The Political Cycle

On this week's episode of The Political Cycle, we're talking to Yamini Aiyar, Senior Visiting Fellow at the Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia, about a recent Foreign Policy report she's co-authored on the question of efficiency. With Elon Musk's DOGE bringing the idea to a mainstream audience, do we need to better interrogate the motives behind this trend? Here, she talks to our Cyclist Rohan Venkat.Read Yamini's piece here.Here are the Trike Recommendations from this episode:The Nehru Years: An International History of Indian Non-Alignment by Swapna Kona NayuduRecoding America by Jennifer PahlkaSubscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin (via Emily's Substack you can also listen to an ad-free version of the show)India Inside Out by Rohan VenkatDividing Lines by Tom HamiltonThe Political Tricycle is a Podot podcast.It's presented by Emily Tamkin, Tom Hamilton and Rohan Venkat.Executive Producer: Nick Hilton.Producer: Ewan CameronFor sales and advertising, email nick@podotpods.comTo watch a video version of the show, go to COOLER.NEWS

President Trump has been continuing his tornado of tariffs. Today, China was given a 104% tariff (naturally, this figure has changed in the few hours since we recorded). This has shocked the global economy, with stock markets around the world in fluctuation. But is this a tipping point? What recent global economic moments can we look at to guess what comes next? Is this anything like Brexit? Does it share similarities to India’s demonetisation? Emily Tamkin, Rohan Venkat, and Tom Hamilton discuss.Here are the Trike Recommendations from this episode:https://alexmassie.substack.com/p/what-are-you-going-to-do-stab-mehttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/opinion/trump-deportations-gulag-prison.htmlForeign Policy: Efficiency Isn't EverythingAnd a bonus extra: https://www.compactmag.com/article/liberation-now/Subscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin (via Emily's Substack you can also listen to an ad-free version of the show)India Inside Out by Rohan VenkatDividing Lines by Tom HamiltonThe Political Tricycle is a Podot podcast.It's presented by Emily Tamkin, Tom Hamilton and Rohan Venkat.Executive Producer: Nick Hilton.Producer: Ewan CameronFor sales and advertising, email nick@podotpods.comTo watch a video version of the show, go to COOLER.NEWS

In a blow to France’s far-right, Marine Le Pen has been barred from running for office for five years. The leader of the National Rally received a four-year prison sentence, two years of which were suspended, in addition to a €100,000 fine. Accused of embezzling EU funds, her hopes of becoming President in the immediate future have been dashed. But is the ruling an attack on far-right politics or a defence of democracy? And does the defanging of Le Pen and the NR provide a roadmap for other countries dealing with insurgent demagogues?Emily Tamkin and Tom Hamilton discuss all this with Julien Hoez, a political expert and editor of The French Dispatch.Here are the Trike Recommendations from this episode:https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/03/19/trump-tariffs-trade-farmers-agriculture-economy/https://danieldrezner.substack.com/p/the-exorbitant-price-of-trumps-tariffshttps://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-supreme-court-elon-musk-81f71cdda271827ae281a77072a26badSubscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin (via Emily's Substack you can also listen to an ad-free version of the show)India Inside Out by Rohan VenkatDividing Lines by Tom HamiltonThe Political Tricycle is a Podot podcast.It's presented by Emily Tamkin, Tom Hamilton and Rohan Venkat.Executive Producer: Nick Hilton.Producer: Ewan CameronFor sales and advertising, email nick@podotpods.comTo watch a video version of the show, go to COOLER.NEWS

Mass demonstrations have erupted in Turkey after the jailing of Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu. Thousands have gone to the streets to protest the silencing of President Erdogan’s most obvious opponent for the 2028 elections.What does this public anger tell us about the regime’s current strength in Turkey? And are there through lines with other far right governments world-wide? Tom Hamilton, Emily Tamkin and Rohan Venkat are joined by Selim Koru, the author of New Turkey and the Far Right.Here's Selim's Substack!Here are the Trike Recommendations from this episode:https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/is-turkeys-declining-democracy-a-model-for-trumps-americahttps://kalamweekly.substack.com/p/will-the-monarchy-returnhttps://amitavghosh.com/parallel-journeys-turkeys-experience-of-akp-rule-and-its-portents-for-india-under-the-bjp/Subscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin (via Emily's Substack you can also listen to an ad-free version of the show)India Inside Out by Rohan VenkatDividing Lines by Tom HamiltonThe Political Tricycle is a Podot podcast.It's presented by Emily Tamkin, Tom Hamilton and Rohan Venkat.Executive Producer: Nick Hilton.For sales and advertising, email nick@podotpods.comTo watch a video version of the show, go to COOLER.NEWS

Elon Musk and his DOGE squad continue their crusade against government bodies, slashing departments and firing federal employees. This, apparently, is done in the name of stripping things back, maximising efficiency and getting rid of the dark forces that obstruct government productivity. But where did the idea of federal employees as a powerful force come from? And does it exist elsewhere in the world? Rohan Venkat, Emily Tamkin and Tom Hamilton discuss how countries view their own civil servants and federal employees.Here are the Trike Recommendations from this episode:https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/canadian-detained-us-immigration-jasmine-mooneyhttps://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/january/everyone-has-their-reasonshttps://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-doge-firing-federal-employees-ivy-league-jobs.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/health/food-safety-trump-fda-cutbacks-deadly-outbreaks.html (if only they’d published this before we recorded!)Subscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin (via Emily's Substack you can also listen to an ad-free version of the show)India Inside Out by Rohan VenkatDividing Lines by Tom HamiltonThe Political Tricycle is a Podot podcast.It's presented by Emily Tamkin, Tom Hamilton and Rohan Venkat.Executive Producer: Nick Hilton.For sales and advertising, email nick@podotpods.comTo watch a video version of the show, go to COOLER.NEWS

With Donald Trump’s ongoing trade wars, the markets have been rattled. Tariffs come and go, but uncertainty remains. As for the American people, who were promised cheaper every day items, are they seeing more money in their pockets? Will eggs ever be a normal price again? And if not, are voter’s ready to grin and bear short term financial pain? Rohan Venkat, Tom Hamilton and Emily Tamkin discuss.Here are the Trike Recommendations from this episode:https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/paradox-trumps-economic-weaponModi's India (book)https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-14474223/Donald-Trump-unprincipled-narcissistic-charlatan-democracy-ANDREW-NEIL.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/us/politics/trump-manufacturing-economy-risk.htmlSubscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin (via Emily's Substack you can also listen to an ad-free version of the show)India Inside Out by Rohan VenkatDividing Lines by Tom HamiltonThe Political Tricycle is a Podot podcast.It's presented by Emily Tamkin, Tom Hamilton and Rohan Venkat.Executive Producer: Nick Hilton.For sales and advertising, email nick@podotpods.comTo watch a video version of the show, go to COOLER.NEWS