Just days before the first round of the French presidential election, polls are showing that the far-right leader Marine Le Pen is within just a few points of overturning Emmanuel Macron's lead. What is behind her surge in support? Could she actually win the whole thing? Ido Vock, Europe correspondent, is joined by the political theorist Hugo Drochon and the New Statesman ’s international managing editor Alix Kroeger to discuss the campaign. They talk about why the cost-of-l...
Apr 06, 2022•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast In what could be a big year for weapons testing in North Korea, Katie Stallard speaks to Jean Lee, senior fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington DC and the former Pyongyang bureau chief for the Associated Press. They discuss the country's recent missile launches, fears that the regime could be preparing to test a new nuclear weapon, and why 2022 could see a new crisis on the Korean peninsula. If you have a You Ask Us question for the international team, email podcasts...
Apr 04, 2022•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Russia’s invasion of Ukraine raises the question: could Vladimir Putin attack Nato’s eastern flank? The alliance is greatly increasing its defences all along this “New Iron Curtain”. The New Statesman’s writer-at-large Jeremy Cliffe has been reporting from Estonia, where the UK has doubled its military presence. He speaks to Emily Tamkin in Washington DC and Ido Vock in Berlin about the evolution of Nato since the end of the Cold War and how it has changed since the Russian invasion. Meanw...
Mar 30, 2022•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast China has been walking a diplomatic tightrope in its response to Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, caught between close ties with Russia and concerns about further straining relations with the West. Katie Stallard is joined by Bonny Lin, the director of the China Power Project and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to discuss China’s position in the conflict, and whether Beijing is beginning to adjust its approach. She also explains what the limits, if any, are t...
Mar 28, 2022•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast The intensive media coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has rallied global public opinion behind Ukraine, while also resulting in accusations of Western bias. In London, the New Statesman ’s editor-in-chief, Jason Cowley, joins Emily Tamkin and Katie Stallard in Washington, DC, to discuss how coverage of the war has differed from other conflicts and the ways in which people in Russia are accessing information. The team then look at how the war is shaping domestic and internatio...
Mar 24, 2022•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast As Russia continues its attack in Ukraine, the French election has featured little in news coverage and the public consciousness. Will this help Emmanuel Macron's hopes of winning re-election? In this episode of France Elects , Ido Vock gets the latest polling from the New Statesman ’s data guru Ben Walker, and then speaks to Catherine Fieschi, the director of Counterpoint, and the Paris-based journalist John Lichfield about how the campaign is unfolding. They discuss whether Macron ...
Mar 23, 2022•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Andrey Kurkov, author of Death and the Penguin , speaks to Megan Gibson about life in Ukraine right now. They discuss the role of artists during war, how this conflict will change Ukrainians’ view of Russia for good, and what it will take to bring an end to the war. If you have a You Ask Us question for the international team, email podcasts@newstatesman.co.uk Podcast listeners can get a special discount on subscriptions to the New Statesman. Visit www.newstatesman.com/p...
Mar 21, 2022•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Russia’s war in Ukraine has challenged preconceptions in western Europe – and confirmed the views of many in Russia’s more immediate neighbourhood, including the Baltic states. We discuss why this was the case – and whether western Europe is still underestimating Vladimir Putin. Emily Tamkin is joined by former Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves to discuss Europe and America’s response to the war so far and why Putin miscalculated the invasion. If you have a You Ask Us qu...
Mar 18, 2022•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its fourth week, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has addressed the US Congress, calling on the West to “do more” to help Ukraine. The New Statesman ’s senior editor of politics, Harry Lambert, joins Megan Gibson and Katie Stallard to talk about the pressure for no-fly zones, what the conflict might mean for how the West supports Taiwan, and how different countries are responding to the refugee crisis. Then in You Ask Us, they...
Mar 16, 2022•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, we discuss how Viktor Orban’s more pro-Russian government in Hungary has managed to distance itself from Vladimir Putin ahead of a general election in April. Emily Tamkin talks with Hungarian political scientist Péter Krekó about how Hungary’s government has reacted to the war, why it’s supported Western sanctions against Russia and how it’s left the opposition in a difficult position in the run-up to the election. If you have a You Ask Us question f...
