Hey, everybody. I've got an odd one today, you know, for change. After this intro, you'll hear a

16-minute interview with Dahlia Lithwick about Justice Ginsburg and the court and the

harrowing path forward on the election and very likely

post-election court battle. And she is just brilliant, you know, as always. And that will bum you

out. We're all bummed out and anxious and scared between the pandemic and the very real

prospect that Trump is going to do everything he can to steal this election. The only way he won't

steal this election is if he can't. So I have decided that you might want some laughs.

And the last 35 minutes of today's podcast is a piece I've written and performed entitled

The Day the President Laughed.

It's an allegory.

Jared and Ivanka and Eric and Don Jr.

realize that they have never seen their father laugh. So they have

a contest. And the person who can make the president laugh will win title to one of the family

high rises in Midtown Manhattan. And I am very happy with the day the president laughed,

and I know you'll enjoy it. Here's a short sample.

Hello, Mr. President Trump, sir.

Penn said brightly with a respectful tip of his top hat.

Didn't I fire you? Yes, you did, Mr. President.

Penn nodded.

Then Teller nodded as well.

Ivanka watched as her father, who, for the first time that day, rose from his chair.

Slowly, he walked around the desk and approached the team, eyes squinting menacingly, just inches from Teller's face.

...