Swamp Notes
Financial Times
58 episodes
Swamp Notes is the weekly US politics podcast from The Financial Times. Every Friday, host Marc Filippino talks to reporters in Washington as well as the FT's veteran US political commentators and a cast of expert guests to explain what the latest moves in the Capitol mean for the economy, business and for people in America — and beyond. Subscribe and listen for incisive analysis, on-the-ground insights and a uniquely global perspective.
More about the show
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Episodes page 1 of 2
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The Bethlehem Project has moved to the FT News Briefing
Democrats are looking for a bit of a rebrand after losing the White House and both houses of Congress in 2024. They have an opportunity this November to test out some new types of candidates. In a critical swing…
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A shaky ceasefire
Iran and the US more or less came to the table earlier this week. But the agreed ceasefire is already starting to show cracks. For the final episode of Swamp Notes, the FT’s Washington bureau chief explains why both…
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One year since ‘liberation day’
A year ago this week, US President Donald Trump rocked the world with his so-called liberation day announcement. America’s tariff regime affected all aspects of life from the global economy to the day-to-day of average…
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How markets may be affecting US military action in Iran
It’s hard to square US President Donald Trump’s circle. Earlier this week, he said his administration was speaking with Iranian officials. Stocks shot up, oil crashed. Then, Iran denied that talks were ongoing and the…
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The AI revolt in Maga-land
When it comes to data centres, the Trump administration has been urging AI companies to “build, baby, build”. But the White House’s agenda is facing resistance from an unlikely place: the very states that won Donald…
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The Bethlehem Project: The housing domino effect
The US housing market is in a crunch. It’s more unaffordable than ever before to buy a home, and the average age for first-time buyers across the country is now 40, according to the National Association of Realtors.…
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Introducing Untold: Opus Dei
Introducing Opus Dei, a new season of Untold from the Financial Times. Host Antonia Cundy uncovers the cultural and political influence of a controversial Catholic organisation in America. Opus Dei exists to help…
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The economic fallout of the Iran war
The US and Israeli war with Iran has expanded across the Gulf. Iran has effectively shuttered the Strait of Hormuz, sending the prices of oil and liquefied natural gas way up. The economic realities of the conflict…
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Trump’s ‘war of whim’ in Iran
US President Donald Trump started a war with Iran last week. The American and Israeli bombing campaign has killed more than a thousand people, according to Iranian state media. Iran’s retaliatory strikes threaten to…
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What the State of the Union means for the US midterm elections
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump gave what is likely to be his most viewed remarks of the year. He spent little time on his most controversial decisions, instead focusing on economic issues and immigration that…
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Maha’s big reversal and a Scotus decision on tariffs
The US Food and Drug Administration last week said it would not consider a new flu vaccine for public distribution. But a few days later, it changed course. Is that reversal part of a larger change in the Trump…
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Trump’s starring role in the Warner Bros fight
Netflix and Paramount, two large American media companies, are fighting to purchase Warner Bros Discovery. Now, US President Donald Trump and the Department of Justice are getting involved. The FT’s Los Angeles bureau…
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The political cost of America’s surging electricity bills
US President Donald Trump gathered a robust coalition of voters in 2024, in part, on the promise of slashing electricity bills. But now, more than a year after his return to the Oval Office, prices are on the rise. The…
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Trump’s immigration climbdown. Plus, a new Fed chair?
A 37-year-old demonstrator, Alex Pretti, was killed by border patrol agents in Minnesota last week. His death sparked international outrage. It also prompted the Trump administration to back down from its most…
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The Bethlehem Project: America's affordability squeeze
An affordability crisis is sweeping through the US. High prices of food, rents and healthcare are forcing Americans to cut back on necessities. This comes as President Donald Trump’s administration is curbing…
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Trump’s bid to remake the world order
Before his trip to Davos this week, Donald Trump threatened tariffs, and even hinted at using military force, to take over Greenland. The US president’s fixation ripped open a diplomatic wound that has been growing…
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Can states stop Trump's immigration raids?
State governments and many activists are pushing back on the federal government’s mass immigration raids. In response, US President Donald Trump threatened to use the Insurrection Act to quell protests in Minneapolis.…
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Why Trump wants to ‘run’ other countries
After a military operation to capture Venezuela's leader, the Trump administration is seeking influence over other regions across the western hemisphere. The FT’s national editor Edward Luce and US-Europe foreign…
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The biggest predictions in politics next year
The FT’s Lauren Fedor and Derek Brower look back on the moments that stood out in 2025 and offer their predictions for what’s to come in the new year. Mentioned in this podcast: Forecasting the world in 2026 Email…
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Political Fix: Quizmas special
This is an episode of Political Fix, the FT weekly podcast that takes you into the corridors of Westminster to unwrap, analyse and debate British politics with a regular panel of FT correspondents. Can you name all…
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Congress’ healthcare fight carries big consequences
Four Republican members of the US House of Representatives broke ranks and supported Democrats this week to force a vote on healthcare spending. The FT’s US national correspondent Guy Chazan and deputy Washington…
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The Bethlehem Project: Being young in Trump’s America
High school is a time of massive change in any teenager’s life. But students today are going through this transition period at a time when the US is more polarized, there's a lot of economic anxiety and teens are far…
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US uses private data to track immigrants
A new FT investigation maps out the web of data brokers, private companies and government agencies that federal agents are using to help with their mass deportations. The FT’s Peter Andringa and Stefania Palma explain…
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Trump’s plan to give babies money
When Congress passed Trump’s tax and spending bill this year, it included a provision that would create investment accounts for recently born children. Now, at least two billionaires want to chip in to the programme as…
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Is the US economy really K-shaped?
