Scrolling through the biggest stories in America right now. With Fox News forced to defend its editorial standards, Donald Trump attacking “pudding fingers” Ron DeSantis and a conservative beer boycott spilling over, the Americast team take a few of this week’s most talked about topics and explain the context behind the clickbait. What’s been happening? Why does it matter? And why are we seeing so much of it all on social media? We also talk about the spate of shootings of people for tragically turning up in the wrong place and the effect of “stand your ground” laws on how gun owners view self-defence. 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: • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast Find out more about our award winning "undercover voters" here: bbc.in/3lFddSF. This episode was made by Daniel Wittenberg with Alix Pickles, Ivana Davidovic and Isobel Gough. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

President Biden has been travelling up and down the island of Ireland, where he’s promised to “keep the peace” but has also cracked some jokes down the pub with his distant cousins. Sarah’s been following him and trying to find out why he’s actually there. And a ruling from a Texas judge seeking to ban an abortion pill across America is being batted between various courts. Joyce Vance, who was a US attorney under Barack Obama, explains what can happen when the legal system gets personal and why it could go as far as the Supreme Court. HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Sarah Smith, North America editor • Katty Kay, US special correspondent • Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent GUEST: • Joyce Vance, former US attorney GET IN TOUCH: • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast Find out more about our award winning “undercover voters” here: bbc.in/3lFddSF. This episode was made by Daniel Wittenberg with Alix Pickles and Natasha Fernandes. The technical producer was Daffyd Evans. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

The multi-billionaire defended his ownership of Twitter in a last-minute interview live from the company’s Silicon Valley HQ. This extra episode of Americast features his rollercoaster conversation with the BBC’s James Clayton in full. It came out of an email exchange over the BBC’s labelling on Twitter as "government-funded media" – Musk replied himself and agreed to an interview "tonight". Asked about the mass layoffs of Twitter staff, misinformation on the platform and his unusual work habits, Musk at times tries to do the interviewing himself and admits that owning Twitter has been "quite painful". HOST: • James Clayton, BBC North America tech reporter GUEST: • Elon Musk, Twitter CEO GET IN TOUCH: • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast Find out more about our award winning "undercover voters" here: bbc.in/3lFddSF.

Donald Trump pleads not guilty to criminal charges. The former (and aspiring future) president has been accused of falsifying business records after an investigation into hush money paid to a porn star. Sarah is back, dialling in from the middle of the media circus in Manhattan, as the team talk through Trump’s historic day in court and answer Americaster questions about what comes next. 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: • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast Find out more about our award winning "undercover voters" here: bbc.in/3lFddSF. This episode was made by Daniel Wittenberg with Natasha Fernandes, Alix Pickles and Cat Farnsworth. The technical producer was Rohan Madison. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Donald Trump might be dominating the news again, but Nashville is still grieving after six people were murdered in the latest school shooting. The Tennessee tragedy was one of 130 mass shootings this year alone in America. For this extra episode, we return to the question we planned to bring you earlier this week: where does gun control go from here? We explore what would and wouldn’t make a difference. And celebrity lawyer Ben Chew, who was Johnny Depp’s lead attorney last year in a defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard, gives us his view of how future Trump court appearances might play out, as well as his verdict on Gwyneth Paltrow’s $1 ski crash trial. HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Katty Kay, US special correspondent • Marianna Spring, disinformation and social media correspondent • Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent GUEST: • Ben Chew, celebrity lawyer GET IN TOUCH: • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast Find out more about our award winning "undercover voters" here: bbc.in/3lFddSF. This episode was made by Daniel Wittenberg with Alix Pickles and Natasha Fernandes. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Donald Trump becomes the first ex-president to be charged with a crime. It comes after an investigation into hush money payments to a porn star. What did he do? What could this mean for US politics? And how are Americans reacting to the breaking news? The Americast team fire up their phones for an emergency episode as Trump shakes up politics – again. HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Katty Kay, US special correspondent • Marianna Spring, disinformation and social media correspondent • Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent GET IN TOUCH: • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast Find out more about our award-winning "undercover voters" here: bbc.in/3lFddSF. This episode was made by Daniel Wittenberg with Alix Pickles and Natasha Fernandes. The technical producer was Ben Andrews. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

