The Mishal Husain Show

America in Free Fall? Historian Jill Lepore on the US at 250 Jul 3, 2026 2445 For America’s 250th anniversary, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jill Lepore joins Mishal Husain to take her through her book on the US Constitution.We The People explores how the Constitution came about and, crucially, how there was an expectation that it would likely change over time. This is not, however, an episode entirely set in the past, because Jill Lepore is acutely alive

Can Republicans Win California Again? Steve Hilton Thinks So Jun 26, 2026 2343 In November, California will choose a new governor to replace Gavin Newsom, pitting Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra, a former US Secretary of Health and Human Services, US Congressman and state attorney general, against an unlikely Republican rival: Steve Hilton.Hilton was born in the UK and became a US citizen only five years ago. He had a career in center-right British politics, working as a

Bonus: Alastair Campbell & Jacob Rees-Mogg Debate Brexit 10 Years On (Live) Jun 23, 2026 2093 It’s 10 years since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. It was an enormous decision, one that has contributed to the churn of British prime ministers since, a phenomenon that has continued this week with the resignation of Keir Starmer.What effect has Brexit had on UK politics and the British economy over the last decade? This bonus episode of The Mishal Husain Show is an o

AI Wants Your Life: Tech Boss Meredith Whittaker Says No Jun 19, 2026 2696 Meredith Whittaker has spent years arguing that privacy is a prerequisite for a free society. As the president of the nonprofit foundation behind the encrypted messaging app Signal, she now finds herself defending that principle in the face of mounting pressure from governments and tech companies alike. In this conversation with Mishal Husain, Whittaker says she believes business models that rely

Gary Lineker on the World Cup, Trump and the Fans Left Behind Jun 12, 2026 2328 For decades, Gary Lineker anchored live sporting events for the BBC. Now he’s a podcaster and media boss. In this conversation with Mishal Husain, he talks about his new Netflix show and hopes for an England World Cup win.Lineker co-founded Goalhanger Productions, the UK’s fastest growing private company. Throughout the World Cup, his podcast “The Rest Is Football” will be

Ebola Is Back: Virus Pioneer Peter Piot Explains the Threat Jun 5, 2026 2278 Peter Piot first encountered the Ebola virus in a laboratory in Antwerp in 1976. At the time, the pathogen was largely unknown. Now, almost 50 years later, a new outbreak is spreading through parts of Central Africa, triggering travel restrictions and quarantines across the globe. In this conversation with Mishal Husain, Piot, one of the world's leading authorities on the disease, discusses why Eb

Cuba on the Brink: Ada Ferrer on Life Under US Pressure May 29, 2026 2530 Ada Ferrer won the Pulitzer Prize in 2022 for her acclaimed book, Cuba: An American History, which examined the island’s relationship with the US. Her latest work, Keeper of My Kin, tells her family story: a mother who fled the island nation carrying an infant daughter, while leaving a brother behind. Now, as Donald Trump increases pressure on Cubans and their leaders, cutting off oil while&

Can Britain’s Politics Cope: David Dimbleby Thinks Not May 22, 2026 2453 David Dimbleby was for decades the face of election programs on the BBC. He anchored coverage of 10 UK general elections, as well as the 1975 and 2016 referendums on European membership, the funeral of Princess Diana and a host of other royal and state occasions.He’s seen prime ministers come and go, from Margaret Thatcher to Tony Blair and many more since. With Prime Minister Keir Starmer f

China vs the US: Kishore Mahbubani on a Zero-Sum Rivalry May 15, 2026 2081 Beyond this week’s talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, there’s an epic tale that has been unfolding for decades. It’s a battle to be the world’s number one power and a much bigger story than the latest meeting of these two men.  Kishore Mahbubani is a former Singaporean diplomat who served as president of the United Nations Securit

Anthony Scaramucci: Trump and the Humiliation That Made Him Famous May 8, 2026 2890 For a brief moment in 2017, Anthony Scaramucci became a unit of time. His 11-day stint as White House communications director was so short-lived that it entered the political lexicon.Almost a decade on, he has proven more durable than the joke. The Trump loyalist-turned-critic, Wall Street financier and podcast host remains a well-known figure in American political culture.Scaramucci is still hold

