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295 episodes

Who's really bankrolling Nigel Farage?
05/08/2026 | 21 mins.
Nigel Farage has some…strange revenue streams. The leader of Reform UK has been paid about £700,000 to front ads for a gold bullion company. His fixer, Posh George, once advertised money laundering on the dark web and served time in a US prison. His biggest Brexit donor Arron Banks claimed his fortune came from South African diamond mines that, when reporters checked, weren't actually operating. Now Farage's newest backers are crypto players, and he's using his platform to talk up both gold and cryptocurrency, the two assets favoured by people convinced the financial system is about to collapse. So who benefits when a powerful politician is bankrolled by people who profit from instability?
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How to become an Albanian superstar
03/08/2026 | 19 mins.
In 1995, 80-year-old British comedian Norman Wisdom stepped off the plane in Albania for the first time, to a crowd of cheering fans. Over four days he was swarmed in the streets, men came up to kiss him, and he met the president. Today, producer Adair Sheppard tells Matt the story how Wisdom became one of the most famous people in Albania without knowing it.
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Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq
Dua Lipa and Ivanka Trump go head to head in Albania
29/07/2026 | 26 mins.
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump found what they call an untouched private island while swimming off a friend's superyacht near Albania. But it wasn't quite as private as they thought… turns out it’s actually a regular day-trip spot for locals. Despite that, the pair now want to build a luxury resort there along a protected coastal lagoon that's a key nesting site for migrating flamingoes, and Albania's government has fast-tracked approval. Many Albanians aren’t happy and thousands have taken to the streets to protest in what's become known as the Flamingo Revolution, including pop star Dua Lipa.
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Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq
Polymarket’s dumbest betting market
27/07/2026 | 21 mins.
On Polymarket, you can bet on almost anything. Today Matt is speaking to Supervising Producer Kara Jensen-Mackinnon about one of the strangest markets the site has ever run: one that turned WNBA games into a target for flying sex toys.
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Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq
How to get away with selling classified information
22/07/2026 | 27 mins.
There's a Polymarket account called Magamyman that's terrible at picking elections, but it's made $800,000 betting on exactly when the US would strike Iran, cashing in within minutes of the bombs actually falling… and it’s not alone. Donald Trump's own teleprompter operator is under investigation for betting on his boss's speeches, and a US soldier allegedly bet on capturing Nicolas Maduro days before doing it himself.
Prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi have exploded into a $20 billion industry, and they're built on a simple promise: that crowds are smarter than any individual, and secrets are worth cashing in on. But, with Trump's own son advising both platforms and regulators standing down, who's actually watching for insider trading?
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Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

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About If You're Listening

The world is on fire. There's a coup. Inflation is through the roof, and AI is taking our jobs. What does it all mean? Each week, Matt Bevan explains the biggest story in world news while hiding in his basement from assassins and authoritarian regimes. Recent episodes include an exploration of the relationship between India and China, a closer look at the Saudi Arabian city of NEOM, the conflict in the Middle East, the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, and Ukraine's incursions into Vladimir Putin's Russia. Matt Bevan draws connections between stories from the past and the events of the present to help listeners understand world news and international affairs. The podcast also features series about big moments in world news; previous series have focused on the United States presidential election, the United Kingdom's 14 years of Conservative Party leadership, Donald Trump's relationship with Russia, Donald Trump's presidency and promise to Make America Great Again, the Mueller Report, Vladimir Putin's scheme to destroy western democracies, how the relationship between Australia and China came to the verge of collapse, and Australia's turbulent history with climate change. There's a new episode of If You're Listening every Thursday.

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