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Christopher Conover: Welcome to The Buzz. I'm Christopher Conover. This week, the view of our election around the world. 

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While some votes are still being counted, the big headlines have been, for the most part, made. Donald Trump will be president again, and Republicans look to have control of at least one chamber of Congress. We'll leave the detailed coverage of results to local, statewide and national newscasts this week. Instead, we'll hit on the big picture view of this election. Recently, AZPM's Danyelle Khmara spoke with BBC correspondent Lyse Doucet while she was in Tucson to receive the Zanger Award for Press Freedom from the University of Arizona School of Journalism. During that conversation, Danyelle asked about where she was off to next, and the topic turned to American elections.

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Lyse Doucet: When I leave here tomorrow, I'm going straight back to Israel to see what the impact of the American election, your elections will be on the Middle East. So I said to my editor, so how long should I stay in Israel? Well, depends what happens in the Americans' elections. So after that, I'd like to go to Afghanistan, because I've been delaying and delaying. When shall I go? Well, depends what happens in the American elections. So I feel my whole reporting is on hold until we see what all of you do, how you vote in the American elections.

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Danyelle Khmara: And what are people saying? What are you hearing?

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Lyse Doucet: In Israel and the parts of the world where you've been talking, everyone's watching, everyone's on tenterhooks, because I often joke, and it's not necessarily a joke that we should all vote in the American elections because they have an impact on all of us. And I was reading an article this morning that you know, Latin American media are covering it because it will have a huge impact on migration. Whoever wins the Middle East is watching because it will have a huge impact on the course of the wars and in Lebanon and in Gaza and beyond, depending on on you who wins? Europeans are watching closely because the future of NATO, the future of global alliances, could be on the line. So it's only days to go, and we're all watching.

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Christopher Conover: That made us wonder how this election was being viewed around the world. So we reached out to other foreign journalists. We next spoke with Aisling Brennan, a reporter at NCA Newswire in Australia. We talked with her on election day before results were released.

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Aisling Brennan: Well, the US election, I believe it's really consumed Australia, probably in the last last week. I'm based in Queensland, and we had our state election just over a week ago. So once that kind of wound up, everyone sort of put their attention on America, because that was the next big spectacle. But at a national perspective, we are really interested. Obviously, you know, it's the biggest election in the world, but all of our major mastheads and broadcasters, they've all sent people over to cover the election. It's, it's the front page news here. It's, it's the breakfast shows. They're all all streaming live from America

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Christopher Conover: Now, of course, you are the next day ahead of us, thanks to time zones and our polls haven't closed yet. I'm not going to ask you who wins, since you're a day ahead, because that would just be wrong and a really bad joke. But at the same time, Is it surprising, compared to other international elections that this is on the front page?

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Aisling Brennan: I think usually that the US election does garner a lot of attention here, I think because of obviously our partnership with America is quite close where one of it's one of our strongest allies. So what happens there could impact here. So it's obviously a big draw card for media to make sure they pay attention. But in terms of international elections, really the only other election we would probably see media attention not to the level we get for America, but still, media attention would be the UK elections, given we are a Commonwealth country here in Australia. Otherwise you don't really hear much about other international elections. There might be some talk about Pacific Island elections, because Australia usually assists with those in terms of making sure they're democratically up to scratch. But otherwise, no, we don't really seem to care about any other country but America. When it comes to elections, even New Zealand, we wouldn't see much coverage, or it might be a small side note in the newspaper who wins the New Zealand election. 

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Christopher Conover: With this election in particular, is the focus on just the presidential race or any of the other things that are going on, maybe in individual states, or the US Senate elections, or things like that.

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Aisling Brennan: I think Australia is just trying to wrap its head around how the presidential election works. Because it's a very different system to here in Australia, so we don't really focus too much on on what's happening in the other side elections, but the issues, I think, are similar to what we would have here. I mean, the abortion debate has been obviously a big topic for the American election. We've had a very similar topic in our local state election here in Queensland in the last month. So there's been some similarities in terms of issues, but I think Australia only really cares about the American presidential race. I don't think many people on the street would realize that there are other elections going on on election day.

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Christopher Conover: It's interesting. We talked to a reporter from the BBC about this, and she jokingly, or maybe not jokingly, said, I think everybody in the world should be able to vote in the US presidential election, because it matters so much to other countries. What do you think about that comment?

