281 | Trump Stress Test

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David talks to the historian Sarah Churchwell about how well America's political institutions have withstood the stress of the last four years.  Have we seen the limits of presidential power or have we discovered how easy it is to trash those limits?  Are constitutional checks and balances still intact?  Is it really Mitch McConnell who is putting American democracy under stress?  Plus we talk about what will be needed to restore the social contract and the perils of political humility.

204 | What if Remain Had Won...?

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This week Helen and David explore some counterfactuals: What if Remain had won in 2016? What if Corbyn hadn't got on the leadership ballot in 2015? What if Scotland had voted for independence in 2014? We consider whether British politics would be very different or whether a lot of what we are seeing in 2019 was coming anyway. Plus we explore if there are any circumstances in which the stranglehold of the two main parties could be broken in a general election and why the Lib Dems have so spectacularly failed to break it this time.