Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart break down current affairs in the UK and abroad.
The Rest Is Politics analyses the latest international news, provides debate on global issues, and reveals secrets from Westminster, whilst bringing back the lost art of disagreeing agreeably. With insider perspectives and expert analysis, The Rest Is Politics is the go-to podcast for anyone seeking intelligent, engaging discussions on British and global politics.
The Rest Is Politics Plus: Join with a FREE TRIAL at therestispolitics.com for exclusive bonus content including Rory and Alastair’s first ever miniseries, early access to episodes and live show tickets, ad free listening, our exclusive newsletter, discount book prices on titles mentioned on the pod, and our members chatroom.
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Social Producer: Celine Charles
Lead Video Editor: Josh Smith
Assistant Producer: Daisy Alston-Horne
Producer: Evan Green
Exec Producer: Bella Soames
Latest episodes
Showing 20 · updated from the feed
Why Nuclear War Is More Likely Than You Think (with Carlo Rovelli)
Why have we stopped talking about the risk of nuclear war when the risk is greater than ever? What is a ‘nuclear winter’ and why are nuclear exchanges such extreme risks
Sep 24 18 min
574. Germany’s Political Disaster and Can the Lib Dems Fight Back?
As the far-right Alternative for Germany wins another regional election, wiping out the ruling Christian Democratic Union in former Chancellor Angela Merkel's own backyar
Sep 23 48 min
573. Burnham and Carney vs. Trump, and the Diana Dispute
As Burnham meets Trump face-to-face for the first time at the UN General Assembly, will he adopt Mark Carney’s or Keir Starmer’s approach to dealing with the US President
Sep 22 51 min
The Greatest Threat Humans Just Can’t Stomach with Yuval Noah Harari
Episode 2 is available right now for TRIP Plus members. Sign up at therestispolitics.com
What can the Aztec Empire's catastrophic failure to understand Cortés and the Sp
Sep 17 43 min
572. Trump’s Next Middle East Crisis and Reform’s £72m Megadonation
Is the Houthis' seizure of one of the world's most critical waterways the clearest proof yet that Trump's Iran war has become a catastrophe? With the very people building
Sep 16 57 min
571. Rory and Alastair Challenge Ed Miliband on Israel-Palestine
Why has Ed Miliband gone further than any previous foreign secretary in announcing the occupation of the Palestinian territories as illegal and placing sanctions on Israe
Sep 15 58 min
"Our Generation Was Lied To": Two Gen Z MPs on Fixing Politics
To hear the full series “The Gen Z Story”, sign up at the restispolitics.com – use your student email for a discount
How do you get older colleagues to take you seriousl
Sep 10 1 h 05 min
570. Why Trump Acts Like a Russian Asset and Miliband’s West Bank Sanctions
After Trump’s latest betrayal of Ukraine, why does he act like a Russian asset? Has John Healy already missed his moment to be a radical Chancellor, and does Ed Miliband’
Sep 9 52 min
569. Farage’s Foreign Funding Scandal and Germany’s Far-Right Breakthrough
As the Alternative for Germany party secured its best ever election result in Saxony-Anhalt, is the country about to get its first far-right state premier since the Nazi
Sep 8 55 min
Becoming Burnham: The Manchester Arena Call, Westminster Plotting, and Keir vs Andy
To hear the full episode, and the whole series, sign up at therestispolitics.com
How did Andy Burnham learn about the Manchester Arena bombing? Would he still have tried
Sep 3 19 min
568. MAGA's Plan to Make Britain Look Broken and Iceland's 'Brexit' Moment
Did Iceland's rejection of EU membership talks repeat the same mistakes as Britain's Remain campaign, and does it hand a dangerous propaganda win to Farage, Putin, and th
Sep 2 56 min
567. Who Really Benefits from AI and Will Data Centres Decide the Midterms?
Why is the backlash against data centres becoming one of the most combustible issues in US politics? What does an AI system's attempt to cheat, cover its tracks, and brea
Sep 1 1 h 04 min
Becoming Burnham: People Pleasing, The Shadow Years and Losing to Jeremy Corbyn
Who are the political figures that shaped Andy Burnham? How far will the new PM go to be liked? And what impact did losing to Jeremy Corbyn's popularity 'tsunami' have on
Aug 27 12 min
566. Carney vs. Trump and Alastair’s Advice for Burnham’s First PMQs
Why is Mark Carney choosing economic pain over a deal on tariffs with Trump? As Palestinians prepare to vote for the first time in 20 years, why has Mahmoud Abbas decided
