The Crisis Room
Episodes
Q&A: The Tories' future, Gaza media coverage & why is Trump taking ICE to the Winter Olympics?
02 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this, the final Q&A episode of The Crisis Room, Amber answers listeners' questions about the Conservative Party: does it have any hope of ever ...
Iran, Venezuela, Israel & Turkey: the crises ahead in 2026
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this, the final regular episode of The Crisis Room, Amber, Mark, and Marc P recap an unprecedented last twelve months in geopolitics - and look ahe...
Q&A: Is Greenland distracting from Ukraine & should MI6 officers give more interviews?
26 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's Q&A, Mark & Amber assess whether the US decision to mobilise troops in the Alaskan Airborne Division is a sign that Trump is st...
A wild week for the West
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
After a week of high drama in Davos, where leaders from Donald Trump to Mark Carney and Emanuel Macron traded blows and the whole western alliance app...
Q&A: Vance vs Rubio & time for ICE to be shut down?
19 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's Q&A episode, the team looks at whether Vice President JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio is winning the battle for supremac...
Introducing: Explosive Lies
17 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We've got a podcast we think you'll love: Explosive Lies - your next podcast binge. Jim McCormick was a cocky English salesman with an outrageous clai...
Iran protests: A dictatorship finally running out of road?
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Over the past few weeks Iran has been thrust into one of the most consequential crises of its time. Protests against the regime have swept the country...
Q&A: Trump’s new landscape - Venezuela, Greenland, military illegal orders and rare earth minerals
12 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
President Donald Trump continues to change the landscape for international politics.Marc P looks at the safety of American citizens who dissent after ...
Is Nato's worst nightmare about to become a reality?
08 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Former Defence Secretary Sir Ben Wallace joins The Crisis Room to dissect the events of the past week, and to look ahead to what the next few months m...
Q&A: Bondi terror attack, life after Trump, & existential crisis for the BBC?
22 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After the horrific terror attack at Bondi Beach, Marc P and Amber explain what precautions are taken by governments to try and prevent similar attacks...
Is Britain at war with Russia?
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It's rare that the head of MI6 and the head of the Armed Forces both speak publicly in the same week. But that's what's happened in the past few days,...
Q&A: Prisoner swaps, women's safety in Afghanistan, & the future of Russian-occupied Ukraine
15 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this Q&A episode, Mark explains what is happening to civilians currently in Russian occupied Ukraine and what lies in store for them in the fut...
Will Britain break its promises on defence spending?
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After a week where Trump has left Europe wondering if it faces a future where it can't rely on America to protect it - The Crisis Room debates whether...
Q&A: Interviewing Sergei Skripal, potential SAS prosecutions & protecting overseas citizens from terror
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this Q&A episode, Mark opens up about his personal dealings and interviews with former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, befor...
British blood on Putin’s hands: Salisbury inquiry unpacked
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Vladimir Putin is 'morally responsible' for the death of Dawn Sturgess - the British woman killed by Novichok poisoning back in 2018. That was the key...
Q&A: Mahmood's immigration reforms & why is Iraq such a mess?
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this Q&A episode, Amber gives her reaction for the first time to the new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's controversial immigration reforms - a...
The Salisbury Poisonings: a crisis like no other
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode, The Crisis Room takes you back to March 2018 and Russia's extraordinary attempt to assassinate a former spy on British soil. ...
From Marine to Minister: Al Carns exclusive
21 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Al Carns isn't your average Member of Parliament. After more than twenty years of decorated service in the Royal Marines, last year he became an MP, a...
Negotiation or capitulation? Ukraine's crossroads moment
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With Russia and the US reportedly coming up with a 28 point plan to bring an end to the War in Ukraine, The Crisis Room team dissects whether this pla...
Cock-up or coup: how damaged is the BBC by its latest crisis?
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After a week where the BBC has dominated the headlines for all the wrong reasons, Mark draws on his 35 years of working for the Corporation to assess ...
Q&A: Havana Syndrome, election interference & Houthi Rebels
10 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this Q&A episode, Marc P opens up to Mark and Amber for the first time about his experience with Havana Syndrome - a serious health issue also ...
What’s happened to the Peace Plan for Gaza?
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Weeks after Trump's triumphant trip to the Middle East to celebrate what he called a "historic" peace deal - his plan for long-term peace in Gaza is s...
Q&A: Maccabi Tel Aviv, New York Mayor & Le Carré's view on spies
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does it say about the UK's police and the country more generally that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned from attending their match against Aston ...
Omnishambles at the Home Office: what next?
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It's been another week where Amber's old department, the Home Office, has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. So is breaking up the Home ...
Q&A: Prince Andrew's titles & is Brexit to blame for the small boats crisis?
27 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the latest Q&A episode, the team tackle your questions on a variety of crises. Amber analyses what has been achieved through stripping Prince A...
