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Nov 2021
40m 34s

Checks and Balance: America on trial

The Economist
About this episode

The bare facts of the Kyle Rittenhouse case are not disputed. In August 2020 he shot dead two people, and injured a third, during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin. But to the right the teenager is an American hero and to the left he’s a reckless vigilante. What does the case tell us about gun culture and race in America? 


We hear how the media on the left and right told the Rittenhouse story and go back to the origins of a notorious self-defence law. The Economist’s Daniel Knowles explains why guns divide America.


John Prideaux hosts with Jon Fasman and Charlotte Howard.


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