What will be the biggest US stories of 2026?

The Americast team look ahead to what the big U.S. stories of 2026 are likely to be, and how they might play out, answering many listener questions as they go along. Justin, Sarah, Anthony and Marianna put their 2026 predictions into the ‘Americast time capsule’ which will be sealed and re-opened at the end of next year. Listen to what they predict ahead of November’s midterm elections, who Trump is likely to fall out with next, and what’s next for big U.S. social media companies…HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent • Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations Senior 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 This episode was made by Rufus Gray and Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Jonny Hall. 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 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.Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl Ukrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzm Radical: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r The Global Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd