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The Rest Is Politics: Leading

The Rest Is Politics: Leading

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About this listen

 The Rest Is Politics’ Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart interview politicians, leaders, intellectuals, and more. From inside and outside of politics, guests join Rory and Alastair to discuss life, leadership, and the philosophy that’s led them to success in their chosen field. Their conversations cover key political events, global affairs, and the big ideas shaping the world today, offering listeners in-depth perspectives from those at the heart of change. The Rest Is Politics Plus: Become a member for exclusive bonus content, early access to Question Time episodes to live show tickets, ad-free listening for both TRIP and Leading, our exclusive newsletter, discount book prices on titles mentioned on the pod, and our members’ chatroom on Discord. Just head to therestispolitics.com to sign up, or start a free trial today on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/therestispolitics. For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com.Goalhanger Podcasts Political Science Politics & Government
Episodes
  • 166. John Swinney: An Independent Scotland Is An Open Scotland

    166. John Swinney: An Independent Scotland Is An Open Scotland
    Dec 15 2025
    What is the future of the Scottish independence movement? How does the SNP rebuild trust and support for independence after a series of bruising scandals? Why did the Scottish First Minister feel disrespected by a series of Conservative Prime Ministers? Alastair and Rory are joined by Scottish First Minister John Swinney to answer all this and more. Gift The Rest Is Politics Plus this Christmas - give someone a whole year of Rory and Alastair’s miniseries, ad-free listening, early access to episodes and live show tickets, an exclusive members’ newsletter, discounted book prices, and a private chatroom on Discord. Just go to https://therestispolitics.supportingcast.fm/gifts And of course, you can still join for yourself any time at ⁠therestispolitics.com For Leading listeners, there’s free access to the Wordsmith Academy - plus their report on the future of legal skills. Visit https://www.wordsmith.ai/politics Social Producer: Celine Charles Video Editor: Josh Smith Producer: Alice Horrell Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen Head of Politics: Tom Whiter Exec Producers: Tony Pastor + Jack Davenport Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 15 mins
  • 165. Anna Wintour: Culture, Influence, and the Power of Decisive Leadership

    165. Anna Wintour: Culture, Influence, and the Power of Decisive Leadership
    Dec 8 2025
    Why should everybody get fired at least once? As the former Editor-in-chief of American Vogue, how does Anna Wintour use fashion as a cultural and economic force? Why is Anna’s leadership style defined by the speed of her decision making? Rory and Alastair are joined by Fashion icon Anna Wintour to answer all this and more. Gift The Rest Is Politics Plus this Christmas - give someone a whole year of Rory and Alastair’s miniseries, ad-free listening, early access to episodes and live show tickets, an exclusive members’ newsletter, discounted book prices, and a private chatroom on Discord. Just go to https://therestispolitics.supportingcast.fm/gifts And of course, you can still join for yourself any time at ⁠therestispolitics.com For Leading listeners, there’s free access to the Wordsmith Academy - plus their report on the future of legal skills. Visit https://www.wordsmith.ai/politics To save your company time and money, open a Revolut Business account today via https://get.revolut.com/z4lF/leading, and add money to your account by 31st of December 2025 to get a £200 welcome bonus or equivalent in your local currency. Feature availability varies by plan. This offer’s available for New Business customers in the UK, US, Australia and Ireland. Fees and Terms & Conditions apply. For US customers, Revolut is not a bank. Banking services and card issuance are provided by Lead Bank, Member FDIC. Visa® and Mastercard® cards issued under license. Funds are FDIC insured up to $250,000 through Lead Bank, in the event Lead Bank fails. Fees may apply. See full terms in description. For Irish customers, Revolut Bank UAB is authorised and regulated by the Bank of Lithuania in the Republic of Lithuania and by the European Central Bank and is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for conduct of business rules. For AU customers, consider PDS & TMD at revolut.com/en-AU. Revolut Payments Australia Pty Ltd (AFSL 517589). Social Producer: Celine Charles Video Editor: Adam Thornton Producer: Alice Horrell Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen Head of Politics: Tom Whiter Exec Producers: Tony Pastor + Jack Davenport Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 14 mins
  • 164. Zack Polanski: Do The Greens Have What It Takes?

    164. Zack Polanski: Do The Greens Have What It Takes?
    Dec 1 2025
    Why has Green party membership exploded since Zack Polanski became leader in September? What radical economic reforms is he fighting for? Why have the Greens stopped talking about the environment? Alastair and Rory are joined by Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party, to answer all this and more. Gift The Rest Is Politics Plus this Christmas - give someone a whole year of Rory and Alastair’s miniseries, ad-free listening, early access to episodes and live show tickets, an exclusive members’ newsletter, discounted book prices, and a private chatroom on Discord. Just go to https://therestispolitics.supportingcast.fm/gifts And of course, you can still join for yourself any time at ⁠therestispolitics.com For Leading listeners, there’s free access to the Wordsmith Academy - plus their report on the future of legal skills. Visit https://www.wordsmith.ai/politics To save your company time and money, open a Revolut Business account today via https://get.revolut.com/z4lF/leading, and add money to your account by 31st of December 2025 to get a £200 welcome bonus or equivalent in your local currency. Feature availability varies by plan. This offer’s available for New Business customers in the UK, US, Australia and Ireland. Fees and Terms & Conditions apply. For US customers, Revolut is not a bank. Banking services and card issuance are provided by Lead Bank, Member FDIC. Visa® and Mastercard® cards issued under license. Funds are FDIC insured up to $250,000 through Lead Bank, in the event Lead Bank fails. Fees may apply. See full terms in description. For Irish customers, Revolut Bank UAB is authorised and regulated by the Bank of Lithuania in the Republic of Lithuania and by the European Central Bank and is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland for conduct of business rules. For AU customers, consider PDS & TMD at revolut.com/en-AU. Revolut Payments Australia Pty Ltd (AFSL 517589). Social Producer: Celine Charles Video Editor: Josh Smith Producer: Alice Horrell Senior Producer: Nicole Maslen Head of Politics: Tom Whiter Exec Producers: Tony Pastor + Jack Davenport Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 20 mins
All stars
Most relevant
The banter, fairness and adult approach to these interviews is refreshing. I wish more news reporters would handle interviews in such a way. AC and RS clearly have diffyviews on subjects but also a lot of common ground. Just excellent but be warned this is podcast crack you'll get totally addicted.

Bloody excellent interviewing which is rare nowadays

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A wonderful talk with Anthony Gormley. I met him in Rome yeats ago (I am an archaeologist) and his immersion in human presence in areas such as cave art were fascinating. The need to register a presence, to affirm existence, chimes with so much of the past and present. The massacre of art colleges in the UK challenges the ability to develop this into the future. Such a short sighted approach. Gormley brings alive the need for life to be art and vica versa.

Art and life

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As usual, a fantastic interview with a very knowledgeable guest. As the leader of the National Farmers Union her position on some environmental topics was unsurprising and could've been probed a bit more.

What I did think was a bit off was the very personal questions Rory and Alastair asked at the beginning of the interview. It seemed unnecessarily cruel to dredge up some clearly painful aspects of her life and didn't contribute to the overall discussion about farming.

An important discussion about British agriculture

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Is Alastair hoping for a journalistic post with the Sun?

In view of the comment that Leading is often stated to be a politically focused podcast, why did Alastair, in the followup chat, regret not pushing Arnie into revealing details about his past private life?

Such questions are not necessary.












Career Change for Campbell?!!

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Leading is almost always well worth a listen, but Prof Sapolsky is a revelation - entertaining, eye-opening and intellectually fearless

Awesome

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