Decoding America: Everything you need to know about the midterms

In this episode of Guardian Australia’s US politics podcast, co-hosts Reged Ahmad and Jonathan Yerushalmy take a look at the midterms, which are coming up in early November. Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube and hit the bell to see new videos ► https://www.youtube.com/@GuardianAustralia?sub_confirmation=1 All 435 house seats are up in this election as representatives only serve fixed two-year terms. In the Senate, 35 of 100 seats are up for grabs too, as senators serve six-year terms. There are many predictions of a blue wave – a big win for the Democrats, who are tipped to take back the House and Senate. But are pollsters being too optimistic? What are the factors that could instead allow the Republican party and the Trump administration to hold onto power in Congress? They also look at why the US ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, has been ousted from her job – and whether criticism of the new White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia, is fair Abdul El-Sayed: Democrats must ‘win by massive numbers’ to fend off Trump election denial ► https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/11/abdul-el-sayed-democrats-must-win-by-massive-numbers?CMP=gdnaus_yt Federal judge orders temporary halt to taxpayer-funded pro-Trump TV ads ► https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/12/judge-orders-halt-taxpayer-funded-pro-trump-ads?CMP=gdnaus_yt Get the latest news at theguardian.com ► https://www.theguardian.com/au?CMP=gdnaus_yt Support Guardian Australia ► https://support.theguardian.com/contribute?CMP=gdnaus_yt Sign up to Guardian Australia's free daily newsletters, the Morning Mail and Afternoon Update ► https://www.theguardian.com/email-newsletters?CMP=gdnaus_yt Find or follow Guardian Australia: Website ► https://theguardian.com/au?CMP=gdnaus_yt Google News ► https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMNTrogswl_a6Aw Instagram ► https://instagram.com/guardianaustralia TikTok ► https://tiktok.com/@guardianaustralia LinkedIn ► https://linkedin.com/company/guardianaustralia Threads ► https://www.threads.net/@guardianaustralia WhatsApp Channels ► https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaBW8Bn6hENlReOC9j0l Facebook ► https://facebook.com/theguardianaustralia Newsletters ► https://www.theguardian.com/email-newsletters?CMP=gdnaus_yt Subscribe to the Guardian's other YouTube channels: The Guardian ► https://www.youtube.com/@theGuardian Guardian News ► https://www.youtube.com/@guardiannews Guardian Football ► https://www.youtube.com/@guardianfootball Guardian Sport ► https://www.youtube.com/@guardiansport Guardian Live ► https://www.youtube.com/@GuardianLive #usmidterms #decodingamerica #politics #republicans #democrats