Imagine a graph with one line going up over time. Below it, another line does just the opposite. It kind of looks like the letter K. The FT’s Claire Jones and Rob Armstrong break down why people are saying that letter…
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Trump changes tack on the Epstein files
Congress moved quickly to pass a bill asking the Department of Justice to release documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It’s a move that the president was opposed to for much of the…
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Coming soon from Tech Tonic: Defying death
Investors are spending billions of dollars on novel ways to extend human life through inventive treatments, therapies, and even manipulating our genes. And increasingly, it seems as though anti-ageing efforts have…
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Maga fractures over far-right interview
When Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist and Holocaust denier, appeared on a podcast with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, it set off a firestorm in conservative circles. The FT’s Joe Miller and Edward Luce explain…
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The Bethlehem Project: An immigration raid divides a community
Over the next several years, the Financial Times is diving in deep on some of the US’s biggest economic and political issues, all through the lens of one city: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Bethlehem is a politically…
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Does the Democrats’ election sweep change anything?
Democrats won the three largest races and a smattering of others on Tuesday’s off-year elections. They are the biggest electoral wins since Donald Trump took the Oval Office a year ago. The FT’s Lauren Fedor and Guy…
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What Trump wants from Venezuela
The US military has killed more than 60 people in attacks on boats they say are running drugs in Latin America. Its navy has moved its most powerful warship to the Caribbean. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is…
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Who’s benefiting from Trump’s presidency?
US President Donald Trump and his family have made at least $1bn since he was elected to serve a second term, thanks to their rapidly growing cryptocurrency empire. That’s according to an FT investigation which also…
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How Stephen Miller is defining Trump’s second term
Stephen Miller has played a central part in shaping White House policy since Donald Trump’s first term as president. But with less opposition this time around from Congress or other figures inside the administration,…
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Is Donald Trump the president of peace?
US President Donald Trump has long campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize, and he seemed closer to that goal earlier this week when he helped broker a ceasefire in Gaza. But the Nobel Committee had other plans. So what…
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Democrats draw a line in the sand with government shutdown
For the first time in nearly seven years, the US Congress was unable to come to a spending agreement in time. The government shut down. Democrats want to challenge President Donald Trump and extend healthcare…
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An FCC insider on Kimmel, TV and free speech
Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show is back on the air.The president of the US isn’t happy about it. He’s threatened to revoke licenses from broadcast networks that air negative programming about him. The former counselor…
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The future of corporate America under Trump
On Monday, Donald Trump posted on social media that he wanted US public companies to ditch quarterly reporting. It is yet another move by his administration to hand more power to corporate executives and take power…
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How the Supreme Court can change the course of Trump’s presidency
The US Supreme Court’s next term is just weeks away, and the decisions facing the court’s nine justices could define the future of President Donald Trump’s second administration. The FT’s Brooke Masters and Stefania…
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Bonus ep: How the UK is navigating the Trump era
US President Donald Trump is coming to the UK next week. What can we expect from his visit? And where do things stand between the US and the UK? In this special bonus episode, our two FT political chat shows,…
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Can we keep trusting US economic data?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the latest round of jobs numbers this week. A former BLS commissioner, Erica Groshen, and the FT’s US economics correspondent Myles McCormick break down what’s inside that report…
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Uncle Sam to become Intel’s biggest shareholder
The Trump administration announced that it is taking a 10 per cent stake in troubled chipmaker Intel. It’s another interventionist move by the White House in less than a year since US President Donald Trump returned to…
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How to rebuild global trade
The world trade order is being remade. US President Donald Trump has led that charge with tariffs and trade deals that have upended the past 30 years of advancement towards global free trade. If that order is going…
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Trump opens retirement to crypto
One of the president’s most recent executive orders paved the way for American retirement accounts to invest in cryptocurrencies and private equity. It’s a seismic change for savers and investors both. The FT’s Sujeet…
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The real cost of gutting USAID
Six months after the Trump administration gutted the US Agency for International Development, experts are tracking the impact of its absence. The FT’s David Pilling and the Brookings Institution’s George Ingram…
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Gaza crisis puts Trump at a crossroads
On a visit to the UK this week, Trump broke from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stance on the war in Gaza. The FT’s Edward Luce and US foreign affairs correspondent Abigail Hauslohner unpack how the…
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Trump’s case against Fed chair Powell
The US president is angry with the chair of the Federal Reserve over interest rates. He’s applying a lot of pressure on Jay Powell to lower them or leave his job. The FT’s Claire Jones and Adam Posen, president of the…
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Is Zohran Mamdani the future of the Democratic party?
Zohran Mamdani shocked a city, and his own political party, when he soundly defeated his influential rival in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary election. Now, as the second leg of the race reveals itself,…
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Big Pharma’s big tariffs
When US President Donald Trump threatened 200 per cent tariffs on foreign-made pharmaceuticals, investors responded like it was a placebo. It’s the latest spat between drugmakers and an administration that share a…
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The corporate winners and losers under Trump
US President Donald Trump’s approach to the economy has left investors on edge and markets unsure how to react. But his tariffs, trade deals and Truth Social posts have left some corporations better off than others.…
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John Bolton on the Iran war that wasn’t
After more than a week of fighting between Israel and Iran, US President Donald Trump bombed the Islamic republic and then announced a ceasefire. Former national security adviser John Bolton and the FT’s chief foreign…
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