The Prospect Podcast

A crackdown by the Iranian government has quietened protests that swept across the country in recent weeks, but tensions remain high. This week, Ellen and Alona are joined by Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, a Middle East analyst at Control Risks, who dials in from Abu Dhabi to explain how these protests differ from previous rounds of unrest in the country—from the scale of grievances to new geopolitical conditions. Aniseh also discusses Trump’s threat of military intervention from the United States.

Plus, if the regime falls, what would Iran’s future look like? Ellen and Alona explore four possible outcomes and talk about the apparent trend of impunity on an international scale.

To read more from our website, head to prospectmagazine.co.uk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Ellen and Alona are joined by Isabel Hilton—former Latin America editor, expert in Arctic security and Prospect contributing editor—to discuss how American foreign policy has evolved under the Trump administration, particularly after the US abduction of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

How different was this from the US’s history of coups and previous military interventions in South America, from Guatemala to Panama? Isabel discusses the region’s history and future, as well as the geopolitical ramifications of US threats to annex Greenland.

Why is Greenland so important to the administration? And, with the UK in a vulnerable economic and strategic position, how should it respond to the actions of its closest ally?

To read Isabel’s writing for Prospect, click here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What hope is there for the future? Global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and right-wing populists rage against net zero. But, according to the UK’s climate minister and a leading American environmentalist, though, the economics of electrification will make the future brighter than it first appears.

Ed Miliband, secretary of state for energy security and net zero, and Bill McKibben, an environmentalist and author, joined Wolfgang Blau, Prospect editorial board member and cofounder of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network, to discuss political strategies, positive tipping points and the fight that’s still to come.

To read an edited transcript of this conversation, which featured on the cover of Prospect’s winter double issue, click here.

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

Anglican priest Alice Goodman explains how clerics manage their Christmas “turnaround time’, while Gen Z-er Alice Garnett takes us behind the scenes on a comedy panel show. Vitali Vitaliev is reminded of his first life in Soviet Russia by a museum of banned books in Tallinn, while Sarah Collins cautions against the use of AI therapy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the final podcast of the year, Ellen and Alona look back at their favourite episodes from 2025. During a dark year, Prospect has been collecting glimmers of hope. They asked some of the most interesting thinkers today—from politics, to environment to tech—for their perspectives on hope and optimism. What keeps them fighting for a more just world?

Philosopher Slavoj Zizek and broadcaster Mehdi Hasan talk about the merits of pessimism. Human rights lawyer Philippe Sands discusses justice in the age of international impunity, while authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat considers the situation in the US.

Poet and writer Robert Macfarlane reflects on preserving nature in a time of destruction. Cory Doctorow and Laura Bates weigh in on transformations in technology and artificial intelligence. Yassmin Abdel-Magied discusses the humanitarianism crisis in Sudan, while Nicola Kelly explores the untold immigration story.

Plus, veteran journalist and outgoing Prospect editor Alan Rusbridger joins the podcast to reflect on his journey, his mistakes, and how he feels about the future—including the contentious thing that unexpectedly makes him feel hopeful.

You can revisit all our episodes from the past year here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.