Introducing “Checks and Balance”, our podcast on US politics and the 2020 election
By: The Economist
Tags: Podcast, America, Journalism, Politics, Elections

Introducing “Checks and Balance”, our podcast on US politics and the 2020 election

I am fascinated by American political history and have been doing a bit of digging into our archives in the run-up to launching a new podcast. The Economist’s first lead story on a US election appeared on Saturday November 30th 1844. The newspaper expressed “agreeable surprise” at the victory of “the free trade American president” James Polk. The 2020 presidential election will be our 45th, but this will be the first one with its own dedicated podcast, “Checks and Balance”, which we launched on January 24th.

A presidential election is a long and transparent process to choose the world’s most powerful person. This election promises to be one of the most absorbing and consequential in recent memory. Some 139 million Americans took part last time around, but that still leaves 98% of the world’s population looking on rather nervously to find out what American voters have in store for them. The Economist’s team of staff writers in America and abroad will explain what is going on in America and why it matters so much elsewhere. We are opinionated and sometimes spikey, but our views are always based on rigorous reporting.

Each week, I’ll be talking to Charlotte Howard, The Economist’s New York bureau chief and energy and commodities editor, and Jon Fasman, our Washington correspondent, to bring you a global view on democracy in America. We are well aware that there are already as many American politics podcasts as there are delegates up for grabs on Super Tuesday, so we won’t waste your time with pointless horse-race stuff.

Instead, we will take a single theme that shapes America and the election. The first episode looks at the practical consequences of President Donald Trump’s America First foreign policy. Some others that we are working on: Are Democrats becoming more socialist? Why is America the only rich country with falling life expectancy? And what goes through voters’ minds when they cast their ballots?

We will showcase expertise and reporting from The Economist’s correspondents across America and beyond. Each episode will feature reported packages and historical pieces looking at the people, the data and the history shaping the contest, along with discussion from our panellists.

The Economist has been providing a word in your ear since the heyday of the iPod, when Apple loaded our podcasts onto the demo devices in its stores. Reports from “Checks and Balance” will feature on our other shows, including “The Intelligence” (our daily podcast), “The Economist Asks” and “Money Talks”. We will bring a well-informed and fair-minded perspective on US politics. That’s how our tagline came about: “If you want a podcast that takes a view but doesn’t take sides, listen to Checks and Balance.”

The “Checks and Balance” podcast will be published alongside an email newsletter of the same name, which includes an introduction from me and a selection of stories from correspondents around the country. The “Checks and Balance” newsletter will also include subscriber-only analysis of the latest polling from The Economist’s data journalists.

We hope to provide a rewarding and entertaining listen as we cut through the noise to understand the trends and important developments — and surprises — of this election year. Will the outcome be as surprising or agreeable, as it was in 1844? The voters will decide.

John Prideaux is The Economist’s US editor

Subscribe to the “Checks and Balance” podcast on Apple, Spotify, Acast or your preferred podcast app. The trailer and the first episode are available here.

Click here to sign up for the “Checks and Balance” newsletter.