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Aisling Brennan: I think she's probably spot on, maybe not voting in the election, but it does have a big influence, regardless of whether you're an ally or not. We, obviously, from Australia, are looking at at the election, and we've got the orcas deal coming up, so that's the submarine deal with Australia, UK and America. So that's kind of a big focus for us. If America decides to turn around and and go back on that deal, could impact our defense contracts up to 2050 so a lot is riding on this election, I think for Australia. It's very much the center of the universe at the moment, in terms of everyone watching America.

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Christopher Conover: All right. Well, thanks for spending some time with us. 

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Aisling Brennan: No worries. I appreciate the chat and hope the next next couple of days or weeks, or however long it takes to find a winner goes smoothly 

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Christopher Conover: After Aisling Brennan, we called up Teagan Rasche, a reporter at Global Winnipeg in Canada, and a University of Arizona alumna.

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Teagan Rasche: I would say that this is the most attention that has ever been paid to an American election. I think maybe the last two to three have definitely had a lot of coverage, but this one was next level. Almost every outlet, both, like locally, nationally, had some stories on it. I know our national team was spread out across the whole entire country this week, covering both sides, covering all the states. It's been very, very well covered

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Christopher Conover: Any discussions in your newsroom or things like that, as to why this one was covered so heavily by Canadian broadcasting?

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Teagan Rasche: I think it's kind of similar to United States outlets, just because there seems to be such a divide right now, the biggest divide we've almost ever seen the United States and up here in Canada, we're watching it so closely because, you know, we are close. We pay attention a lot of things in America up here, but also because our relationship United States is very important for both countries, for the for our economy and with whatever happens there definitely has a trickle effect

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Christopher Conover: In your reporting or just wondering about talking with friends, family, colleagues, people you're running into at the store or the gym. What are average Canadians saying about all of this?

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Teagan Rasche: A lot of Canadians are very surprised with the support that Donald Trump has, I think a lot of them don't understand why so many Americans are for him, and that's speaking very generally. But we even talked to a professional pollster today who said that 75% of Manitobans, if they voted, would have voted for Harris. So it's not just word of mouth, I would say the data is also there to show that more Canadians would support Harris, and our surprise that some people do support Donald. That is definitely the chatter amongst all ages, all demographics, from people in high school, from our local politicians,

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Christopher Conover: You went to the University here in Arizona, studied journalism. You worked as a reporter in the United States, before going back to Canada. Now you've been working in Canada for a number of years as a reporter, so you've seen both versions of election coverage. How is Canadian election coverage of the US election different than what you saw when you were working here in the US?

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Teagan Rasche: I think it's a little bit more dramatized in the US, like I know when I first moved back here, I had a lot more edits in my writing. But I also think the people and the subjects and people you're interviewing are much more passionate. So you're getting people that are very vocal about their views, and so when you put that into your story, your story does become much more emotional.

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Christopher Conover: You said today, the day after the election, you all had talked to pollsters and people like that. Do you think this will be the end of the coverage, if you will, and things will return to more Canadian news for you, or is it going to be like the. US where for quite a while, this is what we're going to be talking about?

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Teagan Rasche: I definitely think it's going to head back to more Canadian coverage, although I do expect these stories to be in our shows every single day, just not the intensity that it was yesterday. I know that the economy and people in business are definitely going to be speaking up and very vocal, because with the possibility of a 10% tariff, that's really going to impact our economy here and the United States is such a big trade support, I think 70% of our our trades go there. So we this relationship is crucial. And almost everyone I've spoken to today about these results have said the most important thing is we keep this relation steady. We've had a friendship that countries around the world are jealous of, and this is something we want to continue on no matter who's in power.

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Christopher Conover: You know, it's interesting. Bring up the tariffs. Is that something that a lot of Canadians are talking about and is getting a lot of coverage, or here it was immigration and abortion. What has been the big story in the Canadian coverage of this US election?

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Teagan Rasche: I think, in terms of what actually affects us is definitely the tariffs that's top of mind. However, the topics of immigration and abortion have also been brought up a lot lately, because it makes us think, well, especially with most Canadians being living so close to the border, are Americans going to start crossing the border to start getting abortions here in Canada? That's the topic that we explored over the last year or two here in Canada. And another thing is, is immigration, because Canadians have a lot of family who might be immigrants into the United States as well, so they're wondering what's going to our family?

