most girls 2 could ever know for sure that of us as a duo. in support of. what's a big what's able. to deliver. this day and so on they are. the possibility for real violence in the country it's real. it takes someone very very strong to run this country and in my eyes i think is doing a very good job. i

deeply divided splitting america politically economically and culturally this is a journey through this so-called land of opportunity. writers filmmakers and talk refers capture of the current mood in the states. our 1st stop is new york city. and. new york used to be the city that never sleeps that was before coastlines and the pandemic seems past its peak air but in the big apple is still far from being back to normal. on weekends when the weather is good people can at least gather and central part they were masks keeps a. donald trump during his election. james

even back then few well known artists and intellectuals supported him and this hasn't changed sense of the now for years nature when people know what to expect warnings about reelecting trump us presidents have grown more urgent. and we've come to new york to meet 3 of the most renowned authors in the country to find out what they expect and lying about. paul auster. the beginning of the. democracy as we go into the city of houston that i think we are in danger of losing this democratic republic and time we live in a corporate totalitarian autocracy. after spokes have been translated into more than 20 languages he's also written elsewhere printing place like disgraced. god. looks like. everything we've got i think it's going to be wrong so.

the bombers. yes. in his new novel homeland allergies dr describes the experiences of an author he named a yet actor whose father is a doctor who treated child and may have become a trump supporter. the writer will reveal what he made up and what is real in the book but his view of america is clearly expressed in these pages. i think that in the last 50 years and this is the story that i tell in the last 50 years some notion of a collective good began to evaporate and what rose out of that dissolution was a commitment a fierce commitment to the individual i what i want what i need america is about protecting my rights my rights to have

a gun if i wanted to make as much money as i want to use whatever bathroom i want. it's all the same that's not a vision of a collective society one collective that has lasted just a couple oster and cd. they've been married for 40 years and they're one of the most famous literary couples and the us. each time one of them writes a new book the other is its 1st reader and critics. both believe trump's reelection would pose a threat to democracy which is why together with other authors they have set up the platform writers against trying to. train weekly online discussions and weaponize they make the point that the u.s. election in 2020 could be the most important in a generation. the pressure of living under the trumpet ministration and watching day to day their erosion of

institutions that i think many americans thought were reasonably safe has been a shocking experience and it's affected me personally i have been writing. more political essays than i ever have in my life. i have spent more time thinking about what i as one person can do to counter what is happening i think we are in danger of losing the democratic republic. their daughter sophia lost her and her friends manage the social media presence of writers against trump. as writers we know words matter they matter because they mine we have a choice to make for our future for the future of our children the reaction from the republican party could mean the end of democracy in america discussions of.

an effort to get out the vote. the vote of the young people on the progressive side of things who are not happy with the by. and of the so i did not vote i mean there are a lot of these are you list the young people who say i don't want to contaminate myself so i i don't like any of it well it's it's a dangerous position at this time to have because by not voting they're essentially voting for what they don't want to which is trumping the republican presidential candidates cannot be more different i would plan to deal with this pandemic responsibly. and the country is more politically divided and in over 50 years but deficient and bigotry are not new in the us they were already well established when city that's grandparents emigrated from norway and lost everything during the great depression. but they were left wing but their prejudices were

very similar to the right wing prejudices today and elite prejudice as they railed against bankers and i think one has to remember that bankers. at the time and it remains a code for june in the context and city slickers people who lived in the cities urban types fancy types my grandparents were really has had those prejudices what's happened in that part of the world now is that it's flipped from left to right. but it's all it goes away back. until recently new york was known as a center of arts and culture the city often place trials of the rest of the world followed. now survival especially the economic kind is the main priority and not

just for artists and 2016 almost beachy percent of you know i spoke to democrats can't donald trump is a. the kind president who has been an addict of champus reelected residents here fear it will become even harder to get federal funding to face the chrono crisis. and the u.s. has already been seen occurring and rest for instance of a black lives matter and over measures and at stemming the spread of covert 19. even the words civil war are frequent and what will this country's future look like if it continues down this path. the possibility for real violence in the country it's real that could happen but i don't know how the next few weeks are going to unfold but there is a scenario in which contested power leads to trump calling for resistance and if that happens then i think the gloves come off.

regardless of who wins the election it's difficult to feel optimistic about the current situation and what lies ahead for america difficult but not impossible. i'm optimistic about the present i'm optimistic about the joy that one can experience here and now with those one loves doing things that one loves to do helping others. but i don't think. any of us is going to escape death so i'm probably ultimately pessimistic. i mean that's what you get when you ask me a question by. the new yorkers are worried but how do americans outside of the major cities feel we spoke to 2 photographers who delved into the division within the us. tall and strong face timed.

