Checks and Balance from The Economist

The close relationship between the Republican Party and the corporate world has shaped American capitalism for decades. Businesses are used to disdain from Democrats, but vitriol from the right is newer. This has been on display in public brawls between lawmakers and companies, and shifting orthodoxies in the Republicans’ economic philosophy. What will be the impact of the party’s growing suspicion of America Inc?  

West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore tells us why he’s targeting firms that won’t invest in fossil fuels. We go back to a high point in the party’s love-in with big business. And political adviser Oren Cass explains the theory behind the Republicans’ new approach. 

John Prideaux hosts with Charlotte Howard and Alexandra Suich Bass. 

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Red and blue states have always been different. Each state’s ability to experiment, iterate and differentiate has been a source of strength. But as federal politics has become more partisan, so have the states. On everything from abortion to climate, American policy is now dividing into two distinct blocs. How is this new, fractious federalism changing the union?

We hear from the governors of America’s most conservative state, Tate Reeves of Mississippi, and its most progressive, Gavin Newsom of California, whose visions of America’s future are almost polar opposites. We go back to the unlikely origin of the idea that states should be the “laboratories of democracy”. And Chris Warshaw, a political scientist at George Washington University, explores how far apart states can drift and at what cost. John Prideaux hosts with Alexandra Suich Bass and Idrees Kahloon. 

You can now find every episode of Checks and Balance in one place and sign up to our weekly newsletter. For full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/uspod

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After the FBI raided Donald Trump’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, threats against law enforcement surged and an armed man tried to break into the agency’s office in Cincinnati. Election, health-care and school officials are feeling increasingly unsafe doing their jobs. Is America entering a new era of political violence?

Security expert Rachel Kleinfeld assesses the state of political violence today. We take a trip to Idaho to meet a militia leader running for elected office. And political science professor Robert Pape considers how to counter violent actors.

Charlotte Howard hosts with Aryn Braun and James Bennet.

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The most powerful figure in the Republican Party is still Donald Trump. Despite his attempts to overturn the results of the presidential election, his friendliness with dictators, and multiple active investigations against him, he remains the most powerful man on the American right. Mid-term hopefuls and former critics are vying for his approval. Dissenters are being swept away. Will anything break Donald Trump’s hold on the GOP? And, despite all obstacles, will he be the next Republican nominee for president?

John Prideaux hosts with Idrees Kahloon and Charlotte Howard.

Idrees and Aryn Braun, our Mountain West correspondent, drive up to Jackson, Wyoming, to witness the swansong of the state’s lone member of Congress, Liz Cheney. John talks to Jack Goldsmith, a law professor at Harvard and former top advisor to George W. Bush, about what the Mar-a-Lago raid means for Donald Trump’s legal battles. And Idrees reports from CPAC, an increasingly influential gathering of conservative activists, about the evolution of the MAGA movement.

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Democrats have finally passed their climate, tax and health care legislation through the Senate. Chuck Schumer and his colleagues are toasting their successful out-manoeuvring of the GOP. How will the Inflation Reduction Act affect carbon emissions, prescription drug prices and the deficit? And will it improve voters’ views of Joe Biden and his party?

The Economist’s Vijay Vaitheeswaran assesses the climate provisions in the bill. We go back to another occasion when Democrats had to go it alone in Congress. And The Economist’s Elliott Morris considers whether a legislative victory can change voters' minds. 

John Prideaux hosts with Charlotte Howard and Idrees Kahloon.

You can now find every episode of Checks and Balance in one place and sign up to our weekly newsletter. For full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/uspod.

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The second part of our occasional series on the race for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat. For now the campaign is largely happening online, with Democrat John Fetterman staying off the trail due to a health scare, and Republican Dr Oz failing to take advantage of the open lane. But away from the memes and internet stunts, what do voters actually want?

Local journalist John Micek gives an update on the horse race. We go back to a sea-change moment in Pennsylvania’s electoral landscape. And The Economist’s Stevie Hertz heads into the Philadelphia suburbs to find out how voters are feeling with less than 100 days to go until the midterms. What can one state tell us about the national picture?

John Prideaux hosts with Idrees Kahloon and Jon Fasman.

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The Democratic party is in the throes of a rude awakening. Despite Donald Trump remaining at its head, the Republican Party is widely expected to make significant gains in the upcoming mid-term elections. Working class and Hispanic voters seem to be turning away from the Democrats. In some liberal cities, voters are in open revolt against progressive policies. How did the party lose touch with its voters? And does a flurry of recent dealmaking suggest it can moderate in time to avoid electoral disaster?

Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, makes the case for progressive success beyond the mid-terms. We ask Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of “The New Politics of Evasion”, how the central myths of the Democratic party have changed. And Ro Khanna, a Democratic congressman from Silicon Valley, argues for how to reframe the Democratic narrative.

John Prideaux hosts with Idrees Kahloon and Charlotte Howard

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"Triplicity, or Donkey, Moose or Elephant", by L. Mae Felker and H.S. Gillett, performed Harry Style

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The final episode in our three-part special series investigating the battle over what is taught in America’s public schools and asking how the anti-CRT movement became such a powerful social, legislative and political force in its own right. Although there is plenty of anecdotal evidence of teachers getting it wrong, there is little sign so far that CRT is causing widespread harm. What then explains the frenzy?

The Economist’s Tamara Gilkes Borr speaks to a teacher in Tennessee who lost his job after getting caught up in the debate. She visits a seemingly unconnected hearing in the Arizona legislature and unearths something surprising. And she goes back to Christopher Rufo, one of the leaders of the anti-CRT movement, to find out what the connection is between his campaign and the push to increase school choice in America. Does the anti-CRT movement have a bigger target?

You can listen to the rest of this special series in full via the Checks and Balance homepage and sign up to our weekly newsletter. For full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/uspod.  

Audio of labour-activist Dolores Huerta from “Outlawing Dolores Huerta: The Tucson Diaries” by NonProfit News

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The second of a three-part special series investigating the fight over critical race theory and asking how the anti-CRT movement became such a powerful new social, legislative and political force. The debate has become centred on how race, gender and sexuality are discussed in public schools. In this episode, The Economist’s Tamara Gilkes Borr, a former public-school teacher, puts the politics to one side to find out what is actually happening in America’s classrooms.

When critics point to the evils of CRT, they are often talking about programmes like ethnic studies and social-emotional learning. Tamara travels to San Francisco to sit in on some classes and find out what is really being taught. She hears from a mother in Arizona concerned about a book assigned to her 9-year-old daughter. And she speaks to researchers working to quantify whether the teaching of topics associated with CRT helps or harms students.

You can listen to the rest of this special series in full via the Checks and Balance homepage and sign up to our weekly newsletter. For full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/uspod

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The first episode of a three-part special series investigating the fight over what is taught in America’s public schools. Until recently, critical race theory (CRT) was a niche legal field encountered only by graduate students. It is now a catch-all term for whatever the right thinks is going wrong with America and a new front in the culture war alongside abortion and guns. The anti-CRT movement has become a powerful new social, legislative and political force in its own right. But what actually is critical race theory?

The Economist’s Tamara Gilkes Borr, a former public-school teacher, has spent months reporting on this issue. In this episode she speaks to Kimberlé Crenshaw, a professor at UCLA and Columbia law schools and one of the scholars who first developed critical race theory. She meets Christopher Rufo, the man who started the conservative furore over CRT. And she examines what the bans against the teaching of CRT in 17 states actually do. 

You can listen to the rest of this special series in full via the Checks and Balance homepage and sign up to our weekly newsletter. For full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/uspod.

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