The News Agents

Latest Episodes:

Introducing: Coining It with Lewis Goodall | Ep 1 - Unmissables: Explosive Lies Oct 04, 2025

Show notes

Here's a new podcast you might like - this is episode 1 of Coining It. All episodes are available now, on Global Player or search for 'Coining It' wherever you get your podcasts.

In a damp Blackpool flat, James Parker is broke, restless, and stuck in a life going nowhere - until he discovers a glitch in a Bitcoin trading platform that begins pouring millions into his account.

Most people would keep it quiet. James doesn’t.

He starts handing out money, buying cars for mates, throwing lavish parties in a town where fortunes are rare. To some he’s a hero, a modern-day Robin Hood. But as the spending spirals and the police start asking questions, cracks begin to show. Deals get darker, loyalties shift, and James is left chasing the very people he once made rich.

How far would you go if the money felt endless?

And what would it cost when it finally ran out?

From Global and Free Turn, Lewis Goodall uncovers the true story of a man who found a crack in the system and pulled his whole world through it.

Coining It is a Global production

Q&A: Pro-Palestine demos, Starmer's future, and Kemi's irrelevance Oct 03, 2025

Show notes

Should pro-Palestine protests be going ahead in the immediate aftermath of the attack on a north Manchester synagogue? Could Keir Starmer's days be numbered? Is Nigel Farage a snowflake for his response to claims that his deportations policy is racist? And has the Tory party ever felt this irrelevant?

Lewis and Jon answer your questions in this Q&A episode.

Visit our new website for more analysis and interviews from the team: https://www.thenewsagents.co.uk/

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Weekend Edition: Boris Becker - from Wimbledon glory to serving time - The Sports Agents Oct 03, 2025

Show notes

Three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker joins Gabby and Mark on The Sports Agents to talk about his time in prison.

The former world number one was sentenced to over two years in jail after going bankrupt. So how did he go from tennis glory to prison? What was it like living with murderers and drug dealers? And how did he feel watching Wimbledon from a jail cell?

Plus, we look back at the best bits from this week's shows about England winning the Rugby World Cup, Europe storming to Ryder Cup glory and the fight to become one of football's top managers.

Boris Becker's memoir, “Inside: Winning, Losing & Starting Again” is out now .

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this podcast help is available at Samaritans (call 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org), Prison Reform Trust (https://prisonreformtrust.org.uk) and other charities.

📩 Got a question? Send it here: https://forms.gle/9SBbW1SYWqXLKnRT7

💭 Tell us your thoughts in our listener survey: https://forms.gle/YMUvajQktqBuimgh6

🖥️ Watch our full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SportsAgentsPod

📱Follow us on socials:

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thesportsagents

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thesportsagents/

X - https://x.com/sportsagentspod

📥 Email: thesportsagents@global.com

Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides

Producer: Sophie Penney

Video Producer: Sam Trudgill

Social Media Editor: Calum Scotland

Guest Booker: Kirsty Giddings

Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network

Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The Sports Agents".

👕 The Sports Agents have merch! You can buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-sports-agents

A terrorist attack on Yom Kippur Oct 02, 2025

Show notes

A terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester has left two people dead and several others fighting for their lives on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

The prime minister has cut short his trip to Denmark to chair Cobra - as police investigate whether the perpetrator was known to security. Manchester is sadly once again coming together to reject hatred in the aftermath of appalling violence.

Andy Hughes, presenter of The Crime Agents podcast, talks through the police response and the changing nature of terrorism in the UK.

Later, David Yelland, former editor of The Sun, speaks to Jon and Emily about why some instinctively leap to sowing divisiveness in the aftermath of these events and how to confront it.

We discuss the political - and personal significance - of a terror attack on Yom Kippur.

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Is Tony Blair really the right person to sort out the Middle East? Oct 01, 2025

Show notes

Earlier this week President Trump announced his so-called "Board of Peace", to help bring an end to the war in Gaza.

He also announced that Tony Blair would be a member. He's a "very good man", Trump said. But considering his legacy in the region, is the former Prime Minister really the person to work alongside Trump and Netanyahu to bring about peace?

Later in the show, Emily speaks with the playwright Suzie Miller, who discusses how we should be educating young men to help them avoid a growing culture of toxic, abusive and misogynistic behaviour.

Visit our new website for more analysis and interviews from the team: https://www.thenewsagents.co.uk/

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Is Keir Starmer Britain's Joe Biden? Sep 30, 2025

Show notes

The PM took on what he called the "enemies of national renewal" in his conference speech today - accusing Nigel Farage of exploiting the “politics of grievance”.

