How has US defence secretary Pete Hegseth justified the decision to livestream the execution of former US soldier, Nidal Hassan by firing squad at the Fort Hood military base - where he killed 13 unarmed US soldiers - in 2009? Justin, Sarah, Anthony and Marianna are back with Matt Chorley to answer your questions on the case and whether Hegseth’s plan will actually go ahead after public scepticism

How confident should Democrats be about surprise new polling which puts them ahead in deep Republican territory? In states such as Kansas which haven’t elected a Democratic senator since 1932, Democrat candidates are doing well - why is that, and how much can we trust the polls? The party’s hope for a blue wave in this year’s midterm elections rest on their ability to flip four Republican seats in

The president has started a war of words with California Governor Gavin Newsom after saying that Iran could “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego. Trump made the comments during his midterms campaign tour, telling the audience it would be “very small price to pay” in the war. Newsom has responded by calling the comments “deranged and dangerous”. And Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has re-iterated hi

How has the botched execution of a woman convicted of murder in Tennessee 30 years ago prompted a debate about the death penalty in the US? Marianna, Sumi and Anthony answer your questions on the case of Christa Pike, which has led to the resignation of Tennessee's prisons chief. Also, why has a rape allegation at Cornell University become one of America's biggest stories, with New York Attorney G

Abolish ICE? Abolish borders, No prisons? The co-chair of the DSA speaks to us about what the party really stands for and whether they can persuade undecided Americans to vote for them. The Democratic Socialists of America can count some of the country’s most high-profile politicians in its ranks, such as Bernie Sanders, Zohran Mamdani and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Until recently, the organisation

Is Donald Trump now more of an electoral hindrance than a help, even in his home state of Florida, where one candidate has talked down his links with the US president. In this episode, we hear Anthony’s reporting from Florida where the race to replace Ron DeSantis as governor won’t be an easy win for Republicans. Byron Donalds is looking to become Florida's first African American governor. He has

Ahead of November’s midterm elections, are we any closer to knowing who might lead the Democrats into the 2028 presidential election? Americanswers is back answering your questions and this week we’re looking ahead at a number of important issues at this year’s midterms. The Democrats might fancy their chances to take back the House – and possibly even the Senate – but public opinion still looks u

The US president has lost his court battle with CNN, Politico and MS NOW in the latest battle between Donald Trump and the media. What did the judge say and what happens next? At the end of the last week Donald Trump banned three news outlets - CNN, Politico and MS Now - from reporting inside the White House. But the ban has been overturned - for now - in an emergency hearing by a federal judge, w

Americast is in New York as Donald Trump tells world leaders he could “annihilate” Iran, whilst also - behind the scenes - talking up the progress of peace talks between Iran and the United States. Sumi and Anthony unpack the US president’s appearance at the United Nations General Assembly, discussing whether the speech was aimed more at his domestic audience than world leaders. With just over six

What do we know about Denmark’s new deal with the US president over Greenland, and has Donald Trump actually got what he wants out of it? Sarah, Anthony and Marianna answer your questions in today’s episode. The team also look at whether Donald Trump is legally allowed to kick out media organisations he doesn’t like from the White House? The US president has withdrawn White House press credentials

We speak to a US-China tech expert who served under presidents Biden and Trump about America’s race with China to develop Artificial Intelligence. Does he agree with president Trump’s statement “whoever wins AI wins”, and what does “winning” look like? Justin, Marianna and Anthony discuss Donald Trump’s rejection of any regulation for Artificial Intelligence, and whether this is in line with publi

The US president has lashed out at the US Supreme Court for blocking his plans to end the right for all Americans to vote by mail in elections. But will Donald Trump find a different way to get around the ruling before this November’s midterm elections? Back in March, the president signed an executive order that ended the right for all US citizens to vote by email. He’s long argued that the move w

The president is pushing back against calls from tech bosses to slow down the development of artificial intelligence. After claiming “whoever wins AI, wins” can Trump convince voters that greater regulation isn’t needed? And will Republican senator Mitch McConnell reappear as the senate reconvenes this week? The 84 year old has been absent after months of illness and, as conspiracy theories surrou

President Trump made the pledge at the Republicans' first ever midterm convention, promising every adult American a $5,000 payment if his party wins both chambers of Congress in November. Sarah, who was in the arena in Dallas watching Trump’s speech, and Justin look at whether this is a serious policy or a desperate measure. The payment would cost over a trillion dollars, no detail has been given

The journalist Peter Bergen also talks to us about meeting Osama Bin Laden before 9/11, and what happened during that interview. In this episode, Justin, Sumi and Marianna discuss America twenty five years on from 9/11 and to what extent it still shapes the United States, despite millions of Americans today having no lived experience of the attacks. We also look at the politics, as families who lo

And will Trump’s attempts to limit mail-in voting at the US Supreme Court succeed? The US president has made an urgent appeal, trying to change the rules over who can and can’t vote by mail before this November’s midterm elections, despite ballot papers being posted out in several states. In this episode, Sarah, Sumi and Marianna are answering your questions with Matt Chorley from 5 Live. We look

The reporter Jonathan Swan gained unprecedented access to the inner workings of Donald Trump’s White House in the first year of his second administration. Who were the main characters fighting for the president’s attention? How were decisions made in the Oval Office? And how was the decision taken to go to war with Iran? On today’s episode, Sumi sits down with Jonathan to talk about the reporting

Why is the US military losing its senior leaders? In the latest in a series of high-profile departures inside the Pentagon, America’s top civilian official Dan Driscoll has resigned as Army Secretary having been appointed 18 months ago by Donald Trump to help end the Ukraine war and modernise US forces. In this episode, Anthony and Sumi discuss the significance of the resignation and the real reas

Americanswers is back for a bank holiday special and this week we're answering the questions you've always wanted to ask on American politics! For example, Zohran Mamdani can't run for president of the United States as he was born in Uganda, but could he take up a cabinet position in a future Democrat administration? Is there a precedent for such a move, and would he even want it? Another Americas

In several primary elections so far, polling has been wrong. So much so that a candidate in the Wisconsin Democratic primary dropped out because another candidate so high in the polls. The only problem - the ‘clear winner’ lost. Whether polls mislead American voters has been an active question since 2016, when predictions were that Donald Trump would lose the presidential race. But as voters look