Mike & Trey open the episode with a look back at the political legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, who died this week. They believe that even though Gorbachev has long been out of power, his impact is felt to this day and there are important lessons we can take away from his failure to preserve the Soviet system.

After that, they’re joined by Ken Katkin for a discussion of President Biden’s prime-time speech warning of the danger to democracy posed by MAGA Republicans. Ken and Mike end up being somewhat more critical of Biden’s speech than Trey, who believes it was important for Biden to make a strong, public statement against forces that turned the current GOP into a party Trey finds difficult to support.

Then it’s a discussion of the search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and office. They get into what the unsealed affidavit revealed (not much, due to all the redactions), Trump’s call for a special master to go through the seized materials, the potential dangers of a Trump prosecution, and how they envision events playing out.

They close the episode by looking at the special election to fill Alaska’s lone US House seat, where Democrat Mary Peltola came out on top of Republican Sarah Palin. Mike, Trey, and Ken consider what this election might tell us about the upcoming midterm elections, as well as their thoughts about rank choice voting more generally.

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