Does Westminster make good people awful or does it attract awful people? As far as Sarah Vine is concerned, it’s the former - corrupting those with the best of intentions, turning them “mad and toxic.” For twenty years, Sarah Vine was on the frontline of UK politics - married to former Secretary of State Michael Gove, friend (and later, foe) of the Camerons and a tabloid columnist. She witnessed Brexit up close - so close in fact, that it cost her her marriage. In this episode of the Fourcast, j...
Jun 25, 2025•48 min
The ceasefire deal Donald Trump says he brokered between Iran and Israel already appears to be in jeopardy as the Israeli Defence Forces promise to "respond with force" after accusing the regime in Tehran of launching missiles at Israel. Iran denies launching any missiles. The US president has expressed his fury at both countries and has called on them to pull back. So will the ceasefire hold? If so, what does this mean for the future of the region? Can the ayatollah’s regime survive? And will D...
Jun 24, 2025•32 min
The United States and Israel have launched major airstrikes on Iranian nuclear and regime targets. Iran’s foreign minister is seeking diplomatic support in Moscow, while questions swirl around the true extent of the damage, and whether retaliation could spiral into a wider regional war. In this episode of The Fourcast, which was recorded before the latest developments in Qatar, our International Editor Lindsey Hilsum joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy in Washington and Foreign Affairs Correspondent Secu...
Jun 23, 2025•31 min
Israel and Iran have continued attacking each other overnight with more airstrikes, as both countries wait for Donald Trump to decide if America will bomb nuclear sites in Iran. What will happen next if the US decides to attack? Will the Ayatollah’s regime fall? And what will Israel do if America doesn’t intervene? To discuss all this and more on the latest episode of The Fourcast, Matt Frei is joined by former Israeli Defence Forces general Amos Yadlin who also served as the head of Israel’s Mi...
Jun 19, 2025•22 min
The air war between Israel and Iran has continued overnight after President Trump issued more warnings to Iran - saying Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was an “easy target”. So will he actually follow through with this threat? Will America join the fight? And what is Israel’s plan if they don’t? To discuss all this and more on the latest episode of The Fourcast Matt Frei is joined in Tel Aviv by Israeli journalist Gideon Levy who is a controversial and divisive critic of Israel's pr...
Jun 18, 2025•29 min
As simmering tensions between Israel and Iran explode in a barrage of missiles and drones, Krishnan Guru-Murthy talks to journalist Jonathan Rugman and RUSI’s Middle East Security expert, Burcu Ozcelik about whether the conflict might escalate. After a number of Iranian nuclear scientists and military leaders including the head of the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard were killed, Iran has retaliated with 100 drones fired into Israel with more promised. So what will Israel's next move be wi...
Jun 13, 2025•30 min
Rachel Reeves has unveiled her long-awaited spending review, with the NHS and defence seeing the most gains while many other departments face cuts - so, is this the kind of spending programme that will transform the UK economy and help Keir Starmer see off the threat of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK? In this special episode of The Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy is joined by our Economics Correspondent Helia Ebrahimi and Luke Tryl, the director of the More in Common polling company.
Jun 11, 2025•30 min
As the clock ticks down to next week’s critical Spending Review, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is hitting the road, announcing infrastructure investments and focusing attention on Reform-leaning areas. Is this a last ditch effort to steady the ship? In this episode of The Fourcast, we're asking: Has Labour already lost control, just months into government? And can Keir Starmer turn things around? Joining Matt Frei in the studio is Anushka Asthana, wrapping up two decades at Westminster and releasing ...
Jun 04, 2025•31 min
The aid crisis in Gaza is deepening. This morning, Israeli soldiers opened fire near crowds of Palestinians approaching a new food distribution site in southern Gaza, the Israeli military confirmed. At least 27 people were killed and dozens more wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. This comes just days after a similar incident left 31 dead and nearly 200 injured, an event for which Israel has denied responsibility. As famine looms and disease spreads through the devastated territory, ...
Jun 03, 2025•42 min
Elon Musk has announced an end to his time as the head of DOGE with a parting shot at his former boss Donald Trump over a bill that’s projected to add trillions to government debt - and now Donald Trump’s flagship tariff policy has suffered a major setback as a federal court ruled them illegal. The White House is of course appealing. Krishnan Guru-Murthy speaks to Evan Osnos, staff writer at the New Yorker, and Kenneth P. Vogel, reporter for the New York Times about crypto currencies, unpreceden...
