Americast
Americast is the authoritative US news and politics podcast from the BBC. Each week we provide audiences with the best analysis from across the BBC, with on-the-ground observations and big picture insights about the stories which are defining America right now. The podcast is hosted by trusted BBC journalists including the BBC’s North America editor, Sarah Smith, BBC Radio 4 presenter, Justin Webb, the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent, Marianna Spring, and BBC North America correspondent, Anthony Zurcher. As well as political analysis, we also specialise in social media. Each week Marianna Spring brings listeners the latest updates from the BBC’s Undercover Voters, our award-winning investigation into the content that is recommended to US voters on social media. The team is also joined by special guests each week, like CNN anchor, Christiane Amanpour, Emmy Award-winning TV host, Rachel Maddow, and Succession actress, J Smith-Cameron. Podcasts are published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As well as being a podcast, we are also available every Friday on the World Service. Oh, and by the way, you can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say ‘”Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers. Every Monday we answer your questions on Americanswers, with some help from special guests, including Miles Taylor, who was chief of staff at the Department for Homeland Security during the Trump presidency before becoming a whistleblower. Got a question or a comment? Get in touch with us on email at Americast@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.
Episodes
As Donald Trump surpasses 100 days in office for the second time, new polls suggest he might not be quite as popular as he claims.
Justin, Sarah, and Anthony get together to discuss why the president could be losing support with some Americans and, crucially, whether he cares.
HOSTS: • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Justin Webb, Radio 4 Presenter • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent
GET IN TOUCH: • Join our online com...
This is a special Americast mini series, looking at five ways Donald Trump has changed America in his first 100 days back, as President of the United States.
“…in the USA we do no have kings, we do not have dictators we have a constitution, and the rule of law, and we’re going to make damn sure Donald Trump and his administration follow the law”
Critics like Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes say Trump has defied the U.S. constit...
This is a special Americast mini series, looking at five ways Donald Trump has changed America in his first 100 days back, as President of the United States. In our fourth episode, Matt Chorley joins Justin and Marianna to discuss large scale cuts to federal government by Elon Musk’s DOGE, and look at the impact of those cuts. They also talk about what a modern America should be paying for - both at home and abroad - and why som...
This is a special Americast mini series, looking at five ways Donald Trump has changed America in his first 100 days back, as President of the United States. In this third episode, Matt Chorley joins Sarah and Anthony to discuss Trump’s plans to deport migrants on a large scale, how he is circumventing the courts, and revoking hundreds of student visas. We ask who has been allowed to stay in Trump’s America, and who is being forc...
This is a special Americast mini series, looking at five ways Donald Trump has changed America in his first 100 days back, as President of the United States.
In this second episode, Matt Chorley joins Justin and Sarah to discuss how the American economy has fared during Trump’s 100 days in office. What have been the impacts of tariffs on U.S. businesses, under his plan to put ‘America First’? Are we witnessing the economic lib...
This is a special Americast mini series, looking at five ways Donald Trump has changed America in his first 100 days back, as President of the United States.
In this first episode, Matt Chorley joins Justin and Marianna to discuss Trump’s declaration that America will be “WOKE no longer…whether you are a doctor, an accountant, a lawyer or an air traffic controller, you should be hired and promoted based on skill and competence, n...
After the two leaders were reunited at Pope Francis’s funeral over the weekend, the Americast inbox has been filled with correspondence on whether Trump and Zelensky really have reconciled - and if it could bring a peace deal with Russia any closer.
Marianna and Sarah get together with Matt Chorley to answer your questions live on the radio. As well as the war in Ukraine, they discuss the 7-year sentence given to George Santos - the...
There’s trouble in the Pentagon - again!
Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump have dismissed new reports that the defence secretary sent details of confidential military plans to his wife, brother, and personal lawyer on Signal.
They both criticised journalists at the annual White House Easter event between egg related activities, but reports keep coming about unrest at the top of the defence department.
Justin, Marianna, and Anthony disc...
Elon Musk says he’s stepping back from his role at DOGE and refocusing on Tesla after the electric car firm reported a huge drop in profit and sales for the start of this year. We look at whether he could be on his way out completely.