America waits to find out if a former president will find himself in handcuffs. A close ally of Donald Trump joins the Americast team to explain why it could be a case of all publicity is good publicity. We go through the potted history of the Stormy Daniels scandal, break down how it’s playing out on social media, and look at what it means for Trump’s campaign to win back the White House. And TikTok is on trial as its CEO testifies to Congress, where the app’s security is being scrutinised. Can a platform that popular really be banned? HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Katty Kay, US special correspondent • Marianna Spring, disinformation and social media correspondent • Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent GUEST: • Bryan Lanza, former Donald Trump communications director GET IN TOUCH: • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast Find out more about our award-winning "undercover voters" here: bbc.in/3lFddSF. This episode was made by Daniel Wittenberg with Alix Pickles, Rufus Gray and Aiden Johnson. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Sarah is on holiday so the BBC's US Special Correspondent Katty Kay steps into her breach on Americast, equipped with stories of Dr Anthony Fauci saving a guest at the prestigious Gridiron dinner. The team speak to Marianne Williamson, who found fame as Oprah Winfrey's 'spiritual advisor', and who now wants to usurp Joe Biden to become the Democratic nominee for President, despite newly-emerged allegations of bullying her staffers. There are other challenges for Biden this week, though - Marianna Spring talks us through how the president's controversial plans to approve oil drilling in Alaska are being received online. And a former economist at the United States Department of the Treasury, Brad Setser, explains how damaging the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank is for the US. Americast is presented by the BBC’s US Special Correspondent Katty Kay, Today host Justin Webb, social media and disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring, and North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher. Find out more about our award winning "undercover voters" here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-63530374. Email Americast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments and send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, to +44 3301239480. This episode was made by Rufus Gray and Alix Pickles. The studio director was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor was Simon Watts. The senior news editor was Sam Bonham.

Twitter insiders have told the BBC that the company is now much less able to protect users from trolling, state-co-ordinated disinformation and child sexual exploitation. Marianna takes the rest of the Americast team though her BBC Panorama investigation into how one of the world’s most influential social media platforms is being transformed by Elon Musk. And she describes how the Twitter CEO has responded to her online. Tech journalist and host of the ON podcast, Kara Swisher, also joins Americast to talk about how social media companies could be regulated in the future. And in the week of International Women’s Day, one of America’s best-known feminist lawyers, Gloria Allred, discusses how far she thinks women’s rights in the US have come in the decades that she has been practicing law. Americast is presented by North America editor Sarah Smith, Today host Justin Webb, the BBC's social media and disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring, and North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher. Find out more about our award winning "undercover voters" here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-63530374. Email Americast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments and send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, to +44 3301239480. This episode was made by Rufus Gray and Alix Pickles. The studio director was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor was Simon Watts. The senior news editor was Sam Bonham.

America's conservative cable TV channel is being sued for airing false 2020 election fraud claims. And court documents suggest that Fox News anchors reported allegations that the vote was “stolen” from Donald Trump even though they knew they were false. The Washington Post’s media critic Erik Wemple joins the team to talk through what's been happening in the case and a bombshell deposition from Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch. When Coronavirus first spread around the world, everyone wanted to know where it came from. Did it jump from animals to humans in a wet market in the Chinese city of Wuhan? Or was it leaked from a virology lab? No one is entirely sure. But this week not one, but two US intelligence agencies said their best assessment was a lab leak. Stephen Morrison, host of the Coronavirus Crisis Update podcast, gives Americast the latest and explains the political context in Washington. Americast is presented by North America editor Sarah Smith, Today host Justin Webb, the BBC's social media and disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring, and North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher. Find out more about our award winning "undercover voters" here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-63530374. Email Americast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments and send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, to +44 3301239480. This episode was made by Cat Farnsworth and Alix Pickles. The studio director was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor was Simon Watts. The senior news editor was Sam Bonham.