Politics Weekly America

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.

Can the Democrats win by trolling Trump?

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

08-29
30:45

The ‘Nerd Reich’: how tech billionaires infiltrated the White House

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

08-22
36:37

Is Trump abandoning his ‘America First’ policy for Ukraine?

Donald Trump has been all smiles with both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the last few days, but in trying to be ‘peacemaker-in-chief, is the president abandoning his ‘America First’ policy? Rachel Leingang and Andrew Roth discuss

08-19
20:43

Is Donald Trump too weak to be a strongman?

With a summit in Alaska and national guard troops in DC, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Susan Glasser of the New Yorker about the week that may dent the US president’s ‘strongman’ image

08-14
25:52

Trump, Sydney Sweeney and the ‘war on woke’

Donald Trump needed his Maga base to focus on something other than the Jeffrey Epstein files. Enter Sydney Sweeney and the uproar over a jeans advert. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to politics reporter Amanda Marcotte about ‘cancel culture’ being a useful tool in a political crisis

08-08
30:14

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?

08-04
33:25

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

08-01
30:09

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

07-28
33:43

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

07-25
31:52

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

07-21
35:45

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

07-17
35:07

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

07-11
28:40

The winners and losers of Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

Jonathan Freedland is joined by Eleanor Mueller of Semafor to look at the potential fallout from Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill – financially and politically

07-03
31:19

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?

06-27
31:35

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

06-19
31:09

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

06-13
29:58

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”

06-07
29:21

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

06-05
30:38

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

05-30
29:02

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

05-23
27:14

Constance Moylan

great podcast but suddenly in 2025 weekly is insufficient to keep up

01-28 Reply

Alun Tlusty-Sheen

3Ms Mobilise Message Money

10-18 Reply

ben horne

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06-22 Reply

Elias Kamaratos

Clear and informative up-to-the-week reporting on American politics. Especially useful for non-Americans living abroad who nonetheless understand the global importance of the dynamics in American politics. Good job Jonathan and The Guardian... [of free unadulterated speech].

11-10 Reply

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