The Chaser's Chas Licciardello and the ABC's John Barron set out to discover the real America - its politics and its people - with US and Australian experts coming along for the ride.
Planet America (Season 12)
Fireside Chat (4/8/2023) (Episode 1)
Air date: 2023-08-04
Runtime: 50 min
Overview: Is Trump heading for the White House or the Big House? Will mounting legal woes dent his status as Republican frontrunner? Plus the struggles and scandals of Hunter Biden and a check-in on the 2024 presidential campaign.
Fireside Chat (11/8/2023) (Episode 2)
Air date: 2023-08-11
Runtime: 50 min
Overview: America's economy is taking off, but Joe Biden isn't getting the credit. Who else is running for President in 2024? Plus Ohio's win for abortion rights, Trump's lead in the polls and the "fat spat" with Chris Christie.
Fireside Chat (18/8/2023) (Episode 3)
Air date: 2023-08-18
Runtime: 50 min
Overview: Is the Georgia indictment the most perilous threat to Trump? Plus the special counsel probe into Hunter Biden, the anniversary of America's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and all the fun of the fair in the Hawkeye state.
Fireside Chat (25/8/2023) (Episode 4)
Air date: 2023-08-25
Runtime: 50 min
Overview: Stumped by Trump? Republican presidential candidates spar on the debate stage and a former president surrenders to police. Chas and John break down the winners, losers, and prisoners with Lanhee Chen and Mariana Alfaro.
Fireside Chat (1/9/2023) (Episode 5)
Air date: 2023-09-01
Runtime: 50 min
Overview: Could America's deadliest wildfires in a century have been prevented? Plus tracking Trump's trials, the presidential candidate who's already called it quits and the final verdict: did skipping the debate hurt Trump?
Fireside Chat (8/9/2023) (Episode 6)
Air date: 2023-09-08
Runtime: 50 min
Overview: 'Act of terrorism': the Proud Boys go to jail, so will Trump be next? We ask special guest and Trump 2020 challenger Bill Weld. Reagan's lessons for Biden, America's plan to cut drug prices and what a Tucker! Is Carlson's Obama interview a conspiracy too far?
Fireside Chat (15/9/2023) (Episode 7)
Air date: 2023-09-15
Runtime: 48 min
Overview: Payback time for Donald Trump as Republicans launch an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Plus 50 years after backing a coup in Chile, has America learned its lesson? Chas and John unpack the week in the USA.
Fireside Chat (22/9/2023) (Episode 8)
Air date: 2023-09-22
Runtime: 50 min
Overview: Why America is unprepared for war. Defence expert Kori Schake explains Washington's cluster bomb of risk. Plus as another GOP debate looms without Trump, we ask past presidential candidate Gary Bauer whether the abortion issue is losing the former president support from Christian conservatives.
Fireside Chat (29/9/2023) (Episode 9)
Air date: 2023-09-29
Runtime: 45 min
Overview: Trump looms large at the Republican debate, despite being a no-show. Ron Reagan Jr on what his Dad would think of today's GOP, chaos and desperation at the southern border plus scandal engulfing someone other than Trump.
Fireside Chat (13/10/2023) (Episode 10)
Air date: 2023-10-13
Runtime: 45 min
Overview: Israel-Gaza War: unpacking the politics as Joe Biden's foreign policy is put to the test. Plus chaos in the House as Republicans scramble to find a speaker, and could another Kennedy upend the presidential election?
Fireside Chat (20/10/2023) (Episode 11)
Air date: 2023-10-20
Runtime: 45 min
Overview: President Joe Biden seeks billions for Israel and Ukraine in a rare Oval Office address. Plus the frontrunners who fizzled in the race for the White House, and still no speaker as the battle descends into death threats.
Wednesday 25/10/2023 (Episode 12)
Air date: 2023-11-10
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Chaos in Congress - Congressman Ro Khanna on the speaker paralysis. Trump's National Security Advisor John Bolton on why his old boss is unfit for office. What do Americans think of Biden's handling of the Middle East crisis?
