With Matt Chorley in the US this week, the Americast team joined presenter Leila Nathoo for another round of Americanswers on 5 Live. With less than 25 days until the election and tensions escalating in the Middle East and elsewhere around the world, how much does foreign policy resonate with undecided voters? With the events of January 6 2021 still fresh in voters' minds, how likely is the prospect of violence this time around in the aftermath of the presidential election? And, the team...

James Carville, the influential Democrat strategist, and man behind Bill Clinton’s successful ’92 presidential campaign, is on Americast. His message, ‘It’s the economy, stupid!’ is credited with some of that success. He tells Justin what he thinks Kamala Harris’s message should be in 2024, and why he thinks her party’s campaign needs to be more aggressive. And he talks about being the subject of a new documentary, Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid. HOST * Justin Webb, Radio 4...

More than 3 million homes and businesses in Florida have been left without power after Hurricane Milton tore through the center of the state. The Americast team have partnered with Newscast to bring you a special episode on the storm that arrived less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated the Gulf Coast. Sarah is in Miami to survey the scale of the damage, and Justin, Marianna and Adam are in the studio to discuss Hurricane Milton’s potential impact on the upcoming election and the...

Americast is back on BBC Radio 5 Live! The whole team assembled to join Matt Chorley to answer your questions live on air. With almost four weeks until the election, Melania Trump has entered the campaign with the release of snippets from her upcoming memoir in which she forcefully defends abortion rights. Does this present a problem for her husband, as he tries to win over voters who are pro-choice? We unpack how Kamala Harris has changed the Democrat's social media strategy and how...

How important is the United States when it comes to resolving conflict in the Middle East, and how much power does the U.S. president really have in the region? With the election just weeks away, Justin and Sarah look at how the conflict might affect voters, and what it means for both Donald Trump’s and Kamala Harris’s presidential campaigns. CNN’s Chief International Anchor, Christiane Amanpour joins Justin and Sarah, sharing her insights and contacts from the region. HOSTS: • Justin Webb,...

Vice presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz have taken part in their first, and likely only, debate of the 2024 US election. There were heated moments discussing January 6th, one muted microphone, and lots of policy ground covered: foreign policy, immigration and abortion rights. Will Vance and Walz’s performances help or hurt Donald Trump or Kamala Harris? Sumi joins Marianna and Anthony who analyse who said what, and how much it matters to the presidential race. HOSTS: • Anthony...

As expectation builds that an Israeli ground offensive in Lebanon is imminent, we answer your questions on how the escalating conflict in the Middle East is likely to impact the upcoming US election. JD Vance says he has “learnt his lesson” when it comes to speaking on behalf of Donald Trump. Is he likely to play it safe in tomorrow’s debate with Tim Walz? And, the last presidential election had a turnout of 66.8%. What are Democrats and Republicans doing to win over the millions not taking...

Meet Camille and ‘Wild Mother’. Both women love nature, animals, and the outdoors. Both women also believe the assassination attempts on Donald Trump were staged – but have very different political views. Why do people believe the things they do? And what role do social media sites – and their algorithms – play? In this series, BBC disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring travels to the United States to investigate the social media backdrop to the 2024 presidential...

Latinos are the second-largest group of eligible voters in the US, making their influence in the presidential election potentially pivotal. Sarah is investigating their sway in Arizona - a state that could help decide the outcome of the race. Which party benefits the most from winning The Grand Canyon State? And is Donald Trump or Kamala Harris making more in-roads with Latino voters? Americast brings in Mike Madrid, a veteran Latino pollster and strategist. What are demographic trends...

Republican Mark Robinson’s campaign for governor in North Carolina has been put in doubt after CNN published a report claiming he posted racist and explicit messages on a pornography website’s message board more than a decade ago. Does the scandal present a risk to Donald Trump of losing the crucial state in November? Plus, we answer your questions on the electoral college voting system. And, with October just around the corner, Anthony and Miles speculate on what could emerge as this...

Why Do You Hate Me? USA x The Coming Storm x Americast. A special episode on how social media, and conspiracy theories, are directly impacting the U.S. election in a new way. Who are the Americans sharing their theories online, and what is the real world impact on the election and those people affected by it? Marianna shares insights with Justin from her reporting in the United States for her new BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds podcast Why Do You Hate Me USA, where she hears the views of two...

America through the looking glass - enter a world where nothing is as it seems. As America heads into a presidential election, Gabriel Gatehouse dives back into the labyrinthine rabbit warren of American conspiracy culture. Whilst liberals across the world worry about a possible return of Donald Trump, millions of Americans are convinced that their democracy has already been highjacked - by a sinister Deep State cabal. How did this happen? And who is behind it? Gabriel meets a January 6...

After a second assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump, Americast hears from a former Secret Service agent on what goes into protecting a secret service agent, particularly on a golf course. Sarah, Justin and Marianna are joined by Bill Gage, who helped protect President George W. Bush and President Obama. They discuss what went wrong, what secret service agents hide in their golf bags, and he also picks out out some of his most memorable experiences on the job. HOSTS: •...