Mar 14, 2022•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast As the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine continues, the Baltic states continue to call for sustained pressure on Vladimir Putin. Megan Gibson speaks to the Estonian president Alar Karis about his meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky days before the war, the importance of Nato membership and how best to support Ukraine. Further reading: Iceland’s prime minister: “My opposition to Nato has not changed” A no-fly zone over Ukraine risks igniting war between Nato and Russia The Ukraine crisis is about more ...
Mar 11, 2022•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, US president Joe Biden announced a ban on Russian oil and gas imports in response to the invasion of Ukraine. The European Union opted to phase out gas imports only. Emily Tamkin in Washington DC and Ido Vock in Berlin are joined by the New Statesman’s environment and sustainability editor, Philippa Nuttall, in Brussels to discuss the EU’s more cautious approach, the spike in fuel prices globally, and how green energy technologies may offer a solution in the scrambl...
Mar 09, 2022•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to France Elects , an in-depth look at the 2022 French election. As Russia’s siege on Ukraine continues, the New Statesman ’s Europe correspondent, Ido Vock, examines how the crisis is dominating the presidential campaign, and may benefit President Emmanuel Macron after he officially announced his re-election bid last Thursday (3 March). He is joined once again by Tara Varma from the European Council on Foreign Relations and Jeremy Cliffe, the New Statesman’s writ...
Mar 08, 2022•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast As the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its third week, the former Portuguese Europe minister and New Statesman contributing writer Bruno Maçães speaks to Ido Vock, Europe Correspondent, about how we got here and what could happen next. They discuss Russia’s increasingly indiscriminate bombings of Ukrainian cities, whether Putin misread Ukrainian strength and morale, and what action Western governments could take to support Ukraine militarily. F urther reading: Why Putin invaded...
Mar 07, 2022•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Russian attacks on a number of Ukrainian cities continued on Saturday, as President Zelensky pleaded for Nato to introduce a No Fly Zone. Emily Tamkin in Washington DC is joined by Writer-at-large Jeremy Cliffe in Marseille and Managing Editor, International, Alix Kreoger on the Slovakian Ukrainian Border. They discuss why Nato is resisting a No Fly Zone, whether Europeans yet understand the true impact of the sanctions and Alix shares her reporting with refugees on Ukraine’s borders with the We...
Mar 05, 2022•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast The UN reports that 136 civilian deaths have been recorded since Russia invaded Ukraine seven days ago, although the real number is likely to be "far higher". Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and its second largest city, Kharkiv, are braced for further violence from Russian troops after missile strikes on Tuesday (1 March) that could amount to war crimes. Last night, the US president Joe Biden’s State of the Union address included a standing ovation in support of Ukraine, while China has offered ...
Mar 02, 2022•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast As another refugee crisis unfolds in Europe, the former UK international development minister Rory Stewart speaks to the New Statesman ’s US senior editor, Emily Tamkin, about his call for a new global coalition on asylum seekers. They discuss what can be done to support Ukrainians leaving their country, the continuing Afghan refugee crisis, and how to share the migrant impact without undermining border security. If you have a You Ask Us question for the international team, email pod...
Mar 01, 2022•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its fifth day, the New Statesman ’s Executive Editor, Foreign, Megan Gibson, interviews the Russian security expert, Mark Galeotti. Galeotti is an honorary professor at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, and the author of The Weaponisation of Everything and We Need to Talk About Putin: How the West Gets Him Wrong. The two discuss the latest developments of the Russia-Ukraine confli...
Feb 28, 2022•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its second day, we bring this special episode of the World Review podcast. Ukraine is facing an onslaught from Russian forces on several fronts, with troops entering the northern districts of the capital, Kyiv. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky reports that 137 people have been killed and 316 wounded after the first day of fighting. An estimated 100,000 Ukrainians have been displaced after fleeing their homes. &nb...
Feb 25, 2022•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has ordered Russian troops to cross the border into eastern Ukraine on what he claims is a “peacekeeping mission” in defence of the breakaway states of Donetsk and Luhansk. Western leaders have condemned the move as the beginning of an invasion and imposed a first round of sanctions on Moscow, which have been widely criticised as not being punitive enough. Emily Tamkin and Katie Stallard in Washington, DC are joined by Ido Vock in Berlin to discuss this d...
