Apr 24 2025

    Gideon talks to the FT’s Michael Stott about Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, whose friendship with Donald Trump has been in the spotlight over his willingness to imprison US deportees, notably Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. Clip: The White House


    Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachman


    Free links to read more on this topic:

    Nayib Bukele: the TikTok authoritarian feted across Latin America

    El Salvador’s Bukele refuses to repatriate man wrongly deported from US

    How El Salvador became a model for the global far right

    Trump is halfway to making America a police state

    El Salvador offers to swap Venezuelan US deportees for political prisoners


    Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

    Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner.


    Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    26 mins
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