Hey, everybody, we got a great one today, you know, for a change, and this time I really mean it.

Because we have Ann Applebaum, who kind of astounds me every time with her depth and breadth of knowledge of the world.

This really is a spectacular one.

And, as you know, is a staff writer for the Atlantic Monthly,

but also a Pulitzer Prize-winning author of nonfiction books about Russia and, well, the world.

We have a wide-ranging conversation.

By that, I mean, I ask some questions about a wide-ranging set of topics.

Everything from the specific steps Trump might take to create an autocracy here in the U.S.

To what the various autocracies around the world have in common. Now, here's a perfect,

creepy example of how Trump approaches things. To get a job with the Republican National Committee now,

you have to answer the question, who won the 2020 presidential election? And the answer you have

to give is Trump. We have to show that you're willing to lie to get a job. And of course,

that's the case. We also discuss

how Putin is playing the mass shooting at the mall outside Moscow and the costs of our

inaction in Ukraine. The votes are there in the Senate in the House, but Anne suspects that

Mike Johnson's failure to bring it to a vote is all

about Trump putting pressure on the Speaker the same way he pressured Republicans on the border.

But I think if you listen to this one, you'll agree that Ann now belongs in the pantheon of our

greatest guests, from Dahlia Lithwick to your Norm Ornstein to your

Gentile greatest guests like Heather McGee to

I'm having trouble thinking of another Gentile greatest guest but

all of that figured out by next week. In the meantime please enjoy this one

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