for daughters and sons of a nation. upright and serious. portraits tells a story. those stone for themselves. and thousands of them all they have in common is their home and the u.s. . these pictures were taken by swiss photographers monitor fischer and the tears prussian. they took them during a 5 month journey across the country together with their song elias. road trip took them to 40 states for the desert. cities suburbs and songs. where they went they kept their eyes open for interesting characters. for fun could be converted into a photo studio. by the end of the trip set up took just 20 minutes.

they opted for whites a neutral backdrop. such as everyone was on the same level in front of the camera whether the subject was a top not a scientist a texas or a welder in ohio. at the mines we met most of them spontaneously either we looked for them an interesting locations or we just saw them while driving and decided to set up. i think. this is brenda and this is brenda and that gun is always loaded. he came to air. they were camping there he and his colleague brenda they said sure you can stay with us we'll keep watch this and he pulled out his gun and said you're safe don't worry we said that sounds good thanks they were conservative republicans real gun in those iest she said that god had sent trump personally but they were so nice to us thought it was from fanatical trump funds to his enemies from proud patriots to

people who are worried about the future of the country the swiss couple filmed their muscles and every class of us society by withholding any judgment and proceeding with curiosity they were able to make connections with all kinds of different people. the family divides its time between switzerland and new york. this last road trip give them a whole new insight into the u.s. and into why people voted for trump. my procedural ambition best it's easier to understand if you travel across the us i think the american dream the promise of it is sort of shattered if you travel across the us today especially in the center there are so many places where half the stores have shut down where life isn't that great and where there aren't so

many prospects now lots of people work double jobs and yet they're barely making ends meet not. so they're frustrated and their faith in that if they work hard enough their children will be ok is being eroded i think that's linked to why a phenomenon like trumpet an absolute populist became possible. to better understand their models the photographers interview them about their homeland. hadlee tate a rodeo rider from wyoming said nobody she knew. so to democrats. dumb or not it takes someone very very strong to run this country and in my eyes i think he's doing a good job so i just say thank you and then i'd probably get a selfie with him or something like that i don't know who. he really is a makeup artist from las vegas how did very different take on truth one minute with the president my personal message to him would be chill the abortion law you know

women going crazy for no reason you also need to get a grip and start treating women right because we really run this country and you're trying to oppress us in some way like we're going to be extinct no women are going to be around for ever so we're going to have to learn how to deal with us and give us rights that we deserve that we've had since before you were the president. if you talk to people about personal matters you don't see this divide which even runs through families or friendships but as soon as you bring up politics things get emotional. bits in the school it's like an underlying feeling you notice it everywhere we photographed firefighters at a fire station in michigan and the doctor in there was very clear no politics no religion no talking about any of that stuff. why not yes he knew because people would start arguing. the divides really are deeply entrenched over here

going on but it was pressure it can get nasty because people are so far apart at the moment why put it on and pound the moment if you're not the issue is so emotionally charged but when you're on duty together it can't interfere the. other . monica fisher a mature specialist larger than life pictures are on show at the stop for house museum in lynchburg and there's a rush. to. the exhibitions name could also be this year's u.s. election slogan divided we stand. a diverse state in less united at least seen from the outside but what's the feel like from the inside. in germany

people are also looking at the us right now. a photo exhibit in hamburg shows pictures of america that expose the myth of the american dream. magnum photographer and that black called this personal inventory of poverty migration and powerlessness american geography. using bold black and white images he depicts the underdogs in the land of endless north abilities. the photographs look as if they were taken in another time. runs off is a bit off shore when i look at these pictures i have to remind myself that we are in the 21st century and. it's a powerful show and a world premiere which the photographer couldn't attend because of coronavirus metaplot black grew up in california the public image let's say of disneyland of silicon valley of. hollywood all of that exists. but there is another california

where it's hot weather is desert where farming is tough for transfer itself and that's the one he comes from. mass black began to document that california in 2014 the sadness the desolation the struggle for survival. for 5 years the photographer traveled through the u.s. . even as it had hundreds of places whose residents live far below the poverty line he gathered data discovered things. that people who don't have health insurance unemployment benefits or any means of support. the photographer recorded his observations in a diary. i drive north to flint past buick city which was once the largest automobile plant in the world in 1900

general motors employed 80000 people in flint today there are fewer than 8000 people living here. matt blacks photographs tell stories about loss about lost jobs security and confidence. in one interview he said. when it comes to power in the u.s. it's always a question of race as well. my work also deals with the same issues who has access to power and who is excluded. as a perspective of this perspective of change or perhaps simply of the future is a method in the pictures to spot. it and this creates a glimpse of something of a completely contradicts the american dream i mean cost. that isn't trying to take shocking pictures he keeps

