meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Story

How Giorgia Meloni became Europe’s political superstar

The Story

The Times

Politics, Uk News, News, Long-form Audio, Global News, In-depth Journalism, Daily News, Exclusive Interviews, Audio Storytelling, News Analysis, Current Affairs, Investigative Reporting, Daily News Podcast

3.91.6K Ratings

🗓️ 1 June 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Giorgia Meloni has world leaders falling at her feet and the Trump administration in her thrall. But how did she reinvent herself from leader of a minor neo-fascist party to the new political queen of Europe?


This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory


Guest: Tom Kington, The Times correspondent in Rome.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Edith Rousselot.

Further reading: 

Clips: AFP, Atlantic Council, AP News, EU Debates, PBS NewsHour, The Express Tribune.

Photo: Getty Images.

Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.com

This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

At Barclays, we run programs that help communities across the UK,

0:05.1

whether you're a young person, gaining skills to enter the workplace,

0:09.3

a small business trying to grow and find its place in the modern world,

0:13.6

or a girl in school, building confidence on and off the pitch through football.

0:20.6

We believe everyone deserves to fly.

0:24.4

Search Berkeley's communities to find out more.

0:27.4

Barclays, here for every goal.

0:31.8

This episode of the story is brought to you by Salesforce.

0:36.6

Workforces are overwhelmed with burnout and stalled productivity,

0:41.4

while customers are demanding more than ever before. But what if your workforce had no limits?

0:48.5

Agent Force is the complete AI solution on the Salesforce platform that powers always on digital labour. It helps companies

0:56.8

build AI agents that work together with humans and improve your customers' experience. Agent

1:02.9

Force trusted AI agents can assist, take actions autonomously, support your customers 24-7, and

1:09.7

hand over seamlessly to your employees, no matter whether

1:13.0

you're in sales, customer services, marketing or other roles. Imagine, you could join the many

1:19.8

businesses that are already unleashing digital labour with AI agents using agent force. Agent Force.

1:29.9

It's what AI was meant to be.

1:37.5

From the Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. I'm Manvien Rana.

1:47.4

European summits aren't always a barrel of laughs,

1:51.1

so it's pretty remarkable when the least exciting bit,

1:56.4

the normally stately shuffle of European leaders arriving and shaking hands with a host,

2:02.8

suddenly becomes a real moment that's played out all over social media.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Times, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Times and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.