Helen and Stephen attempt to bring some calm rationality to the discussion of Brexit and "the backstop" — whatever that turns out to be. Then Helen talks to the American author Rebecca Solnit about reporting on Trump and her new book Call Them by Their True Names. Finally, a listener question: what's going on with universal credit?If you are a New Statesman digital subscriber you can get early, ad free access to this podcast by visiting newstatesman.com/nssubscribers. If you haven't signed up yet, visit newstatesman.com/subscribe to purchase your subscription.Send us your questions for future episodes via Twitter @ns_podcasts, @helenlewis or @stephenkb. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.