10 Friday March 18 2022 | the timespodcasts
L
et us share a mournful
silence to mark the
demise of Talking Politics,
the podcast hosted by the
Cambridge professors
Helen Thompson and
David Runciman, which
was an improbable cult
success (they sold merch) and, in its
heyday, the best politics show out
there. The final episode went out
on March 3.
Although Talking Politics was
sometimes perplexingly wonkish
(I have tried to forget everything it
taught me about German local
elections) and its guests were, if
anything, overinformed (nobody who
has heard Adam Tooze discussing the
intricacies of things such as the
agricultural policies of minor EU
states can fail to worry about the state
of his private life), it was distinguished
by the intelligence of its hosts and its
persistent instinct for the wider global
and historical picture.
A gaping hole in the listening lives
of politics nerds. But! Just in time,
a successor has arrived. The Rest
Is Politics (from Gary Lineker’s
company Goalhanger, the
makers of The Rest Is History)
is a new politics show. It is
hosted by Alastair Campbell
and Rory Stewart, whose talk
about politics benefits
considerably from the fact
that they have done it. Plus
they are far enough out in the
political wilderness to be able
to speak their minds.
Campbell says that he spends
a lot of time watching GermanTV. Stewart is in Jordan working
for a charity that promotes ancient
folk crafts, which is so incredibly
Rory Stewart I was astonished to
learn that he had only just got
round to it.
They make a formidable team.
Stewart mentions that he has been
to “almost a hundred” countries,
while Campbell must be the only
podcast host whose analysis of the
Ukraine situation is informed not
only by the fact that he has been toPutin’s dacha but that, while there, he
watched the Russian leader berating
Tony Blair for America’s sins.
The Campbell-Stewart dynamic has
unexpected comic potential. Stewart
is that idiosyncratic combination of
unflappable Etonian smoothness and
distinctly un-Etonian moral
earnestness. Campbell is chippy and
humorous. They have fun needling
one another over their political
differences.
Things are a bit unfocused — acommon problem with new
podcasts. The most recent
episode covers Bill Clinton’s
intellect, prison reform,
Ukraine, the problem
with private schools and
the Iraq war. Every
episode needs a theme
from which to meander
rather than being
completely free form. Fix
that and it could join The
Rest Is History as a classic of
the podcast canon.
Significantly less promising is
Downton Abbey: The Official Podcast.
Yes, astonishingly, the Downton Abbey
franchise is still creaking along, its
lifespan even more improbably
extended than that of Maggie Smith’s
dowager countess, who, despite havingbeen impossibly ancient for a good
decade now, appears in the new film
Downton Abbey: A New Era.
It’s hard to imagine her approving of
the show’s extremely American host
Jacqueline Coley, who addresses her
listeners as “y’all” and says she’s
“gobsmacked” and “literally jumping
up and down in my seat” at the
prospect of meeting... Julian Fellowes.
The ensuing interview (which
comprises the first episode) is “the
funniest I’ve ever done” and
“a complete fangirl moment”.
This rather oversells a blandly
promotional conversation with
Fellowes, who amiably bats back
answers to the softball questions
(“I knew how funny you are, but don’t
you forget how funny the show is?”)
down a crackly phone line. Even fans
of the show — if such people still exist
— are advised to avoid this one.Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell. Left: Maggie Smith in Downton AbbeyThe Rest Is
Politics
{{{{(Downton Abbey:
The OfficialPodcast
{((((Notes from the political wilderness
Rory Stewart and
Alastair Campbell’s
new show is expert
if unfocused, says
James Marriott
podcasts
The Campbell-
Stewart dynamic
has unexpected
comic potential
DAVID LEVENSON/GETTY IMAGES