The City Politics Podcast The City Politics Podcast

On November 3rd, 2020 Americans went to the polls. The world held its breath. And more than 48 hours later it is waiting to exhale. With counting still continuing in Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and North Carolina, we do not yet know who will be the next president of the United States.

Inderjeet, Konstantin, and David reconvene to go over what we know so far and to see how well we predicted the future.

On Tuesday 3 November, 2020 the American people will go to the polls to vote in a presidential election. This in an American election that cannot be compared to any other in living memory. Occurring in the midst of the ongoing global pandemic, in the shadow of widespread protests against racial injustice and the rushed appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, the election has been considered a referendum on the Trump presidency. The world is holding its breath. Will America re-elect Donald Trump?

Today we will give you the City view on Election 2020. Our guest is Inderjeet Parmar, Professor of International Politics.

On August 17th, 1917 American journalist John Reed set sail from New York City bound for Russia. His book Ten Days that Shook the World became a sensation by providing a first-hand account the Bolshevik Revolution and the birth of the Soviet Union.

During the seven decades of this experiment in state socialism, journalists play a decisive role in shaping the public’s opinion on both sides of the Cold War divide. A legacy that continues today as geopolitical tensions between Russia, Europe, and the United States persist and are shaped by political correspondents across the world.

Today we will give you the City view on East-West relations through journalism of politics and the politics of journalism.

Our guests are Dina Fainberg, Lecturer in Modern History, and James Rodgers, Reader in International Journalism.

On 26 November, 1942 the British Government released a report on “Social Insurance and Allied Services”. Known to history as the Beveridge Report, it laid the foundation for the UK’s welfare state. The Beveridge Report was no isolated phenomena. From the Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society in America to the Godesberg Program in West Germany, social democracy came to define Western politics in the post-war period.

Since then social democracy has been left bruised by the neo-liberalism of Thatcher and Reagan, revived by so-called ‘third way’ politicians like Tony Blair, only to be challenged once again by 2008 Financial Crisis and the rise of populism.

Today we will give you the City view on the past, present, and future of social democracy.

Our guest is Dr Lise Butler, Lecturer in Modern History.

On May 25th, George Floyd, an African-American man, allegedly tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill while buying groceries. 20 minutes later he was killed by a white police officer. The killing of George Floyd sparked the largest protests in America since the civil rights movement.

However, these protests have met with resistance from President Trump who has deployed unmarked militarised police to, in his words, dominate the streets of large American cities. With Coronavirus raging and a presidential election rapidly approaching it feels as though we are witnessing a battle for the soul of America.

Today we will give you the City view on race and American politics. Our guests are Inderjeet Parmar, Professor of International Politics, and Leonie Fleischmann, Lecturer in International Relations.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression, but some people are doing very well out of the crisis. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos saw his wealth increase by 12 billion dollars in a single day.

Welcome to the inaugural episode of the City Politics Podcast. Today we’ll give you the City view on COVID-19 and Global Inequality. Our guests are Ronen Palan, Professor of International Politics, and Sandy Hager, Senior Lecturer in International Political Economy.