French prime minister Michel Barnier was forced to resign when his government collapsed in the wake of a no-confidence vote and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is heading for fresh elections in February. Amol and Nick are joined by Jose Manuel Barroso, former President of the European Commission, to look at what the crisis in those countries means for the EU as it faces economic decline, the rise of populist parties and a second Donald Trump presidency.

Plus, sports presenter Karthi Gnanasegaram pops in for Moment of the Week and to discuss her busy work schedule over Christmas.

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The Today Podcast is hosted by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson who are both presenters of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Amol was the BBC’s media editor for six years and is the former editor of the Independent, he’s also the current presenter of University Challenge. Nick has presented the Today programme since 2015, he was the BBC’s political editor for ten years before that and also previously worked as ITV’s political editor.

This episode was made by Lewis Vickers with Nadia Gyane and Grace Reeve. Additional digital production was by Joe Wilkinson. The technical producer was Ben Andrews. The editor is Louisa Lewis. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.