**In 2020, two mighty sets of forces battled for control of the United States.**
Trump led the charge, threatening to continue his brand of racist, gangster capitalism. Revolted by the prospect, the Democrats, influenced by Bernie Sanders, mobilised voters in record numbers. *But, now in the White House, can Biden and the liberal centre ally with progressives under the banner of humanity to renew democracy on Earth and save our ecosystem?*
From **Anthony Barnett,** co-creator and former editor-in-chief of [openDemocracy](https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/), comes this blazing response to the confrontation between Trumpism and Biden in America, that sets out how the future of humankind is at stake. As democracy rests on a knife edge in the USA, changed forever in the wake of Black Lives Matter, the ongoing climate crisis and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, *Taking Control!* makes the case that what is happening in America may yet give us hope for change across the world.
This event will be hosted by Mairi and Anthony will be in conversation with Rory Scothorne.
**Rory Scothorne** is a writer and historian based in Edinburgh. He is a co-author of *Roch Winds: A Treacherous Guide to the State of Scotland* (2016) and writes regularly for the *New Statesman*, *The Guardian* and the *London Review of Books*.