Listener sentiment
The recent window adds only a handful of new ratings on top of the prior summary, but the pattern is unchanged: sentiment around The Rest Is Politics remains sharply polarised, and the dominant talking point is still Michael Gove's stint filling in for Rory Stewart. Listeners remain roughly evenly split — some found his presence so objectionable they say they need time to recover or are reconsidering the show, while others, including self-described Labour voters, welcomed a genuinely contrasting centre-right voice and found him surprisingly self-effacing. A recurring theme in both camps is that Alastair Campbell challenged Gove too little, with several reviewers complaining that the show's promise of "disagreeing agreeably" increasingly collapses into one-sided conversation rather than genuine debate. Beyond the Gove episodes, a warmly received interview on addiction and personal struggle earned particular praise for being openly accessible rather than paywalled, while other recent reviews repeat the familiar grievances: a perceived leftward drift with Rory Stewart nodding along to Campbell's views, irritations with ad loads and subscription pushes, and alarmist episode titles. The loyal core continues to credit the hosts with making an overwhelming news cycle intelligible, keeping the show many listeners' favourite political podcast even as others unsubscribe.
Apple3.2 · 888
Summary generated Oct 23, 2026