The reality of the world’s most dangerous border
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From British colonial rule to Osama Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, and the Taliban, tensions have run high on the Durand Line - the border between Afghanistan a...
Q&A: Can Tomahawk missiles win the war for Ukraine?
20 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Amber, Mark and Marc P are answering your questions in this first ever Q&A episode of The Crisis Room! Mark and Marc analyse how damaging it could...
What does the MI5 boss really think about the collapse of the China spy trial?
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today, the MI5 boss has spoken out about his 'frustration' at the recent collapse of the China spy trial. But how will he really be feeling about this...
Dealing with Trump and the Taliban: the Mark Sedwill interview
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How do you handle President Trump? Is China a national security threat to the UK - and should it be allowed its new 'Super Embassy' in central London?...
Special episode: Manchester terror attack - what happens next?
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Yesterday's terror attack at a synagogue in Manchester left three people dead, several more injured, and an entire community shaken. But what happens ...
Antidotes and assassinations: how Middle East spycraft really works
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In light of Benjamin Netanyahu's recent apology to Qatar, The Crisis Room takes a look back at 1997 - and a previous occasion when Bibi was forced to ...
Is NATO letting itself be bullied by Russian drones?
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From fighter jets in Estonia, to drones in Poland, Romania - and possibly now Denmark too - Russia has been taunting NATO for weeks. So is it time for...
Was Britain right to roll out the red carpet for Trump?
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Trump’s State Visit has come to a close, and it seems to have come off without any hitches. As he soaked up the glory of state banquets and royal gu...
Why is the Home Office the ultimate political poisoned chalice?
11 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Another week, another Home Secretary - so what makes this great office of state so difficult and treacherous for politicians of all parties? This week...
Robot wolves & underwater drones: should we fear China's military might?
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
World leaders - including Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un - flocked to Beijing this week to hold hands with President Xi and watch a massive military p...
The end of the rules-based order: is Trump leading the charge?
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Does the idea of a rules-based world order still cary any weight? Or, in the age of Donald Trump, is it just a comforting but outdated concept? This w...
Does Labour have a solution to the asylum hotel crisis?
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Europe's leaders averted a disaster in their White House summit with President Trump. But what comes next in the West's efforts to end the war in Ukra...
Who is playing who? Trump, Putin, and the Alaska ‘Peace Summit’
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The world is holding its breath as Presidents Trump and Putin prepare to meet in Alaska - but will the leaders take a step towards a landmark peace de...
The future of espionage: is AI making spies redundant?
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In a time of AI, facial recognition and rapid technological advances - is the era of human intelligence-gathering over? Could AI soon put James Bond o...
What will Trump make of Starmer's decision to recognise Palestine?
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Keir Starmer followed in the footsteps of President Macron and declared that the UK will recognise a Palestinian state by September, unless...
Should the UK follow France in recognising Palestine?
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As famine spreads in Gaza, the team discuss whether the international community - and particularly the US and the UK - should be taking stronger actio...
Which world leader is best at dealing with Donald Trump?
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It's one of the big diplomatic dilemmas of the modern era: how do you solve a problem like President Trump? It's a dilemma that world leaders from Kei...
One in, one out: is this really a solution to the migrant crisis?
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
'This can't go on' - that's what Keir Starmer and President Macron have said about the migrant crisis this week. But will their new 'one in, one out' ...
Will proscribing Palestine Action backfire on the Government?
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode, The Crisis Room team discuss the Home Secretary's proscribing of Palestine Action as terrorist group, despite warnings that a ...
Iran-Israel war: has Trump shown Netanyahu who's in charge?
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With a ceasefire between Israel and Iran appearing to hold - for now - how much have the events of the past two weeks changed the Middle East in the l...
"I may do it, I may not" - will Donald Trump strike Iran?
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What conversations are taking place in the White House Situation Room right now? How will the British government be responding to the war between Iran...
Emergency episode: Israel hits Iran - can this crisis be contained?
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the first-ever emergency edition of The Crisis Room, Mark, Amber, and Marc unpack Israel’s dramatic overnight attacks on Iran, and what they...
The inside story: What it's like to run SAS operations in Iraq
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever wondered what it was like to be part of Special Forces operations during the Iraq War? In an exclusive interview, former SAS Commanding ...
Does Britain need to wake up to the prospect of war?
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is the UK ready to take part in an armed conflict? Do the British people understand what being war-ready really means? And is the government willing t...
Should police have revealed the Liverpool suspect was white and British?
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Step into The Crisis Room. In this first episode, Amber, Mark, and Marc unpack the controversial move by Merseyside Police to reveal key details about...
Introducing: The Crisis Room
27 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Former Home Secretary Amber Rudd, renowned journalist Mark Urban, and decorated former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos tell you all about their new po...