Congress moved quickly to pass a bill asking the Department of Justice to release documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It’s a move that the president was opposed to for much of the year. The FT’s Lauren Fedor and Chris Cook break down what’s changed for the White House, and what’s different about these new documents.

Mentioned in this podcast:

Donald Trump signs bill to release Jeffrey Epstein files

Jeffrey Epstein’s network: ‘Life among the lucrative and louche’

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To sign up for free to the new FT Alphaville newsletter on substack, go to ftav.substack.com

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

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

CREDIT: FOX News, C-SPAN, NBC News, Newsweek

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Investors are spending billions of dollars on novel ways to extend human life through inventive treatments, therapies, and even manipulating our genes. And increasingly, it seems as though anti-ageing efforts have moved from the super rich to a mass market consumer industry. In this series, we’re covering the past, present and future of the longevity movement. We’ll be looking at where the fixation on longevity is coming from, and trying to understand the practical and ethical issues at the heart of this cutting-edge field of research. 

From Silicon Valley fantasies, to Singaporean health spas, to Colombian genetic clinics and beyond, the FT’s Hannah Kuchler and Michael Peel ask whether breakthroughs in science and technology can really help us live longer, and even stop us aging altogether.

Free to read: 

US ‘wellness’ industry scents opportunity to go mainstream

The quest to make young blood into a drug

This season of Tech Tonic was produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Fact checking by Simon Greaves, Lucy Baldwin and Tara Cromie. Original music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.

The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.

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

When Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist and Holocaust denier, appeared on a podcast with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, it set off a firestorm in conservative circles. The FT’s Joe Miller and Edward Luce explain how this faction on the far-right is gaining power and what it means for the future of the Republican party.

Mentioned in this podcast:

Trump’s Maga coalition fractures over far-right interview

Don’t blame the left for US antisemitism

US Department of the Treasury Final Monthly Treasury Statement Receipts and Outlays of the United States Government

Email Marc with your questions ([email protected])

Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here

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

CREDIT: The Tucker Carlson Show, The Ben Shapiro Show, Forbes, Kevin Roberts on X

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Over the next several years, the Financial Times is diving in deep on some of the US’s biggest economic and political issues, all through the lens of one city: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Bethlehem is a politically divided area in one of the most critical swing states in the country, and it encapsulates lots of different stories that American politicians are telling about the US and who it's for.

We’ll be featuring some of those stories on the Swamp Notes podcast in a special series called The Bethlehem Project. In this first episode, we explore how an immigration raid at a construction site sent a chill through the community and exposed fault lines in the debate around who belongs in the US.

Mentioned in this podcast:

‘Everyone’s at risk’: Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown reaches Bethlehem

Why the Democrats are losing post-industrial America

Inside Trump’s America

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Democrats won the three largest races and a smattering of others on Tuesday’s off-year elections. They are the biggest electoral wins since Donald Trump took the Oval Office a year ago. The FT’s Lauren Fedor and Guy Chazan discuss which races stood out, and how each party may interpret how the results will affect other races.

Mentioned in this podcast:

Donald Trump tries to brush off election losses as Democrats hail shift in mood

The meaning of Zohran Mamdani

Email Marc your questions here ([email protected])

Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here

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

CREDIT: The White House, Vivek Ramaswamy, ABC News, Electron Media

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

The US military has killed more than 60 people in attacks on boats they say are running drugs in Latin America. Its navy has moved its most powerful warship to the Caribbean. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is increasing its rhetoric against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. James Story, the former top US diplomat to Venezuela, and the FT’s Michael Stott, puzzle out what the Pentagon and Maduro may do next.

Mentioned in this podcast:

Venezuela’s creaking military prepares for US strikes

Donald Trump aims to topple Venezuela’s leader with military build-up

Email Marc your questions ([email protected])

Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here

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 and Roxanna Vigil at the Council on Foreign Relations.

CREDIT: NBC News, CBS News

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

US President Donald Trump and his family have made at least $1bn since he was elected to serve a second term, thanks to their rapidly growing cryptocurrency empire. That’s according to an FT investigation which also found that at least 30 individuals or companies that collectively donated to the president’s causes have received benefits or advantages. The FT’s Joe Miller and Alex Rogers unpack their findings. 

Mentioned in this podcast:

How dozens of Trump’s donors have benefited from his second term

How the Trump companies made $1bn from crypto

Email Marc with your questions ([email protected])

Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here

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

CREDIT: KVUE

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Stephen Miller has played a central part in shaping White House policy since Donald Trump’s first term as president. But with less opposition this time around from Congress or other figures inside the administration, Miller’s hardline agenda has started to come to life. The FT’s US national correspondent Guy Chazan and US national editor Ed Luce join this week’s Swamp Notes to explore what Trump’s top policy adviser might be planning next.

Mentioned in this podcast:

Stephen Miller: Donald Trump’s ‘prime minister’ executes his plan to reshape America

Stephen Miller, Trump’s implementer-in-chief

Russell Vought: the man on a ‘divine mission’ to traumatise US bureaucrats

Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here

Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson and Ethan Plotkin. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. Our show is mixed by Sam Giovinco. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson. 

CREDIT: CNN, Washington Post, Daystar

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

US President Donald Trump has long campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize, and he seemed closer to that goal earlier this week when he helped broker a ceasefire in Gaza. But the Nobel Committee had other plans. So what exactly is Trump’s track record on peacemaking and what does it take to actually win the Nobel Peace Prize? Norwegian humanitarian studies professor Kristin Sandvik and the FT’s US-Middle East foreign policy correspondent Abigail Hauslohner explain. 

Mentioned in this podcast:

How Trump cornered Netanyahu into signing up for peace

Donald Trump looms large over Nobel Peace Prize

Email Marc with your questions. ([email protected])

Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here

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

CREDIT: NBC News, Forbes Breaking News, C-SPAN, Norwegian Nobel Committee

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

For the first time in nearly seven years, the US Congress was unable to come to a spending agreement in time. The government shut down. Democrats want to challenge President Donald Trump and extend healthcare subsidies. Republicans don’t want to budge. The Financial Times’ Washington bureau chief James Politi and deputy chief Lauren Fedor break down how it all went down and the position Democrats now find themselves in. 

Mentioned in this podcast:

Donald Trump threatens permanent spending cuts as US shutdown continues

What happens when the US government shuts down?

Email Marc with your questions ([email protected])

Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here

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

CREDIT: FOX News, Reuters, ABC News, C-SPAN

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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