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Christopher Conover: All right?,Well, thanks for spending a couple of minutes with us. 

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Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

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 After Teagan Rasche, we called up Daniel Torres with the Mexican news outlet Nueva Dia.

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Daniel Torres: We do have an idea of what the political scene is in the US, because we're really close to the border. I don't know if you know, but I live in Nogales, Sonora. This is the closest town to Arizona, in Sonora, and we do have an idea of how the politics are, and we have this conception about who's going to do better in office. What kind of public policies do they are? They're trying to get through the Congress or through the Senate, but covering the elections, mainly for me, is asking most of the Latino audiences that we have in Nogales, Arizona, what do they feel, or how do they think? Because even if we have an idea here in Mexico, most of the people doesn't really know in what day the election is going to take place, and mostly, how does the voting college works? Or how do do the election work? Because we don't have we do have a lot of questions about that here in Mexico.

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Christopher Conover: Some of the other reporters we have talked to from around the world, their audience was interested in, for example, tariffs or immigration or abortion, all of which are part of this election in the US. Is the same true in Mexico?

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Daniel Torres: Not about the abortion, but the tariffs and the duties and the taxes that Donald Trump has said in the previous previous times that he's gonna give out to Mexico or the companies from the US working in Mexico, or the Chinese companies working with Mexican companies, or US companies. That is a topic that we the most of the people knows, because here Nogales, Sonora, most of the people work in factories. Just to give you context, here in Nogales, we have around 400,000 people living here. Around 100,000 work directly with factories. There are from the US, Europe or Asia. We do know about those duties or taxes that he was selling, that he was going to raise for the companies here in Mexico, because that could potentially impact the companies that give work here in Nogales, Sonora. So that is a topic that we do cover, and the other one is about the crossing policies that we have with different precedents. Just to give you an example, when we had COVID, there was a restriction for US citizens without any priority, to be in the US to come across the border. And that is a tradition here in Nogales. Most of the people here in Nogales, Sonora, go to the US to buy groceries, to buy clothes, to buy shoes, to buy electronics. When we had those restrictions, the way that people did their their buying actually changed during those times. So if the US has a policy against going through the border because of X or Y restrictions, we do notice here Nogales.

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Christopher Conover: It really seems to be a case that people all around the world in Nogales included, are really paying attention to this election, because even though they don't live in the US, the outcome has a big effect on their daily lives.

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Daniel Torres: That is correct, because here in Nogales, we share families, we share culture. Most of the people that have that live in Nogales, Sonora, have relatives in Nogales, Arizona, or in Tucson or in Phoenix, so that do impacts the way they will live here in Nogales, Sonora. So a new policy arrives, a new proposition arrives in Congress that is going to restrict the way of life that we do daily. That is something that most of the people here in Nogales knows, because if we have a restriction, then that's going to change daily life for for Mexicans.

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Christopher Conover: All right. Well, thanks for explaining all this to us. 

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Whenever you want, boss.

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After Daniel Torres, we concluded with Mareike Makosch, a reporter at NDR, the public broadcaster in Hamburg, Germany.

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Mareike Makosch: US elections are always a pretty big deal in Germany. They always have been. We have wide network of correspondence all over the US and we actually have special coverage of the US election. And I think this year it was eight or sometimes even nine hours of non stop coverage. So it is a big deal. We don't even do that for our own elections, because, yeah, ballots here are counted a little faster.

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Christopher Conover: Well, and of course, we're still counting even here in Arizona, which is notoriously slow for its count, which is partially based on the law. So your coverage could continue. But of course, in the midst of all of this, your government broke up somewhat unexpectedly yesterday, so I guess coverage has changed.

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Mareike Makosch: Well, yeah, it's kind of a mix now, because obviously our, our government dissolving is a pretty big breaking news story. But also it might be a reaction to the US election, because the general thought was okay, we need a lot of stability now in Europe and now our government, our own government, dissolves, so the US election still plays a big role in the coverage.

