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Stateside with Kai and Carter
Gaza. Mitch McConnell. Is Congress finally being forced to change?
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Earlier this year, Congress reached a depressing milestone: 86% of Americans, a record high, disapproved of its job performance. But this summer, there have been some signs that shifts are underway. On the left, House Democrats have just voted in unprecedented numbers to withhold military aid from Israel, and across the country, progressive candidates are running competitive primary campaigns that are energizing a base fed up with the status quo. On the right, Republicans are reeling from the sudden death of South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, one of President Trump's staunchest supporters, and former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell remains sequestered following a health scare in June, raising questions of if a changing of the guard might be underway there too. Kai Wright and Carter Sherman are joined by Guardian Washington bureau chief David Smith and Midwest political correspondent Rachel Leingang to discuss gerontocracy, transparency, the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America, and just how much of an inflection point this summer might be for both parties.
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Will the US midterm elections be free and fair?
40:08|With Republicans' chances in the midterms looking shaky, Donald Trump is increasingly trying to rewrite the rules that govern US elections. Voting rights groups say he's really laying the groundwork to suppress voters. Trump has already moved to change mail-in voting, but he now wants Congress to pass the Save America Act, which includes strict voter ID restrictions. He's also accused China of interfering in the 2020 election. (Trump didn't back up that claim with evidence.) Host Kai Wright speaks with Garrett Epps, legal affairs editor at Washington Monthly, about the threat to US elections and what voters can do to protect them.Read Garrett Epps' story in Washington Monthly
Is Iran a ‘forever war’?
32:59|After a lull in fighting, airstrikes between the US and Iran resumed Wednesday, killing at least 20 members of Iraq’s popular mobilization force. The conflict between the US and Iran has now entered its fifth month, with no obvious conclusion in sight. Analysts have warned that the latest escalations are pushing the Middle East region into "unchartered territory". Carter Sherman is joined by the Guardian’s senior international correspondent Julian Borger and Deepa Parent, an independent journalist who reports on Iran, to answer the question: is this a forever war?
How Trump made it harder to fight the cyclospora parasite outbreak
33:29|A parasite called cyclospora has sickened thousands of people across at least 41 states and prompted waves of headlines about weeks-long "explosive diarrhea". But as Guardian health contributor and reporter Melody Schreiber tells host Carter Sherman, Donald Trump's cuts to the CDC and FDA have kneecapped the agencies' ability to contain the dangerous outbreak – which is now growing rapidly. Melody and Carter trace one food supplier's role in the outbreak, discuss the future of public health and reveal tips for safe eating and cooking.Read Melody Schreiber's reporting in the Guardian about cyclospora:Confusing product recall adds to US cyclospora outbreak uncertaintyCDC cuts leave US less prepared for disease outbreaks, former officials warn
She spent years trying to be thin. What happened when she bulked instead?
37:46|After years of trying to be skinny, Guardian reporter Madeleine Aggeler did a 180 and decided to 'bulk'. Bulking, or gaining weight on purpose to get stronger, challenged everything she had been taught about her body, and transformed her relationship to food. Madeleine speaks to Carter Sherman about her owns body image struggles, and they discuss why strength training and weightlifting has become so popular for women. Is this actually healthy, or just an extension of toxic diet culture?
Mary Beard on The Odyssey, Trump's America and how empires fall
48:43|Christopher Nolan’s new adaption of The Odyssey is an absolute monster of a hit, grossing $264m in its opening weekend. But celebrated classicist Mary Beard tells host Carter Sherman that while Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek epic poem comes with plenty of action-packed battle scenes, the film is missing the original's "elusive sexiness" – and its approach to women left her disappointed. Carter and Beard also explore why rightwing politicians – and people like Elon Musk – are so obsessed with co-opting the ancient world. They ask: who gets to own the classics?Commentary and criticism about Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey from the Guardian:The Odyssey’s reviewChristopher Nolan interviewWill women also love The Odyssey?
Who won the World Cup?
51:57|The 2026 World Cup final has not happened yet, but we already know that there were some clear winners (and total losers) during the tournament. And we’re not just talking about what happened on the pitch. Ahead of Sunday’s game, host Carter Sherman speaks with Max Rushden – host of the Guardian’s Football Weekly podcast – about Argentina’s win over England in the semi-finals, why Lionel Messi is probably “the greatest footballer ever", and what we should be looking out for as Argentina takes on Spain in the final. Then, Guardian US soccer editors Alexander Abnos and Ella Brockway break down some of the most memorable moments of the tournament – and decide who (or what) won the World Cup vibes contest. Spoiler: it's not Donald Trump.Correction added 19 July 2026: This episode says that Cape Verde player Josimar Jose Evora Dias, known as Vozinha, was recruited via LinkedIn. In fact it was his teammate, Roberto "Pico" Lopes.
How ICE became so deadly
43:26|Over the past ten days, ICE officials have killed two immigrants in separate shootings in Texas and Maine. While the Department of Homeland Security has claimed that the officers were acting in self-defense and the interest of public safety, no evidence has emerged to support those accounts, and outrage is mounting over these latest examples of violence from the agency. Kai Wright speaks with Guardian immigration reporter José Olivares about the killings of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, how their deaths reflect a broader pattern of brutality animating President Trump’s mass deportation agenda, and what accountability for them might look like.‘Fear, intimidation, violence’: calls mount to remove ICE from US streets after agents killed two men‘New terrifying levels’: 10 people fatally shot by immigration officials in Trump’s second term
The western US is running out of water. What happens next?
40:53|Thanks to pollution, overpopulation and the climate crisis, Earth is facing a terrifying new crisis: an irreversible "water bankruptcy". Now, fights over water have ramped up across the world, including in the US west. Host Carter Sherman speaks with Guardian extreme weather correspondent Gabrielle Canon about the battle over the future of the Colorado River Basin, whose water sustains some 40 million people across seven states – but is now drying up. Gabrielle recently rafted down the basin's last "wild" river, the Yampa. Damming or diverting the Yampa could bring the west some much-needed hydration. It may also devastate the vast natural ecosystem that relies on the river's free-flowing waters. Also: Carter and Kai Wright react to the death of South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.Gabrielle Canon’s story on the Yampa RiverGuardian stories on Lindsey Graham:Analysis on Graham as dealmakerThe scramble to replace GrahamLindsey Graham in his own words