The British right is up for grabs. As May's local elections approach, the Conservatives face strong competition from Reform UK.

Join the Spectator's assistant editor, Isabel Hardman, for the spectator debate, the fight for the right, on Wednesday, the 29th of April in London.

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Hello and welcome back to the Americano show.

My name is Freddie Gray.

I am the deputy editor of the spectator and the US editor.

And I'm pleased to tell you that this is the 10th year of the Americano podcast.

And I think it's fair to say it's been a fairly fascinating time in American politics, life and culture. And that's what we talk about every episode on this podcast. So please

keep listening and provide as much feedback as you like. Hello and welcome back to the Americano show.

I am delighted to be joined today by James D. Boys, who is the author of a new book,

a book that couldn't be better timed, really.

It's called US Grand Strategy and the Madman Theory, from Nixon to Trump.

James, I should say, is also senior research fellow at the

Centre for US Politics Studies at UCL. James, yes, as I say, it couldn't be better time, because as we

speak, maybe the greatest experiment ever in madman theory is being applied in the Middle East

by Donald Trump.

But I thought perhaps we should start with the origins of the Madman theory

because anybody who's followed US politics or followed Donald Trump

knows that it comes from the Nixon era,

but they probably don't know a lot about its origins.

...