This is Talk Easy. I'm Stan Forgoso. Welcome to the show.

Today, the governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro.

Almost exactly a year ago to the date,

just hours after observing the first night of Passover,

an arsonist firebombed the governor's residence in Harrisburg.

Shapiro, his wife and their children,

thankfully escaped on harm,

but the emotional aftermath, the wreckage of that night. It stayed with him. In the opening

pages of Shapiro's new memoir, Where We Keep the Light, he describes the attack in intimate detail.

As I looked around at the destruction before me, he writes, I couldn't help but think of how

everything was a few hours earlier, as we recounted the story of our ancestors escaping bondage thousands of years ago.

During the Trump era, political violence has become an increasingly urgent issue.

Couple that with the rise in anti-Semitism, and it becomes clear why Governor Shapiro, a proud man of faith, found himself in the

crosshairs of an unwell arsonist. Cody Balmer has since pleaded guilty to attempted murder, and will

serve a total sentence of 25 to 50 years in prison. Shapiro has spent much of his life in public

office, first as a state representative, then as Montgomery

County Commissioner, and finally as Pennsylvania's Attorney General before becoming the state's

governor. During the 2024 election, you may remember him being thrust onto the national stage

while being vetted as a potential running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris. The process included persistent

questioning of his views on everything from Israel-Palestine to the handling of COVID,

to policing in the wake of George Floyd. In the end, Harris selected Governor Tim Walz,

ultimately losing the state of Pennsylvania to Donald Trump by 120,000 votes.

...