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.
Each week, Swamp Notes answers one listener question. If you have a question about US politics and the global economy, send an email to marc.filippino@ft.com. If you leave us a voice memo, we may even play it on the show!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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.
Each week, Swamp Notes answers one listener question. If you have a question about US politics and the global economy, send an email to marc.filippino@ft.com. If you leave us a voice memo, we may even play it on the show!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 the Labour frontbenchers who resigned or were sacked during the past year? Why was Peter Mandelson delayed from returning to the UK after being sacked as US ambassador? And who will be crowned Political Fix’s Wonk-in-Chief? Find out as host George Parker puts the entire podcast panel - Miranda Green, Stephen Bush, Robert Shrimsley, Jim Pickard and Anna Gross - through their paces in this big, fat, fiendishly difficult end-of-year quiz. The panellists also highlight their most memorable moment of 2025 and unveil their wildest predictions for the year ahead. Plus, discover who scooped all the chocolate coins in the studio to win the annual Political Fix stockpicks portfolio prize.
This is a repeat of an episode published on Political Fix, a sister podcast of FT News Briefing, on December 19, 2025
To listen and subscribe to more episodes, find Political Fix on your favourite platform by clicking here!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 bureau chief Lauren Fedor explain the ticking clock Congress is facing down on health insurance, and what will happen to Americans if prices increase dramatically.
Mentioned in this podcast:
‘A full-blown crisis’: Americans brace for a surge in healthcare costs
US healthcare costs set to leap as senators fail to reach deal
Email Marc with your questions (Marc.Filippino@FT.com)
Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here
Swamp Notes is hosted by Marc Filippino, and produced by Henry Larson. This week’s show was mixed by Kelly Garry. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.
The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.
CREDIT: CBS News, NBC News Chicago
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 more plugged into social media than ever before. Host Sonja Hutson and FT data reporter Ian Hodgson went to a high school in Bethlehem to get a sense of what it's like growing up in Donald Trump's America.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Anxious and disillusioned: being young in Trump’s America
Swamp Notes: The Bethlehem Project is produced by Sonja Hutson and edited by Marc Filippino. The show was mixed by Breen Turner. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 how corporate entities have created a surveillance network that can track immigrants across the country.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Trump’s immigration data dragnet
US criminal immigration cases overtake drug and fraud prosecutions
Email Marc with your questions (Marc.Filippino@FT.com)
Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here
Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. This week’s show was mixed by Kelly Garry. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.
The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.
CREDIT: CBS News
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 well. The FT’s Brooke Masters and Alex Rogers detail how this plan works, and why some Republicans are going all in on a government entitlement programme.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Check out FT Globetrotter’s Washington D.C. travel guide
Michael and Susan Dell pledge $6.25bn to help fund ‘Trump Accounts’ for children
Republicans propose $1,000 ‘Trump account’ for American babies
Email Marc with your questions (Marc.Filippino@FT.com)
Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter
Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. This week’s show was mixed by Sam Giovinco. We had help this week from Lauren Fedor. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.
The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.
CREDIT: Roll Call
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 represents the state of the economy and what it means for the White House.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Does the K-shaped economy theory even make sense?
Email Marc with your questions (Marc.Filippino@FT.com)
Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here
Swamp Notes is hosted by Marc Filippino and produced by Henry Larson. This week’s show was mixed by Sam Giovinco. The FT’s acting co- head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.
The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.
CREDIT: Bloomberg, PBS, CNN
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 year. The FT’s Lauren Fedor and Chris Cook break down what’s changed for the White House, and what’s different about these new documents.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Donald Trump signs bill to release Jeffrey Epstein files
Jeffrey Epstein’s network: ‘Life among the lucrative and louche’
Email Marc with your questions (Marc.Filippino@FT.com)
Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here
To sign up for free to the new FT Alphaville newsletter on substack, go to ftav.substack.com
The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.
Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. This week’s show was mixed by Sam Giovinco. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.
CREDIT: FOX News, C-SPAN, NBC News, Newsweek
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 moved from the super rich to a mass market consumer industry. In this series, we’re covering the past, present and future of the longevity movement. We’ll be looking at where the fixation on longevity is coming from, and trying to understand the practical and ethical issues at the heart of this cutting-edge field of research.
From Silicon Valley fantasies, to Singaporean health spas, to Colombian genetic clinics and beyond, the FT’s Hannah Kuchler and Michael Peel ask whether breakthroughs in science and technology can really help us live longer, and even stop us aging altogether.
Free to read:
US ‘wellness’ industry scents opportunity to go mainstream
The quest to make young blood into a drug
This season of Tech Tonic was produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer is Edwin Lane. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Fact checking by Simon Greaves, Lucy Baldwin and Tara Cromie. Original music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio.
The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 how this faction on the far-right is gaining power and what it means for the future of the Republican party.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Trump’s Maga coalition fractures over far-right interview
Don’t blame the left for US antisemitism
Email Marc with your questions (Marc.Filippino@FT.com)
Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here
Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. This week’s show was mixed by Sam Giovinco. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Help from Lauren Fedor. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.
CREDIT: The Tucker Carlson Show, The Ben Shapiro Show, Forbes, Kevin Roberts on X
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 divided area in one of the most critical swing states in the country, and it encapsulates lots of different stories that American politicians are telling about the US and who it's for.
We’ll be featuring some of those stories on the Swamp Notes podcast in a special series called The Bethlehem Project. In this first episode, we explore how an immigration raid at a construction site sent a chill through the community and exposed fault lines in the debate around who belongs in the US.
