1.8 Million Views, Streams and Downloads in 24 Hours for Emergency Iran Episodes of The Rest Is Politics and The Rest Is Politics: US

Audiences turn to trusted podcast voices as breaking news unfolds - with over 1.1 million video views and 685,000 audio streams in a single day

23 June 2025: In the immediate aftermath of the US bombing of Iran, The Rest Is Politics and The Rest Is Politics: US released emergency live episodes - drawing over 1.8 million views, streams, and downloads across platforms in under 24 hours.

Audiences tuned in at scale via YouTube, Spotify, and podcast platforms, with over 50,000 watching live at peak. Nearly a quarter of all YouTube views came via television, highlighting the rapidly blurring line between podcasts and traditional broadcast. Many more caught up via the audio feeds released just hours later.

Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell spoke on why the US entered Israel’s war with Iran, questioning whether it marked the beginning of a wider conflict and what it meant for global stability. Meanwhile, Katty Kay and Anthony Scaramucci spoke on the real reason Trump decided to get involved in the war, whether it could break apart his MAGA coalition, and what happens next. Tony Pastor, Co-Founder of Goalhanger, said: “Once again, we’re seeing that in moments of fast-breaking news, audiences turn to podcasts for explanation and analysis. A recent Reuters Institute report confirmed The Rest Is Politics as the UK’s top-ranked news podcast and on Sunday, we saw clear evidence of why. Both our UK and US editions went live in the immediate aftermath of the bombing in Iran, offering timely insight and commentary. What’s particularly striking is how many people chose to watch these episodes on their television. The line between podcast and TV show is blurring – and it’s happening faster than ever.” These figures follow recent news that Goalhanger is now the UK’s top-ranked news podcast producer - ahead of the BBC and Global - according to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s Digital News Report 2025. The Rest Is Politics is also now the most-mentioned news show in the UK