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Christopher Conover: When Donald Trump ran against Hillary Clinton, I remember seeing a newspaper headline from the Hamburg Morgan post it referred to Donald Trump as a horror clown that was eight years ago. But what's the overall reaction in Germany to this election in the US?

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Mareike Makosch: It's interesting because I actually just looked it up again. There was an actual poll in Germany of how we would have voted, and it says, Let me look it up. 74% of Germans would have voted for Harris, and only 11% would have voted for Trump. So the Germans view is quite clear. People here accordingly, are a bit shocked that the US would elect Donald Trump again, even though the polls were closed and there was always the possibility. But I think Germans don't really understand his appeal. That's why there was quite some disbelief yesterday and today that he's actually going to be president again.

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Christopher Conover: Well, and I think a lot of our listeners will find that interesting, because the German elections, the state elections this summer, saw a rise of the far right party. So I think a lot of Americans might be surprised by that poll, that nationally, Germans are still not on board.

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Mareike Makosch: I think you are right. There are similar tendencies in Germany when it comes to the the issues. I think what I hear a lot from Germans is that they think that the government doesn't listen to their problems, that politics only cares about the elites. They don't feel seen, they don't feel heard. So a lot of the concerns that Trump voters also voiced, but for us, Trump does not look like a candidate that would embody this, the entertainment factor. We just don't have that over here. A former TV personality would never become a politician in Germany, we're just a little more, you know, sober, when it comes to things like that. So we don't really see Trump as an actual politician. That's why I think a lot of Germans would actually agree with the concerns the Trump voters have. And they're like, Yeah, I can see why they want to change and why they wouldn't vote for Harris. But Trump, that's a step too far for Germans. I think so.

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Christopher Conover: You were in Washington, DC within the last month on a Rios program. What was the energy like from the German perspective of Washington, DC a month ago?

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Mareike Makosch: Actually, my biggest takeaway was I'd been to the US many times, and something that I've always found very uplifting and interesting about the US is your constant optimism about everything. Okay, things might be bad right now, but the US is going to bounce back and all of that. And this time, for the first time ever, I didn't really feel that anymore. I felt like almost everyone we talked to was super unhappy with the situation for different reasons. Obviously, we talked to the Heritage Foundation and we talked to liberal congress people, so they obviously voiced different reasons for why they think that things are not on the right track. But everyone seemed to feel that things are not great. I felt like people were really tired and, yeah, a bit desperate, almost, and that kind of scared me, because that's something that I have not felt in the US before.

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Christopher Conover: All right. Well, we will leave it there. Thanks for joining us.

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Mareike Makosch: Yeah, love to contribute.

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Christopher Conover: That was Marika makas, a reporter with German public broadcaster and Dr she's also a Rios Berlin commission fellow. You're listening to the buzz after the break, we think about the big picture of this election and mental health. Stay with us,

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NPR promo: no matter what happens in Washington. The NPR politics podcast is here for you. For the latest news, insights and analysis the election and beyond, listen to the NPR politics podcast.

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Christopher Conover: Welcome back to The Buzz. I'm Christopher Conover. We're looking at the big picture of election results this week, people often become very mentally and emotionally invested in elections. So how do we handle the anxiety of either waiting for results or waiting for people we may not have wanted to win to take office? To answer that question. We spoke with Ashley Huggins, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona department of psychology who specializes in post traumatic stress disorder and fear response. 

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Ashley Huggins: You know, I think there is still this uncertainty about what's going to happen next, and there's still a lot of unknowns and uncertainty provokes anxiety. That's whether it's uncertainty about kind of bad things that could happen or positive things just kind of across the board, people don't like having to sit with the unknown. And now, you know, there's a period of of time that we don't know what's going to happen and how things are going to unfold. And that can increase a lot of anxiety for for people, regardless of kind of how you feel about how the election turned out. 

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Christopher Conover: When it comes to that type of anxiety, what do we all need to do? And maybe you aren't feeling the anxiety about the election. Maybe it's something else. There are so many things in the world that drive our anxieties, but what are some things that we need to do, especially people who are feeling this anxiety about the election, to try and get themselves recentered?

