Introducing “Boom!”
A six-part series about the generation that blew up American politics
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240706_FBD001.jpg)
WHY HAVE Americans born in the 1940s, like Donald Trump and Joe Biden, had such a stranglehold on American power, and why do they cling on to it so tightly? To answer this, our US editor has interviewed dozens of prominent Americans born in the same decade. The result is a new six-part podcast series that begins this week. It is called “Boom! The generation that blew up American politics”.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Introducing “Boom!””
More from Briefing
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20240824_FBP001.jpg)
Kamala Harris has revealed only the vaguest of policy platforms
Her record suggests she would be a pragmatist
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20240817_FBD001.jpg)
Talent is scarce. Yet many countries spurn it
There is growing competition for the best and the brightest migrants
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20240810_FBD003.jpg)
America’s “left-behind” are doing better than ever
But manufacturing jobs are still in decline
Swing-state economies are doing just fine
They would be doing even better if the Biden-Harris administration had been more cynical
Can Kamala Harris win on the economy?
A visit to a crucial swing state reveals the problems she will face
Chinese firms are growing rapidly in the global south
Western firms beware