Episodes
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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
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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
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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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Missing episodes?
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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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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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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
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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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Nuclear talks between the US and Iran began last weekend in Oman, and are set to continue in the coming weeks. President Trump has warned that if the talks fail the US could take military action against the Islamic republic – an idea that Israel's government is pressing for. What might a new nuclear deal with Iran look like – and how might it change the geopolitical picture in the Middle East? Clip: The Express Tribune
Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachman
Free links to read more on this topic:
The false promise of regime change in Iran
US and Iran agree to follow-up talks over nuclear crisis
Is Iran on a collision course with the west?
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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Gideon talks to the economic historian Harold James about the economic and political implications of Donald Trump's tariffs. What are the similarities with the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930? What kind of forces will his decision to smash the global economic order unleash? Clip: CBC
Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachman
Free links to read more on this topic:
It falls to Congress to unravel Trump’s reckless tariffs
Trump’s ‘reshoring’ ambitions threatened by tariff chaos
Market turmoil strains bro-sphere’s bromance with Donald Trump
Trump and the mob boss approach to global markets
Markets could get a lot worse — and quickly
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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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German businessman Joerg Wuttke has been an observer of China since the 1980s, watching it evolve from backwater to superpower. He talks to Gideon about US-China rivalry and how Europe can find its place as a trading partner to both powers. Clip: CNBC
Free links to read more on this topic:
China launches large-scale military exercises around Taiwan
China’s Xi Jinping tells top global CEOs to use their influence to defend trade
China is suffering its own ‘China shock’
BASF’s Joerg Wuttke: ‘The essence of China is this warrior’
Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachman
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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Gideon talks to Russia experts Catherine Belton and Arkady Ostrovsky about Vladimir Putin’s goals. They discuss his early ambition to restore Russia’s status as a global superpower. And they go on to analyse why, after a quarter of a century in power, Putin may see his best chance yet of achieving that goal - at a cost of hundreds of thousands of Russian lives. This episode is an edited recording of an event organised by Intelligence Squared that took place in central London earlier this month.
Free links to read more on this topic:
The age of the strongman
Trump, Putin, Xi and the new age of empire
US agrees maritime ceasefire deal with Ukraine and Russia
Ukraine ceasefire: what is Vladimir Putin’s game?
Russia trained officers for attacks on Japan and South Korea
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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Thirty years ago Mexico made a fateful decision to open its economy and engage with the US. Now that decision is being tested by Donald Trump’s tariff threat. Gideon talks to Mexican economist Luis de la Calle about the impact this could have on his country's economy and that of the US. Clips: ABC News; Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo
Free links to read more on this topic:
How Trump could destroy his own political movement
Half of Mexico’s exports to US risk steep tariffs
Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum is riding high on Donald Trump’s trade war
China delays approval of BYD’s Mexico plant amid fears tech could leak to US
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.
Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Europe is facing its biggest defence challenge since the second world war. This is compounded by the destabilising impact of US tariffs. So how is it measuring up? Gideon puts this question to Arancha González Laya, dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at Science Po and a former foreign minister of Spain. Clip: Emmanuel Macron
Free links to read more on this topic:
EU retaliates after Donald Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs take effect
Trump is making Europe great again
How Europe can take up America’s mantle
Sweden to expand arms and space capabilities without US
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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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Canada’s Liberal party will elect a new leader this weekend and Chrystia Freeland is running to replace Justin Trudeau as prime minister. Donald Trump’s belligerence towards his northern neighbour seems to have restored the party’s popularity ahead of a general election this year. Chrystia tells host Gideon Rachman that Canadians are sticking together and that they have some strong cards to play.
Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman or Bluesky @gideonrachman.bsky.social.
Gideon Rachman is the chief foreign affairs commentator at the Financial Times. You can find his column here.
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Donald Trump’s tariffs loom suddenly through the fog of trade war
Europe has bought Zelenskyy some time
Donald Trump warns tariffs will cause ‘a little disturbance’ in defiant speech
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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Gideon tests the mood in Kiev three years after the Russian invasion as the Trump presidency upends previous tenets of international politics. He talks to Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko and Oleksandr Khomiak, director of Drone Space Labs, a defence start-up. Clip: European Commission
Free links to read more on this topic:
Ukraine agrees minerals deal with US
US drives Ukraine war measure through UN with Russian backing
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s toughest battle begins
Now is the time for Europe really to step up on Ukraine
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.
Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Gideon dissects US vice-president JD Vance’s incendiary speech at the Munich Security Conference with German businessman Mathias Döpfner. They discuss the state of the transatlantic relationship and how Donald Trump’s actions towards Russia and Ukraine could mark a turning point. They are then joined by FT colleague Laura Pitel to talk about Döpfner’s media empire Axel Springer and the cancellation of federal government subscriptions to the Politico Pro news service. Clip: The White House
Free links to read more on this topic:
Donald Trump calls Volodymyr Zelenskyy a ‘dictator’ as US rift with Ukraine deepens
Vance’s real warning to Europe
How Europe can defend itself without US help
Europe’s dependence on US tech is a critical weakness
Donald Trump opens the door to Vladimir Putin’s grandest ambitions
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.
Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Gideon talks to Daniel Drezner, a professor of international politics at Tufts University in the US, about why it’s no longer possible to trust America and what the rest of the world can expect from the Trump presidency. Clip: CBC
Free links to read more on this topic:
Tariffs won’t bring back America’s unipolar moment
'Cost and chaos’: Donald Trump’s metal tariffs sweep across corporate America
Trump is giving a green light to corporate corruption abroad
Trump is forcing Europe to a reckoning on Ukraine
Trump, Putin, Xi and the new age of empire
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.
Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Gideon talks to Andrew England, the FT's Middle East editor, about the US president's 'crazy' plan for a takeover of the Gaza Strip. And he talks to Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid about the prospects for his country as it finally returns to peace and stability.
Free links to read more on this topic:
Middle East and Europe condemn Donald Trump’s plans to take over Gaza
Donald Trump’s Gaza plan resurrects grandiose Middle East playbook
The deceptively negotiable Donald Trump
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.
Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Gideon talks to Muhammad Yunus, interim leader of Bangladesh, who was invited by students to take charge after their revolution last July. He describes the alleged corruption that took hold when Sheikh Hasina was in office and his vision for a better future for the country. Clip: AP
Free links to read more on this topic:
Bangladesh hires Big Four audit firms to review ‘robbed’ banks
Tycoon threatens international legal action against Bangladesh over ‘destroyed’ investments
Bangladesh’s unlikely revolutionaries: an 84-year-old and some students
Bangladesh requests UK minister’s bank account details in corruption probe
Bangladesh central banker accuses tycoons of ‘robbing banks’ of $17bn with spy agency help
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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As Donald Trump begins his second term as US president, and Russia presses forward in Ukraine, Gideon Rachman speaks to Finland’s President Alexander Stubb about Europe’s place in the world. They also discuss the risk of strategic irrelevance in Europe, the rise of the far right, Finland’s position in Nato – and whether other European countries need to be a bit more like Finland. Clip: Reuters
Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman or Bluesky @gideonrachman.bsky.social.
Gideon Rachman is the chief foreign affairs commentator at the Financial Times. You can find his column here.
More on this topic:
‘Will President Trump even notice Europe?’ asks Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Davos agenda turns to dealmaking as Trump takes office
Trump and the contest between two visions of democracy
Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.
Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Lulu Smyth, Manuela Saragosa and 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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Gideon talks to Michael Ignatieff, the former leader of Canada’s Liberal party, about how the country will deal with its newly-hostile southern neighbour when it is undergoing a change of leadership at home. They discuss Donald Trump’s threat to raise punitive tariffs on Canadian imports and how to respond to his suggestion that Canada should become the US’s 51st state. Clip: Global News
Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman
Free links to read more on this topic:
Canada warns of ‘tit-for-tat’ tariffs on US if Trump imposes levies
Pierre Poilievre moves closer to realising his populist vision for Canada
Praised abroad, troubled at home: Canada’s political ‘prince’ bows out
Mark Carney considers run to replace Canada’s PM Justin Trudeau
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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Gideon talks to the FT's Christian Davies about President Yoon’s thwarted attempt to impose martial law in South Korea. What lies behind the shock move, and what does it tell us about the underlying problems of a country better known for the global success of its entertainment industries? Clip: Washington Post
Follow Gideon on X @gideonrachman
Free links to read more on this topic:
South Korea crisis mounts as clock ticks on arrest warrant for president
The resilience of South Korea’s democracy remains in doubt
South Korea’s tumult is a symptom of China-US strife
A hostage situation’: South Korea paralysed in fight against Trump tariffs
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 Simon Panayi.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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