Mentioned in this podcast:
‘Everyone’s at risk’: Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown reaches Bethlehem
Why the Democrats are losing post-industrial America
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 Chazan discuss which races stood out, and how each party may interpret how the results will affect other races.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Donald Trump tries to brush off election losses as Democrats hail shift in mood
Email Marc your questions here (Marc.Filippino@FT.com)
Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here
Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. This week’s show was mixed by Sam Giovinco. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.
CREDIT: The White House, Vivek Ramaswamy, ABC News, Electron Media
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 increasing its rhetoric against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. James Story, the former top US diplomat to Venezuela, and the FT’s Michael Stott, puzzle out what the Pentagon and Maduro may do next.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Venezuela’s creaking military prepares for US strikes
Donald Trump aims to topple Venezuela’s leader with military build-up
Email Marc your questions (Marc.Filippino@FT.com)
Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here
Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. This week’s show was mixed by Samantha Giovinco. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson and Roxanna Vigil at the Council on Foreign Relations.
CREDIT: NBC News, CBS News
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 found that at least 30 individuals or companies that collectively donated to the president’s causes have received benefits or advantages. The FT’s Joe Miller and Alex Rogers unpack their findings.
Mentioned in this podcast:
How dozens of Trump’s donors have benefited from his second term
How the Trump companies made $1bn from crypto
Email Marc with your questions (Marc.Filippino@FT.com)
Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here
Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. We had help from Lauren Fedor. This week’s show was mixed by Sam Giovinco. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.
CREDIT: KVUE
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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, Miller’s hardline agenda has started to come to life. The FT’s US national correspondent Guy Chazan and US national editor Ed Luce join this week’s Swamp Notes to explore what Trump’s top policy adviser might be planning next.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Stephen Miller: Donald Trump’s ‘prime minister’ executes his plan to reshape America
Stephen Miller, Trump’s implementer-in-chief
Russell Vought: the man on a ‘divine mission’ to traumatise US bureaucrats
Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here
Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson and Ethan Plotkin. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. Our show is mixed by Sam Giovinco. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.
CREDIT: CNN, Washington Post, Daystar
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 exactly is Trump’s track record on peacemaking and what does it take to actually win the Nobel Peace Prize? Norwegian humanitarian studies professor Kristin Sandvik and the FT’s US-Middle East foreign policy correspondent Abigail Hauslohner explain.
Mentioned in this podcast:
How Trump cornered Netanyahu into signing up for peace
Donald Trump looms large over Nobel Peace Prize
Email Marc with your questions. (Marc.Filippino@FT.com)
Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here
Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. We had help from Lauren Fedor. This week’s show was mixed by Sam Giovinco. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.
CREDIT: NBC News, Forbes Breaking News, C-SPAN, Norwegian Nobel Committee
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 subsidies. Republicans don’t want to budge. The Financial Times’ Washington bureau chief James Politi and deputy chief Lauren Fedor break down how it all went down and the position Democrats now find themselves in.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Donald Trump threatens permanent spending cuts as US shutdown continues
What happens when the US government shuts down?
Email Marc with your questions (Marc.Filippino@FT.com)
Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here
Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. This week’s show was mixed by Sam Giovinco. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.
CREDIT: FOX News, Reuters, ABC News, C-SPAN
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 to the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Gigi Sohn, and the FT’s Los Angeles bureau chief Christopher Grimes unpack what’s at stake for America’s television industry.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Inside Disney’s decision to bring back Jimmy Kimmel
Is America entering a new era of McCarthyism?
Email Marc with your questions (Marc.Filippino@FT.com)
Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here
Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. This week’s show was mixed by Sam Giovinco. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.
CREDIT: Benny Johnson podcast, New York Post, Verdict with Ted Cruz
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 away from investors. The FT's Wall Street editor Sujeet Indap and global business columnist Rana Foroohar break down the arguments for and against the president’s efforts, and what it’ll mean for businesses.
Mentioned in this podcast:
Trump’s quarterly reporting move is the wrong idea at the wrong time
Donald Trump tilts balance of power from investors to CEOs
Bonus ep: How the UK is navigating the Trump era
Email Marc with your questions (Marc.Filippino@FT.com)
Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here
Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. Sam Giovinco mixed this week’s episode. Our show is mixed by Kelly Garry. The FT’s acting co- head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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 Palma break down what makes this new era of the Supreme Court so unique and controversial.
Mentioned in this podcast:
US Supreme Court to decide how far Donald Trump’s power really goes
Will the Supreme Court stand up to Trump?
Email Marc with your questions (Marc.Filippino@FT.com)
Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here
Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. This week’s show was mixed by Sam Giovinco. The FT’s acting co head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.
CREDIT: FOX News, CBS News
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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, Political Fix and Swamp Notes, team up to unpack relations between the two longtime allies. Marc Filippino, host of the Swamp Notes podcast, and US managing editor Brooke Masters are joined by Political Fix’s George Parker and Lucy Fisher to discuss. This episode was recorded on September 6 in front of a live audience at the FT Weekend Festival in London.
Mentioned in this podcast:
-Listen to the Swamp Notes podcast on Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts.
-Listen to the Political Fix podcast on Acast, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts or Spotify.
Swamp Notes is produced by Henry Larson. The executive producer for Political Fix is Flo Phillips. This episode was mixed by Breen Turner. The FT’s acting co-heads of audio are Topher Forhecz and Manuela Saragosa.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.