Podcasts: The Rest is Politics US

Two years ago, podcasts were an unknown medium to me. Today, I listen to more podcasts than I watch television. I began with the odd football podcast then discovered specialist ones that covered topics on the environment, politics and world affairs. These subjects are only cursorily dealt with by news programmes that are bloated with the affairs of celebrities. I then discovered the-rest-is-politics with Rory Stewart and Alistair Campbell, two political thinkers who have an incredible knowledge of the world as well as UK politics. They also tap into their network of contacts of eminent leaders from politics to AI for in-depth interviews on the leading podcast. Although Campbell and Stewart had been at the heart of the Blair/Brown and Cameron/May governments respectively, they paired up and discovered that they agreed on many issues, and if not they would disagree agreeably. What a game changer from the Punch and Judy politics served by Parliament and fired at us by many of our newspapers and much of our social media.

I have just listened to the latest episode of the sister podcast by Katty Kay and Anthony Scaramucci, the rest is politics US, which captivated my interest. As always it provides a ringside commentary on the flaws, fantasies and fortunes of the two polar opposite candidates in the American Presidential Election. It pitches an intelligent, humane black woman against a rich, misogynist, non-apologist white man. Despite Scaramucci being a lifelong Republican, and Kay being brought up in the BBC balanced reporting code, there is no doubt which of the candidates they don't want to win. They have just completed a UK tour of Birmingham, Glasgow, Cardiff and London debating the issues and answering questions. They attracted an audience of 13,000 at an event in the O2 arena in London.  They are a compelling listen and have deep insights into the American Presidential election campaign. It was a stroke of genius to bring these two exceptional characters together. 

Katty Kay with her cut-glass English accent and Swiss citizenship has lived and worked in the United States for 30 years as a journalist with the BBC but with far more strings to her impressive career. Her knowledge and network of contacts in American politics are wide and close to the candidates. She curates and reports their comments in an articulate and disciplined manner. She has encyclopedic inside knowledge of the election process having covered the last six Presidential elections. 

Anthony Scaramucci is a financier who famously became Donald Trump's Director of Communications when he became president but lasted only 10 days before resigning in despair at Trump's self-absorbed chaotic style of governing. Scaramucci comes from a New York Italian background and has a colourful way with words. His analysis is strewn with a zinging vocabulary and a minestrone of metaphors. It ensures a lively dialogue with the word-perfect explanations of Katty Kay. Their chemistry is potent, Scaramucci is clearly enthralled by Kay's intelligence and posh English breeding. Like Rory Stewart and Alistair Campbell, who invited them to do the US version of 'the rest is politics', they listen to each other's views and have adopted the maxim to disagree agreeably, which is not that often.

They also know how to engage and ensnare their audiences. Scaramucci confesses that the weeklong tour of UK cities was the most flattering and inspiring thing he had ever done in his rollercoaster of a career. Katty Kay was greatly touched by the enthusiasm of UK audiences and their granular knowledge of American Politics. As the day of reckoning approaches, this is the podcast to listen to. It is much better informed and entertaining than the alternative podcasts focusing on the American Presidential Election. The News Agents podcast with ex-BBC presenters, Emily Mattis and  John Sopel, and the BBC Americast podcast with the BBC ex and present Washington correspondents, Justin Webb and Sarah Smith were my goto ways of keeping abreast with American podcasts but they seem a bit lame by comparison.

Katty Kay is on the ball when she describes the election as causing global trepidation. Polls are predicting that Trump is 16% ahead of Harris with American men. I'm with the women and Katty and Anthony but Trump may have tuned into the zeitgeist of the American voters.