One story is dominating the headlines today: the rapidly unfolding situation in the Middle East. This morning, Hamas released the last 20 living hostages; in return, Israel freed over 1,700 Palestinian detainees. We're devoting the entire episode to the latest from Gaza.

Rebecca Moore is joined by The Observer’s Narrative Editor Chloe Hadjimatheou and Middle East Correspondent Ruth Michaelson, to answer questions about the first part of Donald Trump’s peace deal in Gaza.

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

• @ObserverUK on X 
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Host: Rebecca Moore

Producer: Amalie Sortland

Executive Producer: Jasper Corbett and Matt Russell

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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Why has Donald Trump sent hundreds of National Guards to Illinois? Should the UK look to France when it comes to tackling the far-right? Will the US-backed plan for peace in Gaza work?

Rebecca Moore is joined by The Observer’s Katie Riley and Poppy Bullard, and David Runciman, Honorary Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and host of the Past Present Future podcast, as they pitch their top story of the day.

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

• @ObserverUK on X 
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky 

Host: Rebecca Moore

Producer: Casey Magloire

Executive Producer: Jasper Corbett

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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

Do new oil projects in the Gulf of Mexico signal the end of an international consensus on climate change? Will the Home Office’s new plans to curb protests backfire? Six months on from the Supreme Court ruling, why are the public expected to police each other’s gender?

Rebecca Moore is joined by The Observer’s Jeevan Vasagar, Ada Barumé and Evan Moffitt as they pitch their top stories of the day. 

Find the team’s Must Reads here:

• One Battle After Another
• Rivals
• Infinite Wibble

Pre-order Jeevan’s book The Surge HERE

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

• @ObserverUK on X 
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky 

Host: Rebecca Moore

Producer: Poppy Bullard

Executive Producer: Jasper Corbett

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

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

Two Jewish people were killed in a terrorist attack at a Manchester synagogue. Did President Trump and Pete Hegseth cross the line with their inflammatory speeches to military generals? And what’s behind the surge in profits at soft toy maker Jellycat?

Giles Whittell is joined by The Observer’s Erica Wagner, John Simpson and Sam Freedman, as they pitch their top story of the day.

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

• @ObserverUK on X 
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky 

Host: Giles Whittell 

Producer: Casey Magloire 

Executive Producer: Rebecca Moore 

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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

Will the US ban a safe and legal abortion pill? Is the Met Police full of Freemasons? Can Labour take control of the narrative on immigration?

Rebecca Moore is joined by The Observer’s Francisco Garcia, Serena Cesareo and Phoebe Davis as they pitch their top story of the day.

Find the team’s Must Reads here:

• The Art of the Impersonal Essay
• Softly As I Leave You
• We Have Notes

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

• @ObserverUK on X 
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky 

Host: Rebecca Moore

Producer: Poppy Bullard

Executive Producer: Jasper Corbett and Matt Russell 

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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

This weekend marks the first-ever Riyadh Comedy Festival, with Jimmy Carr, Aziz Ansari, and Dave Chappelle on the bill. It’s being reported they are each being paid upwards of $375,000 to perform in a country which severely restricts freedom of speech. What does Trump’s cryptic “good luck to all” at the UN really mean for Ukraine - and should we be worried? Is the breakthrough on Huntington’s disease The News Meeting’s first genuinely good news story? 

Giles Whittell is joined by The Observer’s International Editor, Steve Bloomfield, and reporters Rachael Healy and James Tapper as they pitch the top story of the day

** Listen to The Observer’s new culture podcast We Have Notes HERE

**Join us at the next News Meeting Live HERE

Follow us on Social Media: 

• @ObserverUK on X 
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky 

Host: Giles Whittell, Deputy Editor-In-Chief

Producer: Amalie Sortland

Executive Producer: Rebecca Moore

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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

This week the President made the erroneous link between pregnant women taking paracetamol to autism. What happens now that trust in basic pain relief is shaken? Has Reform miscalculated with its climate-skeptical stance? And Nike has teamed up with Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS - but is their new campaign crossing the line by sexualising female athletes?

Giles Whittell is joined by journalist and author David Aaronovitch, the Observer’s National News Editor Claudia Williams and reporter Jon Ungoed-Thomas as they pitch the top story of the day

** Listen to The Observer’s new culture podcast We Have Notes HERE

**Join us at the next News Meeting Live HERE

Follow us on Social Media: 

• @ObserverUK on X 
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky 

Host: Giles Whittell, Deputy Editor-In-Chief

Producer: Poppy Bullard

Executive Producer: Rebecca Moore

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected]

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

Could Tiktok become MAGA-tok? What are the implications of recognising a Palestinian state? Should Rwanda be hosting an international cycling competition?

Rebecca Moore is joined by The Observer’s Stephen Armstrong, Bex Sander and Serena Cesareo as they pitch their top stories of the day.

Find the team’s Must Reads here:

• The Rabbit Hole
• What it means to get really really high
• Hidden Valley Road

**Join us at the News Meeting Live on Tuesday 23rd September at 6:30pm** 

Rebecca Moore will be joined by David Aaronovitch, Claudia Williams and Jon Ungoed-Thomas. 

Get your tickets → HERE

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

• @ObserverUK on X 
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky 

Host: Rebecca Moore

Producer: Poppy Bullard

Executive Producer: Jasper Corbett 

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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

What did we learn from Donald Trump and Keir Starmer’s press conference? Why is Israel invading Gaza City? What does the suspension of the Jimmy Kimmel show tell us about press freedom in America?

Rebecca Moore is joined by The Observer’s Erica Wagner, Steve Bloomfield and Rachel Sylvester as they try and pitch the top stories of the day.

**Join us at the News Meeting Live on Tuesday 23rd September at 6:30pm** 

Rebecca Moore will be joined by David Aaronovitch, Claudia Williams and Jon Ungoed-Thomas. 

Get your tickets → HERE

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

• @ObserverUK on X 
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky 

Host: Rebecca Moore

Producer: Poppy Bullard

Executive Producer: Jasper Corbett 

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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

With young people in Nepal using social media sites like Discord to organise protests, are we witnessing the South Asian Spring? How influential is Elon Musk in British politics following his message to the Unite the Kingdom protestors? And how did the Assad regime systematically steal hundreds of children from their families? 

Giles Whittell is joined by The Observer’s Patricia Clarke, Chloe Hadjimatheou and Stephen Armstrong, as they each try to pitch the top story of the day.

**Join us at the News Meeting Live on Tuesday 23rd September at 6:30pm** 

Giles Whittell will be joined by David Aaronvitch, Claudia Williams and Jon Ungoed-Thomas. 

Get your tickets → HERE

Find the team’s must reads here:

• The crumbling seaside palaces at the centre of Britain’s asylum crisis
• You Might Have Already Fallen for MAHA’s Conspiracy Theories
• Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur

Read more on today’s stories: 

• US cash turned Tommy Robinson into the poster boy of UK far right
• How a western charity helped the Syrian regime abduct children
• Prepare for revolution now, Elon Musk tells London rally as police come under attack

**We want to hear what you think! Email us at: [email protected] 

Follow us on Social Media: 

• @ObserverUK on X 
• @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok
• @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky 

Host: Giles Whittell

Producer: Casey Magloire 

Executive Producer: Rebecca Moore 

To find out more about The Observer:

Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content

Head to our website observer.co.uk 

Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

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