Over the weekend, President Biden authorised Ukraine to use long-range missiles supplied by the US to strike Russia. Is this his last-ditch effort to help before Trump takes over? Also, Trump’s cabinet picks continue to draw criticism. The Americast team discuss how the president-elect is making his decisions, and whether he’s actually interested in governing once his team is in place. And what do Americans mean by the middle class? HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations Correspondent • Matt Chorley, 5Live presenter GET IN TOUCH: • Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast This episode was made by Rufus Gray and Catherine Fusillo. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app. You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers. US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155 Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including The Global Story, The Today Podcast, and of course Newscast and Ukrainecast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below. The Global Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd The Today Podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl Ukrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzm
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Hello to all the new Americasters who've joined us in the last few months.
More of us now, Marianna, than ever before.
I know it's brilliant and that's really good because there's so much going on that we want to tell you about.
Between now and Donald Trump's inauguration in January, we're going to be looking at all sorts of things.
Who he's picking for his team, what this could mean for the next four years, how the Democrats regroup, you name it.
So if you have any questions or comments, do get in touch.
AmericaSTBC.co.uk, will be publishing episodes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
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So here is today's Enjoy BBC Sounds Music Radio podcasts.
Hello, it's Justin, just back from holiday.
In New York and it is Mariana in London.
Very happy that Justin has come back to crown the worldwide headquarters of AmericasT.
Again in London with me, complicatedly, we're not in the worldwide headquarters, we're in Westminster because it's quarter to four in the afternoon on we have just recorded Americans on 5 Live with Matt Chorley.
Matt Chawley lives here, so we come to him.
We do.
And we've been talking about all kinds of things, in particular Donald Trump's picks for his cabinet, who he wants to appoint.
You can go back and listen to some of the other AmericasT episodes from last week where we talk all about that.
Who is influencing him and what could these decisions mean?