Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files

Is Pete Hegseth already plotting an exit strategy? Christiane & Jamie respond to a question about whether the Defense Secretary - aka Secretary of War - might run for a Tennessee Senate seat to get ahead of the impeachment threat after the Midterms. They explain whether walking away from the Pentagon would really put him beyond the reach of Democratic investigators and the possibility that Trump could use him as a scapegoat for the Iran War.

Christiane also opens up for the first time on what she hopes the future holds for her after an epic 43 years at CNN... Christiane reflects on more than four decades at the network, and goes into detail about what she wants to focus on next.

Plus: what is NATO's role when leaders like Netanyahu and Putin stand accused of war crimes against civilians - and why do those leaders remain so hard to arrest? Christiane and Jamie also examine whether Iraq has become a failed state, with US, Israeli and Iranian hostilities unravelling a fragile recovery. And lastly, why does Turkey escape condemnation over its treatment of the Kurds in Syria, and should NATO still be holding meetings there?

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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This week's historic elections in Israel are the first time the country has voted since the October 7th attacks, and the election may ultimately turn on a single question: will voters hold accountable the politicians responsible for the security failings which led to that atrocity? Christiane and Jamie look at Netanyahu's fight for survival and the challenge from Gadi Eisenkot, and ask whether security is now the only issue on the ballot, with almost every prominent party sitting on the right.

They also ask: if Netanyahu loses, does anything actually change? Can Israel be brought back in from the international cold, or will the alternative mean more of the same in Gaza and the West Bank? Did Trump's endorsement of Netanyahu move a single vote? And is it time for the US to reappraise its relationship with Israel, regardless of who the next Prime Minister is?

Then: was Pete Hegseth's recent meeting with Netanyahu a precursor to a new round of the US-Israeli war with Iran? Is that conflict likely to restart as soon as the Midterms are out of the way? Christiane also has her say on some of Trump's controversial and bizarre recent public statements, ranging from Islamophobic remarks about Abdul El Sayed to his comments about the muscles and the backsides of Republican candidates.

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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Are protests in France spiralling out of control, or do they point to a deeper breakdown in trust between the public and its political leaders? Christiane and Tina examine what lies behind the unrest and what it reveals about France's political climate.

They also look at America's relationships with its allies. Can the US rebuild their trust, or will repairing the damage require more than a change of president?

And how dependent is Ukraine on Elon Musk's Starlink network to coordinate military operations and maintain its advantage against Russia? Plus, Sally Rooney says she can no longer sell her books in the UK because of her support for Palestine Action. Does this raise serious questions about freedom of expression?

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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After Katie Zacharia lasted just 5 days as White House Press Secretary, Christiane and Tina Brown ask: is this story part of a wider pattern that shows Trump and his administration have a problem with women?

They discuss why Zacharia was given a job she was never qualified for in the first place, whether she was treated more harshly than her incompetent male colleagues, and whether Trump's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles could be the next high profile woman in the Trump team to lose her job.

Christiane and Tina are also joined by Kai Bird, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, to talk about his recent biography of Trump's mentor, Roy Cohn. They examine the influence Cohn had on a young Trump, and how much of that influence is still in evidence today.

Plus, Christiane reacts to Trump's continued approach of criticising President Zelensky, while try to flatter and do business with Vladimir Putin.

You can read Tina's Substack 'Fresh Hell' here.

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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Why has JD Vance condemned the idea of livestreaming Nidal Hasan’s execution, and what does it reveal about divisions within the Republican Party? Christiane and Jamie examine the debate and how it sits alongside the party’s stance on the right to life.

They also look at the Houthis’ strike on a Saudi airport. Does this signal a widening conflict, and could Saudi Arabia be drawn back into a direct confrontation with the Houthis?

Meanwhile, MI5 says threats from Russia and Iran have quadrupled in the last decade. With AI creating new risks, from cyber-attacks to bioweapons, are Britain’s intelligence services equipped to deal with a new era of hybrid warfare?

Plus, why are Republican politicians so reluctant to cross Trump, even when his popularity appears to be falling? What keeps them loyal to him?

This episode was recorded on 14th October.

Christiane is up for Best Host in the Signal Awards Listener's Choice. If you love the show, take ten seconds to vote: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/shows/craft/best-host

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

President Trump has announced a deal with Russia, lifting his own diesel sanctions and committing to spend $4bn of American money to Russian fuel, in return for a ceasefire on energy infrastructure. As Zelensky calls it a gift to Russia's war machine, did Trump just sell out Ukraine for cheaper diesel?

Christiane and Jamie unpack the logic behind it and examine Trump's claim that Zelensky should be replaced.

Later Christiane reports from Reykjavik's Hofdi House, 40 years on from where Reagan and Gorbachev came within touching distance of abolishing nuclear weapons, and walked away. Jamie, who worked on arms control at the time, explains why that "failure" broke the back of the Cold War, and why both now argue the same leap of thinking is needed to govern AI before it governs us.

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Christiane is up for Best Host in the Signal Awards Listener's Choice. If you love the show, take ten seconds to vote: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/shows/craft/best-host

Christiane and Tina answer your questions on Trump's threats to make Canada the 51st state. Canada has reportedly prepared for the possibility of a US invasion- but how realistic is that threat, and is Mark Carney right to take it seriously?

The Cornell 7 case has raised questions about how universities and law enforcement respond to sexual assault allegations. Why do major institutions so often fail survivors, and what needs to change?

Plus: Tina weighs in on Prince Andrew's legal action against the police, as well as the latest row between Charles Spencer and King Charles over Princess Diana.

Please note: this episode was recorded on the 5th October.

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

The gruesome botched execution of Christa Pike has prompted an international debate about the use of the death penalty. Should it prompt America - the only major western democracy which still uses capital punishment - to finally scrap the death penalty?

Christiane and guest co-host Tina Brown dissect the 'barbaric' attempts to execute Pike, explain why prison doctors are so poorly trained and reveal why there is a shortage of lethal injection drugs in the US. They also ask: what does this extraordinary case say about America? Christiane talks about her personal experience of visiting a death penalty facility in person and she and Tina discuss whether anything is likely to change as a result of this story.

Plus, they look ahead to the midterms. Are these elections simply a referendum on Donald Trump? Christiane asks why so many senior Republicans still won't criticise the President by name and they discuss whether candidates would do better if they did. Plus Tina explains her theory on how Trump has lost his touch, and they give their reactions to the latest on the President's war with the press.

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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Christiane and Jamie answer your questions on the five men arrested over a suspected plot at RAF Fairford, one of the military bases the UK let the US use to bomb Iran. Is Iran's war now spilling into Britain and Europe more generally?

A Baltic foreign minister recently told Christiane that Europe had been "a fat, lazy cat" until now - and credited Trump with finally getting the continent spending on defence. So why didn’t Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, agree?

Plus: is the UN worth anything without leverage over Washington, Moscow or Beijing? What did Trump actually gain in Greenland? And are Ukraine's strikes inside Russia backfiring?

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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Xi got the pomp, the pageantry and a trip to see the US Constitution. America got a promise of two pandas.

In this episode, Christiane and Jamie ask what Trump's summit with Xi actually achieved? Why was there no AI agreement? Is the Taiwan arms sale dead or just delayed? And why is Trump pushing hardest on America's friends while reaching for its adversaries?

Plus Christiane gives her reaction to her exclusive UNGA interviews with Brazil's President Lula and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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