May 29, 2025•42 min
It’s been 600 days since the war between Israel and Gaza began, triggered by the October the 7th attacks carried out by Hamas; a moment that reshaped the landscape of the Israel-Palestine conflict.Now, we’re at a critical moment. Discontent is growing inside Israel - particularly among the families of hostages - who are calling for an end to the conflict, fearing that it’s harming the chances of their loved ones returning home.Meanwhile, international pressure is mounting. Reports suggest a rift...
May 28, 2025•27 min
The shooting of a couple who worked for the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC has sent shockwaves around the world, while in Gaza the UN says thousands of men, women and children are in danger of severe starvation after an 11-week aid blockade. For this episode of the Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy speaks to The Economist's Israel Correspondent Anshel Pfeffer and Palestinian journalist Nour Odeh. They discuss the shooting of Israeli embassy staff in DC, growing condemnation of Netanyahu by Wester...
May 22, 2025•35 min
It was one of the most shocking moments of the 2024 presidential campaign. President Joe Biden, at times appearing incoherent and confused, effectively ended his hopes of reelection as he stumbled through a debate against rival Donald Trump. It marked the beginning of the end of his campaign. He was ultimately replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris - a last-minute switch that failed to deliver the Democratic Party the White House. To many voters, it was a shocking turn of events. But, as a new...
May 19, 2025•30 min
Aseem Malhotra is a deeply controversial British doctor who has just been appointed as Chief Medical Adviser of the Make America Healthy Again campaign group co-founded by Donald Trump's health secretary Robert F Kennedy Junior. It makes him one of the US Health Secretary's most influential medical advisers - and that's alarming doctors and academics around the world, because Aseem Malhotra, like RFK JR, goes against mainstream, established opinion on many topics. Most controversially he opposes...
May 15, 2025•44 min
Russia is celebrating Victory Day, with 29 foreign leaders including the Chinese President Xi Jinping joining Vladimir Putin in Moscow to commemorate the Soviet Union's part in the defeat of Nazi Germany 80 years ago. But is President Putin about to enjoy his own victory if the US pulls out of peace negotiations over the war in Ukraine? For the latest episode of The Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy talks to one man who thinks President Trump is doing everything in his power to make that happen. Th...
May 08, 2025•38 min
Pakistan has described India's missile attacks that killed more than 30 people 'an act of war’, but India says it was retaliation for a terrorist assault in Indian-controlled Kashmir. So is an all-out war inevitable between these two nuclear-armed neighbours. In the past the US has acted as a peace broker, but is the Trump administration willing to involve itself in another foreign conflict? To discuss this, Krishnan Guru-Murthy is joined from Delhi by the Emmy-nominated journalist Barkha Dutt w...
May 07, 2025•32 min
Ukraine has now signed a mineral and natural resources deal with the US perhaps taking President Donald Trump a step closer to fulfilling his promise to secure peace there. But now his National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz is set to step down. So what do the American public think about the latest twists in the Trump 2.0 drama? And what about the MAGA faithful? One person tapped into the aspirations and some anger, at times, of Trump's most ardent supporters is Natalie Winters. She is a White Hou...
May 02, 2025•32 min
Donald Trump has reached his 100 day milestone but he might not be celebrating quite so loudly after Canadians voted in a new government aggressively opposed to his tariffs and talk of annexation, and new polling showed less-than-glowing approval ratings. The President called it fake news. But if his policies aren't proving altogether popular they have had a major impact on America's system of government and global economics - though he has missed his deadline for stopping the war in Ukraine. By...
Apr 30, 2025•42 min
Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated following a deadly attack in a tourist hotspot in Kashmir, with Indian Prime Minister Nerandra Modi saying he will pursue the attackers to the ‘ends of the earth’ after they killed 26 people. With India blaming Pakistan for the attack, retaliatory actions between the two countries have ramped up. India has cancelled visas, excluded diplomats and suspended a landmark water-sharing treaty - while Pakistan has halted all trade. So, what will Prime ...
Apr 24, 2025•29 min
With the world still reeling from Donald Trump's tariffs, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed the UK's growth forecast and says the global economy will see a "significant slowdown" - add to that, wars in Europe and the Middle East, climate change and the promise and peril of AI. So is it possible to find hope amongst this constant chorus of doom and gloom? One person who thinks they have an answer is Rutger Bregman, a progressive historian famous for taking on the Davos billionaire...
