Trump unbound: inside the 15 November Guardian Weekly

The dust is slowly settling on last week's US election and the consequences of Donald Trump's victory are becoming clear.

In a special edition of the Guardian Weekly, our Washington bureau chief David Smith and diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour reflect on how Trump 2.0 is likely to play out for the US and for the rest of the world.

We look at the role played by the president-elect's key supporter, Elon Musk, and ask what the world's richest man can now expect back in return. We also trace the rise of the vice-president elect JD Vance, who is now just a heartbeat away from the presidency.

And senior US political reporter Joan E Greve considers the Democrats – bereft, broken and facing an internal civil war after a campaign that ended in disaster.

Perhaps a question above all others though is what the result reveals about the country the US has become. Andrew Gumbel delves into the psyche of modern America and asks whether the return of Trump signals the end of the American dream as we know it.

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Five essential reads in this week's editionSpotlight | Odour of oil and return of Trump hang heavy over Cop29 As the annual UN climate summit got under way in Azerbaijan this week, Fiona Harvey sizes up the hopes for progress

Science | Unravelling the paradoxes of plankton Scientists are sequencing the DNA of microscopic marine life – to help us learn more about ourselves, reports Brianna Randall

Feature | When adult children cut the cord Grownups who cut of f contact with their family are often trying to break away after a traumatic childhood. But sometimes the estrangement can be totally unexpected for parents. By Gaby Hinsliff

Opinion | Trump unleashed will be even worse than last time's dress reherarsal From a public health crisis to the end of Nato, the threats are clear, writes Jonathan Freedland

Culture | Sportswriters and arts critics swap jobs How does the English National Opera compare to the Premier League ... or the NFL to a West End musical? Our sports and culture experts found out

What else we've been reading A troubling news cycle; the onset of winter (not you southern hemisphere, you're coming out the other side); your dunked biscuit just dropped into your mug? Sometimes all you need is a good book to restore your faith in humanity. Novelist Francesca Segal has your (paper) back . Neil Willis, production editor

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