Politics Weekly America - podcast cover

Politics Weekly America

The Guardianwww.theguardian.com
Every Friday, Guardian columnist and former Washington correspondent, Jonathan Freedland, invites experts to help analyse the latest in American politics. From politicians to journalists covering the White House and beyond, Jonathan and his guests give listeners behind the scenes access to how the American political machine works. With a global network of over 900 journalists and five dedicated editions covering news in the US, UK, Australia, Europe, and beyond, the Guardian offers comprehensive reporting across every continent.
Last refreshed:
Download Metacast podcast app
Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episodes

Is Trump building a political dynasty? – episode 3

In the final episode of our special Politics Weekly America series, Eric Cortellessa , Rosie Gray and Dan Adler look ahead to the future of the Trump family’s political ambitions. Could one of Donald Trump’s children take up the political mantle? Or might the president wish to keep politics all to himself?...

Aug 04, 202532 min

How much longer can the Fed defy Trump?

Despite growing pressure to lower interest rates to appease the president, the Federal Reserve voted to leave them unchanged. This week Jonathan Freedland speaks to Heather Boushey, former chief economist to Joe Biden, about the latest tussle between the White House and the Federal Reserve

Aug 01, 202528 min

Is Trump building a political dynasty? – episode two

In the second episode of our special Politics Weekly America series, the reporters Ashley Parker , Rosie Gray and Eric Cortellessa explain why some of Trump’s family decided to step back from political life, and who stepped up to get him back to the White House

Jul 28, 202532 min

Murdoch v Trump: will the media tycoon be the president’s downfall?

Donald Trump has filed another lawsuit against a media company. This time though, he’s up against the billionaire media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the author of Murdoch’s World: The Last of the Old Media Empires , David Folkenflik, about the potential fallout for the president

Jul 25, 202530 min

Is Trump building a political dynasty? – episode one

In this first episode of our special Politics Weekly America series, author Gwenda Blair , and reporters Rosie Gray and Ashley Parker introduce us to the family members who helped Donald Trump succeed on his road to the White House and his time in office

Jul 21, 202534 min

Trump goes to war with Maga over Epstein files

Donald Trump really wants people to stop talking about Jeffrey Epstein, but his Maga base, including some prominent commentators such as Laura Loomer, want his administration to ‘release the files’. Jonathan Freedland speaks to Ali Breland of the Atlantic about the tricky situation the US president finds himself in

Jul 17, 202532 min

Why is the media paying millions to Trump?

Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS News, settled a lawsuit filed against it by Donald Trump for $16m last week. It came after Disney and Meta settled lawsuits with the president in similar ways. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian US columnist Margaret Sullivan about why these companies are caving to Trump’s demands, and whether critics are right to be worried about what this means for the future of a free press

Jul 11, 202527 min

A socialist underdog makes history in New York

How did a political nobody, Zohran Mamdani, beat one of New York’s best-known establishment figures, Andrew Cuomo? Rachel Leingang speaks to Moira Donegan about how Democratic party leaders view the historic New York City mayoral primary result. Does the party need to fundamentally change to meet voters where they are?

Jun 27, 202529 min

Trump’s plan for Iran divides Republicans

What is Donald Trump’s plan for Iran? Is he about to break his campaign pledge for ‘no more wars’? And if he does, could this be the moment he loses some of his most loyal Maga supporters? The Guardian’s Rachel Leingang and Andrew Roth discuss

Jun 19, 202529 min

Has Trump turned the US into a police state?

As Donald Trump deploys more troops to fight protesters in LA, and as plans come together for a military parade in Washington DC on the president’s birthday, journalist Judith Levine tells Jonathan Freedland why she believes the US has entered a new era of authoritarianism

Jun 13, 202528 min

Missing in the Amazon: the disappearance – episode 1

Three years ago British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous defender Bruno Pereira vanished while on a reporting trip near Brazil’s remote Javari valley. The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent Tom Phillips investigates what happened in the first episode of a new six-part investigative podcast series. Find episode 2 – and all future episodes – by searching for “Missing in the Amazon”

Jun 07, 202527 min

Trump and Musk’s spectacular bust-up

As Elon Musk and Donald Trump continue to sling accusations at each other on their social media platforms, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Susan Glasser of the New Yorker about what caused it to all fall apart

Jun 05, 202529 min

Has RFK Jr misdiagnosed America?

Last week Robert F Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump’s health chief and a longtime vaccine sceptic, presented a report on children’s health by the Make America Healthy Again (Maha) commission. The study singled out the negative impact of vaccines, ultra-processed foods, environmental chemicals, lack of exercise and “over-medicalisation”. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Jessica Glenza about the long-term implications of the Maha movement’s influence on US policy

May 30, 202528 min

Did the White House cover up Joe Biden’s ill health?

As scepticism grows over Joe Biden’s mental and physical health during his presidency, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Bakari Sellers, a political commentator and former Democratic state lawmaker, about what the party needs to do to regain trust after the fallout from the 2024 election

May 23, 202526 min

Who are the players behind Trump’s foreign policy?

