Scotcast

Martin Geissler joins Natalie and Lynsey to talk about our election interviews with Scottish Green co-leader Gillian Mackay and John Swinney of the SNP. And from assisted dying to greyhound racing to Brazilian butt lifts: why have MSPs been voting on so many laws in such a short space of time? Scotcast is the BBC’s Scottish news podcast. This episode of the Politics Show is hosted by Natalie Higgi...

John Swinney has been SNP leader and First Minister of Scotland since 2024. He talks to Martin about feeling the “love of God” and why he believes racism partly explains the popularity of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. Scotcast is the BBC’s Scottish news podcast. This episode is hosted by Martin Geissler. Get in touch: scotcast@bbc.co.uk

MSPs have rejected a bill brought forward by Liam McArthur (pictured) which would have allowed a medically assisted death for terminally ill people with six months left to live. We ask the BBC’s Scotland Editor and Newscast regular James Cook how a majority of MSPs went from supporting the bill in May 2025 to voting it down 10 months later. Scotcast is the BBC's Scottish news podcast. This episode...

Gillian Mackay (pictured) was elected co-leader of the Scottish Greens alongside Ross Greer in 2025. She talks to Martin about 'rebuilding trust' between her party and the SNP, and her childhood bullying ordeal. Scotcast is the BBC’s Scottish news podcast. This episode is hosted by Martin Geissler. Get in touch: scotcast@bbc.co.uk

If you’re interested in this episode, you may also like ‘Iran: Are our bills about to shoot up?’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002s4h6 The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has warned that the longer the US-Israel war with Iran continues, the worse the cost of living will get at home. He’s announced some support for those who use heating oil – but it pales in comparison to the help given out af...

Scotcast's Martin Geissler joins Natalie and David to talk about the first of our leader interviews with Scottish Liberal Democrat Alex Cole-Hamilton and Reform UK's Malcolm Offord. And we preview the upcoming Holyrood vote on whether to legalise assisted dying. Scotcast is the BBC’s Scottish news podcast. This episode of the Politics Show is hosted by Natalie Higgins and David Wallace Lockhart. G...

Malcolm Offord (pictured) was appointed Reform UK’s leader in Scotland in January 2026. He talks to Martin about finding his feet in Nigel Farage’s party – and losing friends along the way. Scotcast is the BBC’s Scottish news podcast. This episode is hosted by Martin Geissler. Get in touch: scotcast@bbc.co.uk

If you’re interested in this episode, you may also like ‘My clan, the land and who owns it’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002lpck The fire that ripped through a Victorian building next to Glasgow’s Central Station has left a blackened, crumbling shell right in the city centre. The council leader Susan Aitken has said the ownership of many historic sites in the city is ‘complex’, and often ‘fr...

Alex Cole-Hamilton (pictured) has been leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats since 2021. He talks to Martin about Quakerism, pacifism and nationalism in the first of our series of interviews with party leaders ahead of the Holyrood election. Scotcast is the BBC’s Scottish news podcast. This episode is hosted by Martin Geissler. Get in touch: scotcast@bbc.co.uk

If you’re interested in this episode, you may also like ‘Fans hit out at Old Firm policing’: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002919c Police Scotland have condemned the behaviour of fans attending the Scottish Cup clash between Rangers and Celtic as 'despicable' and 'shameful'. We ask the BBC’s Chris McLaughlin how the clubs and authorities will respond to the disorder at Ibrox. Scotcast is the...

Natalie, Lynsey and Phil talk about the findings of a major BBC pre-election poll, the allegations surrounding the husband of Scottish Labour MP Joani Reid (pictured) and the latest on the parties’ 2026 candidate selection process. Scotcast is the BBC’s Scottish news podcast. This episode of the Politics Show is hosted by Natalie Higgins, Lynsey Bews and Phil Sim. Get in touch: scotcast@bbc.co.uk

If you’re interested in this episode, you may also like ‘Inside the 'Salmond files': https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002rp03 David Hamilton (pictured) is taking the Scottish Government to court over its refusal to release the so-called ‘Alex Salmond files’. We ask the Scottish Information Commissioner why he believes some documents from the James Hamilton investigation, which cleared Nicola Stu...