The FBI has confirmed it is treating the incident involving a would-be attacker on Sunday as "an attempted assassination" against Donald Trump. We answer your questions on the fallout from another dramatic event in the campaign. Is political violence becoming normalised in the US? And, a controversial right-wing conspiracy theorist was spotted on board Trump's plane for the presidential debate in Philadelphia before joining him at an event the following day. Who is Laura Loomer, and why are...

Former President Donald Trump was rushed to safety on Sunday after what the FBI called an apparent assassination attempt at Trump's golf course in West Palm Beach. The incident comes almost exactly two months after a shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, which left Trump wounded. Anthony and Sarah - reporting from Florida - answer key questions around what we know so far, who the suspected gunman is, and how it might impact the election. HOSTS: • Sarah Smith, North America...

The self-proclaimed ‘Childless Cat Lady’ Taylor Swift has endorsed Kamala Harris… but what difference is it likely to make, in terms of persuading the undecideds, and getting new voters registered? We also look back at the history behind celebrity endorsements from Frank Sinatra’s backing of JFK to Bruce Springsteen and Ronald Reagan, what motivates a star to back a politician? When does an endorsement backfire? Justin, Sarah and Marianna speak to Tyler Foggatt, a senior editor at The New...

And why is "THEY'RE THE EATING DOGS" trending on X? Kamala Harris and Donald Trump meet for the first time on a debate stage in Philadelphia, sparring over key issues and exchanging deep personal attacks. The momentous meeting was marked by question dodging, finger pointing… and pet-eating! The Americast Team analyses the night from the heart of the action. Who will go viral after tonight? Did Trump stick to his messaging? And how big a deal is Taylor Swift's support? HOSTS: * Justin Webb,...

We answer your questions about the upcoming presidential debate. Including: - Their strategies - How they're preparing (and who's role playing Donald Trump for during Democrat rehearsals) - What the rules are HOSTS: * Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter * Sumi Somaskanda, BBC Chief Presenter GET IN TOUCH: * Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB * Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 * Email [email protected] * Or use #Americast US Election Unspun:...

Americast is profiling the four candidates in the race to become the next President and Vice President of the United States. How did JD Vance, whose memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” about growing up in Ohio amidst alcoholism and drug addiction, become Trump’s VP pick for the White House? Once a fierce critic of Trump, publicly declaring himself a “never Trumper”, Anthony looks into what JD Vance stands for, and why he changed his mind about the former President. We also find out which song makes...

This week is all about predictions, polling and risk taking - what do current polls tell us about who might win the 2024 presidential race? We get a behind the scenes look at how statisticians make their predictions, and how accurate they are. Our guest Nate Silver developed a forecasting system which correctly predicted the outcome of the presidential election in 49 out of 50 states in 2008, and all 50 states in 2012. He also talks to Marianna and Sarah about his new book on risk - On the...

Following her first interview since entering the presidential race, where does Vice-President Kamala Harris stand on the issues that matter to Americans? And, is campaigning a family affair? We take a look at whether a single person could run for the White House, or whether a candidate could lose the race because of a media-shy partner. HOSTS: * Sarah Smith, BBC North America Editor * Marianna Spring, BBC Disinformation & Social Media Correspondent GET IN TOUCH: * Join our online...

Inside Trump’s White House LONG After one of the greatest political surprises in American political history, Donald Trump’s 2016 victory gave way to a controversial and consequential presidency. We look back on the four years that were defined by staff fallouts, COVID, and an attempted insurrection. Anthony is joined by two journalists who were in the room with Trump while he was changing American politics one decision at a time. Americast is profiling the four candidates in the race to...

Americast discovers how Donald Trump's business success came from creating a franchise out of his most valuable commodity: himself. Americast is profiling all the major candidates in the U.S. election - Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Tim Walz and JD Vance - look out for our special profile eps over the next few Sundays! HOST: * Sarah Smith, North America Editor GUESTS: * Marc Fisher, senior editor at the Washington Post and co-author of the biography ‘Trump Revealed’ * Bill Pruitt, former...

In 2020 Joe Biden won this key swing state by fewer than 81,000 votes. In 2024, the path to the White House may be impossible for the Democrats unless they win over the people of Pennsylvania. And the Republican know it. Vance and Trump are both visiting this week. In this episode of Americast we investigate what makes Pennsylvania so important, and what makes its voters tick. Sarah and Sumi are joined by two people with their fingers on the pulse; a morning radio host and a political...

US prosecutors have issued revised charges against Donald Trump for the former president's alleged attempts to interfere in the 2020 election after losing the contest. How do they differ from the charges he’s already facing? RFK Jr has officially dropped out of the race for the White House after a campaign which at one point saw him polling in double digits. How will his withdrawal affect the race? And, it’s been confirmed that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will do an interview with CNN this...