The New Statesman: politics and culture
Helping you make sense of politics, culture and world affairs – every weekday. Anoosh Chakelian, Andrew Marr and the New Statesman team bring you sharp reporting, clear analysis and thoughtful conversations to help you understand what’s really going on in Westminster and beyond. The New Statesman is Britain’s leading source of news and commentary on politics and culture with a progressive perspective. On the podcast, our journalists and expert guests cut through the noise of the headlines to explain the forces shaping our world. From the battles inside the Labour Party to the future of the Conservatives, from the rise of Reform UK to the debates that dominate Parliament, we provide the clarity you need to follow UK politics. But the story doesn’t stop at Westminster. Each week we take you around the globe, covering world news and international current affairs — from the war in Ukraine and the leadership of Volodymyr Zelensky, to Russia under Vladimir Putin, to the conflict in Israel and Gaza, and the impact of Donald Trump on American and international politics. Our interviews bring leading thinkers and cultural figures into the conversation, while our Saturday episodes explore books, literature, film and wider culture. Whether you want to stay on top of UK news, understand the shifts in global politics, or dive into the ideas that drive our culture, the New Statesman podcast is your essential daily listen. -- START HERE: ▶︎ Kemi Badenoch isn't working | Cover Story with Tom McTague ▶︎ Do billionaires really benefit the UK? ▶︎ One year of Labour rule: can things still only get better? -- LISTEN AD-FREE: 📱Download and subscribe in the New Statesman app to enjoy all our episodes without the ads. -- MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN: ❓ Ask a question - we answer them on the podcast every Friday ⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter in your inbox every morning ✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday -- JOIN US: ⭐️ Get full access to all our reporting and analysis - and get our magazine delivered to your door every week - with a print + digital subscription -- Host: Anoosh Chakelian Regular contributors and co-hosts: Tom McTague, Editor-in-chief Will Lloyd, Deputy editor Andrew Marr, Political editor George Eaton, Senior editor, politics Hannah Barnes, Associate editor Rachel Cunliffe, Associate political editor Will Dunn, Business editor Megan Gibson, Foreign editor Katie Stallard, Global affairs editor Tanjil Rashid, Culture editor Kate Mossman, Senior writer Production team: Senior podcast producer: Catharine Hughes Video producer: Rob Le Mare Executive producer: Chris Stone Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
With the Autumn budget looming, the government has some tough decisions to make. Rachel Reeves has to find a predicted £30bn in extra revenue to meet her self-imposed fiscal rules.
But as part of its manifesto pledges, Labour promised not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT.
And after a crushing defeat in Wales last week, what can the government actually get away with without angering the public further?
Anoosh ...
The Caerphilly by-election proves Reform can be beaten. But is Keir Starmer the man to do it?
Last week voters in Caerphilly confounded pundits by electing their first Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd (MS). Reform UK had expected to be the party to overturn Labour's 100 year dominance in the Welsh seat - but they were wrong.
The loss was a disaster for Labour, but came with a glimmer of hope: Reform UK can be beaten.
Now t...
With only her second novel The Inheritance of Loss, Kiran Desai won the 2006 Booker Prize, the leading literary prize in the global Anglosphere, becoming - at the time - the youngest person ever to do so. She was thirty-five. Then: silence. 19 years of it, before another novel emerged - this year. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny. It, too, has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Will Desai win it again?
LISTEN AD...
Is Welsh Labour dead?
Plaid Cymru won a historic victory in the by-election, trouncing Labour who had been dominant for over 100 years.
The "middle child" as Plaid's new MS describes them, also beat Reform, who pollsters expected to win the seat.
In this episode, Harry Clarke-Ezzidio reports from Caerphilly to analyse the results of the election. He speaks to Rhun ap Iorwerth, Huw Irranca-Davies, Llyr Powell, and Dan Evans...
After 14 attempts, Lindsay Whittle has won the Caerphilly seat in South Wales for Plaid Cymru. Reform came in second with over a third of the vote, and Labour trailed in third with 11%. A devastating loss for the party.
Harry Clarke-Ezzidio is joined by Ben Walker in Caerphilly Leisure Centre.
LISTEN AD-FREE:
📱Download the New Statesman app
MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:
❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday
Andrew Marr says he thought Labour would fix everything, but: "I was wrong".
--
Andrew Marr is stepping down as political editor of the New Statesman. In this, his last regular podcast appearance (he'll be back, don't worry!) he reflects on the last three years in politics - and where we're heading next.
He admits committing "the journalistic sin" of optimism when Keir Starmer was elected, and addresses criticism he's face...
Donald Trump's planned summit with Vladimir Putin is cancelled. Here's why.
--
Less than a week after Donald Trump offered to meet Vladimir Putin in Budapest, the proposed summit has already fallen apart.
