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PODCAST

The Debate

FRANCE 24 English

A live debate on the topic of the day, with four guests. From Monday to Thursday at 7:10pm Paris time.

news & politics

All Episodes

00:44:49

Why the change of heart? Trump dials down threats of...

The Debate ·

2026/01/15

US President Donald Trump had started his Wednesday pondering military strikes against Iran before pouring cold water on the concept, even expressing doubts that Iranians would accept as leader the late shah's son. In a sign of how fast a news cycle can flip, Iran's foreign minister expressed his assurances in English on Trump-friendly Fox News. After a ruthless response to nationwide protests, has the Islamic Republic once again seen off an existential challenge? Read moreIranian foreign minister

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00:43:44

Cambodia-Thailand border conflict: Why the escalation...

The Debate ·

2025/12/11

It turns out that it's not enough to stage peace signings. Half a million people are displaced as fighting rages along the border between Thailand and Cambodia, a resurgence of July's five-day conflict that Donald Trump counts as one of the eight wars in eight months he's ended. We ask why the return to fighting has occurred and examine the root causes of a dispute that's more than a century old and seems to require more than a stroke of the pen to settle. First, who to broker a cessation of

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00:44:28

Addiction economy: Can regulators rein in social...

The Debate ·

2025/12/10

Will history remember this as the day the planet started to rein in big tech? Australia is firing the first shot by banning under-16s from platforms and social media that include giants such as Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. We of course ask if rebellious teens will make light work of the ban. More broadly, is this the day regulators start treating merchants of scrolling the way they do tobacco and drinks giants: like businesses with a penchant for encouraging addiction? In tech, profits can be

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00:40:43

US-Russia framework to end Ukraine war: Plan for...

The Debate ·

2025/11/20

Ukraine is facing yet another major challenge in its fight to preserve its borders, its land and its people. The military battle continues as it has since 2014, intensifying sharply in 2022. The latest challenge is the emergence of a new US-Russia framework to end the war – a proposal that has left observers perplexed and many Ukrainians stunned. The plan appears to pressure Ukraine into giving up territory, surrendering arms and downsize its armed forces to placate Vladimir Putin's Russia. It would

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00:42:44

‘Trump’s Achilles heel’: US president under fire over...

The Debate ·

2025/11/19

Ever since he first ran for president in 2015, Donald Trump has claimed that to “drain the swamp”, America needs a leader who knows where “the bodies are buried” in the corrupt circles of Wall Street and Washington. So why has the MAGA base turned against him over the Epstein files? Why is it so difficult for Trump – who has already survived allegations of inciting an insurrection, undermining the Constitution and facing multiple criminal charges – to make this story go away? Produced by Rebecca

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00:43:28

The Prince and the President: What drives US-Saudi...

The Debate ·

2025/11/18

As the Middle East undergoes a once-in-a-generation shift in political fault lines, great power diplomacy could make the difference for millions between peace and stability or turbulence and endless conflict. So what’s driving that diplomacy? Between the US and Saudi Arabia, a confusing mix of bilateral security ties, regional reach-outs to the likes of Syria and Israel, and personal enrichment. We’ll ask about the Trump family’s longstanding ties to the Kingdom as well as reports that the US

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00:45:50

Air cover for Zelensky: How much can stepped-up...

The Debate ·

2025/11/17

It's much-needed backing from a key ally of Ukraine, along with welcome photo op for a president who's under pressure at home. After a gas deal with Greece, Volodymyr Zelensky is signing a 10-year military pact with France, far from Kyiv where a corruption scandal has brought down two ministers and has the main backer of his 2019 campaign on the run. It's a welcome respite from the political storm back home and a timely morale boost for Ukraine, a nation that needs all the support it can get at a

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00:44:18

Brazil's contradictions: Can COP30 summit host truly...

The Debate ·

2025/11/06

When it came to the Amazon, his predecessor was all for "chop, baby, chop". An easy act to follow if you're hosting the world for a climate summit. Since the return of Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, deforestation has continued but drastically slowed in what's by far the world's largest rainforest. But by bringing the United Nations COP30 summit to the Amazonian city of Belem, Lula is also drawing attention to Brazil's broader track record on the environment. The South American

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00:43:06

Radical change? Mamdani wins New York as voters turn...

The Debate ·

2025/11/06

One year after a presidential election where Donald Trump swept swing states and secured majorities in both houses of the US Congress, a first test has produced a radically different result. 34-year-old Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani has blown past establishment candidates for mayor of New York, unveiling his transition team this Wednesday. We ask about Mamdani's win and the highest turnout in the city's municipal elections in more than half a century. Read moreProgressive Democrat Zohran

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00:43:15

Shein takes Paris by storm: Does Chinese e-commerce...

The Debate ·

2025/11/04

Protesters are fuming at Chinese e-commerce giant Shein electing the French capital as its debut point for a physical in-shop presence. We ask about behemoths that churn out clothes faster than we can scroll, Shein's choice of the iconic Right Bank department store BHV for its launch and how a new controversy fuels the feeling that this global orgy of consumerism is out of control: Shein is removing from its platform child-like sex dolls that fly in the face of French and EU laws against

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00:43:13

Is Bill Gates right? Call to put climate resilience...

