28 | Chris Clark / Germany and India

in

**Recorded + edited before the events of 22/3/17 in London**

We're joined by best-selling historian Chris Clark - author of The Sleepwalkers - to talk about German politics past and present.  How spooked is the German political establishment by Trump and Brexit?  How big is the threat to Angela Merkel from a resurgent SPD?  And how can Germany square its growing power with the legacy of its history?  With Helen Thompson and Chris Bickerton.  Plus Maha Rafi Atal updates us on the latest developments in India, where Modi's populism appears to be more popular than ever.

 

 

26 | Election Season

We catch up with elections taking place here, there and everywhere: last week's vote for the Northern Ireland assembly, next week's general election in the Netherlands, the continuing drama of the French presidential race.  Do these votes have anything in common and what might it be?  Are we seeing the inexorable rise of populism or is the tide starting to turn?  And how did a thrown shoe change the course of recent political history?  Plus we ask what, if anything, the Trump presidency is doing for European harmony.  With Barry Colfer, Chris Bickerton, Maha Rafi Atal and Aaron Rapport.
 

23 | Rory Bremner / France

Is Trump beyond parody? We talk to Rory Bremner about what it's like trying to do political comedy when politics seems to have lost its moorings. Plus Rory gives us his Trump (which we think is better than Baldwin's). We also catch up with the latest twists and turns in the French presidential election. Is Macron now the favourite? Can Fillon recover? And have we reached peak Putin panic, or is it only just beginning? With Helen, Chris Bickerton and Hugo Drochon.

12 | Gary Younge

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.