The Rest is Politics and Alistair Campbell

I dislike Alastair Campbell and I think he is a bit of a grifter. However, I can listen to The Rest is Politics for the insights. If he gets on a roll about himself, then I have to fast forward, but I think they are both insightful, while remaining understandable, on the inner workings of politics and Rory Stewart is very good on foreign affairs.

I feel exactly the same as you, OP! I really enjoyed the podcast at first but now can’t bear it. Once you hear the smugness, you can’t unhear it. And I can’t bear the pretence of caring about equality when they openly admit their attitudes to women and household duties without any attempt to change.

Also I feel Rory is weirdly blind to the suffering of women in the Middle East, when he has firsthand experience of their suffering and persecution through his travels.

Regarding the Iraq war, I think things people may have felt passionately about 20-25 years ago do not necessarily cause the same strength of feeling now.

Plus the Iraq invasion was 23 years ago. Younger podcast listeners, even though they’ll be aware of it, possibly wouldn’t have the same view of Campbell as a 60 year old listener.

Same. Used to subscribe to it and largely enjoyed it. They both became unbearably smug and Campbell using his daughter as the barometer of all women's issues just turned me right off.

I did enjoy Rory's autobiography.

I find it quite boring of late because they spend most of their time agreeing with each other. Rory is a poor excuse for a Tory. Alastair's smugness and seeming inability to accept any view that is not his own is also a turn off.

May I recommend The Rest is History as an antidote if you like the format. more likeable hosts, even through they do have opposing political viewpoints which do come out sometimes.

I also enjoy The News Agents when I listen to it for another politics podcast to listen to.

As to your question, parasocial relationships mainly I think. And also they have quite a fandom that sees them as sort of a comedic double act.

They’re somewhat entertaining and do have some interesting perspectives - of course you have to listen with an awareness of their biases and ‘unreliable narrator’ syndrome. But there’s a reason they get parodied and sometimes I wish they’d complete their podcast set with ‘the rest is silence’ rather than their self-important ‘emergency podcasts’.

OTOH TRIPUSA is excellent

Rory isn’t a ‘Tory’ in the sense the word is often used now - he’s a ‘one nation Conservative’. Similarly Campbell is New Labour rather than a socialist. It’s not surprising that there’s a lot of agreement between them - there should be a centre ground where consensus is possible.
Having a pair from further towards the wings of their parties would be a different type of conversation which might be more interesting but perhaps would shed more heat than light.

I'm with you, OP- I used to enjoy it but have come to find them both predictable, smug and out of touch, endlessly peddling the same old stuff to disenfranchised centrist dads (in which group I count myself- well, centrist mum in my case).

Agree that TRIPUSA is better, as it actually engages with the issues.

They're both good at speaking and have had experiences that make them interesting to listen to. I don't agree with everything they say, by a long way, but I do often listen to at least the beginning of their podcasts. They absolutely have blind spots which irritate me, and are useless on women's issues.

I prefer News Agents, mainly because I love Emily Maitlis.

I like it. Went to see their 'show' at Blackpool once, which was quite entertaining.

I don't listen to every single podcast though (my DH does) but they often have interesting guests on.

The News Agents is worse if you're trying to avoid smugness and the inability to see any perspective other than their own. It's fine if you exist in that echo chamber, not so much if you don't.

Emily (or should I say 'Maitlis' as this is how she insists on introducing herself) is the worst.

They used to disagree more (respectfully) and it made for more interesting dialogue.

I can't stand either of the smug pair but have to admit the podcast is very good!

They both have detailed knowledge and access to information that I wouldn't know about. Rory is strong on the Sahel region and Campbell on the German AFD

Same, used to listen but then heard their take on the Supreme Court judgement and the women who made it happen and haven’t listened since. They were so utterly patronising and uninterested to the reasons that case was brought I just got the ick.

I’m enjoying Political Currency and the News Agents now, along with TRIPUS and TRIH.

I subscribe to TRIP, the Newsagents and the Rest is History, enjoy all of them to varying degrees and have my critical thinking hat on when listening to the first two. I am a massive fan of the Book Club thing that Dominic Sandbrook does with Tabby (don't know her full name), it is so informative and entertaining. They read such a wide variety of fiction and give really honest and thought provoking appraisals of the books .

Although I do enjoy the News Agents, Lewis Goodall’s rants about the monarchy and trans issues make me turn off

I used to really enjoy it.

And then a couple of years back they handwaved about women's rights quite a lot, made it clear it wasn't an important topic

And then they gave a really soft soap interview to Ahmed al-Sharaa and that just killed off any respect at all that I had for them

Oh I disagree that she’s the worst - I find Lewis Goodall completely unbearable!

I am personally not a massive fan of The Rest is Politics, but I can see it's appeal in that they talk about politics in a fairly accessible, engaging way, whilst also having huge depths of knowledge. I do think the fact Alistair Campbell and Rory Stewart represent different opinions but are both broadly within the centre is also part of the appeal - I think a lot of people are just quite fatigued with polarised, extreme political debate, and so, maybe find something reassuring in a more nuanced conversation over small differences.

I do like a political podcast because there's more time to explore a topic. Also with experienced ex- politicians who no longer have to win votes.
Current favourite is Political Currency.
I used to like Electoral Dysfunction but went off it because of Harriet Harman.

They are so unbearably sexist. When the uprisings in Iran reached a flashpoint a couple of years ago they would talk about it without mentioning the protesting women at all. Campbell always sounds amazed when there’s a woman involved in anything “serious”.

I agree with others that TRIPUS is so much better, and TRIH + the book club the best of all. I don’t mind the newsagents, EM and JS have so much reporting history I enjoy listening to them. Lewis Goodall is enormously irritating though and I’m not sure why. For politics I quite like the sky podcasts - electoral disfunction, Trump 100 and the World.

I need to get out more 🤣

I love this podcast, they are exceptional broadcasters and I have learned so much. There are a few issues where they both agree and so you never hear an opposing point of view, eg some trans issues, some women's issues, one view only on Israel. I find this frustrating because they could easily get a guest to put the other side but it's not a key issue for them, so they don't.