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Ashley Huggins: Yeah, I mean, I think one thing is, I think people have a natural tendency to catastrophize and, you know, worry about all of the what ifs. And, you know, in the context, again, of the election, if things didn't go how you maybe wanted them to go, you know, I think it's natural for people to feel anxious about that. So just recognizing, you know, that we still don't have information, and catastrophizing about it isn't necessarily going to to be helpful, except for maybe making you feel worse or more anxious or upset about things. And you know, I think just then finding space to take care of yourself, and you know, whether that's setting boundaries in terms of conversations you're engaging in, or kind of your current you know, level of functioning at work or school or wherever that may be, taking time to do things that you enjoy, just getting out in nature, Doing hobbies. 

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Christopher Conover: It sounds like maybe the advice is put the phone down and go for a walk.

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Ashley Huggins: Yeah. I mean, that's certainly a right. Putting the phone down and going for a walk isn't necessarily going to fix how you're feeling, but it can be helpful in, you know, kind of stopping the cycle of just kind of endlessly Doom scrolling and kind of getting more and more worked up about things that you maybe can't control or you can't necessarily, no matter how how long you scroll on your news feed or on social media, you're not necessarily going to get more answers at this point in time. So if anything you know, it's just easy to fall into this trap of getting more. And more worked up without actually problem solving when

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Christopher Conover: it comes to anxiety again, whatever the cause, be it the election or whatever, we all have these moments where we're dealing with the anxiety, that's fine. I guess it might not be feel fine in the moment. But is there a point where it's not fine, and we really need to start reaching out for some professional help and some counseling, as opposed to I'm having a bad day, I'm very nervous about a job interview or or an election outcome? Is there a point where it stops being normal and becomes, well, normal is not even the right word. It becomes a point where maybe we should start reaching out for some professional help.

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Ashley Huggins: Yeah, you know, I think the point in working with patients and trainees and clinical psychology, you know, in thinking about the people that we are trying to help who are experiencing anxiety, depression, just kind of negative mood across the board, the kind of main indicator of maybe someone needing to pursue professional help, in some ways, how how much distress it's causing, and how much of a problem it's becoming. So you know, feelings of anxiety again, regardless of what they're about, if they start getting in the way of your life in some way, you can't get your schoolwork done. You can't do well at work. You are maybe just kind of unable to detach from those feelings of anxiety or depression or stress, like, if it's really starting to get in the way and bother you, and especially if that's going on for an extended period of time, that's when it starts to be maybe this is something that should be treated in a more formal way. 

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Christopher Conover: When it comes to people who maybe aren't feeling that same level of anxiety. There's a lot of people right now with a lot of anxiety about the election and what it all means going forward into the future, but friends family. Is there a good way that if I, for example, see you and you and I work together, and I realize, hmm, she she's not her normal self. Something seems to be off. Is there a better way, or a correct way for me to approach you without increasing your anxiety to make sure that you're okay, and maybe recommend you get some help or just check in?

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Ashley Huggins: Yeah, that's a good question. You know, I don't think there's necessarily a kind of right or correct way to do that, because I think that's also going to be, you know, very dependent on the individual that you're checking in on and kind of their their comfort level in kind of discussing their mental health, discussing their feelings about anxiety, causing life circumstances. So I think there's no one right approach. But I think just kind of generally speaking, if you are concerned about a friend or a family member, a colleague and kind of how they're coping, to just try to check in, you know, very open ended, and be receptive to to having those conversations and being empathetic, and, you know, reaching out if it seems like somebody maybe is in need of extra support, but trying to do so and where you're not necessarily also trying To force a conversation to happen if somebody is not feeling ready to have that conversation, particularly based on like, your relationship with them.

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Christopher Conover: All right, we will keep all that in mind as we go forward in the coming weeks and coming into the holidays, which have their own sets of anxieties for a lot of people, and into the new year. Thanks so much for spending some time with us. 

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Ashley Huggins: Yeah, thanks so much for having me.

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Christopher Conover: That was the University of Arizona's Dr Ashley Huggins, and that's The Buzz for this week. Tune in next week as we celebrate a big anniversary for a well known state park. You can find all our episodes online at azpm.org and subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcast, just search for The Buzz Arizona. We're also on the NPR app. Zac Ziegler is our producer, and Our music is by Enter the Haggis. I'm Christopher Conover. Thanks for listening.

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Nicole Cox: Azpms original productions are made possible in part by the community service grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by donations from listeners like you. Learn more at support.azpm.org