{"podcast":{"title":"Political Currency","slug":"political-currency-6989276","podcast_index_feed_id":6989276,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/politicalcurrency-1","website_url":"https://shows.acast.com/politicalcurrency","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/64fb2b0f977e5a001226cb16/1735495247634-23a6477e-89d6-4ff4-b529-bbb565f05da4.jpeg","author":"Persephonica","episode_count":292,"summary":"Ed Balls and George Osborne take us behind closed doors into the rooms where decisions are made. Having battled it out across the despatch box, the former Chancellor and shadow chancellor now meet in the studio to discuss the decisions that affect the nation’s pockets. Our frenemies have the knowledge and experience to explain how good politics follows the economics - and expose how the powerful become powerless when faced with market forces and political currents they can’t control. Join us every Thursday. Send your messages or voice notes to questions@politicalcurrency.co.uk Find us on social media @polcurrency Political Currency is a Persephonica production. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-26T06:17:12.365480+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/political-currency-6989276"},"episode":{"title":"Inside The Room - The Libya Conflict: The Build Up (Part One)","slug":"inside-the-room-the-libya-conflict-the-build-up-part-one","published_at":"2026-04-02T16:09:11+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/political-currency-6989276/inside-the-room-the-libya-conflict-the-build-up-part-one","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/political-currency-6989276","url":"https://shows.acast.com/politicalcurrency-1/episodes/inside-the-room-the-libya-conflict-the-build-up-part-one","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/64fb2b0f977e5a001226cb16/e/69ce8c3ad2e95f5131602a20/media.mp3","summary":"As renewed violence erupts across the Middle East, governments have been forced into crisis mode... but when is the right time to intervene, how involved should you get and when, if ever, is it time for 'boots on the ground'? It's these dilemmas and more that are currently facing Keir Starmer and other world leaders, but it's not the first time a UK government has had to find answers for such big questions about international intervention.  Fifteen years ago the civil unrest of the Arab Spring spread to Libya. The violent crackdowns against anti-government protestors that followed sparked seven months of NATO military intervention and led to the killing of Muammar Gaddafi, putting an end to his 42-year dictatorship. In this special mini series, Ed Balls and George Osborne are joined by former MI6 Chief Sir John Sawers to discuss the key decisions, missteps, and aftermath of the Libya crisis. We take you inside the war rooms and hear unique insights from John, George and two other officials who saw key decisions being made first-hand: former EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Cathy Ashton, and deputy national security adviser to the coalition government, Hugh Powell.  What can the wars of the past can teach us lessons for the wars of today? In part one, we look at how the UK government reacted to the escalating situation, why David Cameron and then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy pushed for military action, and the steps that led to the first bomb being dropped… and how it managed to surprise Britain. Thanks for listening. In our next episode we take you right behind the scenes of the military action and hear about all of the drama that ensued, including the moment Sir John Sawyers took an informant for a secret dinner…  Can’t wait?…","meta_description":"As renewed violence erupts across the Middle East, governments have been forced into crisis mode... but when is the right time to intervene, how involved…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2428,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/political-currency-6989276/episodes/inside-the-room-the-libya-conflict-the-build-up-part-one/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/political-currency-6989276/inside-the-room-the-libya-conflict-the-build-up-part-one.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}