The Debate ·

2025/11/03

Is too much effort devoted to the planet's warming and not enough to helping humans adapt to the new normal? The Microsoft co-founder-cum-billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates is turning the heat up on activists traveling to the COP30, the annual UN climate summit this year in the Brazilian Amazon city of Belem. We review the argument that the transition to cleaner energies is already bearing fruit, making the Paris Agreement projections of 2015 obsolete. Or, with coal and oil production still

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00:43:35

When does Putin feel the pinch?

The Debate ·

2025/10/23

It has been a long seven days — even by Russia-Ukraine standards. Last week at this time, the talk was of Tomahawk cruise missiles. But instead of delivering missiles, Donald Trump gave a closed-door earful at the White House to Volodymyr Zelensky. Then came talk of a mano à mano U.S.–Russia summit in Budapest. Now the tide has turned again. No summit—just U.S. sanctions on Russia’s top two oil companies, an announcement coinciding with China and India reviewing their orders of Russian imports and

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00:43:51

France's Heist of the Century

The Debate ·

2025/10/22

The Louvre is reopening for the first time since Sunday’s heist of the century. We will follow leads in a daylight robbery now estimated at 88 million euros and check security at the world’s most visited museum. For now, the shuttering on the getaway window looks as tenuous as the standing of under-pressure authorities, the president of the Louvre answering earlier to a French senate panel said. Beyond security lapses, is the 800-year-old fortress-turned-palace-turned museum simply too big to deal

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00:42:22

Nicolas Sarkozy behind bars: Is jail time justified...

The Debate ·

2025/10/21

Sometimes former presidents do go to jail. Nicolas Sarkozy has begun his five-year sentence over the illicit financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya. Is this proof that justice is truly blind? Or, as his supporters contend, are we seeing revenge by magistrates who were often maligned by the 70-year-old conservative when he was in power? France is split on that debate. Meanwhile, Emmanuel Macron welcomed Sarkozy to the presidential palace last week ahead of his

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00:41:30

Gunning for Maduro? Trump targets vessels off...

The Debate ·

2025/10/20

Why is the United States suddenly in the business of blowing boats out of the water in the Caribbean? And why without summation? More than 30 people have been killed in seven strikes that started in early September, all under the orders of the same Donald Trump who wants a Nobel Peace Prize and who questions 80 years of US military presence in Europe, Korea and Japan. He's now gone beyond a war on drug trafficking in the Caribbean with not-so veiled threats to overthrow Venezuela’s regime. We ask

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00:44:49

Ready for the age of drones? Europeans scramble for...

The Debate ·

2025/10/01

A long list of European states are contributing personnel and equipment to secure a pair of EU summits this week in Denmark. A spate of mystery drones in the buildup has exposed NATO's vulnerability to harassment and hybrid warfare. We ask about unexplained flyovers, ghost ships and Russian denials. We also about spiking tensions across the Baltic Sea, where the stakes have never been higher since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. From calls for "drone walls" to the return of conscription, how do

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00:44:30

Trump's Martial Plan? US military encouraged to...

The Debate ·

2025/09/30

First his war secretary warned against wokism and "fat generals", before Donald Trump told hundreds of generals summoned for an unprecedented gathering of US top brass to expect more deployments to fight the "enemy from within". His bragging about federal troops sent to cities run by "radical Democrats" came amid a rambling speech, one that railed against the press and affirmative action but also included praise for firemen and Barack Obama's way of going down staircases without holding the

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00:56:14

Netanyahu under pressure to accept Trump plan for Gaza

The Debate ·

2025/09/29

So far, Benjamin Netanyahu has been able to avoid almost any concessions in his dealings with Donald Trump. Instead, despite growing global outrage over the demolition of Gaza, Washington has always put the onus squarely on Hamas to first release the Israeli hostages. But did Netanyahu go too far with the targeting of a Hamas delegation hosted by US ally Qatar? Will the United States finally impose an end to the war? In its 21-point plan, the Trump administration is no longer pushing the mass

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00:43:55

King Donald? Britain rolls out royal treatment for Trump

The Debate ·

2025/09/17

King Charles to the rescue? The president of the United States was wined and dined with all the pomp and circumstance of a state visit to Windsor Castle. We asked: honour guards, fighter jet flyovers, and celebrity royals – was it all part of a charm offensive aimed at wooing Donald Trump, whose worldview appears more aligned with far-right figure Nigel Farage than with Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer? For over a century, the so-called "special relationship" between the UK and US has often felt

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00:45:14

The demolition of Gaza City: Can Israel ignore...

The Debate ·

2025/09/16

First came October 7, 2023 and the bloodiest day of terror in Israel's history. Then came retribution. Since then, it has never stopped. Gaza is entering a new circle of hell with Israeli tanks entering the centre of its capital city and the apparent launch of a ground offensive. We ask why the spectacle is allowed to unfold. The consequences for Palestinians are all too obvious, but what about for Israelis? Does the flattening of Gaza kill off sympathy for a state founded in large part by survivors

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