Americast

We Need to Talk About Brandon

Emily, Jon and Anthony discuss who Brandon is and why Americans are chanting his name.Also, three white men have been found guilty of murdering a black jogger, Ahmaud Arbery, in Georgia. We hear testimony from the trial and reaction from his family. And after another high-profile trial, politicians have been offering internships to Kyle Rittenhouse - the young man acquitted of murdering two white men during a protest in 2020. For some, he’s become an icon for the right to armed self-defence. Americast is produced by Estelle Doyle and Phil Marzouk. The studio director is Emma Crowe, the assistant editor is Alison Gee and the editor is Jonathan Aspinwall.

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 night on BBC Radio 4 and every weekend on the BBC News Channel.
 
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.
 
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.
 
See ya’ll later...