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Hello and welcome to the Americano podcast, a series of discussions about American politics, power, and prejudices.

This year, 2024, is an election year in America, a presidential election year.

And so we will be doing two podcasts a week, rather than our usual one, because we want to,

and because we know you can't get enough Americano in your life.

Hello, and welcome to The Americano Show, a special edition of the Americano show,

I should say, because this is a crunch week in the 2024 presidential election, because tomorrow night Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will face off in their first debate. To talk about this debate and more, I am delighted

to be joined by two of the punchiest transatlantic hitters out there. They are the spectators

chairman, Andrew Neal, and Pierce Morgan, who probably needs no introduction, but I should say he is

the host of uncensored, a YouTube show.

Andrew, I will start with you. The last presidential debate effectively ended, or at least short-circuited

a presidency. Can we expect similar drama tomorrow night? I think we can expect some drama.

It's unpredictable. Debates don't always have a huge impact. I would say that the debate at the end

of June between Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump was probably the most significant debate in U.S. debating history.

There have been other important ones, but none that has completely destroyed a candidacy

the way that debate destroyed Joe Biden's candidacy. So, you know, lawyers, it's been fashionable

to say, well, debates don't matter. And that's true, debates don't matter until they do.

Then they can really matter.

And this, given that, and I'm sure we'll talk a bit more about it,

given that the Harris campaign seems for the moment to have stalled,

...