Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files

After Katie Zacharia lasted just 5 days as White House Press Secretary, Christiane and Tina Brown ask: is this story part of a wider pattern that shows Trump and his administration have a problem with women?
They discuss why Zacharia was given a job she was never qualified for in the first place, whether she was treated more harshly than her incompetent male colleagues, and whether Trump's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles could be the next high profile woman in the Trump team to lose her job.
Christiane and Tina are also joined by Kai Bird, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, to talk about his recent biography of Trump's mentor, Roy Cohn. They examine the influence Cohn had on a young Trump, and how much of that influence is still in evidence today.
Plus, Christiane reacts to Trump's continued approach of criticising President Zelensky, while try to flatter and do business with Vladimir Putin.
You can read Tina's Substack 'Fresh Hell' here.
Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.
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Why has JD Vance condemned the idea of livestreaming Nidal Hasan’s execution, and what does it reveal about divisions within the Republican Party? Christiane and Jamie examine the debate and how it sits alongside the party’s stance on the right to life.

They also look at the Houthis’ strike on a Saudi airport. Does this signal a widening conflict, and could Saudi Arabia be drawn back into a direct confrontation with the Houthis?

Meanwhile, MI5 says threats from Russia and Iran have quadrupled in the last decade. With AI creating new risks, from cyber-attacks to bioweapons, are Britain’s intelligence services equipped to deal with a new era of hybrid warfare?

Plus, why are Republican politicians so reluctant to cross Trump, even when his popularity appears to be falling? What keeps them loyal to him?

This episode was recorded on 14th October.

Christiane is up for Best Host in the Signal Awards Listener's Choice. If you love the show, take ten seconds to vote: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/shows/craft/best-host

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

President Trump has announced a deal with Russia, lifting his own diesel sanctions and committing to spend $4bn of American money to Russian fuel, in return for a ceasefire on energy infrastructure. As Zelensky calls it a gift to Russia's war machine, did Trump just sell out Ukraine for cheaper diesel?

Christiane and Jamie unpack the logic behind it and examine Trump's claim that Zelensky should be replaced.

Later Christiane reports from Reykjavik's Hofdi House, 40 years on from where Reagan and Gorbachev came within touching distance of abolishing nuclear weapons, and walked away. Jamie, who worked on arms control at the time, explains why that "failure" broke the back of the Cold War, and why both now argue the same leap of thinking is needed to govern AI before it governs us.

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Christiane is up for Best Host in the Signal Awards Listener's Choice. If you love the show, take ten seconds to vote: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/shows/craft/best-host

Christiane and Tina answer your questions on Trump's threats to make Canada the 51st state. Canada has reportedly prepared for the possibility of a US invasion- but how realistic is that threat, and is Mark Carney right to take it seriously?

The Cornell 7 case has raised questions about how universities and law enforcement respond to sexual assault allegations. Why do major institutions so often fail survivors, and what needs to change?

Plus: Tina weighs in on Prince Andrew's legal action against the police, as well as the latest row between Charles Spencer and King Charles over Princess Diana.

Please note: this episode was recorded on the 5th October.

Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

The gruesome botched execution of Christa Pike has prompted an international debate about the use of the death penalty. Should it prompt America - the only major western democracy which still uses capital punishment - to finally scrap the death penalty?
Christiane and guest co-host Tina Brown dissect the 'barbaric' attempts to execute Pike, explain why prison doctors are so poorly trained and reveal why there is a shortage of lethal injection drugs in the US. They also ask: what does this extraordinary case say about America? Christiane talks about her personal experience of visiting a death penalty facility in person and she and Tina discuss whether anything is likely to change as a result of this story.
Plus, they look ahead to the midterms. Are these elections simply a referendum on Donald Trump? Christiane asks why so many senior Republicans still won't criticise the President by name and they discuss whether candidates would do better if they did. Plus Tina explains her theory on how Trump has lost his touch, and they give their reactions to the latest on the President's war with the press.
Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files is a Global production, available every Tuesday and Thursday on Global Player, YouTube or wherever you get your shows. Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.
Follow us on social media @amanpourpod
For more content, please follow us:
Watch us: https://www.youtube.com/@AmanpourPod
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