Politics, pressure-tested in real time.
The News Agents is a fast-moving UK news analysis show built around political judgment, sharp context, and dry disbelief. Recent episodes track Westminster crises, Trump and foreign policy, Iran, social media regulation, European populism, and the strange places where religion, war, and platform power collide.
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The News Agents is a daily political analysis show for people who want the argument behind the headline. It does not linger politely at the surface. A clip, a statement, a strange diplomatic claim, or a sudden global rupture becomes the starting point for a sharper question: what is being hidden, exaggerated, misunderstood, or quietly conceded? Recent episodes show the range clearly. One minute it is inside Westminster, testing Keir Starmer’s account of the Mandelson fallout and asking how many senior figures can absorb damage before the prime minister owns it. The next, it is looking at Pope Leo’s clash with Trump-world and the political uses of theology. The show is especially strong on the gap between language and power. When leaders say Britain is not involved in a war, the conversation turns to shipping lanes, cabinet committees, defence spending, and the visible limits of European hard power. When a ceasefire is announced, the show asks whether Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Hezbollah, Pakistan, and Washington are even talking about the same arrangement. It is brisk. It is often funny. It is also prepared to be grave when the facts warrant it. The format thrives on challenge: one claim is set beside another, then pressed until the contradiction becomes plain. Domestic politics, foreign policy, social media regulation, populism, religion, and platform power all sit inside the same larger concern with accountability. The show assumes its audience can keep up. It explains institutions without sanding off their complexity. It also has a taste for the revealing aside, the dry jab, and the moment when a supposedly careful political strategy suddenly looks improvised. For listeners tired of sterile punditry, The News Agents offers something more alive: informed conversation with a pulse, a memory, and a low tolerance for nonsense.
Made for: For politically fluent listeners who want daily news explained through power, strategy, consequence, and contradiction. It suits people who follow UK and global affairs closely but want sharper judgment than a standard bulletin provides.
What sets it apart: The show’s edge is its mix of close scrutiny and big-picture stakes. It can move from a single phrase in a statement to the wider failure of diplomacy, government, media, or institutional nerve.
Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall – three of the UK’s top journalists – host an award-winning daily news podcast: The News Agents. They’re not just here to tell you what's happening, but why. Expect astute analysis and explanation of the day's news – and a healthy dose of scepticism and the ability to laugh at it all when needed. Episodes are available every weekday afternoon. You can listen to The News Agents on Alexa, just say "Alexa ask Global Player to play The News Agents" The News Agents is a Global Player Original podcast. For advertising opportunities on this podcast emai...
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
It makes British political choices legible by tracing how rhetoric, institutional power and events abroad collide.
The News Agents turns fast-moving political events into pointed conversation, moving between studio analysis, interviews, live questions and reporting from the ground.
Westminster meets Hormuz, with John, Emily and Lewis keeping your eyebrows raised and your bearings intact.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A sharp, skeptical look at Keir Starmer's handling of Peter Mandelson and the fallout around it.
This episode leans hard into Keir Starmer's handling of Peter Mandelson, framing it as a test of honesty, competence, and who knew what when. The hosts keep coming back to Starmer's claim that he was blindsided, then press the question of whether that story holds up or falls…
A Vatican-White House clash sets Trump's instincts against a Christian tradition older than MAGA.
The News Agents treats its title question as more than provocation, asking whether Pope Leo's words on tyrants and peacemakers were aimed at Donald Trump after a week of Vatican-White House friction.
A sharp football discussion about PSG, adaptation, and why Premier League clubs can look less comfortable in Europe.
It opens with Liverpool's Champions League exit and quickly turns that into a broader question about whether PSG have exposed a weakness in how Premier League clubs handle Europe.
A sharp argument about child safety, platform power, and why a ban may not be the whole answer.
The episode takes a simple question about banning or tightening social media use for under-16s and opens it up into something messier: political incentives, attention markets, and the way these platforms make money off constant engagement.
A sharp geopolitics episode that turns the Iran crisis into a test of power and nerve.
This episode treats the Iran crisis as a test of who still matters when the fallout goes beyond the region. It is at its strongest when it moves from the Strait of Hormuz to the weakness of allies, with Britain and Europe shown as short on hard power and strategic room to shape…
Street-level Hungary reporting gives Orban's defeat weight, while keeping Peter Magyar's limits in view.
The News Agents track Hungary's election through Viktor Orban's concession after 16 years, then use the result to ask what it might mean for Europe's populists.
A sharp look at why the U.S., Israel, and Iran keep misreading one another.
The episode revisits how the U.S., Israel, and Iran keep misreading one another, while also drawing out the internal Iranian politics that make the country hard to read from the outside.
A sharp, sceptical look at a ceasefire that already looks fragile.
The episode treats the ceasefire as something brittle from the start, and keeps asking the right awkward question: is Israel actually helping hold it together, or is the deal already being bent before it can settle?
Sam Harris interviews scientists and journalists on AI risk, religion, and US politics.
WSJ reporters unpack the Epstein files, surrogacy industry abuses, and true-crime court battles.
Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway argue through tech, media, and Trump-era politics twice weekly.
Dan Carlin's solo essays connecting executive power, historical collapse, and American democracy.
Sharp political debate with policy detail and real disagreement.
Demetri Kofinas interviews specialists on geopolitics, energy markets, AI, and finance at length.
Starmer says he was blindsided.
Pope Leo says tyrants are ravaging the world.
Where there were six, there is one.
Why is Starmer stalling?
China is suddenly the room everyone is watching.
Orbán concedes.
The fog is the point.
Can this truce survive day one?
A golf podcast covering the Masters tournament at Augusta, with analysis and commentary from hosts and guests.
The hosts discuss the implications of a ceasefire between the US and Iran, analyzing whether Trump blinked and who won the conflict.
The hosts discuss Donald Trump's threatening post about Iran and analyze its implications.
Hosts discuss American football's global growth and interview Adan Derdar about his journey from grassroots to the NFL.
The hosts of The News Agents host a live Q&A episode for Easter, answering listener questions about current events and world affairs.
The hosts discuss Donald Trump's threat to withdraw from NATO and Keir Starmer's response, analyzing the implications for Europe and the UK.
Trump goes after Britain.
The hosts discuss Donald Trump's threat to obliterate Iran's Karg Island and analyze the implications of potential US military action.
Dallas sets the hook.
A discussion about the rise of ultras fan culture in Scottish football, exploring its community aspects and darker elements.
Trump refuses to call it war.
Host Jon Sopel discusses the controversy over missing WhatsApp messages between Peter Mandelson and Morgan McSweeney, with analysis from LBC's Deputy Political Editor.
The hosts discuss Donald Trump's surprise peace announcement and suspicions of insider trading in oil markets.
Trump says the talks went perfectly.
This episode discusses the controversial decision by the Confederation of African Football to strip Senegal of the AFCON title and award it to Morocco due to a walk-off incident, exploring the legal and sporting implications.
Breaking news and analysis of a US military operation against Iran, including reports of the Ayatollah's death.
The hosts discuss the latest developments in the Iran-Israel conflict and US foreign policy.
Conservative Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy triggered a political row by tweeting that Muslims praying in Trafalgar Square during Ramadan's Iftar was 'an act of domination,' prompting Keir Starmer to invoke Tommy Robinson in Parliament to attack Kemi Badenoch.
The episode discusses Donald Trump's complaints about NATO allies and his isolation in the Iran conflict.
Three weeks into the US-Iran war, Trump is pleading with European allies to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open — the chokepoint for 20% of global oil — after Iran demonstrated it can block shipping almost at will.
The episode analyzes Keir Starmer's passive leadership style in the context of the Mandelson appointment controversy.
This episode features an interview with Canadian rugby player Sophie de Goody, discussing her journey from ACL injury to World Cup finalist, how Canada crowdfunded their way to the tournament, and her reflections on the devastating loss to England.
The hosts analyze newly released documents about Peter Mandelson's rushed appointment as UK ambassador despite his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, questioning the government's vetting process.
This episode analyzes whether Iran is gaining control in the ongoing conflict in the Strait of Hormuz, despite U.S.
The hosts analyze Donald Trump's contradictory statements about the war in Iran and his apparent concern over rising oil prices.
Hosts discuss the economic and political consequences of the Iran war, including oil price surges and potential impacts on the UK and US.
The News Agents’ live Q&A centers on Iran, Donald Trump, and whether the world is sliding into a new war state.
This episode features an interview with Davy Sif, who overcame a motor neurone disease diagnosis and a previous knee injury to become the first person to compete at the Winter Paralympics with MND, sharing his journey from diagnosis to snowboarding for Team GB.
The News Agents takes up the question of whether Keir Starmer lost control of his cabinet during the Iran crisis.
Donald Trump opens with a line built to land: he takes a swipe at Keir Starmer, and that jab becomes the entry point for a wider argument about whether Starmer is handling the moment well.
The episode discusses the UK government's decision to allow US use of British bases for strikes on Iran, with analysis of the escalating conflict.
The episode discusses the bizarre arrest of Peter Mandelson and the political fallout involving the Lord Speaker and Commons Speaker.