It isn’t always easy to keep up with what’s happening in the US. ‘Shorter America” is a series where Dr Emma Shortis loops you in on what’s going on in America and shares news and analysis that you can trust.
Mon 3 Nov 2025 11.00
Photo: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
Can you believe that this week marks one year since the 2024 elections? Me neither. That means, among other things, an avalanche of hot takes on the year. It also means more elections – there are a bunch of gubernatorial elections (i.e for state governors) and some important others to watch, including the mayoral elections in New York City.
A year ago tomorrow, Donald Trump was elected president of the United States for a second time. That result wasn’t (or shouldn’t have been) a surprise, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t shocking. It was, and still is.
There will be lots of year in review pieces this week – I’ll bring you the best ones I come across in next week’s roundup. In the meantime, I can never go past the work of Fintan O’Toole. O’Toole is an extraordinary writer. His piece on Joe Biden, The Designated Mourner, is one I still go back to again and again. But this week, I’m reading his review of Kamala Harris’ memoirs.
And the one grabbing everyone’s attention is the mayoral race in New York City.
That’s partly because that election has become a kind of projection screen for the battle for the soul of the Democratic Party. Is it young, diverse, and focused on the issues that matter to the base – the cost of living AND the most pressing moral issues of our time, including the survival of democracy and the fight against genocide in Palestine? Or should it be focused on winning back the “working class” (read: white) voters that have turned to Trump, and stick to the sensible centre?
I had a chat to Jeremy Fernandez on the ABC’s “Not Stupid” podcast last week about all of that and more. If you’re game, I also made an appearance on Chas’ Licciardello’s PEP podcast – we looked at elections, electoral maps, and also spoke about the controversy over a Nazi tattoo currently consuming the Democratic Party (be warned: it’s 3 hours long).
And on that Nazi tattoo: as usual, all you really need is Tressie McMillan Cottom in the New York Times.
It flew under my radar this week, but (what a shock) Vice President JD Vance said some (more) gross and racist things about Indigenous Americans.
Gregg Deal is a Pyramid Lake Paiute artist and musician. He’s the frontman for the Dead Pioneers – a scorching punk band. He had a great response to Vance’s grossness over on Instagram. You can follow him here.
In the years since the 2020 introduction Hong Kong’s National Security Law, press freedom has slowly been limited. Lai’s conviction symbolises its end.
It isn’t always easy to keep up with what’s happening in the US. ‘Shorter America' is a series where Dr Emma Shortis loops you in on what’s going on in America and shares news and analysis that you can trust.
Australia’s allegiance to the US is being tested as the Trump administration faces accusations of illegal military action and escalating national security recklessness.
It does suggest that there’s something odd happening when the BBC’s fabled Goon Show provides the script for the AUSMIN talks just concluded in Washington.
