In 2016, polls consistently showed Donald Trump trailing Hillary Clinton, so pundits were shocked at his victory. This time around, polls once again give the Democrats a comfortable lead, but are they any more reliable than last time? Sean Trende is a senior analyst for RealClearPolitics who has been tracking the 2020 polls. He tells Hari Sreenivasan his key takeaways.

Early voting has racked up record numbers in the U.S. – more than 50 million so far – with national opinion polls clearly giving Joe Biden a lead over President Trump. But of course the electoral college decides the winner, which means just a few key states hold a lot of power. Strategist Sarah Longwell and Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman join Christiane to discuss.

Violence is flaring up between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The conflict centers around the tiny enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is officially part of Azerbaijan but also home to ethnic Armenians. Today, the foreign ministers of both countries met Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a bid to seal a ceasefire. Zohrab Mnatsakanyan joins the program to discuss.

The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh is a complicated and fraught one. To hear both sides, the program also invited the Azeri Foreign Minister onto the show, but he was unavailable. Instead, to provide wider geopolitical context to the story, Christiane speaks with former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder.

A total of 38 people are reported dead in the course of two weeks of demonstrations by Nigerians against state violence. Activist and rapper Folarin Falana, better known by his stage name of Falz, helped lead one of the first protests two weeks ago and has been taking part ever since.

What it means to be American, both in body and in soul, has been on Ayad Akhtar’s mind for years. His new book "Homeland Elegies" – partly a memoir, partly a novel--looks at the immigration experience through a son’s relationship with a father who supports Donald Trump. Akhtar discusses this fraught family situation with Hari Sreenivasan.

Many of us are missing the joys of live performance: concerts, plays, clubs, rock bands, opera. Artists are suffering too, from the loss of jobs, livelihoods, and joy. But the pandemic has also sparked creative brilliance, as in the case of jazz singer Melody Gardot. She joins the show from Paris to talk about creativity during a pandemic.

With Biden leading comfortably in polls, it seems the biggest obstacle President Trump faces is justifying his handling of the pandemic. At this 11th hour, can Trump turn it all around? Christiane speaks with the RNC’s national spokesperson about how the GOP hopes to win over the voters in the final days of the race.

Some 32 million Latinx Americans are eligible to vote, and for the first time they are predicted to be the largest minority in a presidential election – something that is not lost on Biden or Trump. Vice correspondent Paola Ramos' new book Finding Latinx is a reflection on identity and why fewer than half in her community voted in 2016.

Black women form the backbone of the Democratic Party. In 2008 and 2012, they turned out in historic numbers to elect Obama. In 2016, fewer voted for Clinton – a warning to Biden that their vote cannot be taken for granted. To discuss their own political journey and the obstacles they still face, Christiane speaks with civil rights activist Xernona Clayton and historian Martha S. Jones.

In an historic first for the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis has publicly endorsed same-sex civil unions. The pontiff made the comments in an interview for a new documentary, saying that “homosexual people have the right to be in a family." Christiane speaks with Father James Martin, who met with Pope Francis last year to discuss pastoral care for LGBT Catholics.

Voting rights is Jessica Huseman’s beat, as lead reporter of ProPublica’s Electionland project – a coalition of newsrooms across America which investigates problems with ballot access, vote by mail, and misinformation. She speaks with Michel Martin about those challenges during this pandemic.

Amid the winner-take-all ruthlessness of American politics, Harvard professor Danielle Allen makes the case for unity. Allen is director of Harvard’s Center for Ethics and is spearheading its COVID-19 response initiative. She tells Walter Isaacson why rampant factionalism is a major roadblock to governance.

2020 is a critical census year, as each state gears up to apportion resources over the next ten years. In the last census, Republicans racked up major advantages in Congress and in the states. Now, Democratic activists are fighting back at the grassroots level. Christiane speaks with two activists leading the charge.

Coronavirus cases are alarmingly on the rise. One of the nation’s leading experts predicts the next six to twelve weeks will be the darkest of the entire pandemic. Over the past five months, Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney has uncovered a tragic trail of missteps by the Trump administration. He joins the program alongside former BARDA director Rick Bright.

Tens of thousands of people have rallied across France in tribute to teacher Samuel Paty, after he was beheaded on Friday at his school near Paris. The killer, an 18-year-old Chechen refugee, was later shot dead by police. Journalist Caroline Fourest reacts to the tragedy.

Kara Swisher is a fearless and highly respected business and technology reporter working to shed light on the inner workings of big tech. Now she brings her expertise to a new podcast, “Sway,” for New York Times Opinion. In a Zoom call from D.C., Swisher speaks with Walter Isaacson about tech giants, the online spread of conspiracy theories, and Facebook's efforts to step up.

As the election draws closer, America’s coronavirus death toll continues to climb. The devastating, ongoing crisis is a major test for America's healthcare system, and Andy Slavitt says that the election “will--yet again--be a referendum on health reform.”

The conventional wisdom goes that starting a conflict is much easier than ending one, and the opposite of war is not necessarily peace. This knowledge is the driver behind "Imagine: Reflections on Peace," a new project designed to encourage dialogue around this subject. Christiane speaks with photographer Gary Knight--who helped conceive the project--and veteran correspondent Robin Wright.

Major General John C. Harris, Jr. is the commander of the Ohio National Guard, where food insecurity has nearly doubled since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. He sits down to speak with Hari Sreenivasan at the heart of the state’s largest operation, the Mid-Ohio Food Collective.