251 | Police State USA

We talk to Adom Getachew, Jasson Perez and Gary Gerstle about the politics of protest and the politics of policing in America.  What does 'Defund the Police' mean in practice?  Is the current crisis likely to empower or curtail the surveillance state?  How are the current protests different from ones we've seen in the past?  And where Minneapolis leads, will the world follow?  Plus we talk about the implications of the protests for the November elections.

235 | Can America Cope?

David, Helen and Gary Gerstle discuss the impact of the pandemic on the fundamentals of American politics.  What have we discovered about the strengths and weaknesses of the federal system?  Are the states capable of learning from each other?  What part will the Supreme Court play?  And can the Democrats really persist with Biden?  Plus we ask who has the 'police power' and what it means to use it.