The Debate

By FRANCE 24 English

The Debate episodes

January 16, 2024 Indicted and unstoppable? Trump clobbers competition in Iowa
He is charged with inciting a mob to try to overturn his defeat in 2020. So why is it that just three years later, Donald Trump may have already killed suspense in the race to the 2024 Republican nomination? We ask about the former president's record win in the Iowa caucuses, where he barely campaigned in person and stayed so far ahead of the rest of the field that he did not even bother with candidates' debates.
46 min
January 15, 2024 Beijing's loss? Taiwan re-elects pro-sovereignty incumbents
Beijing’s message to Taiwan’s voters just does not seem to be getting through.
46 min
January 11, 2024 What future for Taiwan? Elections closely watched by mainland China
Three candidates, two superpowers and one island. Taiwan is picking a president and a parliament on Saturday amid steadily surging nationalism in mainland China and all the talk of decoupling and derisking by the United States. Who will succeed the outgoing pro-Western president, Tsai Ing-wen? How high are the stakes?
44 min
January 10, 2024 Stalemate in the air? Ukraine in race to rearm amid Western war fatigue
It is only on a voluntary basis. So how much to make of Russian authorities offering their citizens a ride out of Belgorod? The western city across from Ukraine's Kharkiv is increasingly the target of Moscow's own medicine: a steady diet of missiles from the sky. As NATO leaders meet in Brussels, the battle for air superiority is squarely on the radar of both sides.
48 min
January 09, 2024 Succession? Macron picks Gabriel Attal as youngest French prime minister
New year, new face. France's youngest-ever president has named the country's youngest-ever prime minister. We ask why Emmanuel Macron chose to replace Élisabeth Borne with Gabriel Attal and chart the meteoric rise of a 34-year-old Parisian who has already enjoyed stints as city councillor, party spokesperson, budget minister, government spokesperson and most recently, education minister.
44 min
January 08, 2024 Draw down or second front? Blinken back in Israel amid Lebanon escalation
Second front or wind it down? The new year begins with yet another trip by the US Secretary of State to Israel. What message does Antony Blinken carry for Benjamin Netanyahu? As the war in Gaza enters its fourth month, we ask about Washington's calls for restraint and the potential for escalation with Lebanon, this in the wake of last week's air strike that killed a senior Hamas official in a Hezbollah stronghold of Beirut.
45 min
December 29, 2023 Turning point for humanity? Artificial intelligence goes mainstream
Thirteen short months ago, an innocuous tweet from the head of a Silicon Valley nonprofit launched something called ChatGPT. But within five days, more than one million people had taken up Sam Altman's offer and tried out the new baby of OpenAI. Out were decades of grappling over the theoretical dangers of powerful artificial intelligence systems. In was a race to corner the market, with the parent companies of rivals Google and Facebook scrambling to match Microsoft’s $13 billion investment.
49 min
December 21, 2023 High stakes, long wait: What outcome for DR Congo after elections?
The stakes are as high as the wait is long in DR Congo. Voting rolled over for an unscheduled second day in a sprawling, often unruly Central African nation that’s picking a president, as well as national, regional and municipal lawmakers. The logistics are challenging and the politics are rough in a resource-rich country that’s dogged by poverty, corruption and decades of insurgencies in the east.
45 min
December 20, 2023 Le Pen's breakout moment? French government split by far-right backing of immigration bill
Are we at a turning point in French politics? Emmanuel Macron's ruling party is in crisis after the far right threw its weight behind an immigration bill stiffened after a parliamentary compromise. The government insists it had the votes without Marine Le Pen's party, but there's more than one way to read the outcome.
44 min
December 19, 2023 2024, year of the deepfake? Artificial intelligence and the changing face of politics
Does the buck stop in Brussels? The EU has opened its first-ever proceedings over social media content. In its crosshairs is Elon Musk’s X – formerly Twitter – over illegal posts and disinformation. It follows an initial warning over a deluge of hate spewed on the social networking site in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack and the war with Israel. We ask about this litmus test for Europe's brand new regulation, known as the Digital Services Act.
44 min

About The Debate

From the publisher's feed

A live debate on the topic of the day, with four guests. From Monday to Thursday at 7:10pm Paris time.

Share The Debate

Sign up to save your podcasts

The Debate

The Debate episodes

About The Debate

More shows like The Debate

Global News Podcast

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Fareed Zakaria GPS

Intelligence Squared

Newshour

Amanpour

The Documentary Podcast

The Interview

arts24

People & Profit

Access Asia

Talking Europe

The 51%

Fashion

Inside Europe

Tech 24

Down to Earth

Business

Inside the Americas

Europe Rendezvous

The World This Week

GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Reporters

Focus

Banlieue Project

The Ezra Klein Show

The Observers

Press Review

Ones and Tooze

The Observers Direct

The Foreign Affairs Interview

The Global Story