Today rail union leaders announced another round of strikes, this time to coincide with the Labour Party Conference. Is there a message here that they are trying to send to Kier Starmer? Should we expect similar disruption during the Conservative Party Conference? 

Also on the podcast, after the death of the last leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, instrumental in ending the Cold War, how well do we understand the next geopolitical threat? 

Cindy Yu speaks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman. 

Produced by Cindy Yu and Oscar Edmondson.