The presidential election campaign in the US is being described as one of the most toxic battles for the White House to date. Issues and facts frequently take a backseat amid extensive muckraking, personal attacks and scandals. This week's WorldLink US election special explores the growing rift that is threatening to tear American society apart.

Correspondent Benjamin Bathke talks in-depth with America's losers of globalization: low-wage workers having to sleep at the airport, jobless city residents relying on soup kitchens, people working multiple jobs seven days a week. Their hardships are indicative of millions of working and middle-class Americans and citizens of other industrialized countries: living from paycheck to paycheck, the belief that the economic system is "rigged," and a gnawing sense that even their children won't do any better than them.

WorldLink reporter Samantha Early takes a look at the rhetoric and communication channels the presidential candidates have been using to attack each other in one of the most vitriolic campaigns in history. Come along on a journey through Twitter, trolling, attack ads and the hidden but significant role of big data. Find out why Trump is described as a "walking 140-character insult generator" and how Clinton is targeting her adversary with negative advertising.

Hosts Neil King and Gabriel Borrud reflect on the state of the US with the help of some Nobel poetry. Plus, we learn what it's like as an American in Europe during this campaign, and what Germans make of the Trump phenomenon.

Get in touch on Facebook and listen to the show on radio, DW's media center, or SoundCloud. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via RSS feed.