Why India Has Lost Its Way: Writer Amitav Ghosh on the New World Order, Politics and Past Lives May 1, 2026 2016 For more than 30 years, the Indian-born writer Amitav Ghosh has built a global following with novels that draw on deep historical research.  But his latest offering, Ghost-Eye, is more esoteric. The plot moves back and forth between India and the US, using past lives to explore the ties between the personal and the political. The plot centers on a psychiatrist treating a 3-year-old who shocks

How to Get a Deal With Iran: Former US Negotiator Wendy Sherman on Power, Pressure and Reality Apr 24, 2026 2641 We’re now eight weeks on from the start of the US-Israel war with Iran, a conflict that’s been watched with increasing alarm by Wendy Sherman, architect of the 2015 nuclear deal between the US and Iran and a former deputy secretary of state. Having spent years across the table from Iranian officials, she sees a far more volatile landscape today. In this conversation with Mishal Husain,

Hamlet, James Bond and SNL UK: Riz Ahmed on Reinventing Cultural Icons Apr 17, 2026 2321 A new and radical take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet is out in US cinemas. The force behind it is actor, writer, producer and musician Riz Ahmed. He says the 400-year-old story has never felt more current.Ahmed, Oscar-nominated for Sound of Metal and star of the Oscar-winning live-action short The Long Goodbye, has a new series on Prime Video called Bait. It’s a black comedy about an actor o

America’s Limits, Iran’s Leverage, Pakistan’s Moment: Maleeha Lodhi on a Shifting Order Apr 9, 2026 1893 After almost six weeks of war, how did Pakistan manage to get the US and Iran to talk? Amid a still-fragile situation in the Middle East, that question sits at the heart of this conversation with Maleeha Lodhi. She has served as Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington, as well as to the UK and United Nations. For her, the Islamabad talks mark a moment of wider significance, as the middle powers

Lionel Shriver on Immigration, Identity and Why She Refuses to Stay Quiet Apr 2, 2026 2687 Lionel Shriver has often tackled complex or contentious issues in her fiction. From school shootings in We Need to Talk About Kevin to economic collapse in The Mandibles.  Her new novel, A Better Life, is the story of a family home taken over by outsiders. In this conversation with Mishal Husain, Shriver discusses the sociological concerns behind the story, which she says is a metaphor for th

Why Israel Could Be Forced to Stop: Shira Efron on War, Fatigue and Netanyahu's Strategy Mar 27, 2026 2478 With attention fixed on the potential developments between the US and Iran, could the Israeli government be forced to end the war earlier than it might like? The last few weeks have seen daily air strikes by Israel on Iran, and retaliatory attacks that have killed and injured Israelis. The wider picture is of two and a half years of constant conflict, particularly in Gaza. In this conversation, Mi

Ro Khanna on Stopping the Iran War, Taking on the ‘Epstein Class’ and Taxing Billionaires Mar 20, 2026 2216 US Representative Ro Khanna of California helped force Donald Trump to release the Epstein files. Now he wants to end the war with Iran. Earlier this month, the Democratic Congressman joined forces with Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a Republican, on a War Powers resolution seeking to halt the military action, though it ultimately failed in the GOP-controlled House. Speaking to Mishal H

Why Iran Isn’t Breaking: Vali Nasr on Pain, Patience and the Uprising That Isn’t Coming Mar 13, 2026 2530 Despite the intensity of the US-Israel bombing campaign, Iran’s regime, now under a new supreme leader, hasn’t given President Donald Trump the “unconditional surrender” he’s seeking.Mishal Husain speaks with Vali Nasr, a professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and a preeminent scholar on the Islamic Republic. His life ha

Middle East Expert Bernard Haykel on the Three Futures for Iran After the Strikes Mar 6, 2026 2266 Within 24 hours of the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, a host of other countries were drawn into the latest conflict in the Middle East. Iran retaliated by targeting sites in Israel and across the Gulf, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, as well as Iraq, Oman and Jordan. Israel, meanwhile, has carried out air strikes on Lebanon and sent in ground troops as it seeks to dism

WHO Chief Tedros on Covid, China and Texting RFK Jr Feb 27, 2026 2543 When President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, one of his first acts was to sign an executive order withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization. The administration's rupture with the WHO began in Trump’s first term, when relations deteriorated as the Covid-19 pandemic set in.  In this conversation with Mishal Husain, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom

‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Creator Maggie Kang on the Global Hit No One Saw Coming Feb 20, 2026 2435 “KPop Demon Hunters” is the brainchild of Korean-Canadian animator Maggie Kang. It’s Netflix’s biggest-ever film and follows Rumi, Mira and Zoey, members of the girl band Huntrix, as they battle to save the world from dark forces.  As you’ll hear, Kang grew up loving Korean pop music long before it was globally cool and forged a Hollywood career on films includin

Bonus Episode: The Andrew Story Feb 19, 2026 1482 The Feb. 19 arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the brother of King Charles, puts the British Royal Family into uncharted territory. The former Prince Andrew was detained on suspicion of misconduct in public office after further details emerged of his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. For this bonus episode, Mishal Husain speaks to Allegra Stratton, a contributing editor

Author Andrey Kurkov on Winter in Kyiv and Why Putin Won’t Stop Feb 13, 2026 2249 This winter has been exceptionally brutal in Ukraine. Already the coldest in more than a decade, it’s been made worse by Russian attacks on energy infrastructure that have left millions with no heating and intermittent power. As Russia’s war approaches its fourth anniversary, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is under intense pressure from Donald Trump to hold elections and accep

David Miliband on Global Disorder, Labour’s ‘Mistakes’ and Deploying $1 Billion on Crises Feb 6, 2026 2525 In 2007 when he was UK Foreign Secretary, David Miliband delivered an address to the Labour Party conference. He described a world with “fewer countries at war” and “more democracies than ever before.”Two decades later, with that vision further from view, Miliband is head of the New York-based International Rescue Committee, one of the world’s largest aid agencies. It

Netflix’s ‘Cover-Up’ Director Laura Poitras on ICE, ‘Domestic Terrorists’ and US Surveillance Jan 30, 2026 2751 The killing of two US citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis has made January a dark month for many across America. Both Alex Pretti and Renee Good were quickly labeled “domestic terrorists" by the Trump administration, which accused them of endangering the lives of law enforcement. Video evidence soon appeared to contradict government claims, but it’s still a label that filmmaker L

Rutger Bregman Is Thinking About Billionaires, the US Versus Europe and Saving the World Jan 23, 2026 2259 Rutger Bregman knows what appearing at Davos can do for your profile. His reputation was made when he went there in 2019 and attacked the rich. The clip went viral.  A historian and author originally from the Netherlands, Bregman has been focused on elites ever since, most recently in his book Moral Ambition, and in a series of lectures on the BBC, after which he accused the organization of c

Jeanne Shaheen Is Pressing For Answers on Venezuela, Greenland and Iran Jan 16, 2026 2006 What is Donald Trump’s plan for Venezuela? Does he have one? Will he go beyond threats in supporting the uprising in Iran or invading Greenland? Jeanne Shaheen has been in the US Senate since 2009 and is now the most senior Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. Her position has given her access to information most lawmakers don’t have. She’s also known as someone prepared

Peter Navarro Is Doubling Down on Tariffs Jan 9, 2026 2114 US President Donald Trump’s tough talk about China and tariffs can be traced back in large part to economist Peter Navarro. A well-known China hawk, he has written books arguing Beijing poses a threat to the US economy and its national security.Navarro is a loyalist who has served as a key trade adviser in both Trump administrations. In between, he spent four months behind bars for refusing

Kara Swisher Is Thinking About Life After Trump Jan 2, 2026 2247 Kara Swisher has followed the story of Silicon Valley for three decades, having started work as a tech journalist at a time when few people were interested in the beat. But through relationships she built with the likes of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and many others, she became a formidable voice, and eventually more of a commentator and critic. Swisher now hosts the podcasts Pivot and

Elon Musk Wants Credit for Cutting Waste, Not Cutting Aid Dec 26, 2025 2620 As the year draws to a close, we are bringing you one of Mishal Husain’s biggest conversations of the year, in full. In May 2025, Elon Musk joined Bloomberg's Qatar Economic Forum, in a rare media appearance.He remains as consequential a global figure today, as he was then, even if he is no longer working with Donald Trump.Within 10 days of this conversation, he had left DOGE, the Department

