While some are saying the oil crisis caused by Trump’s war on Iran is as bad as the one in the 1970s, economics editor of the Sunday Times David Smith thinks it’s still too early to tell. It may be a short term blip or it may have long-lasting effects.

The Three Old Hacks, aka Mihir Bose, former sports editor at the BBC, Nigel Dudley, political analyst, and David Smith return to the war in Iran and the toxic effect of appointing Peter Mandelson to the job of Britain’s ambassador to the United States in this week’s digest of the news. 

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing [email protected], we’d love to hear from you!

The Three Old Hacks talk about the war in Iran, with the background knowledge to be able to compare and contrast it with previous wars and the justifications of previous presidents and prime ministers over the decades.

"Trump has always been a transactional president who wants to do a deal", says political analyst Nigel Dudley, "but in the Middle East there is no end. The best we can hope for is an absence of war where people live beside each other".

David Smith, Economics Editor of the Sunday Times on the effect of the war on oil prices: 
"We could be teetering on the edge of a recession if this lasts".

Moving on to other matters: "I get the impression this whole Mandelson affair could actually bring Starmer down", says former BBC Sports Editor Mihir Bose.

And of course, no Three OId Hacks episode would be complete without mention of Tottenham Hotspur.

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing [email protected], we’d love to hear from you!

The Three Old Hacks is the Best Podcast, produced by the Best Team Ever!

Donald Trump’s enthusiasm for his own brilliance is infectious. Once they have finished praising each other, the Three Old Hacks settle to a discussion of Trump’s latest exploits and, in the week that Robert Jenrick swaps parties, they ponder the price of party loyalty in politics.

“Backstabbing is never a good look”, says David Smith, adding that Jenrick’s political journey from ‘Robert Generic’ to Reform is “not that credible”.

They then move to the serious issue of how football managers should behave during a match. Thomas Frank has been accused of chewing gum ‘aggressively’. And should they wear their expensive suit in the pouring rain, or a track suit?

Join former BBC Sports Editor Mihir Bose, political analyst Nigel Dudley and Economics Editor of the Sunday Times David Smith for the latest edition of the Three Old Hacks.

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing [email protected], we’d love to hear from you!

The Three Old Hacks wind up the year with the topics du jour - immigration, Trump and Fake News.

"We need to be saying much more that immigration is a good thing", argues political analyst Nigel Dudley.

"If Joe Biden had done some of the things Trump is doing now, they would have questioned his mental faculties", says Economics Editor of the Sunday Times David Smith.

"Does the rise of AI mean that journalists will soon be replaced?" asks former Editor of BBC Sport Mihir Bose.

Probably not the last time these subjects will be debated, but the last time by the Three Old Hacks this year. 

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing [email protected], we’d love to hear from you!

The Three Old Hacks discuss the visit of Donald Trump and whether our Prime Minister's apparent fawning over him is the only way to treat someone so vain.

"Flattery pays off with Trump", says David Smith, Economics editor of the Sunday Times. "You don't want to make an enemy of him".

They note that Rupert Murdoch was on the guest list for dinner with the President of the United States, but Nigel Farage wasn't.

"Farage is not as close to Trump as he makes out", says David. 

Also on their minds this week - political analyst Nigel Dudley, former sports editor of the BBC Mihir Bose, and economics editor of the Sunday Times David Smith discuss the vulnerability of Keir Starmer's leadership of the Labour Party, Tommy Robinson's march in London and the role of the Office for Budget Responsibility. 

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing [email protected], we’d love to hear from you!

The Three Old Hacks discuss the negotiations over Ukraine. Did Trump get rolled over by Putin? Would Mrs Thatcher have gone to America in the way the European leaders have? There have been lots of "vacuous generalisations" about what Europe's war aims are, but it is clear what the principal players want, says Nigel Dudley: Trump wants a deal and Putin wants Ukraine.

Political analyst Nigel Dudley, former sports editor of the BBC Mihir Bose, and economics editor of the Sunday Times David Smith discuss world affairs - Ukraine, Gaza, and for light relief they consider whether Britain is still a nation of tea drinkers and why a woman on a train wanted David's Sunday column for her hamster.

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing [email protected], we’d love to hear from you!

The Three Old Hacks look at what might lie behind Keir Starmer's announcement that Britain will recognise a Palestinian state, if Israel does not stop the war in Gaza.

They celebrate the Lionesses' victory in the Euros and discuss Donald Trump's extraordinary behaviour during his recent visit to Scotland, where he behaved more like the country's monarch than a visiting dignitary.

And they say goodbye to the satirist Tom Lehrer.

Former Sports editor of BBC News Mihir Bose, political analyst Nigel Dudley and Economics Editor of the Sunday Times David Smith, aka the Three Old Hacks, setting the world to rights. 

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing [email protected], we’d love to hear from you!

The Three Old Hacks consider the ramifications of the Afghan super-injunction story which has consumed the British media this week and the way it has "seeped into the toxic subject of immigration".

The British have something of a "negligent attitude to those who have helped them", says Mihir Bose, former BBC Sport editor. It is wrong that this has become politicised into an immigration issue when "the Afghan interpreters are the good guys", says David Smith, Economics editor of The Sunday Times. Why did the Labour government keep the super-injunction for a year after they came to power? "They may have wanted not to do anything that might lead to questioning of their patriotism", says political analyst Nigel Dudley.

The Three Old Hacks also look at the Welfare State and consider why it has grown so much. Do we have a "national sense of entitlement", they ask.

And is Donald Trump really going to rebrand soccer in the United States as 'football' with all the potential confusion that entails.

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing [email protected], we’d love to hear from you!

The Three Old Hacks considers Israel's war with Iran, the expectation of what 'two-week Trump' will do and how likely it is that Britain will get dragged in.

Former BBC Sports editor Mihir Bose, Economics editor of The Sunday Times David Smith and political analyst Nigel Dudley's collective memories can recall the postwar history of the West's attempts at regime change in the Middle East over several decades.

They also discuss tax, football, and the merits and vagaries of newspaper deliveries. 

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing [email protected], we’d love to hear from you!

The Three Old Hacks talk political memoirs this week. Were they always as salacious, and as quickly turned round post-administration as they are now?

Barely has the imprint of the politician's backside faded from the leather of the despatch box before somebody is telling all.

Former BBC Sports editor Mihir Bose, Economics editor of The Sunday Times and political analyst Nigel Dudley discuss Sarah Vine's book How Not to be a Political Wife. She and her then husband Michael Gove were close to David and Samantha Cameron before the Brexit referendum ended the friendship, and she says, her marriage.

The Three Old Hacks look back fondly to the days when MI5 put it about that Prime Minister Harold Wilson was a communist in thrall to Russia and everyone thought he was sleeping with his secretary, when in fact it was another woman altogether.

Get in contact with the podcast by emailing [email protected], we’d love to hear from you!