Episodes

  • How to rebuild global trade
    Aug 23 2025

    The world trade order is being remade. US President Donald Trump has led that charge with tariffs and trade deals that have upended the past 30 years of advancement towards global free trade. If that order is going away, what should replace it? Council on Foreign Relations president Michael Froman and the FT’s senior trade writer Alan Beattie talk through one option for the future of international exchange.


    Mentioned in this podcast:

    Read Michael Froman’s Foreign Affairs article

    No, Trump is not ushering in a new global trading order

    Canada cultivates Nordic connections to offset its reliance on US trade


    Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here

    Email Marc with your questions (Marc.Filippino@FT.com)


    Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. This week’s show was mixed by Samantha Giovinco. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.


    Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    20 mins
  • Trump opens retirement to crypto
    Aug 16 2025

    One of the president’s most recent executive orders paved the way for American retirement accounts to invest in cryptocurrencies and private equity. It’s a seismic change for savers and investors both. The FT’s Sujeet Indap and Duke University professor Elisabeth de Fontenay break down what it means for you and for Washington.


    Mentioned in this podcast:

    Email Marc with your questions (Marc.Filippino@FT.com)

    Donald Trump exposes US retirees to new world of risk with 401k order

    Trump opens US retirement plans to crypto and private equity investments

    Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here


    Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. Our show was mixed by Kelly Garry and Kent Militzer. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.


    Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    16 mins
  • The real cost of gutting USAID
    Aug 9 2025

    Six months after the Trump administration gutted the US Agency for International Development, experts are tracking the impact of its absence. The FT’s David Pilling and the Brookings Institution’s George Ingram describe the surprising ways countries are adapting to a world with less resources for the poor, sick and starving.


    Mentioned in this podcast:

    Email Marc with your questions (Marc.Filippino@FT.com)

    What the closure of USAID is really costing the world

    USAID cuts threaten 14mn extra deaths by 2030, warns study

    The shifting future of foreign aid

    Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here


    Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. Samantha Giovinco mixed this week’s episode. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.


    Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    19 mins
  • Gaza crisis puts Trump at a crossroads
    Aug 2 2025

    On a visit to the UK this week, Trump broke from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stance on the war in Gaza. The FT’s Edward Luce and US foreign affairs correspondent Abigail Hauslohner unpack how the situation in the region became so dire, and why world leaders are pressuring Trump to act.


    Mentioned in this podcast:

    Has Gaza tested the limits of Donald Trump’s support for Benjamin Netanyahu?

    ‘Worst-case scenario’ of famine unfolding in Gaza, says global hunger monitor

    The west’s complicity in Gaza

    Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here


    Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson and mixed by Samantha Giovinco. We had help from Marc Filippino. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.


    CREDIT: CNN, Times News, France24


    Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    18 mins
  • Trump’s case against Fed chair Powell
    Jul 26 2025

    The US president is angry with the chair of the Federal Reserve over interest rates. He’s applying a lot of pressure on Jay Powell to lower them or leave his job. The FT’s Claire Jones and Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, break down what will happen if Trump succeeds in either of those goals.


    Mentioned in this podcast:

    Email Marc with your questions (Marc.Filippino@ft.com)

    Donald Trump and Jay Powell spar as US president visits Federal Reserve

    Why a $2.5bn refurbishment of the Federal Reserve could be Jay Powell’s undoing

    Donald Trump brings war against the Fed to Jay Powell’s home turf

    Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here


    Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson and mixed by Samantha Giovinco. We get help from Lauren Fedor. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.


    CREDIT: CNBC


    Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    21 mins
  • Is Zohran Mamdani the future of the Democratic party?
    Jul 19 2025

    Zohran Mamdani shocked a city, and his own political party, when he soundly defeated his influential rival in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary election. Now, as the second leg of the race reveals itself, Mamdani has a chance to redefine how the party talks about its critical issues. The FT’s Rana Foroohar and the American Enterprise Institute’s Michael Strain discuss what the party can learn from its nominee and what it would mean if he won.


    Mentioned in this podcast:

    Email Marc with your questions (Marc.Filippino@ft.com)

    New York’s Zohran Mamdani wins over some of the city’s business elite

    Make America affordable again

    Zohran Mamdani is wrong — of course billionaires should exist

    Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here


    Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson and mixed by Samantha Giovinco. We had help from Lauren Fedor. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.


    CREDIT: Zohran Mamdani For NYC, NBC News, NPR, NY1, CNBC


    Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    20 mins
  • Big Pharma’s big tariffs
    Jul 12 2025

    When US President Donald Trump threatened 200 per cent tariffs on foreign-made pharmaceuticals, investors responded like it was a placebo. It’s the latest spat between drugmakers and an administration that share a complicated relationship. The FT’s Hannah Kuchler and Patrick Temple-West explain why Trump and Big Pharma aren’t getting along, and what that prescribes for the future of the industry.


    Mentioned in this podcast:

    Email Marc your questions (Marc.Filippino@ft.com)

    Investors shrug off Donald Trump’s 200% tariff on pharma

    The looming ‘patent cliff’ facing Big Pharma

    Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here


    Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s acting co-head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.


    CREDIT: The White House, Roll Call


    Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    16 mins
  • The corporate winners and losers under Trump
    Jul 5 2025

    US President Donald Trump’s approach to the economy has left investors on edge and markets unsure how to react. But his tariffs, trade deals and Truth Social posts have left some corporations better off than others. The FT’s Derek Brower and Gregory Meyer break down who is coming out on top, and who is getting left behind.


    Mentioned in this podcast:

    Triumphing under Trump: the corporate winners and losers

    Is Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ a political curse for Republicans?

    Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here


    Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. This week’s episode was mixed by Samantha Giovinco. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.


    CREDIT: The White House, LiveNOW from Fox, Forbes


    Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    17 mins