TALKING POLITICS

We try to make sense of what Trump's Cabinet appointments tell us about a Trump Presidency. What will oil baron Rex Tillerson do as Secretary of State? What will fast food tycoon Andrew Pudzer do at Labor? Rick Perry has been put in charge of one of the agencies - Energy - that he previously promised to eliminate (and then forgot). So we ask: is this about what Trump wants to undo, not what he wants to do? Plus we talk Russia, Syria, Saudi Arabia and (very briefly) Theresa May's trousers. At the end, Maha, Aaron and Finbarr give us some good news after all the doom and gloom of 2016.

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After the resounding No vote in the Italian referendum and the resignation of Matteo Renzi we talk about what comes next. Is this vote part of the populist backlash that brought us Brexit and Trump, or is it something different? What does it mean for the future of the Euro and the EU? And is it possible to be a populist and a technocrat? Plus, we discuss the meaning of 'Viva Trump, Viva Putin, Viva Le Pen'. With Chris Bickerton and Mariana Mazzucato.

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Guardian journalist Gary Younge covered the presidential election from Muncie, Indiana: aka Middletown. We talk to him about the view of Trump and Clinton from Middle America, what he thinks might happen next, and what Trump's election means for race, violence and poverty in the US. We also talk with Helen and Chris about the latest developments in Europe: Fillon vs. Le Pen in France, and Renzi vs. everyone in Italy. There are still more twists and turns to come in this most amazing political year.

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We come back across the Atlantic to talk about how UK politics stands after Trump's victory. Will it make Brexit harder? Will Europe punish the UK for America's sins? Plus, on the day of the Chancellor's autumn statement, we discuss how much wriggle room the government has to push its economic agenda. Who has the better grip on strategy: May/Hammond or Corbyn/McDonnnell? And Helen shares some more scary thoughts about the future of the Euro.

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One week on, the feminist philosopher Judith Butler talks to us about what Trump's victory means to her and what it says about rage and misogyny in America. We also discuss where American democracy goes from here: reform, resistance or collapse? Plus Judith reads Auden's 'September 1, 1939' and Helen and Aaron answer listeners' questions from last week.

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Still reeling, we gather round the table to talk about the election of President Trump, just a couple of hours after it actually happened. What does it mean for America, democracy and the world? We discuss what went wrong for Clinton, whether Bernie could have done better, and what explains the latest in the series of astonishing political events. All this on little or no sleep. The start of a much longer conversation, in the weeks and months to come.

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Award-winning comedian Ahir Shah talks Brexit, Trump and Corbyn and why his generation feels betrayed by the baby boomers. There's a bit of swearing - some light relief before the serious business of next week.

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Less than a week out we give our final thoughts on this amazing campaign. We talk emails, we reflect on what it's like inside Clintonworld and we discuss Peter Thiel's speech doubling down on his support for Trump: an authoritarian billionaire maverick making the case for another one. Plus some predictions about what might happen next Tuesday, before we reconvene next Wednesday to see what really went down.

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We take a break from Trumpworld for a week to talk about attitudes to politics in the UK with best-selling crime novelist and poet Sophie Hannah. She explains her feelings about Brexit, the AV referendum, trial by Twitter and the importance of weighing the arguments on their merits. Funny, witty and wise: not Trumpworld at all.

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On the night of the final debate, we take a step back to ask: Is Trump really unprecedented in the history of American democracy? Is this the worst campaign ever? What's gone wrong with American politics? With leading historians Gary Gerstle and David Reynolds, recorded before a live audience as part of the Cambridge Festival of Ideas.

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