Do We Really Want Honest Leaders?
Politics Unpacked
Anna Covell
4.1 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 8 January 2026
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Donald Trump doesn't pretend his foreign interventions are part of a noble cause. Did we prefer it when US presidents hid their blunt motives with insincerity?
Hugo Rifkind unpacks the politics of the day with Matthew Syed and Sarah Ditum.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, hello, I'm Hugo Rifkin, and now we're going to be unpacking the politics of the day. |
| 0:09.4 | And today we're going to be asking whether Keir Starmer delivered a firm message to Donald Trump on Greenland |
| 0:13.1 | and whether that's going to make any difference at all to US plans. |
| 0:16.0 | And also how to make millions like Megan from selling jam. |
| 0:19.9 | And joining me are Matthew Syed. |
| 0:22.1 | Hello, Matthew. |
| 0:23.0 | Happy New Year, Hugo. |
| 0:24.3 | Happy New Year to be. How are you? Well, I'm fine. Yeah, I didn't ask, but it's good to know. Did I ask? How are you, I thought you said. Well, maybe I did. How are you? Yeah. This is going well. Yeah. Probably what I'm going about how are you already. |
| 0:36.4 | I'm on holiday actually and I saw in the diary last night that I was due to come on. |
| 0:40.9 | So I thought I'd come in and I'm glad to be here. |
| 0:42.7 | You sped back from the Caribbean and here you are. |
| 0:45.4 | A home-based holiday. |
| 0:47.7 | But it's lovely to see you and I'm delighted to be doing it with Sarah. |
| 0:50.7 | I haven't even introduced her yet. |
| 0:51.8 | You're stealing all my thunder and we're joined by Sarah Dytton as well. |
| 0:55.4 | Hello, Sarah. |
| 0:56.6 | Hello. |
| 0:57.3 | How are you? |
| 0:57.7 | You know what? |
| 0:59.2 | I'm fantastic. |
| 1:00.2 | This year I did a stroke of post-Christmas genius |
| 1:04.9 | and I've just been away to a spa hotel for three days. |
... |
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