Donald Trump meanwhile says he’ll be attending the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome this weekend. The late Pope was an outspoken critic of Trump’s policies during the president’s first term. Will Trump ...
Justin and Sumi take a closer look into the deepening relationship between Donald Trump and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, as the row over the deportation of migrants to the Central American country escalates.
Could the Trump administration run into further trouble with the law over its handling of the situation? And, what's in it for Bukele?
Plus, what else have we missed in the news cycle? Sumi shares one story at the US-Mex...
President Trump has given Harvard University a long list of demands, but the university has refused to give in to them.
The president has frozen $2.2bn worth of funding as a result.
He wants Harvard to change the way it governs, hires and teaches because of concerns has over antisemitism on campus.
"No government - regardless of which party is in power - should dictate what private universities can teach," Harvard's president Alan Ga...
‘If I had all the money in the world, I’d spend it all just to buy one thing: a phone call to hear Kilmar’s voice again.’
Those were the pleas made to Trump’s administration by the wife of Abrego García, the Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador’s mega-jail. But can Trump bring him back? And does he want to?
Mariana is joined by Sumi Somaskanda to discuss the most important trial in Meta’s history, LA’s largest-ever rally...
Everything has changed…again! Or has it? The team assemble after President Trump scrapped his tariff plans (for 90 days at least) and reverted for a 10% levy across the board. Except for China, that is, who now face a rate of 125%.
So what is really going on? The Democrats are crying market manipulation, the markets remain chaotic, and MAGA Republicans are saying the country should trust the president. We try to separate the fact fr...
Donald Trump's latest wave of tariffs came into force on Wednesday only for him to announce a 90-day pause on higher tariffs for dozens of countries except China, who were hit by increased levies of 125%.
In this episode, the Americast team analyse the economic fallout from the first day of what could be a new era in world economics.
HOSTS:
- Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter - Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent - Marianna Spri...
The first US measles death in a decade, mass protests against Trump and El Salvador’s mega-jail…
In today’s Q&A Anthony, Justin and Mariana sign the podcasting equivalent of an executive order, putting a one-episode exemption on tariffs to focus on the other stories that may have fallen on the backburner since Trump shook up the world’s financial markets.
The team discuss the biggest protests of Trump’s second term so far, Homela...
There was a bright spot for Democrats this week after a liberal judge beat her conservative rival in the most expensive judicial election in US history. Susan Crawford beat Brad Schimel despite being backed by President Donald Trump's billionaire adviser Elon Musk.
The results came amid reports that Elon Musk could soon leave his prominent role in Donald Trump's administration. The White House has described the reports as "garbage"...
Donald Trump has announced sweeping new universal tariffs tonight on all imports into the United States. Justin, Sarah and Anthony unpack the U.S. president’s speech at the White House. Which countries are worst affected? How will the UK be impacted? And what are the chances Trump will change his mind again and roll back on some of his announcements?
HOSTS: • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Anthony Zurcher, North America Corre...
‘A lot of people want me to do it’ was Donald Trump’s answer when asked in an NBC interview on Saturday if he wanted to serve a third term as US President. The Constitution says that “no person…shall be elected more than twice”. In today’s Q&A with Matt Chorley on 5 Live, Mariana and Justin unpack whether Trump could rewrite history. The team also discuss whether the million-dollar cheques that Elon Musk has been handing out...
Donald Trump announced this week 25% tariffs on US car imports, a move that will impact neighbours Mexico and Canada. Canadian prime minister Mark Carney has called the tariffs "unjustified" and said it marked the end of "deep ties" between the two countries.
Canadian journalist and podcaster Jordan Heath-Rawlings joins Sarah and Anthony today to assess how Trump's policies have flipped Canadian politics on its head.
HOSTS: • Sarah S...
The journalist who was inadvertently included in a group chat among Trump’s senior cabinet leaders and national security officials tells Sarah Smith how it happened. He also responds to the White House’s furious reaction to his decision to publish the entire exchange of messages, with Donald Trump calling the reporting a “witch hunt” and declaring the Atlantic a “failed magazine”. He also calls for the Trump administration to ac...
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