After America

American alliances aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. On this episode of After America , Matt Duss joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the Trump administration’s new tariffs against Europe, what if anything it might do in Iran, and its threats to prosecute political opponents. This discussion was recorded on Friday 16 January (AEDT) 2026. A time for Bravery: what happens whe...

From Minnesota to Greenland, the Trump administration is bulldozing guardrails meant to protect human life and dignity. On this episode of After America , Professor Elizabeth N Saunders from Columbia University joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the “chaotic cruelty” of the Trump administration, its escalation of hostilities over Greenland and whether it will strike Iran. This discussion...

The Trump administration’s imperial march is gathering pace. On this episode of After America , Emma Shortis and Angus Blackman discuss the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, the credibility of the Trump administration’s threats against Greenland and elsewhere, and the fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement...

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Defense Secretary Hegseth doesn’t want the US military to fight with “stupid rules of engagement”. On this episode of After America , Allan Behm and Angus Blackman discuss the American ‘double-tap’ strike on an alleged drug boat, Pete Hegseth’s use of Signal to share sensitive military information, and why Trump spent a night posting 160 times on Truth Social. T...

Trump’s statements about resuming American nuclear testing left administration officials scrambling. On this episode of After America , Dr Ruth Mitchell, neurosurgeon and Nobel Prize winner with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the 80th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Trump’s nuclear testing claims, American...

Rumours about America's role in the dismissal of Gough Whitlam have circulated for decades – but is there any truth to them?  On this special episode of After America , we explore the state of the Australia-United States relationship under the Whitlam government, the machinations at the time around the renewal of Pine Gap, and the previously untold account of Dr Liz Cham, former executi...

By negotiating an end to the government shutdown without getting anything much in return, some Democrats have gone back to their old trick of resisting the President by giving him exactly what he needs. On this episode of After America , Crikey ’s Charlie Lewis joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss Congress’ failure to extend life-saving health insurance tax credits, Trump’s inability...

In New York City, California, New Jersey and Virginia, American voters sent Trump and Republicans a clear message . On this episode of  After America , Dr Emma Shortis joins Angus Blackman to discuss the results of last week’s sweeping election victories. They discuss what it all means for the Democratic Party, how the MAGA-verse is responding, and the impact of the longest federal gove...

Trump and Xi may have come to a “deal”, but their meeting was a wasted opportunity. Plus: what do Australians think about our relationship with the US?   On this episode of After America , Dr Emma Shortis joins Angus Blackman to discuss some new Australia Institute polling, which shows that Australians are less than convinced that we “share values” with Trump’s A...

You may not be able to take the ‘president of peace’ at his word, but you can trust Trump to have his own interests in mind. On this episode of After America , Matt Duss joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss Trump’s deployment of troops in the domestic United States, the administration’s attacks on Venezuela, negotiations over Gaza and Ukraine, and what it really means when the...

Anthony Albanese’s meeting with Donald Trump was relatively drama-free, but the devil is in the detail when it comes to the president’s ‘commitments’ on AUKUS and critical minerals. On this crossover episode of Follow the Money and After America , Dr Emma Shortis and Ebony Bennett discuss why Australia is still unlikely to receive any Virginia-class submarines, why the &ldq...

Donald Trump may have declared the war on Gaza over, but a welcome-but-shaky ceasefire and lasting peace are not the same thing. On this episode of After America , Judge Navi Pillay, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and 2025 Sydney Peace Prize Laureate, joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss accountability in international law and the prerequisites for genuine peace. This discussion was reco...

As Trump and his officials look at invoking the Insurrection Act, the administration is using the ongoing government shutdown to lay off workers and consolidate power. On this episode of After America , Elizabeth Pancotti, economic policy specialist and former advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders, joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the US government shutdown and how the Trump administration is using it...

After several failed attempts at brokering a ceasefire, President Donald Trump, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, announced a 20-point peace plan for Gaza. On this episode of After America , Antoun Issa joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the prospects for a deal that did not include Palestinians in the negotiating process. They also discuss the role of the United States in the Mid...

As Trump takes a sledgehammer to American democracy, Australia’s leader snagged a selfie – and a one-on-one meeting in October. How that will go is anyone’s guess.   On this episode of After America , Charlie Lewis joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the apparent obsession of Anthony Albanese’s opponents with that bilateral meeting, the transformation of the Republican Pa...

After a rocky week for Australian diplomacy, Prime Minister Albanese is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly...and maybe, just maybe, a meeting with President Trump. On this episode of After America , Allan Behm joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the MAGA movement’s weaponisation of Charlie Kirk’s murder, why no Trump meeting might be the best outcome for Anthony Albanese,...

Instead of trying bring Americans together after the latest act of political violence, the Trump administration is fanning the flames of division. On this episode of After America , Dr Emma Shortis and Angus Blackman discuss the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Elon Musk’s latest foray into global far-right politics, and the devastating impact of Robert F Kennedy Jr’s ‘Make America...

Senior leaders from the Ukrainian Red Cross join us to discuss how international standards in armed conflict are being “compromised”. On this episode of After America , Maskym Dotsenko and Illya Kletskovskyy, the Director General and Deputy Director General of the Ukrainian Red Cross, join Allan Behm to discuss the impact of the Russian invasion on Ukrainians, the role of Red Cross in...

Trump is behaving like “an emperor”, enabled by insufficient checks and balances on the power of the Oval Office. On this episode of After America , Professor Elizabeth Saunders from Columbia University joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the extreme volatility of this administration’s foreign policy and how Trump is breaking down the guardrails of American democracy. This episode w...

An imperial revival is occurring under the second Trump presidency. On this episode of After America , Allan Behm joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss Trump’s deployment of federal authorities to Democrat-voting jurisdictions, land grabs by the Russian and Israeli governments, and what a collapse of American democracy might mean for Australia. This episode was recorded on Friday 22 August. You c...

US President Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for Russian President Vladimir Putin this week. But did he get played again?   On this episode of After America , Dr Emma Shortis joins Angus Blackman to discuss the fallout from Trump’s meeting with Putin, the Australian government’s commitment to recognising Palestinian statehood, and the not-super-encouraging prospects for Ame...

“Probably not...”   On this episode of After America , Dr Emma Shortis and Angus Blackman discuss how Trump is normalising the idea that he might not leave the White House once his second term is up. Then, Helen Haines MP, independent member for Indi, joins Emma to discuss her community’s concerns about Israel’s actions in Gaza and the growing push for more t...

From Gaza to AUKUS, pressure for change is building on Australian foreign policy. On this special crossover episode of Follow the Money and After America , Dr Emma Shortis joins Glenn Connley to discuss the Australian protests calling for more action to protect Palestinians, the momentum against the troubled AUKUS submarine pact, and Trump’s decision to fire his chief of labour statistics af...

By courting neo-cons and failing to address cost of living concerns, have establishment Democrats signed the party’s death warrant? On this episode of After America , Assistant Professor Musa Al-Gharbi joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the catastrophic failure of the Democrats to effectively resist Trump’s agenda and whether a new generation of leaders can turn the party around. &n...