American History academics put the 45th president under the spotlight in Trump Watch Sussex podcast

Donald Trump and his relationship with America’s far-right is the subject of the latest edition of the Trump Watch Sussex podcast, which has been released this week.

American Studies professors Clive Webb and Robert Cook joined host Dr Melissa Milewski to discuss the legacy of the American Civil War and its Confederate monuments in the wake of the shocking violence at Charlottesville.

The Trump Watch Sussex podcast was launched this summer by Dr Milewski and Dr Doug Haynes to explore the backstory from academics and experts on events and issues involving Donald Trump and his administration.

Dr Milewski said: “This podcast is a response to the recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia by white supremacists and Donald Trump's response that there was blame on both white supremacists and those protesting them.

“The white supremacists involved in the demonstrations and violence were protesting the removal of a confederate monument.

“In the podcast, we delve into why confederate monuments were built, what they symbolize, how African Americans protested confederate memorials in the 19th and early 20th century, the rise of white supremacist movements in the US today, and how Trump has used the contested history behind confederate monuments for his own ends.”

Previous episodes focussing on students’ perspectives of The Donald, the balance of power within his cabinet and defining populism and how Trump uses it to his advantage are also available.

The next podcast will be available later this month featuring Dr Clodagh Harrington of De Montfort University and Dr Alex Waddan from the University of Leicester discussing how Trump is attempting the "De-Obamification" of American social policies by removing Obama's policy legacies in areas such as healthcare, LGBTQ issues and reproductive rights.

Trump Watch Sussex is available on iTunes. To listen to the latest episodes visit https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/trump-watch-sussex/id1257391723?mt=2.