Best politics podcasts: from The Power Test to Pod Save the UK

The run-up to the general election on 4 July promises to be a "battle for your ears as well as your vote", with a "profusion of political podcasts" appearing since the 2019 election. 

The debate is "rapidly being reshaped and sharpened" by these "zeitgeisty" hits, said Patricia Nicol in The Sunday Times. 

Democracy's Year of Peril

I'm a "sucker for a podcast with a gloomy, portentous title", said James Marriott in The Times. Last year, the chief economics commentator and "chief Jeremiah" of the Financial Times, Martin Wolf, made a terrific series called "The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism". It was "doom on a grand canvas": very much my bag. Now, he is back with another intellectually inspiring, yet extremely unnerving, podcast called "Democracy's Year of Peril", in which he interviews leading political thinkers about the future of Western liberal democracy.

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Robert Kagan warns that the US is a "voluntary association of states" that may not hang together for ever. Fiona Hill explains why she thinks America is already in a state of "cold civil war". Anne Applebaum tell us that European diplomats are preparing for a world in which America is no longer a democracy. "Depressed yet? Yes? Good. And we're only just warming up."

The News Agents

"The News Agents" has become "a daily fix" for many since its inception in 2022, said Nicol.

The "much-trumpeted" podcast from LBC's owners Global is co-hosted by Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall (all formerly of the BBC), said The Guardian. The title may be a "throwback to when we got our daily news by popping into a local shop once a day", said GQ, but this is what the ex-mainstream media professionals are offering: a "smart, daily dissection" of the big news stories.  

The Daily

"The Daily", by The New York Times, is "well known for a reason", said Time Out. It does "exactly what it says on the tin – puts out great and insightful podcasts with a political eye across the globe" every weekday. 

Hosts Michael Barbaro and Sabrina Tavernise describe this podcast as "exactly how the news should sound": short, 20-minute bursts. It's "perfect for your morning coffee" or commute.

The Rest is Politics

Love it or loathe it, Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart's "The Rest is Politics" remains one of Britain's "most popular political podcasts", said The Spectator. It "consistently tops the podcast charts" and even has an interview offshoot show, "Leading".

After all, "who better to give a good read on politics than people who have worked in it themselves", said Cue. Stewart is a former Conservative minister and Campbell was director of communications and strategy for the Labour Party under Tony Blair. 

They discuss what's happening and "what should be happening" from "an insider perspective". They also regularly field questions and give "useful explainers".

Pod Save the UK

The twice-weekly "Pod Save America" has been combining political commentary with comedy since 2017, said Fiona Sturges in the FT. It describes itself as a "no-b******t conversation about politics hosted by former Obama aides Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer, and Tommy Vietor". It's chatty, clever, unashamedly partisan (a left-liberal answer to right-wing talk radio) and extremely funny. 

Now there's a British version, "Pod Save the UK". Each week journalist Coco Khan and comedian Nish Kumar are joined by politicians and experts to "unpick the latest news, look for solutions and inspire action". Khan and Kumar have "chemistry and an unruly energy", and the ratio of serious to funny is "expertly judged", said Sturges.

The Power Test 

Aimed squarely at political junkies, "The Power Test" is a terrific podcast from Ayesha Hazarika, a former Labour special adviser, and Sam Freedman, a former Conservative (now left-leaning) adviser, said Rachel Cunliffe in The New Statesman. 

The focus is on the path to a future Labour government and what the party should do if elected. Hazarika and Freedman both "delight in being self-confessed policy wonks" and make a fun pairing. "If you're a political obsessive too, you'll adore it." 

Electoral Dysfunction 

The latest addition to the roster is Sky News's "Electoral Dysfunction", where each week political editor Beth Rigby, Labour MP Jess Phillips and the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson bring their "no-nonsense styles and decades of experience" to bear.

The podcast aims to "try and attract people that don't necessarily live and breathe politics", Rigby told Press Gazette. 

The podcast takes a weekly look at political leaders and their policies, and promises to offer a "less formal" side of political journalism, said Rigby. "Honestly, it's quite rude as well."

The Week Unwrapped

Have you missed the biggest news of the week? Or at least the stories which will shape our lives in years to come, when the passing hype of the day's headlines have faded from memory. That's the premise of The Week's own award-winning podcast, "The Week Unwrapped", which seeks out under-reported stories with unexpected consequences, from the world-changing to the small but personally significant. 

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