Keir Starmer instead pledged a Britain "built for all" - he spoke of the fight for the "soul" of the country. It was all spelt out in quite stark terms, and Starmer's clearest enunciation yet that he sees Farage and Reform, not Badenoch and the Conservatives, as his main threat. He portrayed a new political clash - between decency and division.

The Labour faithful lapped up his patriotic lines, and cheered his attacks on Reform. He nodded to Oasis and the Lionesses in declaring that Britain isn't broken. Is that a smart strategy? Or is he risking painting Labour as defenders of the status quo? Is he making the same mistakes as Joe Biden?

Jon and Lewis speak to the health secretary, Wes Streeting, about whether the PM is getting his message across to voters.

Visit our new website for more analysis and interviews from the team: https://www.thenewsagents.co.uk/

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Is Labour calling Nigel Farage racist? Sep 29, 2025

Show notes

Labour politicians are upping their attacks on Nigel Farage and Reform UK in Liverpool.

Rachel Reeves took to the conference stage to brand Farage "the single greatest threat to our way of life". And over the weekend, Keir Starmer levelled the accusation that Reform's policy on deporting migrants with indefinite leave to remain was "racist".

The shift in tone is not without risk - with the tabloids already accusing the PM of labelling voters more generally who are concerned about migration as racist.

But so far at party conference, cabinet ministers appear to be more comfortable defining themselves against their enemies and making the moral case for Labour in government.

Is that what the party activists, and the public, need to hear? And are there still inherent contradictions with that Labour is saying about its plan in office?

Later, Lewis and Jon speak to Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary also vying to be deputy leader of the party. She had a major announcement today about bringing back maintenance grants to some working class university students - and she came over to the News Agents stand to talk about that, Nigel Farage, Andy Burnham and the case she's making for deputy.

Visit our new website for more analysis and interviews from the team: https://www.thenewsagents.co.uk/

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Bonus episode: Is this Starmer's toughest conference yet? Sep 28, 2025

Show notes

Cast your mind back to last year in Liverpool and it's hard to imagine much more of a contrasting picture to this year's Labour party conference.

Then, party members were still basking in the glow of the election victory, Keir Starmer applauded as the leader who'd defied the odds and returned Labour to power.

Now? Leadership jockeying is well underway, a deputy leadership battle could further divide the party, and there is widespread dismay at the speed with which Labour's honeymoon period in office ended - if it ever existed at all.

Is this crunch time for Keir Starmer to reassert his vision as PM and give party activists something to feel good about? Why are some senior figures now openly questioning whether he can lead the party into the next election? Has Burnham made his play too early? And could a new message on Reform and Farage be part of Labour's comeback strategy?

Lewis and LBC's political correspondent Aggie Chambre have your conference preview from Liverpool.

Leo Varadkar on Trump, Starmer and the death of liberalism Sep 26, 2025

Show notes

In many ways, Leo Varadkar was a historic Taoiseach. The youngest Irish PM, the first from an ethnic minority, and the first openly gay head of government.

His time at the top of Irish politics was also historic - he grappled with Trump's first term, the Brexit years, and the Covid pandemic.

At just 44 years of age, he walked away from politics. But he is still fascinated - even obsessed - by the political arena.

He's written a memoir, 'Speaking My Mind', about his rise to power and his time at the seat of government.

He came into The News Agents studio to speak to Lewis about the populist surge and where Starmer is failing in his efforts to curb it here, what it's like dealing with Donald Trump up close and personal, and why he found Boris Johnson easier to deal with than Theresa May - even though he couldn't trust him.

Weekend Edition: Rugby World Cup Final with Ruby Tui on the 'game of the decade' & calling King Charles "Bruv" - The Sports Agents Sep 26, 2025

Show notes

Gabby is joined by Ruby Tui - the nation has fallen in love with this World Cup winner and Olympic medallist over this Women's Rugby World Cup. She tells her story, from calling King Charles "bruv", to escaping domestic abuse, and getting 40,000 fans to sing a Maori folk song after winning a home World Cup.

Ahead of Saturday's final, Ruby says it's an honour to witness this moment in sporting history. England haven't lost since the last World Cup Final... no pressure then!

If you have been a victim of domestic abuse, help is available from charities like Refuge: https://refuge.org.uk/

📩 Got a question? Send it here: https://forms.gle/9SBbW1SYWqXLKnRT7

💭 Tell us your thoughts in our listener survey: https://forms.gle/YMUvajQktqBuimgh6

🖥️ Watch our full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SportsAgentsPod

📱Follow us on socials:

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thesportsagents

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thesportsagents/

X - https://x.com/sportsagentspod

📥 Email: thesportsagents@global.com

Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides

Producer: Sophie Penney

Video Producer: Sam Trudgill