Apr 22, 2025•27 min
Following President Donald Trump’s tariffs and President Xi Jinping's refusal to back down, the world is in a new era and the UK has a decision to make. Does it line up behind the US President and freeze diplomatic relationships with Beijing? Or, with an increasingly radical leader in Washington DC, do they switch their allegiance? What does the UK do about China’s human rights record? In a world of strong men hostile to liberal democracies, where does the UK go? On this episode of the Fourcast,...
Apr 17, 2025•39 min
President Donald Trump’s second term is almost at 100 days. Unlike 2016, he is now surrounded by passionate supporters and close allies. One key figure in the second series of Trump is Vice President JD Vance, a pure believer in the MAGA movement. On this episode of the Fourcast, Matt Frei is joined by Dr James Orr, JD Vance’s ‘British sherpa’, self-described ‘national conservative’ and leading intellectual figure of the right. Orr is the UK Chairman of the Edmund Burke Foundation and an Associa...
Apr 15, 2025•32 min
Economic relations between the US and China are effectively over as the world’s two largest economies trade blows in a tit-for-tat trade war that’s brought the global world order into a new era. As Xi Jinping calls on the EU to join him in opposing President Donald Trump’s ‘bullying’, where does this leave the rest of the world? Is globalisation over? On this episode of The Fourcast, Matt Frei is joined by Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, former adviser of Bill Clinton and forme...
Apr 11, 2025•39 min
President Donald Trump has authorised a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs for all countries except for one, China. The president slapped a bespoke 145% tariff on Beijing, effectively ending trade between the world’s two largest economies. What does this new world order mean for the rest of us? Where will this tit-for-tat trade war end? Will there be any winners? Or could it escalate into something much worse? On this episode of The Fourcast, Matt Frei is joined by Fiona Hill, who was senior dir...
Apr 10, 2025•36 min
Donald Trump has announced global tariffs on an unprecedented scale, holding up a chart in the White House Rose Garden outlining what each country will pay and while the UK seems to have got off relatively lightly, almost nowhere has escaped America's determination to bolster its home-grown trade and manufacturing. Even the penguins that are the only inhabitants of a chain of remote Antarctic islands have been slapped with a 10 percent tariff. Prices in the US are likely to go up. The global eco...
Apr 03, 2025•34 min
Benjamin Netanyahu has said his intention is to implement Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, while Israel comes under intense criticism after the bodies of 15 emergency workers were discovered dead in southern Gaza and the UN says they were killed “one be one” by Israeli forces. Sharon Haskell is from the New Hope party in the Israeli parliament and she is the deputy foreign minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government. She spoke to Krishnan Guru-Murthy in the latest episode of the Fourcast....
Mar 31, 2025•40 min
The Fourcast breaks down a huge day for the UK economy and British politics, as Rachel Reeves delivers her Spring Statement with cuts to welfare and a new forecast from the OBR slashing the UK’s prospect for growth. Krishnan Guru-Murthy was joined by our Economics Correspondent Helia Ebrahimi and our Senior Political Correspondent Paul McNamara to explain what this means for you and explore the political fallout. Produced by Girish Juneja, Rob Thomson, Ka Yee Mak, Calum Fraser...
Mar 26, 2025•31 min
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have spoken on the phone for over 90 minutes thrashing out a deal to halt the bloodshed in Ukraine, and Russia has now agreed to a 30 day energy and infrastructure ceasefire as well as negotiations on the implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea. In this episode of the Fourcast, Krishnan Guru-Murthy speaks to Russia’s Ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, about the talks between Russia and the USA over Ukraine, Europe's attempts to provide security gu...
Mar 19, 2025•33 min
The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel has been broken, as Israel launched overnight air strikes on Gaza that Hamas says has killed more than 400 people - sparking fears the region could be plunged into all out war once again. Francesca Albanese is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories and her opinions have sparked controversy in the past. Israel officially banned her from entering the country in February 2024 after she wrote in a tweet “the victims of 7/1...
Mar 18, 2025•30 min
President Zelenskyy has signed up to Donald Trump's proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia and in return American arms and intelligence have started flowing into Ukraine again, but the question now is whether Vladimir Putin will agree to a pause in hostilities. The Russian President knows every KGB trick in the book and is likely to resist giving up territory and prisoners. How does Donald Trump get him on board for a peace deal that lasts longer than the time it will take Russia to regroup...
Mar 12, 2025•23 min