Officially, "there's no need" for the two presidents to meet, since their respective foreign ministers are conducting conversations.
But what's really behind the cancellation?
And what on earth is Donald Trump up to...
James Schneider, the former director of strategic communications for Jeremy Corbyn, was involved in the founding of Your Party earlier this year. He has since stepped back from the project.
In this episode he joins Anoosh Chakelian to discuss the growing gap on the left of UK politics and who could fill it.
LISTEN AD-FREE:
📱Download the New Statesman app
MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:
❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Frid...
Andrew had already stepped down as a working royal, after that disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019, but he’s now gone a step further and agreed to relinquish the “title or the honours which have been conferred upon” him.
Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Will Lloyd and Rachel Cunliffe to discuss what these latest decisions, announced on the eve of the publication of Virginia Roberts Guiffre's posthumous memoir, mean for the Royal...
A century on from the her birth, Tanjil Rashid sits down with the Iron Lady's official biographer, Charles Moore.
LISTEN AD-FREE:
📱Download the New Statesman app
MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:
❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday
⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning
✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday
JOIN US:
⭐️ Get full access to all our reporting and analysis with a print + digital su...
For over 30 years, John Gray has written for the New Statesman on everything from Artificial Intelligence to Friedrich Nietzsche. He joins deputy editor Will Lloyd to discuss the state of the nation.
LISTEN AD-FREE:
📱Download the New Statesman app
MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:
❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday
⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning
✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday
...
Andrew Marr joins Rachel Cunliffe to discuss his column in this week's magazine, Tax the old.
They also discuss the latest developments in the China spy case.
LISTEN AD-FREE:
📱Download the New Statesman app
MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:
❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday
⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning
✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday
JOIN US:
"All I've done all my life is deals. The greatest deals just sort of happen…” President Trump announced at a celebratory peace-deal signing attended by dozens of nations in Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this week.
But who were the powers behind Trump? Behind this deal?
Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Freddie Hayward who has written this week’s cover story The Emperor: How Trump and his British Courtiers secured the Gaza deal
LISTE...
Did Keir Starmer's government quash an espionage case to curry favour with China?
--
There's fury in Westminster over the case of two alleged China spies which collapsed last month. Kemi Badenoch has accused the Labour government of deliberately quashing the prosecution to appease China, blaming National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell. The government denies this, and Keir Starmer has said Powell has his "full support".
...
All 20 remaining, living hostages have returned to Israel after 2 years in captivity, following the October the 7th Hamas attacks. The remains of the 28 deceased hostages are yet to be returned.
Meanwhile, Israel is expected to release 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,700 detainees from Gaza today.
To discuss this historic day in the Middle East and how it came to be, Oli Dugmore is joined by Katie Stallard and Freddie Hayward...
Is Labour reading from the Reform handbook? And what is the government doing to address rising child poverty?
Oli Dugmore is joined by Rachel Cunliffe to answer listener questions.
Got a question? Ask us here!
LISTEN AD-FREE:
📱Download the New Statesman app
MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:
❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday
⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning
✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via emai...
Almost 10 years ago the Calais 'Jungle' was demolished by the French authorities, structures were burned to the ground and the migrants were forced to flee, once again.
Small-boats crossings are on the rise, and for those waiting for their chance, a new 'Jungle' has become home.
Oli Dugmore is joined by Miles Ellingham and Jack Jeffrey who reported this week's cover story The truth about the small-boats crisis from northern F...
Andrew Marr joins Tom McTague to discuss the ascension of Shabana Mahmood, and the Blairites haunting Keir Starmer's government.
LISTEN AD-FREE:
📱Download the New Statesman app
MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:
❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday
⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning
✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday
JOIN US:
⭐️ Get full access to all our reporting and analysis with a pri...
You might have missed it, many people did, but this week the Conservatives met for their annual party conference in Manchester.
Rachel Cunliffe is joined by Ethan Croft, who's just stepped out of the conference hall listening to Badenoch's speech, and later in the episode by Will Dunn - who's been watching the whole affair on GB News.
LISTEN AD-FREE:
📱Download the New Statesman app
MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:
❓ Ask a question...
Is the Green Party Britain’s only viable left wing party? Amid other proposals, their conference voted to abolish landlords at the weekend.
Meanwhile Labour is tweaking the surveying process for house buying, and the Tories say they’ll cut benefits to subsidise first time buyers.
Oli Dugmore is joined by Luke O'Reilly and Megan Kenyon.
LISTEN AD-FREE:
📱Download the New Statesman app
MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Herd with Colin Cowherd is a thought-provoking, opinionated, and topic-driven journey through the top sports stories of the day.
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.