X-tra Terrestrials

Viral memes and alien themes: the Americast News Feed returns as we scroll through the biggest stories trending on social media.

Twitter X and Threads fight for online attention while Congress hears unworldly claims about the existence of UFOs.

Hunter Biden’s legal troubles continue, and 81-year-old Senator Mitch McConnell freezes during a press conference.

These topics and much more are unpacked on Americast’s podcast equivalent of a social network.

HOSTS:• Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter• Sarah Smith, North America editor• Marianna Spring, disinformation and social media correspondent• Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent

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 [email protected]• Or use #Americast

Find out more about our award-winning “undercover voters” here: bbc.in/3lFddSF.

This episode was made by Daniel Wittenberg, with Catherine Fusillo, Natasha Fernandes and Hayley Clarke. The technical producer was Gareth Jones and the sound designer was David Crackles. The editor was Tim Walklate.

Americast is the authoritative US news and politics podcast from the BBC. Each week we provide audiences with the best analysis from across the BBC, with on-the-ground observations and big picture insights about the stories which are defining America right now. The podcast is hosted by trusted BBC journalists including the BBC’s North America editor, Sarah Smith, BBC Radio 4 presenter, Justin Webb, the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent, Marianna Spring, and BBC North America correspondent, Anthony Zurcher. As well as political analysis, we also specialise in social media. Each week Marianna Spring brings listeners the latest updates from the BBC’s Undercover Voters, our award-winning investigation into the content that is recommended to US voters on social media. The team is also joined by special guests each week, like CNN anchor, Christiane Amanpour, Emmy Award-winning TV host, Rachel Maddow, and Succession actress, J Smith-Cameron. Podcasts are published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As well as being a podcast, we are also available every Friday on the World Service. Oh, and by the way, 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. Every Monday we answer your questions on Americanswers, with some help from special guests, including Miles Taylor, who was chief of staff at the Department for Homeland Security during the Trump presidency before becoming a whistleblower. Got a question or a comment? Get in touch with us on email at [email protected] or WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.

• No. of episodes: 452
• Latest episode: 2025-07-24
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