Episodes

  • When did the US supreme court become so ‘lawless’?

    When did the US supreme court become so ‘lawless’?
    Oct 3 2025
    The US supreme court starts a new term on Monday, and the nine justices are preparing to take on cases that could prove crucial to the future of American society and democracy. Jonathan Freedland speaks to Prof Leah Litman about what exactly motivates the nine judges who are supposedly tasked with upholding the US constitution? When did the highest court in the land become so apparently partisan? Is there any coming back from this?
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    27 mins
  • US government shutdown: now what?

    US government shutdown: now what?
    Oct 1 2025
    After weeks of threats from both sides and negotiations that went nowhere, the US is once again experiencing a government shutdown. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Marianna Sotomayor, a congressional reporter at the Washington Post, to look at who should take the blame, who suffers, and who will blink first
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    22 mins
  • Why is the Trump administration obsessed with autism?

    Why is the Trump administration obsessed with autism?
    Sep 26 2025
    The US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has long been consumed by the neurological condition autism – what causes it, and whether there’s a treatment. This week, Donald Trump took on the cause, making claims about acetaminophen, also known as Tylenol and paracetamol, that were dismissed outright by medical experts around the world. Jonathan Freedland speaks to Carter Sherman, the reproductive health and justice reporter at Guardian US, about when and why the obsession with autism became political
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    28 mins
  • What does Donald Trump think free speech means?

    What does Donald Trump think free speech means?
    Sep 19 2025
    This week, the US president has announced he is suing the New York Times for $15bn, and gloated that the late-night TV show Jimmy Kimmel Live! had been suspended. JD Vance has also promised to crack down on ‘far left’ groups.

    Jonathan Freedland speaks to the president of The Nation magazine, Bhaskar Sunkara, about the future of the constitutional right to free speech for Americans who disagree with Trump
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    29 mins
  • Where does the US go after the Charlie Kirk shooting?

    Where does the US go after the Charlie Kirk shooting?
    Sep 11 2025
    On Wednesday night, Charlie Kirk, an influential rightwing activist and Donald Trump ally, was shot dead at a university campus in Utah. The US president immediately blamed the ‘radical left’ but failed to mention rising violence against Democrats. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s Washington DC bureau chief, David Smith, about the increase in political violence in the country
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    32 mins
  • Is Trump trying to rig the midterm elections?

    Is Trump trying to rig the midterm elections?
    Sep 5 2025
    Donald Trump wants to change the way Americans vote, promising to introduce measures such as mandatory voter ID and a ban on mail-in voting. But what is his motivation? And what might the consequences be? This week Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian US politics and democracy reporter George Chidi about whether the president could be trying to tip the scales in next year’s midterms Send your questions and thoughts to politicsweeklyamerica@theguardian.com
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    29 mins
  • Can the Democrats win by trolling Trump?

    Can the Democrats win by trolling Trump?
    Aug 29 2025
    A fight over a redrawing of the congressional map in Texas united Democrats across the country. This week, we hear from the state representative Nicole Collier about why she slept on the House floor for two nights, and Jonathan Freedland speaks to the KQED reporter Marisa Lagos about why the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, sees an opportunity in fighting dirty
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    29 mins
  • The ‘Nerd Reich’: how tech billionaires infiltrated the White House

    The ‘Nerd Reich’: how tech billionaires infiltrated the White House
    Aug 22 2025
    This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to the journalist Gil Duran about his upcoming book The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Global Democracy
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    35 mins