Yes, I think everyone's perfectly framed now.

And my cat is locked up seriously this time, so no dance be cameos.

Hello and welcome to the 538 Politics Podcast.

I'm Gailan Thrupp.

Americans are exhausted, especially when it comes to COVID-19 and former President Trump.

Americans do not want to hear about either anymore, according to the results of a recent poll from Axiots.

And you guessed it, on today's show, we're going to ask if that is a good or bad use of polling.

But good or bad, the last few years of news has been exhausting.

In 2019, before COVID even hit, two-thirds of Americans said they were

worn out by the amount of news these days.

So we're going to discuss what effect this exhaustion has on our politics and our country.

And if we have any energy left, we're also going to take a look at the year ahead in politics.

We are in a midterm election year, maybe you've heard.

And this fall, voters will decide control of both chambers of Congress,

state legislatures around the country, and 36 governorship.

So what do voters care about most and what are the best indicators to look at to understand

the political environment?

Here with me to discuss all that, our politics editor, Sir Frostensen, hey Sarah.

Hey Gailan, hey y'all.

Also here with us, politics and tech reporter Kaylee.

Rogers, hey Kaylee.

Hello.

...