a distance and doesn't tend to the dignity of those who are struggling what's shocking is that these images show the present day looking at them the campaign slogan from 4 years ago to make america great again crumbles as a hollow promise the current reality looks very different. cover to discrimination and police violence or problems that have many citizens riled up and also some filmmakers. black lives matter protests existed before trump but the trump presidency has energized the movement before the election films by in about black people films that look at themes of racism and police violence have taken center stage. after the killing of george floyd director spike lee post the film editing real life footage with

a similar chokehold death of eric garner in 2014 and scenes from his own 1909 film do the right thing direct it was based upon the real live show called murder. and then. not just by. strangulation. in the heat you give maids 2 years into the trunk presidency and then some black man is shot dead. the result of violence and a fight for justice black people poor people everybody at the bottom. ringback ringback in the documentary time a woman struggles to get her husband released from a 60 year prison sentence for robbery. waiting on a. husband. is one of you might hear any information like. that

films like this go beyond protests or rhetoric to show the fate of real people. the movies have helped shine a new light on the black lives matter movement. but tweens of the 18 year olds might. they have absolutely no idea the living room has to have a father son bluff on. me think that it has to mean people of different lands with which to evaluate that movement and i think that there were some people who make quietly have been more dismissive of that movement as radical or violent one problem porter's response to black lives matter was to look back at the obama presidency through the lens of official white house photographer pete sosa just like yours president obama bent over them with their kid touching his

head with his hand that the image stands for how kids will see themselves differently before ever seen those photos again but they tell a story. not only about president obama but really about the office and how important an institution. and i realized it way. i think like a lot of people i kind of took for granted the stability. that the prior administration. i thought who is this man how does he deal with crisis leadership character and empathy. that you wish we had that now god. the current us president seems less interested in finding common cause than in demonizing black lives matter. the stated goal of b.l.m. organization people is to achieve the destruction of the nuclear family abolish the

police abolish prisons abolish borders security abolish capitalism and abolish school choice that's what their stated goals are. m.l.k. f.b.i. looks back to government attempts to suppress the civil rights struggle of the 1960 s. the director sees a parallel to trump today when shoppers out there are making frequent proclaiming that the suburbs will be destroyed and subtext since it's those people of color are going to come in and destroy your can. you clear law and order 'd and mean simply in america black equal out of the equation to dr king gave his famous march on washington pollard hopes his film can help americans to remember their own history . in a memo dated 30 of august no later than that. the 2nd person in the f.b.i. had been solved. since the curtain memo which he said. after the

march on washington. it's clear that martin luther king jr is the most dangerous negro. in america part of my agenda is not what you still make is to deal with these issues then look at racism and social change i mean that's. in some way back when i. asked sue if this continues with the rise and fall jim crow. you know. in the instance and it's a part of my. soul williams has also spent a career looking at what it means to be black in america in a kill is a skate which premiered at the toronto film festival williams plays a drug dealer looking to break out of a life of crime. a slam poet a rapper and a filmmaker williams was and is always an activist 1st. just

received word in a work like multimedia piece martyr loser king he mashes up the past current events and virtual reality to break with an american history that leaves out black voices bias more than you can look at you know the history of lynching in this country through the history of police violence with a history of policing and ordering laws and all of these things and all this is not civilized. this is barbaric. artists and filmmakers continue to draw strength and inspiration from black lives matter and not just the head of the election they are already looking to the time beyond the trump presidency. there will be you know question of how we got here but that also what we did after and i think like like i want to be part of the

what we did after. for the time after trying it is the younger generation who hope that their voices will be heard. and that was our road trip through america's cultural scene after the election the next pass will become clearer thanks for one. change and stay well.

go africa. a boost in digital a solution in the pandemic. an online payment system has gone from wonders motorcycle taxis back on the road after a month's mom drive. now the customers pay for the ride without cash. africa. 30 minutes cause. they're making out calls are aimed.

camilo turning bread in severe and selling some unusual carrots for a bargain and much more coming out about with the foods the various. activists who fought but a lot of this. too good for the garbage and became innovative entrepreneurs in the process. 16. to use crime fighters are back. for those most successful in radio drama series continues. this season for stories focus on hate speech prevention and sustainable production. olympus those are available online and of course you can share and

discuss on africa's facebook page and other social media platforms. writers to know. your my 1st boss was a sewing machine. icon for all women are balanced by this notion for something as simple as knowing how to write a buy side of those news and. since i was a little girl i wanted to have a bicycle off my home and it took me as the night. finally thinking about invention by now my cycles and returns with the sewing machine sewing i suppose was more apt procreates forgoes than rising on my list as no i want to meet south from bozeman back home where bones about identities and social norms and informed him about the basic rights my name is the about of people homes and i work at some of them.

this is the news from. donald trump votes early in the presidential election. i voted for a guy named truck to. stay with the campaign set to be dominated by america's worst crisis trump and robert joe biden confronting the issue also coming up. children in mali head back to school after months of covidien juiced closures but the pandemic is still so.