Bruce Shapiro's US midterms wrap, plus gun control in Renaissance Italy

US correspondent Bruce Shapiro brings his analysis of the 'blue wave' that saw the Democrats take both the House and the Senate in a resounding repudiation of Trumpian politics in the US mid-term elections. Did any potential presidential candidates emerge? What's the future for the Republicans, and what can the Democrats achieve with Donald Trump threatening to veto their legislation? Plus in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries technological developments meant guns became small enough and affordable enough to be used by ordinary men. Italy led the way, helped along by Leonardo da Vinci. They caused havoc, and posed a difficult question for rulers - how to balance their need for defence versus how to control the use of guns in everyday life.

Guests:

• Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine and Director of the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma.
• Catherine Fletcher, author of The Firearm Revolution: From Renaissance Italy to the European Empires

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