Pushkin.

It's hard to read the news these days without asking yourself, how did we get here?

Fiasco is a history podcast for the co-creators of Slow Burn.

In our first season, Bush v. Gore, we examined an unmistakable turning point in American

politics, the 2000 election, which resulted in a high-stakes stalemate, ended with one of the most

controversial rulings in Supreme Court history.

So if you're trying to make sense at the present moment, check out Fiasco, Bush v. Gore.

Listen on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

From Pushkin Industries, this is Deep Background, the show where we explore the stories behind the stories in the news.

I'm Noah Feldman. This week, we're going to look at North Korea, and in particular, at the leader of North Korea, the fascinating and eccentric Kim Jong-gun.

Who is Kim Jong-gun?

We have this tendency to think of him as a kind of wild-eyed tyrant.

Ridiculous, pot-bellied, more or less a child, with an eccentric love of the Chicago Bulls,

a love that's led him straight into the arms of the almost equally eccentric Dennis Rodman.

At the same time, we also think of Kim Jong-un as a dangerous guy.

Torture is his own citizens, killed off his uncle, tortures Americans who happen to find

their way into North Korea,

and perhaps most frighteningly, commands a nuclear arsenal and increasingly sophisticated missiles

that have the range to attack Japan and maybe even someday the United States itself.

Donald Trump is also interested in Kim Jong-un, And in fact, it's hard to think of any

other world leader except possibly Vladimir Putin who's gotten quite the amount of attention

that Donald Trump has given to Kim Jong-un. On some level, Trump treats Kim Jong-un like a dangerous

...