From a trip to the Middle East to talks between Russia and Ukraine, it’s a busy week for Donald Trump and US foreign policy. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s global affairs correspondent, Andrew Roth, about the big players behind the US president’s deals and decisions on the world stage

May 16, 202533 min

America’s universities stand up to Trump

This week, Harvard University, the oldest and wealthiest in the US, defied Donald Trump a list of demands. The Trump administration responded by freezing $2.2bn in federal funding for the Ivy League school. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Harvard professor Ryan Enos to consider why the university is pushing back, how far this fight may go and why other universities are watching closely

Apr 18, 202528 min

Why did ‘strongman’ Trump back down on tariffs?

After doubling down on his promise not to pause his latest tariffs, Donald Trump has announced a 90-day pause for most countries except China. Why did he change his mind? Jonathan Freedland speaks to James Bennet of the Economist about who might have forced the president’s hand, and what could happen next

Apr 11, 202527 min

Has Donald Trump broken Congress?

In a special episode, Jonathan Freedland and Annie Karni of the New York Times look at what seems to be a long-term question for US politics. With Republicans fighting each other in the House and Senate, and Democrats struggling to command the room, is Congress broken? Annie’s new book with Luke Broadwater is called Mad House: How Donald Trump, Maga Mean Girls, a Former Used Car Salesman, a Florida Nepo Baby, and a Man With Rats in His Walls Broke Congress...

Apr 08, 202527 min

Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ and Musk’s bad week

The Guardian’s Rachel Leingang speaks to Nikki McCann Ramirez, from Rolling Stone magazine, about Donald Trump’s decision to upend US trade policy and reports that Elon Musk could soon be leaving his role as a special government employee Send your questions and feedback to politicsweeklyuk@theguardian.com Help support the Guardian by going to theguardian.com/politcspodus...

Apr 04, 202525 min

Trump’s ‘Signalgate’ blame game

As Donald Trump and his top officials scrabble to respond to the Signal leak scandal, Jonathan Freedland and the New Yorker’s Susan Glasser discuss the fallout of this security breach, and why the US president is attacking the media instead of the people who let a journalist read potentially classified material

Mar 28, 202527 min

Why are Democrats so divided?

This week a Democratic lawmaker became the first to officially call for the senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, to step down. The veteran Democrat angered many in his party last week when he backed a Republican funding bill that averted a government shutdown. But this is just one example of a party in crisis trying to oppose the Trump administration, with very little power in Congress. This week, we hear from representatives Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Ro Khanna of California, Julie Johnson of ...

Mar 21, 202535 min

Has Trump broken the US economy?

This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Heather Boushey, an economist and former adviser to Joe Biden, about what Donald Trump’s long game is with his trade war, and how voters will view his handling of the economy should there be a ‘Trumpcession’ Send your questions and feedback to politicsweeklyamerica@theguardian.com Help support the Guardian by going to theguardian.com/politcspodus Listen to Science Weekly’s episode on the chaos Trump has unleashed on science

Mar 14, 202531 min

Trump turns America’s allies into enemies

This week, Donald Trump picked fights with Canada, Mexico, Ukraine, US veterans and every Democrat sitting in Congress for his State of the Union address. Chris Michael and Joan E Greve discuss why the US president is turning up the heat on longtime allies, whether Democrats are responding successfully and, in the end, who loses out if Trump’s tactics fail? Send your questions and feedback to politicsweeklyamerica@theguardian.com Help support the Guardian by going to theguardian.com/politcspodus

Mar 07, 202523 min

Is the tide starting to turn against Trump?

This week, Donald Trump continued to dominate the world stage, welcoming a procession of global leaders to Washington, including Keir Starmer. But while the ‘special relationship’ is front and centre in the UK, attention in the US is very much elsewhere. As the president goes full steam ahead with his domestic agenda, there are warning signs for Trump in the polls. So, could he be in trouble at home? And how could the Democrats take advantage? Jonathan Freedland speaks to Stanley Greenberg, the ...

Feb 27, 202527 min

Trump brings Russia in from the cold, but at what cost to Ukraine?

In a matter of days, Donald Trump completed the most radical shift in US foreign policy in decades, bringing Putin back into the fold while sidelining Europe. He claims to have brought the end of the war in Ukraine in sight, but with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the rest of Europe excluded from the US-Russia talks, are we really any closer to peace? And, at what price?Jonathan Freedland speaks to veteran US diplomat Kurt Volker, who served as Trump’s special representative for Ukraine during his firs...

Feb 20, 202530 min

Oh, Canada! Can Trump just take it?

On the first day of his second term in office, Donald Trump suggested he wanted the US to ‘expand’ its territory. Few thought he could actually mean taking Canada and making it the 51st state. But could he actually do that? Jonathan Freedland speaks to the reporter Leyland Cecco in Toronto about the possibility of the two North American allies merging, what Canadians think about it, and why this existential threat has had an impact on Canadian national politics Send your questions and feedback t...

Feb 14, 202530 min
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android