Net approval for President Trump's decision to attack Iran now stands at -30% among Americans. Meanwhile, the administration’s attempts to broker peace are stalling, and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. What will this ongoing war cost America?

Guests and hosts:

• Charlotte Howard, US editor
• James Bennet, Lexington columnist
• Shashank Joshi, Washington bureau chief
• Robert Guest, deputy editor
• Matthew Kroenig, Georgetown University political scientist

Topics covered:

• Military spending
• The Korean War’s legacy
• Republican goals in Iran

Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts

Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to The Economist.

In his second term, Donald Trump has transformed the justice department. Todd Blanche, America’s acting attorney-general, has done as much as anyone to aid this shift. This week Mr Blanche is facing confirmation hearings to stay in the job. What’s going on at the DoJ, and why does it matter?

Guests and hosts:

• John Prideaux, executive editor and host of “Checks and Balance”
• Charlotte Howard, US editor
• James Bennet, Lexington columnist
• Kennett Werner, Washington correspondent
• Aziz Huq, University of Chicago law professor

Topics covered:

• Trump v Slaughter
• The role of the attorney-general
• DoJ staff attrition

Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts

Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to The Economist.

Donald Trump earned at least $2.2bn in outside income in 2025. The president says his extraordinary windfall, revealed in financial disclosures last week, was thanks to a booming stock market. The White House has denied any conflicts of interest. How did the president amass all this wealth?

Guests and hosts:

• John Prideaux, executive editor and host of “Checks and Balance”
• Charlotte Howard, US editor
• Shashank Joshi, incoming Washington bureau chief
• Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer

Topics covered:

• Trump’s financial disclosures
• The Emoluments Clause
• Democrats’ response

Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts

Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to The Economist.

America is celebrating its semiquincentennial. The Founding Fathers had an idea for a system of government: three separate branches, with checks and balances so each could make sure the others didn’t overreach. As America marks its big birthday, how is that holding up?

Guests and hosts:

• John Prideaux, executive editor and host of “Checks and Balance”
• Charlotte Howard, US editor
• James Bennet, Lexington columnist
• Charles Birnbaum, president of the Cultural Landscape Foundation
• Lindsay Chervinsky, executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library

Topics covered:

• The Roberts Court
• The power of the executive branch
• Congressional dysfunction

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J.D. Vance rose to fame off the back of a book. Now, a decade after “Hillbilly Elegy”, he’s written another. “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith” charts his conversion to Catholicism. How does the way Vance writes about his faith help us understand America’s vice president? And what is Catholicism’s influence on the right of American politics?

Guests and hosts:

• John Prideaux, executive editor and host of “Checks and Balance”
• Charlotte Howard, US editor
• James Bennet, Lexington columnist
• Catherine Nixey, Britain correspondent
• Ryan Burge, political scientist at Washington University

Topics covered:

• J.D. Vance’s new book
• The history of Catholicism in US politics
• Religious trends in America

Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+

For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Anger at Donald Trump and Israel, frustration with the status quo, impatience for generational change: these sentiments have been boiling over in Democratic primaries across the country. It looks like the left has the momentum; do centrist Democrats still have a path to victory?

Guests and hosts:

• John Prideaux, executive editor and host of “Checks and Balance”
• Charlotte Howard, US editor
• James Bennet, Lexington columnist
• Owen Winter, data journalist
• Katie Honan, senior reporter at The City

Topics covered:

• Primaries in New York
• Past divides within the Democratic party
• Differences between Democrat voters

Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+

For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Alexis de Tocqueville was an unlikely prophet. The young French aristocrat only made one visit to America, in the 1830s. But he filled a pile of notebooks and letters with his observations, and produced one of the best books ever written about the country: “Democracy in America”. We go behind the scenes of The Economist’s new podcast series about this seminal work.

Listen to “Tocqueville Road Trip”

Guests and hosts:

• John Prideaux, US editor and host of “Checks and Balance”
• Charlotte Howard, executive editor
• James Bennet, Lexington columnist

Topics covered:

• Alexis de Tocqueville
• Why “Democracy in America” is relevant today

Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+

For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

The Trump administration wants wholesale change in Cuba. Since America cut off oil supplies to the island earlier this year life there has become increasingly difficult. How much longer can Cuba’s regime stagger on?

Guests and hosts:

• John Prideaux, US editor and host of “Checks and Balance”
• Charlotte Howard, executive editor
• James Bennet, Lexington columnist
• Sarah Birke, bureau chief for Mexico, Central America & the Caribbean
• Hugo Cancio, Cuban-American businessman

Topics covered:

• Conditions within Cuba
• The history of US-Cuba relations
• What might happen next on the island

Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+

For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.