Checks and Balance from The Economist  By  cover art

Checks and Balance from The Economist

By: The Economist
  • Summary

  • Checks and Balance unlocks American politics by taking a big theme each week and digging into the data, the ideas, and the history shaping the country.


    Join John Prideaux, Charlotte Howard, Idrees Kahloon and Jon Fasman as they talk to politicians, pollsters, academics and people across the country about the great experiment of American democracy. Published every Friday.


    If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription.


    For more information about Economist Podcasts+, including how to get access, please visit our FAQs page here https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts.



    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2023. All rights reserved.
    Show more Show less
Episodes
  • Checks and Balance: What is critical race theory?
    Jul 15 2022

    The first episode of a three-part special series investigating the fight over what is taught in America’s public schools. Until recently, critical race theory (CRT) was a niche legal field encountered only by graduate students. It is now a catch-all term for whatever the right thinks is going wrong with America and a new front in the culture war alongside abortion and guns. The anti-CRT movement has become a powerful new social, legislative and political force in its own right. But what actually is critical race theory?


    The Economist’s Tamara Gilkes Borr, a former public-school teacher, has spent months reporting on this issue. In this episode she speaks to Kimberlé Crenshaw, a professor at UCLA and Columbia law schools and one of the scholars who first developed critical race theory. She meets Christopher Rufo, the man who started the conservative furore over CRT. And she examines what the bans against the teaching of CRT in 17 states actually do. 


    You can listen to the rest of this special series in full via the Checks and Balance homepage and sign up to our weekly newsletter. For full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/uspod.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show more Show less
    32 mins
  • Checks and Balance: Price control
    Jul 8 2022

    Despite a remarkably strong labour market, predictions of an imminent downturn are everywhere. The disagreement now is not over whether the Federal Reserve should fight inflation, but how painful the consequences of doing so will be. In trying to fix one problem, will the Federal Reserve create another? How much should Americans blame President Biden for the increasingly gloomy outlook? And what can the administration do to protect both the economy and its own electoral future?


    We ask Dr Cecilia Rouse, chair of the president’s Council of Economic Advisors, whether America is heading for recession and why the post-pandemic economic paradigm is different. We go back to the 1970s to find out why inflation is so politically toxic for the Democrats. And our US economics editor Simon Rabinovitch looks beyond the midterms to see whether President Biden has a way out.


    John Prideaux hosts with Charlotte Howard and Idrees Kahloon


    You can now find every episode of Checks and Balance in one place and sign up to our weekly newsletter. For full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/uspod. 


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show more Show less
    43 mins
  • Checks and Balance: Supreme authority
    Jul 1 2022

    As gridlock plagues the Capitol, across First Street the Supreme Court is transforming America. In this term alone, it has overturned the right to an abortion, loosened gun laws, eroded the separation of church and state and limited the federal government’s ability to combat climate change. Public confidence in the institution is at a record low. How is the Supreme Court changing America and, as it does so, is it undermining itself? 


    John Prideaux hosts with Charlotte Howard and our Supreme Court correspondent, Steven Mazie. They talk to Leah Litman, a professor at the University of Michigan and cohost of the Strict Scrutiny podcast, about how the justices have radically tipped the scales this term. We revisit another era in which the court tested the limits of its powers and transformed America. And Steve Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas and author of “The Shadow Docket”, explains how the court’s under-the-radar decision-making is damaging its authority.


    You can now find every episode of Checks and Balance in one place and sign up to our weekly newsletter. For full access to print, digital and audio editions, as well as exclusive live events, subscribe to The Economist at economist.com/uspod


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show more Show less
    46 mins

What listeners say about Checks and Balance from The Economist

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Phenomenal Coverage

This is one of the best, most balanced, nuanced views of contemporary American politics and social change out there. Bite sized, well interviewed and researched, not doom and gloom, pretty clear biases. I wish Charlotte, Idris, and the Johns could simply enact a coup on CNN or one of the large networks in the US. It would do wonders to heal our democracy.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!