Lynsey Addario Keeps Going Back to Photograph War Dec 19, 2025 2660 Lynsey Addario’s life work means  taking great risks to tell other people’s stories. She is a Pulitzer Prize winning war photographer who has been abducted twice while documenting conflicts from Afghanistan to Ukraine and Sudan. There aren’t many women in her field. In a new National Geographic documentary called “Love+War,” currently streaming on Disney+, she le

Mustafa Suleyman Isn’t Like Everyone Else in Silicon Valley Dec 12, 2025 2724 Mustafa Suleyman co-founded AI lab DeepMind when he was just 26 years old. Four years later, it was acquired by Google for a reported $400 million. He is now head of Microsoft’s AI unit, where he just unveiled a new superintelligence team tasked with creating an AI that can outperform humans at all tasks.In this conversation with Mishal Husain, Suleyman talks about the decisions society

Salman Rushdie Isn’t Afraid of Free Speech Dec 5, 2025 2579 Salman Rushdie was nearly killed when he was stabbed 15 times on stage in upstate New York in 2022. His injuries were so severe that he lost an eye. It was an attack that came decades after he was first subjected to death threats over his novel, The Satanic Verses.Once he had recovered, he found he was unable to write fiction. However, after publishing an account of what happened to him, the stori

Ken Burns Says Gratitude Is the Missing Ingredient in Our Politics Nov 28, 2025 2143 Ken Burns has been telling stories about America for almost 50 years. The lauded documentary filmmaker has a new series on PBS, The American Revolution, which charts the period before and after 1776. It will air internationally ahead of the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence.  Mishal Husain asked Burns to join the show to mark Thanksgiving, looking at today’s Americ

Fei-Fei Li Helped Create AI, Now She Feels the Responsibility Nov 21, 2025 2663 Stanford University Professor Fei-Fei Li has been at the forefront of artificial intelligence research for 25 years, which is why she’s been called the “godmother of AI.” In this conversation she tells Mishal Husain how she arrived in the US as a teenager after her parents decided to emigrate from China. She also talks about the high school teacher who inspired her and a deep lo

Richard Moore Was Paid to Steal Secrets, Not Solve Mysteries Nov 14, 2025 2566 For almost 40 years, Richard Moore was a career spy in Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service. Only his closest friends and family knew what he did for a living. When he was appointed chief of the agency in 2020, that changed: The name of the person in the top role is the only one made public. In his first broadcast interview since leaving his post in September 2025, Moore talks to Mishal Hus

Julia Ioffe Wants You to Know Russia Is Bigger Than Putin Nov 7, 2025 2385 How do you tell the history of a whole country through its women? And what can it tell us about the world today? These are the questions Russian-American journalist Julia Ioffe set out to answer in her new book, Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy. Having reported from, and on, Russia for publications including The New Yorker and Foreign Policy for more th

María Corina Machado Believes US Pressure on Maduro Is the Only Way Oct 31, 2025 2244 Three weeks after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado finds herself supporting US intervention in her native country. Mishal speaks to Maria Corina on recent US boat strikes, Nicolas Maduro’s fate and the need for strength to secure peace. 03:24 - "I had to go into hiding" 03:51 - Impact of the Nobel Peace Prize  05:38 - US Milit

Nigel Farage Thinks Britain Has Had Too Many Unifiers Oct 24, 2025 3088 After successfully pushing for Brexit, political disruptor Nigel Farage announced his retirement. Last year, he returned to frontline politics as the leader of Reform UK, an insurgent party that’s never held national power but is now polling ahead of Labour and the Conservatives. Mishal speaks with Farage about dismantling consensus politics, Britain’s future relationship with the Euro

Mark Carney Has Learned From Donald Trump Oct 16, 2025 2257 Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney talks to Mishal Husain about trade battles, Vladimir Putin's miscalculations and what he's learned from Donald Trump.3:41 - Mark Carney's parents and his path to power4:58 - What does he miss about his old life?6:34 - Did President Trump help him get elected?14:05 - "I've learned lots of things from President Trump"16:42 - Ukraine and NATO22:18 - Putin's miscalc

Introducing: The Mishal Husain Show Oct 10, 2025 139 Welcome to The Mishal Husain Show. In a world of confusion, let Mishal guide you through some of the most complex stories of our times, through questions, curiosity and decades of journalistic experience.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episodes

Recommended