45 million people - or 20 percent of the electorate - have already voted. What do the patterns tell us about who might have the advantage?

Later, we speak to Bob Woodward, of The Washington Post and Watergate fame, about Trump and democracy. And we ask whether Madison Square misogyny and minority group racism will put Trump voters off - or turn them on.

Editor: Tom Hughes

Executive Producer: Louis Degenhardt

Producer: Natalie Indge

Digital Editor: Michaela Walters

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon, Shane Fennelly & Arvind Badewal

Digital Journalists: Michael Baggs & Jacob Paul

Don’t forget you can also subscribe to our other News Agents podcasts via the link below:

https://linktr.ee/thenewsagents

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"

And you can grab your News Agents merch, including t-shirts, hoodies and water bottles at the link below.

https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

With less than two weeks until the Presidential election, Donald Trump has carved out precious time on the campaign trail to focus on the size of a former golfer’s manhood and stake a claim to a McDonald’s Employee of the Month award. It’s certainly not conventional campaign strategy - but could it be helping, rather than hindering, efforts to gee up Republican voters?

The polls are looking incredibly tight, so what does early voting tell us about the state of the race? And, with abortion on the ballot in many states, is a woman’s right to choose the vote-winner that Kamala Harris and the Democrats are banking on it being? Or is it more complicated than that?

Editor: Tom Hughes

Executive Producer: Louis Degenhardt

Lead Producer: Rory Symon

Digital Editor: Michaela Walters

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon, Shane Fennelly & Arvind Badewal

Digital Journalists: Michael Baggs & Jacob Paul

Don’t forget you can also subscribe to our other News Agents podcasts via the link below:

https://linktr.ee/thenewsagents

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"

And you can grab your News Agents merch, including t-shirts, hoodies and water bottles at the link below.

https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

The old wisdom held that Democrats could rely on the votes of those in the Black and Latino communities - often immigrant families that felt that party were on their side. But in recent elections that has started to shift. Kamala Harris is struggling to win the Black vote at the same levels Joe Biden won it in 2020, which pushed him over the line. And her latest pitch is an economic plan specifically tailored to Black men. Is this smart or reductive? And can Trump capitalise on that gap? We’re joined by Luis Sanchez, who’s on the ground in Wisconsin.

Later, what are the polls telling us now and how much should we trust them? We're with Kyle Kondik of Sabato's Crystal Ball - the electoral gurus who break down the numbers.

Editor: Tom Hughes

Executive Producer: Louis Degenhardt

Producers: Rory Symon & Natalie Indge

Digital Editor: Michaela Walters

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon, Shane Fennelly & Arvind Badewal

Digital Journalists: Michael Baggs & Jacob Paul

Audio clips courtesy of BBC Breakfast and Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on BBC One.Don’t forget you can also subscribe to our other News Agents podcasts via the link below:

https://linktr.ee/thenewsagents

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"

And you can grab your News Agents merch, including t-shirts, hoodies and water bottles at the link below.

https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

This week, Kamala Harris was the unlikely guest on a sex and relationships podcast aimed at Gen Z women, asking them to ‘Call Her Daddy’ - it turns out it isn’t all blowjobs, redflags and narcissists.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk was jumping around at the scene of the attempt on Donald Trump’s life in Pennsylvania, fist-pumping and talking about bloodied faces. The difference is stark. Could this be the biggest gender split in an election we’ve ever seen?

All of this plays out with the background of two major hurricanes in the south. Florida steels itself for the storm of the century, but we ask how natural disasters became so deeply politicised?

Editor: Tom Hughes

Producers: Rory Symon & Natalie Indge

Digital Editor: Michaela Walters

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon, Shane Fennelly & Arvind Badewal

Digital Journalists: Michael Baggs & Jacob Paul

Don’t forget you can also subscribe to our other News Agents podcasts via the link below:

https://linktr.ee/thenewsagents

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"

And you can grab your News Agents merch, including t-shirts, hoodies and water bottles at the link below.

https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Imagine a political world where Donald Trump doesn’t exist. That’s what the VP debate sounded like on CBS last night. There was none of the crazy talk. No stage stalking. Not a whisper of a pet eating migrant...It was just two blokes talking policy rather delicately.

Tim Walz seemed nervous to a slicker more spirited JD Vance. But ultimately the Minnesota governor probably had the knock out blow when he asked his opponent “who won“ the last election. And JD Vance couldn’t say. Will this change the dial of a very tight race?

Editor: Tom Hughes

Producers: Rory Symon & Natalie Indge

Digital Editor: Michaela Walters

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon, Shane Fennelly & Arvind Badewal

Digital Journalists: Michael Baggs & Jacob Paul

Don’t forget you can also subscribe to our other News Agents podcasts via the link below:

https://linktr.ee/thenewsagents

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"

And you can grab your News Agents merch, including t-shirts, hoodies and water bottles at the link below.

https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

We start with the very strangest of tales - the man standing to be North Carolina's governor was found to have called himself a "black nazi" on a porn website some years ago and called for a return to slavery. The reason it's making headlines is because he was endorsed by Trump six months ago, and was called 'Martin Luther king on steroids'.

Will that endorsement hurt Trump? The former president is tied in the polls with the vice president but out polls her by 11 points when voters are asked who they trust on the economy.

We ask Megan Gorman, author of 'All the Presidents' money whether the economy will ultimately decide who wins.

Tickets are now on sale for The News Agents 'live on stage' at The Royal Albert Hall on Sunday December 1st. Buy yours from Global Player at the link below.

https://app.af.globalplayer.com/Br0x/7ggnmqw4

Editor: Tom Hughes

Lead Producer: Rory Symon

Producer: Natalie Indge

Digital Editor: Michaela Walters

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon, Shane Fennelly & Arvind Badewal

Digital Journalists: Michael Baggs & Jacob Paul

Don’t forget you can also subscribe to our other News Agents podcasts via the link below:

https://linktr.ee/thenewsagents

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"

And you can grab your News Agents merch, including t-shirts, hoodies and water bottles at the link below.

https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

How to make sense of not one but two assassination attempts in as many months on a former president? Donald Trump says it's all down to the language that Kamala Harris and the Democrats are using. JD Vance has just called her 'the most fraudulent person to run for president'.

Is it language? Guns? Or an impossible to police golf course perimeter? The first voting by post began in Pennsylvania this week. What does the attack bode for the November election and beyond?

Tickets to see the News Agents Live on Stage at the Royal Albert Hall go on sale this Friday, September 20th. They will be available via Global Player at the link below.

https://articles.globalplayer.com/2GXq4afyiJDx1xqP7ZMiP9ZVkWQ

Editor: Tom Hughes

Producer: Rory Symon & Natalie Indge

Digital Editor: Michaela Walters

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon, Shane Fennelly & Arvind Badewal

Digital Journalists: Michael Baggs & Jacob Paul

Don’t forget you can also subscribe to our other News Agents podcasts via the link below:

https://linktr.ee/thenewsagents

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents

The Presidential debate on Tuesday night was everything that team Harris were praying it would be. Trap after trap laid for Donald Trump which he appeared to walk into.

His areas of strength - the economy and immigration - didn’t really get off the ground. She baited him on his rallies and his racism. And he got very cross.

Moments after the debate ended the Democratic nominee won the support of arguably the most powerful woman alive - Taylor Swift. How will this shift the electoral race?

Editor: Tom Hughes

Producer: Rory Symon

Digital Editor: Michaela Walters

Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell

Video Production: Rory Symon & Shane Fennelly

You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

You can also buy your very own News Agents merch at the link below...

https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents