The Gist

As the Soviet Union crumbled, George H.W. Bush's strategy was simple: say nothing. Historian Jeffrey Engel tells us about Bush's plain oratory and his relationship with the USSR's last leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. Engel says Bush Sr. and Trump scarcely look like they're from the same party—which, of course, they aren't. His book is When the World Seemed New. In the Spiel, reacting to the allegations against Roy Moore and Louis C.K. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Democrats are feeling triumphant after Tuesday's state and local elections. But it's not a referendum on the president until his name is on the ballot, so E.J. Dionne and Thomas Mann are here to explain remains unique about this moment in American history. Dionne, Mann, and Norman Ornstein are the authors of the book One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported. In the Spiel, hating on the latest iOS update. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Theodore Johnson caught our attention for his tweets about how the White House reacts to protest from black Americans. He brings an interesting perspective as a black man in the U.S. with two decades of military service under his belt—identities, he writes, that stand "toe to toe." Johnson is a fellow at New America and a former speechwriter for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In the Spiel, what Harvey Weinstein's network of spies tells us about the power of legacy media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How do you attempt to document an event as complex and inexplicable as the Vietnam War? Filmmaker Lynn Novick says it helped to prioritize Vietnamese voices as well as people with a flair for speaking. "There's a poetry in just how people express themselves that we look for," said Novick. She and Ken Burns co-directed The Vietnam War, airing now on PBS. In the Spiel, Mike tsk-tsks Donna Brazile's tell-all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The #MeToo movement is flushing out clear-cut cases of sexual harassment and assault, but is it helping us judge cases that are far murkier? Erin Gloria Ryan, senior editor for the Daily Beast, wonders whether people will separate into two camps: those who think accusers should be listened to, regardless of consequences, and those who think the accused should be punished, regardless of evidence. In the Spiel, is this really the lowest point in U.S. history? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The tax plan is out, and New Yorker writer Adam Davidson joins us to play One Question, One Question Only: Is this tax reform? And the voluble Michael Rapaport unleashes his opinions about various "stickmen" (read: athletic Casanovas) and why he's embarrassed to be a Knicks fan. Rapaport's new book is This Book Has Balls: Sports Rants from the MVP of Talking Trash, and he hosts the podcast I Am Rapaport. And in the Spiel, what went wrong in protecting Americans from armies of Russian trolls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Birgitta Jónsdóttir has an unusual background for a politician: she's a poet and a free speech activist. Since 2013, she's been a member of the Icelandic parliament representing the anti-establishment Pirate Party. Jónsdóttir talks to Mike about what it's like to work within a fledgling political party and why she's disappointed with what Wikileaks has become. In the Spiel, how not to respond to a terrorist attack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Was Dr. Seuss racist? Or did his books just not age well? And what is the appropriate response to a canonical work that seems to be littered with racially charged depictions? Philip Nel takes on all these questions and poses some more of his own in his latest book, Was the Cat in the Hat Black? In the Spiel, what if the office of the presidency were leveraged for the sake of constant distraction? We are finding out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can you be scared to death? Can your hair go white from fear? This sounds like a job for "Is That Bullshit?" with Maria Konnikova, our favorite BS detector. Konnikova writes for the New Yorker and is the author of The Confidence Game. In the Spiel, the never-ending baseball game and a bothersome T-Mobile ad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker has rolled out the kind of marijuana legalization bill progressives love to fawn over and libertarians love to ridicule. The plan would pressure states to legalize marijuana by withholding federal money. Booker cedes that the bill's passage doesn't seem imminent, but he likens marijuana legalization to gay marriage, another proposal that saw a rapid surge in popular support: "I'm believing in—I'm claiming a sea change coming in the future." In the Spiel, what is justice for Bowe Bergdahl? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices