Newsweek's Josh Lowe and Mirren Gidda spoke to Chatham House's Xenia Wickett and the LSE's Brian Klaas to discuss. Obamacare has become more than a policy for the U.S. right. It has become a symbol of everything they hate about big government—and the man who gave the policy its name. But after seven years of railing against it, when the party finally got its time to repeal and replace the policy, they couldn't agree on how to do it. The party leadership was forced to pull their new healthcare...

Regular contributor, Leslie Vinjamuri from Chatham House and Executive Director of the Overseas Development Institute, Alex Thier, join Newsweek's Mirren Gidda and Josh Lowe for this week's episode. Donald Trump has announced proposals for his first budget, and they're predictably proving controversial. From hikes in America's already large defense spending to cuts in services like meals on wheels, Trump has pulled few punches. If the budget went through, it would see cuts in America's...

Jason Murdock from the International Business Times joins Mirren and Josh to discuss the eponymous WikiLeaks, who's latest leak involved the C.I.A. and their espionage practices. Wikileaks was the future, once. Bursting onto the scene in 2006, the platform for whistleblowers and hackers, fronted by its charismatic Australian-born publisher Julian Assange, was involved in a series of disclosures that rocked the diplomatic and military establishment, particularly in the U.S. But along the...

Cristina Varriale from The Royal United Services Institute's and Newsweek's Asia Reporter, Eleanor Ross, join hosts Josh Lowe and Mirren Gidda to discuss the current hive of activity in North Korea, including the murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half brother, Kim Jong Nam, who is in most danger from North Korea, what the U.S. can do and how Donald Trump's fractious relationship with China will affect the already tense situation.

Empire Magazine's Helen O'Hara and Newsweek's Tufayel Ahmed join Mirren Gidda and Josh Lowe to discuss this years Oscars. The Academy Awards are never without surprises, but this year was more surprising than most. After Faye Dunaway declared La La Land winner of the Best Picture category, an Oscars' producer dashed onto the stage to inform the film's producers—midway through their speeches—that Moonlight had actually won. After last year's awards, which were notable for their lack of...

The Guardian's Alex Hern and Newsweek's Anthony Cuthbertson join Mirren and Josh this week to discuss the media behemoth that is Facebook—what it really is in 2017 and whether it can be a force for good. With the U.S. election and its onslaught of "fake news," people began to question whether Facebook might be harmful to its users. Last week founder, Mark Zuckerberg, posted an almost-6,000 word manifesto setting out what Facebook does for the world, and what more he wants it to do.

What is Putin's plan for the Middle East? How will he and President Donald Trump work with—or against—each other there? For the inside track on the issue, Josh Lowe and Mirren Gidda spoke to Newsweek reporters Damien Sharkov and Jack Moore, who've just published a cover story on Putin's activities. Newsweek's Foreign Service is recorded and edited by Jordan Saville.

Chatham House's Jacob Parakilas and writer Abi Wilkinson join Newsweek's Josh Lowe and Mirren Gidda to discuss the so-called "special relationship" between the U.K. and U.S. British Prime Minister Theresa May has made much of the fact that she got the first post-inauguration meeting with President Donald Trump. But how pleased should she be?

Women's Equality Party leader Sophie Walker and Fiorella Nash from the SPUC pro-life group join Newsweek's Josh Lowe and Mirren Gidda this week as they discuss Trump's reintroduction of the so-called "global gag rule" which denies U.S. funding to NGOs that promote or discuss abortion, will reverberate across the globe.. What will the impact of Trump's anti-abortion moves be? And what other women's rights might he seek to curtail? Newsweek's Foreign Service is recorded and edited by Jordan...

Sarah Churchwell and Leslie Vinjamuri join Newsweek's Mirren Gidda and Josh Lowe to tackle this week's topic. Donald Trump rode a tide of rage into office: rage at a "Washington elite" that he said had been ignoring the problems of "ordinary people" and failing to "get anything done." In so doing, he made big promises: to bring back jobs, put up walls, and, above all, to "make America great again." But can he actually keep to any of it? Newsweek's Foreign Service is recorded and edited...

January 17th marks the start of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Over the few days it runs world leaders, economists, politicians and celebrities will address attendees at the summit, hoping to tackle some of the biggest problems facing us today. For Newsweek's Davos special issue, Mirren Gidda interviewed Malala Yousafzai about her plans for the future and the work she is doing to improve the education of women and girls worldwide. This week's podcast is a...

The Guardian columnists join Newsweek's Mirren Gidda to discuss the hot topic of fake news. In the run-up to the U.S. presidential election, fake news abounded, with false stories about both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump spreading across social media. The problem has not abated. On December 4, a gunman walked into the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria in Washington, D.C. and opened fire. He was there, he said, to investigate the fallacious conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton and her aide John...

Comedians and commentators Ayesha Hazarika and Jon Holmes join Newsweek's Josh Lowe for a look ahead to what might happen next. It's back to work, and time to face a year set to be every bit as seismic as the one that preceded it. With major elections scheduled in France and Germany, the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, Putin on manoeuvres in the Middle East and more, 2017 is set to see more change and upheaval across the globe. Newsweek's Foreign Service is recorded and...

Will Smith, comedian and writer on Veep and The Thick of It, and Richard Smith, editor of satirical news site Newsthump join Newsweek's Mirren Gidda and Josh Lowe to discuss: How do satirists ridicule the ridiculous? Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election in a stunningly rude manner with an "anything goes" approach to publicity and jokes about the size of his hands. Like UKIP's Nigel Farage in Brexit Britain, Trump seems to come out on top no matter what the media throw at him....

Newsweek’s own Bill Powell joins us from Shanghai while Kerry Brown from King’s College joined us in London. Can Trump sustain his forceful stance on China? How will Beijing react to continued antagonism? And are there ways the President-elect can actually improve life for American workers? Newsweek's Foreign Service is presented by Josh Lowe and Mirren Gidda and is recorded and edited by Jordan Saville.

Heather Williams and Matthew Harries are the guests with Josh Lowe to discuss Trump’s appointments to his transition defense team. The president-elect has now appointed two retired generals—Michael Flynn and James Mattis— as national security adviser and defense secretary, respectively. But it might bring cause for concern. Both men served distinguished careers. But both have strong views on Iran, Russia and other controversial topics. And giving military figures so much power could make...

Stacy Hilliard and Newsweek’s own Leah McGrath Goodman join regular host, Mirren Gidda and guest-host, Lucy Clarke-Billings, to ask why so many women voted for Trump. Donald Trump does not have the best record with women. During the presidential race, video footage emerged of Trump engaging in what he described as "locker room banter" with TV host Billy Bush in 2005. "Grab them by the pussy," he said. "You can do anything." His comments appalled millions of men and women across the U.S.,...

Newsweek’s Owen Matthews joins hosts Josh Lowe and Mirren Gidda to talk the rise of populism across Europe. Donald Trump's policy platform is unlike that of any U.S. President in recent times. His nationalist, anti-Islam and Russia-sympathetic ideas are likely to usher in massive changes in American policy at home and abroad. But to observers of Europe, a lot of his ideas don't look so unusual; they're not unlike those espoused by a new generation of populist hard-right leaders surging...

It's been another chaotic year for global politics. The rise of Trump and the U.K.'s departure from the EU have both unsettled the established order, while the refugee crisis that has helped define European politics for the past three years is far from over. Newsweek sat down to try and make sense of it all with a man who once helped shaped the world as the U.K.'s foreign secretary, and now tries to help improve it as the director of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) NGO; David...

Leslie Vinjamuri and Jacob Parakilas speak with Josh Lowe and Mirren Gidda explore the biggest news story of 2016. Donald Trump didn't win the election on policy. His rhetoric spoke to sections of the electorate who felt they had been ignored. He promised these people he would "make America great again." They thought that was a great idea and put him in the White House. But now Trump has to actually come good. Faced at home with a divided country and abroad with a newly confident Russia...

Chad Wilcox and Margo Miller are this week’s guests as Josh Lowe and Mirren Gidda discuss the Second-in-command. The 2016 U.S. Presidential election has been the loudest and angriest in living memory, with two presidential candidates who each have plenty of baggage and are both ready and willing to dial the rhetoric up to 11. Amid the noise, its been easy to miss Tim Kaine and Mike Pence in the coverage. But while neither man is as divisive or as eyecatching as their would-be bosses, both...

Mark Bergman and Diana Shaw Clark join hosts Josh Lowe and Mirren as they figure out how important an issue the Supreme Court is in the 2016 election. What with Muslim bans and "locker room talk" on one side and a plethora of leaked emails on the other, the 2016 U.S. presidential election has had plenty of scandals. So many, in fact, that they've sometimes drowned out one of the most important issues facing Americans at the ballot box; appointments to the supreme court. With an unresolved...

Nina Burleigh and Michele Gorman from Newsweek’s U.S. Office join Mirren Gidda and Josh Lowe to discuss what women want from this year’s election. The choice before women at the 2016 U.S. Presidential election is absurdly polarised. On the one hand, they have Hillary Clinton, who not only places issues like childcare at the heart of her platform, but would if elected become the most powerful woman ever in the modern Western world. On the other, they have Donald Trump, a hyper-macho man's...

Elizabeth Linder and Charlie Wolf join Josh Lowe and Mirren Gidda discuss the future of the Republican Party as the election hots up. The U.S. Presidential election is far from over, and Donald Trump is not yet out. But after horrified reactions to the emergence of a tape in which Trump could be heard condoning sexual assault, as well as lackluster TV debate performances, the Republican presidential nominee is starting to seriously struggle. It prompted us to consider: If Trump cannot...