Americast by BBC News
BBC News
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.
Categories: News & Politics
Listen to the last episode:
President Donald Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for $1 billion over how the editing of his speech in a Panorama documentary, calling it "false and defamatory". The BBC chair Samir Shah has apologised for an "error of judgement" over the edit, and said the BBC was considering how to respond to Trump.
Matt Chorley, Justin, Anthony and Marianna discuss what Trump actually said in his January 6th speech, Trump’s long battle with the mainstream media, and what this could mean for the BBC.
We also look at the US government shutdown, Elon Musk launching a rival to Wikipedia, and whether a return of Barack Obama to politics could be possible.
HOSTS: * Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter * Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent * Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations correspondent
GET IN TOUCH: * Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB * Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 * Email Americast@bbc.co.uk * Or use #Americast
This episode was made by Rufus Gray with Alix Pickles and Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Ben Andrews. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app.
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.
US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155
Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast and Ukrainecast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.
Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl Ukrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzm Radical: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r The Global Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd
Previous episodes
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503 - Americanswers on 5 Live! Why is Donald Trump threatening to sue the BBC for $1 billion? Mon, 10 Nov 2025
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502 - The Democrats are back… but will it last? Thu, 06 Nov 2025
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501 - Zohran Mamdani wins New York mayoral race Wed, 05 Nov 2025
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500 - Americanswers…on 5 Live! Could Andrew answer Epstein questions before Congress? Mon, 03 Nov 2025
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499 - Is Donald Trump building a ballroom or a bunker at the White House? Fri, 31 Oct 2025
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498 - Are the US and China about to end their trade war? Wed, 29 Oct 2025
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497 - Americanswers…on 5 Live! Will Kamala Harris (and Donald Trump) run for president again? Mon, 27 Oct 2025
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496 - Inside Mamdani’s campaign to be mayor of New York City Thu, 23 Oct 2025
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495 - Does Trump really want to invade Venezuela? Wed, 22 Oct 2025
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494 - Americanswers… on 5 Live! How will Donald Trump respond to the ‘No Kings’ protests? Mon, 20 Oct 2025
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493 - Can Trump silence the press? Fri, 17 Oct 2025
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492 - The battle for the soul of the Democratic Party Wed, 15 Oct 2025
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491 - Americanswers… on 5 Live! Has Donald Trump delivered a “historic dawn of a new Middle East”? Mon, 13 Oct 2025
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490 - Trump's new plan for America's top universities Fri, 10 Oct 2025
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489 - Can Trump turn a Gaza ceasefire into a lasting peace deal? Thu, 09 Oct 2025
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488 - Americanswers… on 5 Live! Is Chicago really a ‘war zone’? Wed, 08 Oct 2025
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487 - Why is Trump blowing up Venezuelan "drug boats"? Mon, 06 Oct 2025
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486 - Will the Democrats’ shutdown gamble pay off? Thu, 02 Oct 2025
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485 - Americanswers… on 5 Live! What next after US government shutdown? Wed, 01 Oct 2025
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484 - Trump vs Comey (and the city of Portland) Mon, 29 Sep 2025
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483 - Is America's health secretary RFK Jr a danger to public health? Fri, 26 Sep 2025
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482 - Americanswers… on 5 Live! Can we trust what Donald Trump says about Ukraine? Wed, 24 Sep 2025
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481 - MAGA’s “righteous fury” at Charlie Kirk’s memorial Mon, 22 Sep 2025
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480 - Has Trump cancelled Jimmy Kimmel over Charlie Kirk? Thu, 18 Sep 2025
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479 - What does Donald Trump want from his UK state visit? Wed, 17 Sep 2025
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478 - Americanswers…on 5 Live! Who is Tyler Robinson, Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer? Mon, 15 Sep 2025
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477 - Charlie Kirk's killing: A dangerous moment for America? Thu, 11 Sep 2025
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476 - How could a young Ukrainian's killing change the U.S? Wed, 10 Sep 2025
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475 - Americanswers…on 5 Live! “Chipocalypse Now”… has Trump declared war on Chicago? Mon, 08 Sep 2025
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474 - Will Epstein's victims force Trump to release more files? Fri, 05 Sep 2025
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473 - Why is Trump targeting America's most powerful bank? Tue, 02 Sep 2025
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472 - Americanswers…on 5 Live! Why did the internet think Trump was dead? Mon, 01 Sep 2025
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471 - Will the Democrats go "dark woke" to take on Trump? Thu, 28 Aug 2025
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470 - Americanswers! Is Donald Trump behaving like a 'dictator'? Wed, 27 Aug 2025
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469 - Is Donald Trump losing his Latino base? Fri, 22 Aug 2025
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468 - Americanswers! Has Donald Trump really stopped six (or seven) wars? Wed, 20 Aug 2025
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467 - What did Trump offer Zelensky after their Oval Office meeting? Mon, 18 Aug 2025
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466 - What happened when Trump met Putin in Alaska? Sat, 16 Aug 2025
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465 - Inside Trump’s meeting with Putin… Americast is in Alaska! Thu, 14 Aug 2025
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464 - What's really behind Trump's crime crackdown? Wed, 13 Aug 2025
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463 - Americanswers…on 5 Live! Why is Donald Trump deploying the National Guard to Washington DC? Mon, 11 Aug 2025
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462 - Why are Texan Democrats on the run? Fri, 08 Aug 2025
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461 - Why has RFK Jr pulled $500m of mRNA vaccine funding? Wed, 06 Aug 2025
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460 - BONUS EPISODE: Newscast and Americast live from the Edinburgh Fringe Tue, 05 Aug 2025
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459 - Americanswers… on 5 Live! Why has Sydney Sweeney's jeans ad sparked a race debate? Mon, 04 Aug 2025
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458 - Trump v Murdoch: Who will win? Thu, 31 Jul 2025
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457 - Will Trump stand firm on his tariff deadlines? Wed, 30 Jul 2025
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456 - Americanswers… on 5 Live! Trump hosts Starmer at his Scottish golf resort Mon, 28 Jul 2025
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455 - Donald Trump vs The Wall Street Journal Thu, 24 Jul 2025
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454 - Donald Trump’s mid-year review Wed, 23 Jul 2025