Hey, I'm Virginia Haffanan. What you're about to hear is a preview of today's episode,

which is in its entirety, it's exclusive for Slate Plus members only. I'm sad if you're not

able to hear the whole thing because it is a great interview with the great Dave Eger is the author

of a new allegory about Trump called the Captain and the Glory. I know that you've heard me talk

about Slate Plus before, but it's just time to sign up. As a member, you'll get to hear all the

shows, including this one, add free, and you get bonus segments and episodes and digital swag

of all kinds. But perhaps most importantly, you'll be supporting all the work we do here at

Trumpcast, especially as we move forward into this coming election. So head over to Slate.com,

slash Trumpcast Plus to sign up. Thanks so much for listening.

Hello and welcome to Trumpcast. I'm Virginia Haffanan. Okay, as soon as this podcast is over,

I hope you'll buy or download or otherwise acquire the book, The Captain and the Glory. This is

the latest from my guest today, Dave Eger's. I'm going to have to say it to you more even

than I'm going to say it to him because I have just too much praise for this book. The Captain

and the Glory is a very short allegorical novella, but it's capacious enough for all of your

emotions about this period in history. From amusement to grief to irony to horror, the vast array

of sensations and emotions you've experienced since Trump's election or since his campaign,

all of this and more is somehow captured in the Captain and the Glory. I experienced it as a very

generous book. So think of Animal Farm or Philip Roth's kind of awful satire, Our Gang about Nixon.

You don't even have to look back at them. You know they're dry and distant and tart, and it best

often were the instruction about how horrible other people are. Animal Farm is a great book, Our

Gang less great, but in any case, The Captain and the Glory is totally different. It's the strange,

sad story of a venerable ship that's the glory whose passengers got swept up in madness and put

...