After narrowly missing out on making the second round of the presidential election, the leader of the left in France, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, is battling Emmanuel Macron’s renamed Renaissance party to win this weekend’s legislative elections. Could he give the president a tough five years?The New Statesman's Europe correspondent, Ido Vock, joins Emily Tamkin and Katie Stallard to look ahead to the vote.Also this week, as a progressive district attorney is recalled in San Francisco, the panel discuss why US police are so bad at tackling crime.In You Ask Us, Ido, Emily and Katie answer a listener’s question on whether Vladimir Putin might actually be dead or dying? If you have a question for You Ask Us, email podcasts@newstatesman.co.uk.Further reading:Headache for Emmanuel Macron as support for the French left surges.Policing in America is broken.Is Vladimir Putin dead? Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.