Fireside Chat (27/10/2023) (Episode 13)
Air date: 2023-10-27
Runtime: 45 min
Overview: An end to the Speaker standoff in Congress as Trump ally Mike Johnson gets elected. Guest Michael O'Hanlon on the next phase of the Israel-Gaza war. Could presidential candidate Cornel West help Trump get re-elected?
Wednesday 1/11/2023 (Episode 14)
Air date: 2023-11-01
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Cornel West on why he's running for president, even if it risks putting Trump back in the White House. The latest dropouts in the election campaign, and why House Speaker 'Maga Mike' marks a new turn for the religious right.
Fireside Chat (3/11/2023) (Episode 15)
Air date: 2023-11-03
Runtime: 45 min
Overview: Just one year to go until America elects a new president, Politico's Ryan Lizza has the latest on the 2024 campaign. More from presidential candidate Cornel West and what he thinks about RFK Jr's run for the White House.
Wednesday 8/11/2023 (Episode 16)
Air date: 2023-11-08
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Trump comes out swinging after his day in court. Biden faces calls to not seek re-election. Why the Middle East crisis is sparking division among Democrats. Plus Chas and John look ahead to the Third Republican debate.
Fireside Chat (10/11/2023) (Episode 17)
Air date: 2023-11-10
Runtime: 45 min
Overview: Republican candidates clash in another Trumpless debate, while Democrats are boosted in state elections where abortion and marijuana are on the ballot. Republican stalwarts Liz Mair and Stuart Stevens chat with Chas and John.
Wednesday 15/11/2023 (Episode 18)
Air date: 2023-11-15
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Tensions flare as the House passes a bill to avoid a government shutdown. Plus while Trump appears to take inspiration from fascists, another Republican presidential hopeful bites the dust.
Fireside Chat (17/11/2023) (Episode 19)
Air date: 2023-11-17
Runtime: 45 min
Overview: What's driving the increasing polarization in Congress? Political scientist Lee Drutman has some theories. Plus author McKay Coppins joins us to discuss the juiciest revelations from Mitt Romney's tell-all biography.
Wednesday 22/11/2023 (Episode 20)
Air date: 2023-11-22
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: On the 60th Anniversary of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Chas and John ask veteran newsman Darwin Payne what it was like to cover the biggest story of his generation.
Fireside Chat (24/11/2023) (Episode 21)
Air date: 2023-11-24
Runtime: 45 min
Overview: Was JFK overrated? Author/journalist Nick Bryant and veteran Democrat strategist Bob Shrum join Chas and John to talk Kennedys, conspiracies and what might have been.
Wednesday 29/11/2023 (Episode 22)
Air date: 2023-11-29
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Gaza's fragile truce, how Nikki Haley got Don worried and why Fox News invented a terrorist attack.
Fireside Chat (1/12/2023) (Episode 23)
Air date: 2023-12-01
Runtime: 55 min
Overview: Death of a statesman: a look back at Kissinger's blood-stained legacy. Plus eyes in the sky - the secret in-flight mission to spy on travellers and also Chas and John debunk Trump's '10,000 troops' malarkey.
Wednesday 6/12/2023 (Episode 24)
Air date: 2023-12-06
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Chas and John bid a fond farewell to disgraced Congressman George Santos and talk to one of America's top pollsters Celinda Lake about President Joe Biden's sagging polls.
Fireside Chat (8/12/2023) (Episode 25)
Air date: 2023-12-08
Runtime: 45 min
Overview: Swings and misses but who was the winner? Republican strategist Ford O'Connell on the good, bad and ugly of the Fourth GOP debate. The clock ticks down on aid for Ukraine, plus Trump's "dictator" re-election pledge.
Wednesday 13/12/2023 (Episode 26)
Air date: 2023-12-13
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's desperate day in Washington, Hunter Biden's X-Rated expenses, plus the latest on the race to the White House and Donald Trump's race to the courthouse.
Fireside Chat (15/12/2023) (Episode 27)
Air date: 2023-12-15
Runtime: 50 min
Overview: Chas, John and politics guru Bill Wyman join former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks on the trials of Trump, writer Peter Beinart on the campus free speech controversy and strategist Doug Gross on the Iowa caucuses.
