The Rachman Review – Details, episodes & analysis

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.

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.

Gideon talks to Sebastian Mallaby, author of a best-selling book on Silicon Valley called The Power Law. They discuss the reason why Elon Musk decided to back Donald Trump for president, what the entrepreneur will bring to the Trump administration, and what Musk's businesses stand to gain. Clip: WFAA TV

Free links to read more on this topic:

Who’s who in the Musk ‘A-team’ vying to shape Trump 2.0

Elon Musk is an unguided geopolitical missile

Valuations at Elon Musk’s SpaceX and xAI set to soar in new deals

Elon Musk’s gamble on Donald Trump pays off

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.

Gideon talks to Hlib Vyshlinsky, director of Ukraine's Centre for Economic Strategy, about keeping Ukraine's economy alive while the war goes on. Despite a shortage of cash and labour, efforts are under way to try to build a more dynamic and transparent economy when the fighting is over.

Clips: CTV, Sky

More on this topic:

The breaking and making of Ukraine

Saving Ukraine’s economy: the grain giant fighting for survival

Ukraine clinches $15.6bn IMF loan

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.

Gideon talks to the FT’s Max Seddon and Miles Johnson about Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group and its once secretive leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. They discuss how Prigozhin came to prominence during the fighting around Bakhmut in Ukraine and whether he can hold on to his position of influence with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin. Clips: euronews; NBC; CNN

More on this topic:

‘Like Icarus’: Russian mercenary Yevgeny Prigozhin falls foul of Kremlin old guard

Wagner leader generated $250mn from sanctioned empire

Wagner Inc: a Russian warlord and his lawyers

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.

Gideon talks to the FT’s Middle East editor Andrew England about his recent visit to Iran in the aftermath of some of the worst unrest since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. Iran’s reconciliation with Saudi Arabia and its growing trade with Russia may help the regime survive, but relations with the west have plummeted and hopes for a revival of the nuclear deal look bleak.

Clips: Reuters; BBC

Read More on this topic:

Exiled son of Iran’s last shah steps up to lead galvanised diaspora

Saudi rapprochement with Iran is an exercise in buying time

Iran agrees to reinstall IAEA cameras at nuclear facilities

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.

Israeli journalist Nadav Eyal tells Gideon why he believes Israel is on course for a full-blown constitutional crisis. The Netanyahu government’s plan to curtail the power of the judiciary, he says, will remove democratic checks and balances that are crucial for the survival of a liberal democracy. Opponents include business, the military and the country's intellectual elite, as well as many middle-class Israelis who will not accept the proposed changes.

Clips: Anadolu Agency; NBC

Protests by Israeli reservists raise stakes in battle over judicial changes

Illiberal democracy comes to Israel

US defence secretary cuts short trip to Israel ahead of mass protests

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.

Gideon talks to academic and writer Denise Dresser about President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s autocratic tendencies and why she thinks the leader she once voted for is dismantling democracy in Mexico. Clips: France 24, Andrés Manuel López Obrador 

Amlo’s strongman act is weakening Mexico

Thousands protest in Mexico against cuts to electoral watchdog

Mexico’s former security chief convicted in US of helping cartel smuggle drugs

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.

The Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist talks to Gideon about his efforts to keep global development goals alive amid rising geopolitical tensions. They discuss shrinking aid budgets, climate, technology, China-US tensions and whether Gates remains an optimist about the future.

Bill Gates warns Ukraine war is sapping Europe’s foreign aid budgets

Elon Musk’s Twitter is ‘stirring up’ digital polarisation, says Bill Gates

Bill Gates loves trash

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.

Christopher Miller moved to the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in 2010 as a volunteer for the US Peace Corps. Now an FT correspondent in Kyiv, he tells Gideon about how the eastern city came to play a central role in the war and how he sees the conflict unfolding in the coming months.

Clips: CNN

More on this topic:

A 12-year journey to the heart of the war in Ukraine

‘Hell. Just hell’: Ukraine and Russia’s war of attrition over Bakhmut

Behind the Money podcast: ​​The costs of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

How Ukrainian photographers captured a year of conflict

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in maps — latest updates

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.