Feb 23, 2022•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast In just over six weeks, voters in France will go to the polls in the first round of the 2022 presidential election, in which President Emmanuel Macron’s toughest competition for re-election comes from the right. This week, the New Statesman ’s Europe correspondent, Ido Vock, examines the state of the French right wing. He, along with special guests Agnès Poirier, a journalist and the author of Left Bank: Art, Passion, and the Rebirth of Paris , and Catherine Fieschi, the ...
Feb 22, 2022•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week marks the 50th anniversary of President Richard Nixon's visit to China. In 2022, there are warnings the US and China are entering a new Cold War, while the latter's relationship with Russia is strengthening. The New Statesman ’s senior editor of China and global affairs, Katie Stallard, interviews the historian and author Rana Mitter, whose most recent book is China's Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism (2020). They discuss what drove Bei...
Feb 21, 2022•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast While the US and UK predicts that an invasion of Ukraine is imminent, the recent intensification of Western military aid to Ukraine has raised the stakes for Russia. Emily Tamkin and Katie Stallard in Washington, DC, are joined by Ido Vock in Berlin to discuss the latest flurry of diplomacy and what might happen next. Then in You Ask Us, a listener asks what parallels we can draw with the situation in Ukraine with what happened in Afghanistan, and if that is helpful to make sense of it al...
Feb 17, 2022•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast As voters in India go to the polls in state elections across the country, Emily Tamkin, the New Statesman ’s Senior Editor, US, talks to the historian and author Ravinder Kaur about the impact that these elections might have on Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. They discuss whether Hindu nationalism is more important to voters than the economy, the continuing fall-out from the farmers protests and what room remains for dissent and opposition ...
Feb 14, 2022•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast China has been using the Olympics to try and present a positive view of its treatment of the Uyghur minority in China amid a diplomatic boycott of the games over human rights abuses. Katie Stallard and Emily Tamkin in Washington, DC and Ido Vock in Berlin discuss the games, as well as the treatment of tennis star Peng Shuai, and whether her reappearance has erased concerns for her welfare. Also, the French president Emmanual Macron has visited Russia amid heightened tensions on the Ukraine borde...
Feb 10, 2022•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to France Elects , an in-depth look at the 2022 French presidential election. Will Emmanuel Macron win a second term as president, or will challenges from the left, right and far right end his five years in office? In this series, the New Statesman ’s Europe correspondent, Ido Vock, will speak to some of the sharpest observers of French politics, delving deeply into the big issues shaping the race to lead the EU’s biggest military power and its second-largest econ...
Feb 09, 2022•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast The New Statesman ’s executive foreign editor, Megan Gibson, interviews the prime minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir. They discuss her opposition to Iceland’s Nato membership, why the left is back on the rise in all five Nordic nations, and how to win trust in a country that doesn’t trust its politicians. If you have a You Ask Us question for the International team, email podcasts@newstatesman.co.uk . Further reading: Victory puts Portuguese Socialists at...
Feb 07, 2022•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Thousands have joined the so-called “Freedom Convoy” in Canada, which has spiralled from truckers’ frustrations over Covid-19 vaccine mandates into calls to overthrow the government. Jeremy Cliffe in Berlin, Megan Gibson in London and Emily Tamkin in Washington, DC, discuss the protests and parallels with the US Capitol Riots of 6 January. Then the Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, has led his Socialist Party to victory at a snap election this week, winning 41.7% of the vote. The team d...
Feb 03, 2022•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Emily Tamkin, the New Statesman’s senior editor, US, interviews the California Democratic congressman Ro Khanna, the author of the new book Dignity in a Digital Age: Making Tech Work for All of Us. They discuss the first year of Joe Biden’s presidency and whether any significant changes to voting rights or the Build Back Better plan could actually get into law; why it’s important Biden gets to make a Supreme Court justice nomination; and what can be done to make sure the tech sector is a n...
Jan 31, 2022•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast As Russian troops continue to mass on the Ukrainian border, Jeremy Cliffe discusses his dispatch from Kyiv with Emily Tamkin in Washington, DC and Ido Vock in Berlin. What do Ukrainians think Russia is up to if not an imminent full-scale invasion as suggested by the US and UK? Then in You Ask Us, a listener asks if Germany's phasing-out of nuclear energy has hobbled their foreign policy towards Russia. Further reading Jeremy Cliffe’s letter from Kyiv : how Ukraine is preparing for Putin Id...
Jan 27, 2022•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
