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.
Nick Robinson talks to people who shape our political thinking about what shaped theirs. Each episode of Political Thinking features an in-depth conversation with someone who is shaping our politics. The people who run our country (and those who want to), campaigners, business and union leaders, and people who run other countries. All of them join Nick in the studio, not for a news-y interrogation, but for an extended and relaxed conversation, delving into their past and how it shaped their worldview. New episodes drop on Fridays on BBC Sounds. You can also watch them on BBC Two at 12:30pm on Fridays or on BBC iPlayer. And you can listen on BBC Radio 4 on Saturdays at 17:30.
If you enjoy Political Thinking, then we think you’ll also like another podcast from Today. It’s called Radical with Amol Rajan and you can listen here on BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r
A new six part series from Tortoise which tells the inside story of a double revolution in the Labour Party which defined Britain’s present and will likely go on to shape its future. The series charts the takeover of Labour by the far-left under Jeremy Corbyn, the civil war that ensued and the election of a new leader, Keir Starmer, who set out to erase all trace of his predecessor. Eight years’ hard Labour is hosted by David Aaronovitch with additional reporting by Tortoise’s political editor Cat Neilan.
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Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists
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If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com
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How did two old, unpopular men end up running for the world's most demanding job? It’s the question John Prideaux, The Economist’s US editor, gets asked the most. And the answer lies in the peculiar politics of the baby boomers.
Since 1992, every American president bar one has been a white man born in the 1940s. That run looks likely to span 36 years - not far off the age of the median American. This cohort was born with aces in their pockets. Their parents defeated Nazism and won the cold war. They hit the jobs market at an unmatched period of wealth creation. They have benefitted from giant leaps in technology, and in racial and gender equality.
And yet, their last act in politics sees the two main parties accusing each other of wrecking American democracy. As the boomers near the end of their political journey, John Prideaux, The Economist’s US editor, sets out to make sense of their inheritance and their legacy.
Launching July 2024.
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