Americast

With just days to go until the midterm elections, the Democrats believe they could flip as many as six seats in the Senate. What are the polls telling us with just days to go until the midterm elections, and could results still go in Donald Trump's favour? The Democrats have been trying to oust Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins for almost three decades. With the midterms days away, President...

It's been three decades since Texas last sent a Democrat senator to Congress. Will anger towards Donald Trump mean it could finally happen again? With under a week to go until the midterm elections, Republicans and Democrats are making their last pitch to voters with Texans already breaking records for early voting numbers. Donald Trump was in the state on Tuesday to shore up support for his candi...

Can a star appearance from Barack Obama convince voters to send a Democrat to the Senate in Michigan, and beyond? A clip from Obama’s appearance has gone viral after he took aim at Donald Trump’s new White House ballroom - saying the president had made the White House look like "Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory". Despite the former president’s broad appeal across the US, how will it have...

Are Hasan Piker’s controversial views a help or a hindrance for the Democrats this midterms? He’s arguably America’s most high-profile left-wing influencer but he’s not loved by all Democrats. He made his name streaming on Twitch and helped propel Abdul El-Sayed as the Democrat candidate in Michigan for the state’s all important Senate seat. Justin’s been speaking to Hasan Piker about comments he’...

With early voting already underway across several states in America, Republicans have just two weeks to land their closing arguments. The US president says he will be spending over $400 million on Republican candidates by election day, but what is the strategy and will the money be enough to turn around low poll ratings in key states? In this episode, Justin and Anthony look at what early voting n...

What happens to Donald Trump’s power if the Democrats take back Congress in the midterms? With just over two weeks to go, Sarah, Anthony and Marianna are back with Matt Chorley to answer your questions. What would a Democratic House and Senate mean for the president? Could they try to impeach him for a third time? And why are the Republicans diverting campaign money into races that should be safe?...

Latino voters could decide which party controls Congress after November’s midterm elections. Two years ago, 48% of them voted for Donald Trump, a record for a Republican presidential candidate. But with fuel prices still high, and his immigration crackdown affecting families who have lived in the US for a long time, is that support slipping away? Justin and Anthony discuss the campaign in Texas, w...

What happens if Donald Trump loses the midterms, and why does this election matter for Republicans and Democrats? In this episode, Anthony and Sumi de-jargon and explain some of the basics in this November’s election, unpicking key terms such as ‘gerrymandering’, super PACs, dark money, stump speeches, and what it really means to be an ‘informed voter’. We’re joined by Celia Hatton from the Global...

How has US defence secretary Pete Hegseth justified the decision to livestream the execution of former US soldier, Nidal Hassan by firing squad at the Fort Hood military base - where he killed 13 unarmed US soldiers - in 2009? Justin, Sarah, Anthony and Marianna are back with Matt Chorley to answer your questions on the case and whether Hegseth’s plan will actually go ahead after public scepticism...

How confident should Democrats be about surprise new polling which puts them ahead in deep Republican territory? In states such as Kansas which haven’t elected a Democratic senator since 1932, Democrat candidates are doing well - why is that, and how much can we trust the polls? The party’s hope for a blue wave in this year’s midterm elections rest on their ability to flip four Republican seats in...

The president has started a war of words with California Governor Gavin Newsom after saying that Iran could “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego. Trump made the comments during his midterms campaign tour, telling the audience it would be “very small price to pay” in the war. Newsom has responded by calling the comments “deranged and dangerous”. And Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has re-iterated hi...

How has the botched execution of a woman convicted of murder in Tennessee 30 years ago prompted a debate about the death penalty in the US? Marianna, Sumi and Anthony answer your questions on the case of Christa Pike, which has led to the resignation of Tennessee's prisons chief. Also, why has a rape allegation at Cornell University become one of America's biggest stories, with New York Attorney G...

Abolish ICE? Abolish borders, No prisons? The co-chair of the DSA speaks to us about what the party really stands for and whether they can persuade undecided Americans to vote for them. The Democratic Socialists of America can count some of the country’s most high-profile politicians in its ranks, such as Bernie Sanders, Zohran Mamdani and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Until recently, the organisation...