If you’re interested in this episode, you may also like https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002qgvt President Donald Trump (pictured) has told lawmakers it is not yet possible to know the 'full scope and duration' of US strikes on Iran. Here at home, attention has turned to what the conflict might mean on UK shores as oil and gas prices continue to rise. Laura and Natalie hear from Professor John U...

If you’re interested in this episode, you may also like ‘Fixing the NHS: where do you start?’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0027bj7 A poll by the BBC has suggested 50% of voters care about the NHS more than anything else in the upcoming election. That figure is higher for women than it is for men. Women are more likely to be on multiple waiting lists than men, are more likely to live with chr...

Scotland has become the first part of the UK to legalise water cremations, a process known as alkaline hydrolysis. We ask funeral director Andrew Purves (pictured) why there's demand for an alternative to burial and traditional cremation. Scotcast is the BBC's Scottish news podcast. This episode is hosted by Laura Miller and Natalie Higgins. Get in touch: scotcast@bbc.co.uk Picture credit: William...

If you’re interested in this episode, you may also like Politics Show: Will Starmer really campaign with Sarwar? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0n0swyn The Green Party of England and Wales has won the Gorton and Denton by-election, with Hannah Spencer (pictured) taking the seat from Labour in the Greens' first-ever Westminster by-election victory. Natalie and Phil meet at the Scottish Labour c...

If you’re interested in this episode, you may also like ‘Who is Nicholas Rossi?’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002lpbn Brian Low was 65 when he was found dead on a country track near Aberfeldy. Police treated his death as non-suspicious for five days - until a pathologist found bullet wounds on his body. Former gamekeeper David Campbell, 77, wasn’t arrested for another three months. But this...

If you’re interested in this episode, you may also like ‘What’s going on in the Peter Murrell case?’: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002rgbs Thousands of documents from James Hamilton's investigation into former first minister Nicola Sturgeon and her predecessor Alex Salmond have been released. Phil Sim tells us what – if anything – we have learned from this batch of the so-called ‘Salmond fil...

If you’re interested in this episode, you may also like ‘Malcolm Offord: I can be a Reform first minister’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002n9d4 Baroness Ruth Davidson (pictured) led the Scottish Conservatives between 2011 and 2019. In the face of rising support for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, she tells us why she is launching a new political movement. Scotcast is the BBC’s Scottish news podcas...

If you’re interested in this episode, you may also like ‘What Tommy Sheridan did next’: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002dmdp Alba leader Kenny MacAskill says the pro-independence party founded by Alex Salmond (pictured) is unlikely to field candidates in the Holyrood election. Kirk Torrance, an adviser to the former first minister and ex-SNP leader when he formed Alba, tells us why the party...

If you’re interested in this episode, you may also like 'What's going on in the Peter Murrell case?': https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002rgbs Lynsey and Phil are joined by the Scottish Mail on Sunday's Hannah Rodger to discuss political reaction to the Peter Murrell embezzlement case; Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain (pictured) defending herself against claims of corruption; and Nicola Sturgeon's hin...

If you’re interested in this episode, you may also like 'Is AI coming for your job?' https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002dl6n A glut of staff from the world's most powerful AI companies have resigned in the past month, with one warning the world is in 'peril'. AI philosopher Professor Shannon Vallor (pictured) from Edinburgh University tells us why she believes people have the power to make AI a...

First minister John Swinney was given details of an embezzlement charge against Peter Murrell (pictured) - the ex-SNP chief executive and estranged husband of Nicola Sturgeon - weeks before it became public. The BBC’s Phil Sim and Dave Cowan help us unpack a spate of developments in Murrell’s case, including the delay of his plea hearing until after the Holyrood election. Scotcast is the BBC’s Sco...

If you’re interested in this episode, you may also like ‘What’s it like to be a police officer?’: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002982x The Scottish Police Federation is calling for guns to be routinely stored in police patrol vehicles to combat violent crimes. David Kennedy (pictured), the police union’s general secretary, says anyone brandishing a knife should expect to be shot. Scotcast is...

If you’re interested in this episode, you may also like ‘STV boss on costs, cuts and a backlash’: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002nkws BrewDog could be sold off after financial advisers were appointed to attract new investment in the Aberdeenshire-based company. We ask beer industry commentator Melissa Cole, author of The Ultimate Book of Craft Beer, about the future of the business co-found...