Aug 26 1 h 00 min
565. Zelenskyy’s Corruption Problem and Is History Repeating Itself in Germany?
Why did Andy Burnham choose Kyiv, not Washington or Brussels, for his first foreign trip as Prime Minister? Is the tide at home turning against President Zelenskyy, and d
Aug 25 57 min
Becoming Burnham: Thatcher, Hillsborough, and the Anger that Shaped Him | Part 1
To hear the full episode and the series as it drops, sign up up at therestispolitics.com
Alastair is joined by Andy Burnham’s closest confidant, friend and former collea
Aug 20 21 min
564. Burnham’s Media Machine and West Bank Settler Impunity
Is Burnham’s Britain’s first ‘TikTok Prime Minister’ and what does that mean for accountability, old-fashioned journalism, and the Westminster lobby? Why are violent Isra
Aug 19 1 h 01 min
563. Britain’s Afghanistan Shame and the Jason Arday Tragedy
Five years after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover, why has not a single Western government marked the anniversary of a war that cost thousands
Aug 18 1 h 09 min
Will Climate Action Go Backwards Under Burnham?
Should Andy Burnham deliver a covid style national emergency briefing to inform the public about the climate emergency? How do we foster cross-party consensus on the clim
Aug 13 52 min
562. The Right’s War With Itself and Burnham’s Prisons Challenge
With Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe trading blows, is the British right tearing itself apart, and will Kemi Badenoch destroy the Conservative Party by chasing Reform and Re
Aug 12 1 h 06 min
Chart trend
Position in the Politics chart (US), last 90 days.
#1#46#90JunJulAugSep
#5
all-time peak
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days in the top 10 since Nov 2024
Chart positions
Where The Rest Is Politics ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 25, 2026).
A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.
What is so disturbing about the Jason Arday affair is not simply the possibility that one man embellished his life story( as so many politicians have done in a way in which you both identify), but the possibility that some of the most horrifying allegations of racist persecution attached to that story were untrue. Arday described a campaign of terror involving a severed pig’s head, bullets and bananas in the post, mutilated animals and corrosive substances sent to his family, physical assault and spitting, death and rape threats, and a masked man confronting him with a knife. Several of the most extraordinary claims were subsequently challenged, contradicted or could not be independently verified. If such stories were fabricated or embellished, the moral injury extends far beyond Arday himself. To invent racist violence is to cry wolf about one of the ugliest forms of human cruelty: it asks the public to believe that their neighbours and their society harbour a violent racial hatred so profound that a Black professor can be terrorised with weapons and animal remains simply for succeeding. It converts the genuine suffering of victims of racism into a source of sympathy, status or advancement, while asking everyone else to suspend ordinary standards of evidence. And when such a narrative collapses, the damage falls disproportionately on the very cause it purported to serve. Genuine victims will be doubted; honest Black academics may find their achievements regarded with suspicion; institutions devoted to equality lose credibility; and people who once supported those institutions can become cynical and resentful. A civilisation committed to racial equality depends not only on opposing racism wherever it actually occurs, but on refusing to manufacture it where it does not. Equality cannot be sustained by collective guilt, selective credulity or emotionally powerful fictions. It requires a common standard of truth and individual responsibility. If the extraordinary allegations in the Arday story were knowingly invented, that is the deepest moral wound: a lie told in the language of justice ultimately makes justice itself harder to achieve.
Annannnxxxx · Aug 2026
Never again have Mehdi Hasan as co-host, please, since he wrecks the show’s voice, for the same reason that the American spinoff is cringe-inducing. This podcast has been wonderful precisely because Alastair is retired (and a long way from ever being ‘Malcolm Tucker’ again), and Rory has always been temperamentally an outsider. Neither of them is mindlessly ‘in the thick of it.’ Both are genuinely reflective. Both are able to fairly consider questions from outside the frenzied feeding zone inside of which full-time political journalists and politicians all come to live. Hearing Hasan press partisan, debating-point perspectives, above all having to listen to an almost irritable recitation of conventional, second-hand observations I could get from any political site, made it painfully clear what was missing: the generosity, curiosity, and honesty about what they do and above all do not know that Rory and Alastair always bring to the show. Listeners are simply desperate for that, amid a landscape of facile anger and certainty.
Audrain · Jul 2026
I appreciate Rory as cohost, but Dominic is a real treat as substitute. His historic perspective adds another dimension to the discussion. How about swapping Dom and Rory, and Tom and Alastair on their respective pods every so often to keep everything fresh?
Tx078459 · Apr 2026
One of the best, most informed and elegantly delivered political shows in the world. Fantastic complementary insights for the U.K., US (great too!!) and globally. Thank you all four & keep it coming.
European loving America · Sep 2024
What a crime to co-brand Alaister Campbell and Rory Stewart, class acts who have created that rarest of jewels — a podcast consistently worth listening to — with the unserious and unsettling Anthony Scaramucci.
TomReviewsAnApp · May 2024
We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.
Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of The Rest Is Politics, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.