Is Donald Trump now more of an electoral hindrance than a help, even in his home state of Florida, where one candidate has talked down his links with the US president. In this episode, we hear Anthony’s reporting from Florida where the race to replace Ron DeSantis as governor won’t be an easy win for Republicans. Byron Donalds is looking to become Florida's first African American governor. He has...

Ahead of November’s midterm elections, are we any closer to knowing who might lead the Democrats into the 2028 presidential election? Americanswers is back answering your questions and this week we’re looking ahead at a number of important issues at this year’s midterms. The Democrats might fancy their chances to take back the House – and possibly even the Senate – but public opinion still looks u...

The US president has lost his court battle with CNN, Politico and MS NOW in the latest battle between Donald Trump and the media. What did the judge say and what happens next? At the end of the last week Donald Trump banned three news outlets - CNN, Politico and MS Now - from reporting inside the White House. But the ban has been overturned - for now - in an emergency hearing by a federal judge, w...

Americast is in New York as Donald Trump tells world leaders he could “annihilate” Iran, whilst also - behind the scenes - talking up the progress of peace talks between Iran and the United States. Sumi and Anthony unpack the US president’s appearance at the United Nations General Assembly, discussing whether the speech was aimed more at his domestic audience than world leaders. With just over six...

What do we know about Denmark’s new deal with the US president over Greenland, and has Donald Trump actually got what he wants out of it? Sarah, Anthony and Marianna answer your questions in today’s episode. The team also look at whether Donald Trump is legally allowed to kick out media organisations he doesn’t like from the White House? The US president has withdrawn White House press credentials...

We speak to a US-China tech expert who served under presidents Biden and Trump about America’s race with China to develop Artificial Intelligence. Does he agree with president Trump’s statement “whoever wins AI wins”, and what does “winning” look like? Justin, Marianna and Anthony discuss Donald Trump’s rejection of any regulation for Artificial Intelligence, and whether this is in line with publi...

The US president has lashed out at the US Supreme Court for blocking his plans to end the right for all Americans to vote by mail in elections. But will Donald Trump find a different way to get around the ruling before this November’s midterm elections? Back in March, the president signed an executive order that ended the right for all US citizens to vote by email. He’s long argued that the move w...

The president is pushing back against calls from tech bosses to slow down the development of artificial intelligence. After claiming “whoever wins AI, wins” can Trump convince voters that greater regulation isn’t needed? And will Republican senator Mitch McConnell reappear as the senate reconvenes this week? The 84 year old has been absent after months of illness and, as conspiracy theories surrou...

President Trump made the pledge at the Republicans' first ever midterm convention, promising every adult American a $5,000 payment if his party wins both chambers of Congress in November. Sarah, who was in the arena in Dallas watching Trump’s speech, and Justin look at whether this is a serious policy or a desperate measure. The payment would cost over a trillion dollars, no detail has been given...

The journalist Peter Bergen also talks to us about meeting Osama Bin Laden before 9/11, and what happened during that interview. In this episode, Justin, Sumi and Marianna discuss America twenty five years on from 9/11 and to what extent it still shapes the United States, despite millions of Americans today having no lived experience of the attacks. We also look at the politics, as families who lo...

And will Trump’s attempts to limit mail-in voting at the US Supreme Court succeed? The US president has made an urgent appeal, trying to change the rules over who can and can’t vote by mail before this November’s midterm elections, despite ballot papers being posted out in several states. In this episode, Sarah, Sumi and Marianna are answering your questions with Matt Chorley from 5 Live. We look...

The reporter Jonathan Swan gained unprecedented access to the inner workings of Donald Trump’s White House in the first year of his second administration. Who were the main characters fighting for the president’s attention? How were decisions made in the Oval Office? And how was the decision taken to go to war with Iran? On today’s episode, Sumi sits down with Jonathan to talk about the reporting...