The Daily Beast Podcast

In this debut episode of The Royalist, host Tom Sykes dives straight into the biggest royal scandals of the moment with a blockbuster interview featuring royal biographer Andrew Lownie, who explains why the fallout from Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein revelations could pose an unprecedented crisis for King Charles III and the monarchy—and gives his extraordinary solution. Iconic fashion editor Plum Sykes reports after the Cheltenham Festival with behind-the-scenes royal fashion and society gossip, while journalist Paula Froelich spills the latest tea on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Finally, Australian commentator Shauna Kay joins Tom for a fiery “Royal Roast” breaking down the backlash to Meghan and Harry’s controversial Australia plans. It’s a jam-packed first episode full of scoops, sharp commentary, and the royal drama everyone is talking about.
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Michael Wolff joins Joanna Coles just as the sudden resignation from a top counterterrorism official over the war in Iran exposes cracks inside Trump’s own coalition. With MAGA figures turning on the conflict even as Trump insists he’s “obliterating” Iran’s military capacity, Wolff explains the blunt logic driving Trump’s thinking: If the generals said obliteration was possible, then the mission must be working—even as oil prices threaten to spike, Iran’s regime appears more entrenched, and the president finds himself trapped in the classic dilemma of a war he can neither win nor easily leave. They also unpack Trump’s bizarre insistence that a former U.S. president privately praised his Iran strategy, the quiet power struggles between Marco Rubio and J.D. Vance, Jared Kushner’s expanding influence over Middle East policy, and why the next phase of Trump’s presidency may look familiar: the search for someone—anyone—to blame.

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Anand Giridharadas joins Joanna Coles to unpack what the Epstein files actually tell us, not just about one disgraced financier, but about the elite network that worked with him. The bestselling author explains why so many of what he calls the Epstein class stayed in his orbit even after Epstein’s crimes were widely known. Coles and Giridharadas dig into the strange rituals of this rarefied class and examine emails involving figures like Larry Summers and former Obama White House counsel Kathy Ruemmler. They also confront the darker question at the center of the scandal: How a network built on access, status, and mutual advantage created a culture where no one ever seemed to break ranks—even when they knew the crimes Jeffrey Epstein committed.

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Joanna Coles speaks with Steve Schmidt about the mounting panic spreading through Republican circles as Donald Trump’s political and foreign policy instincts collide with a party increasingly worried about where it’s headed. From the growing anxiety inside the GOP about Trump’s escalating confrontation with Iran to the bizarre internal dramas of Trump World, Schmidt breaks down a series of moments that have Republicans whispering behind closed doors. The conversation dives into the stunning downfall of Kristi Noem after her controversial ad campaign helped push Trump to fire one of his own loyalists, the surreal optics of Marco Rubio awkwardly navigating Trump’s orbit, and the broader sense that the party’s leadership is trapped between loyalty to Trump and fear of the political consequences.
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Michael Wolff and Joanna Coles take us inside the mysterious world of Susie Wiles—the quiet, rarely seen chief of staff who may be the most powerful person in Donald Trump’s orbit. While Trump famously trusts no one and burns through aides at lightning speed, Wiles has not only survived but brought an unexpected level of discipline to the chaos of Trump World. Wolff reveals how the Florida political operative who Trump once dismissed as “a refrigerator” quietly outmaneuvered rivals, crushed Ron DeSantis, and built a White House operation designed around one simple rule: never try to control Donald Trump. From her unusual strategy of staying out of the spotlight to the psychological tactics she uses to handle a president who refuses bad news, the episode uncovers the secrets behind the grandmother who may be the most important—and least visible—figure in the Trump administration.
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