America: at war with itself
Can Biden recover from a disastrous debate performance?
What does the release of Julian Assange reveal about the Australia-US relationship? And is Trump’s authoritarian behaviour really an outlier in American political history?
On the first episode of After America, Dr Emma Shortis reflects on the first presidential debate performance and the release of Julian Assange, before former BBC United States correspondent Nick Bryant joins the show to discuss the country’s long history of authoritarianism.
This discussion was recorded on Tuesday 25 June and Monday 1 July 2024 and things may have changed since recording.
australiainstitute.org.au // @theausinstitute
Guest: Nick Bryant, former BBC correspondent and author of The Forever War: America’s Unending Conflict with Itself // @NickBryantNY
Host: Emma Shortis, Senior Research for International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @EmmaShortis
Show notes:
The Forever War: America’s Unending Conflict with Itself by Nick Bryant (June 2024)
‘American authoritarianism has a long history. What can it tell us about Trump and the battle for America’s soul?’ by Dr Emma Shortis, The Conversation (July 2024)
Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions
We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to podcasts@australiainstitute.org.au.
Between the Lines Newsletter
The biggest stories and the best analysis from the team at the Australia Institute, delivered to your inbox every fortnight.
You might also like
Hope is alive | Between the Lines
The Wrap with Emma Shortis One year after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States for a second time, New York City elected a self-declared “democratic socialist” as Mayor. Zohran Mamdani beat independent candidate, disgraced former Democrat Andrew Cuomo, by nine percentage points. In Virginia and New Jersey too, Democrats swept to double-digit victories. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom’s
Can we trust the USA? | Between the Lines
The Wrap with Dr Emma Shortis The President of Peace has started another war. It began with the bombing of a school in southern Iran. According to Iranian authorities, the death toll from that strike now sits at 168. Many of the victims were children. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump have normalised the sight of little coffins.
This World Cup shows who holds the cards in Trump’s economy
With the men’s football world cup underway and after a UFC event on the White House lawn, the relationship between sport and politics seems especially close in the United States right now.