After Dark: The Simpsons and the Springfield Ballot Box

Joshua Paisley is joined by Simpsons enthusiast Damon Balgen to examine two of the show's most politically charged episodes - Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish and Sideshow Bob Roberts - and ask how much has really changed since they first aired in the 1990s. The conversation unpacks Mr Burns' cynically managed gubernatorial campaign, complete with mudslinger, garbologist and a fateful dinner with the Simpsons, before turning to Sideshow Bob's stolen mayoral election, attack ads modelled on the infamous Willie Horton spot, and a Republican Party headquarters that looks fit for Dracula. From voter fraud by deceased pets to the perennial question of whether it's the economy or the character assassination that wins elections, the episode explores what The Simpsons - four decades on - still gets right about political corruption, media manipulation, and family dinner table division. And just how Springfield would handle Brexit.