Given their respective backgrounds – maverick political high-flyers, each with their own distinctive hinterlands – theirs is a penetrating gaze.  

Campbell, a prolific journalist and writer best known as Tony Blair’s acerbic spin doctor, knows No 10 from the inside. Stewart, Secretary of State for International Development in Theresa May’s Cabinet and an early public critic of Boris Johnson, is also a best-selling author, academic and royal tutor.  

Both are keen to expose the inner workings of the corridors of power – no matter how damning the anecdotes are for their former colleagues.  

In their recent post-mortem on the BBC TV leadership debate, Stewart shared some of his treasure trove of Liz Truss stories. He recalled both the “rocket” he received for breaching her strict message discipline and how she once told him that foreign secretary was “the last job I would want”.  

First-hand accounts like these are the main draw of this podcast. But the duo’s analysis of the policy debates is rigorous, and the scope is impressively global. As well as Truss and Rishi Sunak’s contrasting approaches to the economy, the same episode covered Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s resignation and the worsening famine in parts of Africa.  

They make an amusingly odd couple, as much for their temperaments as their politics: Stewart has an unwavering earnestness while Campbell is grumpier, and they both enjoy winding each other up over their differences.  

That the podcast is consistently topping the charts is a cause for optimism: it indicates a growing appetite for healthier discussion of serious subjects.