AI Summary
5 min readJohn Credo, the US editor of the Economist, opens the trailer for Checks and Balance with a blunt claim: “There is no more potentially dangerous power that any president has than the one that Donald Trump is now exerting so freely.” The podcast, which he hosts alongside New York bureau chief Charlotte Howard and Washington bureau chief James Bennett, is built around a single organizing question each week: not just what happened in American politics, but why it happened. The trailer distills the show’s method—combining data, historical context, and a willingness to challenge conventional wisdom—into a compact argument about how to understand the current moment in US democracy.
The core framework: why, not just what
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **Introduction to the Podcast** - John Credo, US Editor of the Economist, introduces himself as the host of *Checks and Balance*.
- 2 (00:21) **First Thematic Example: The "BSO Meter"** - A clip highlights the concept of a "BSO meter" that Democratic leaders have failed to pass.
- 3 (00:33) **Second Thematic Example: Presidential Power** - A clip discusses the "most potentially dangerous power" a president has, which Donald Trump is currently exerting.
- 4 (00:44) **Third Thematic Example: The Supreme Court** - A clip offers an unconventional perspective on the Supreme Court, arguing it should be "more political" but not "more partisan."
- 5 (00:55) **Call to Action and Subscription Offer** - John Credo invites listeners to join him and his expert colleagues in discussing American democracy.
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Show Notes
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