From WNYC Studios, it's Brian Lair, a daily politics podcast. It's Monday, April 18th.

Former Congressman Will Hurd is here. A potential 2024 presidential candidate's been reported, and a unique one. Before leaving

Congress at the end of 2020, he was the only black Republican in the House of Representatives.

Wilherd was also a CIA agent stationed in Afghanistan. Before that, he was a computer science major

at Texas A&M. As a congressman, his district was constantly in the headlines during the Trump administration, and it still is really, because it runs along the Texas-Mexico border.

In a new book called American Reboot, Wilhurt outlines a vision for reforming his own party and our politics in general. One chapter,

for example, is explicitly written for Republicans. And when I say explicitly, it's called don't be

an a-hole. He uses the whole word, racist, misogynist, or homophobe. He calls himself a moderate

and wants more people from both parties

to be ones to solve problems rather than point fingers at domestic enemies. The full title of the book

is American reboot and idealist's guide to getting big things done and Wilher joins us now. Congressman,

thanks for making this one of your stops with

your new book. Welcome to WNYC. Hey, Brian, I really appreciate you having me on. Looking forward to

chatting. So before we get to your solutions for America, I thought maybe we'd give listeners

outside of your district or D.C. a chance to know your story a little better. Where did you grow up and what was it like for you there?

Well, I grew up in San Antonio, Texas, born and raised. I'm the baby of three. I have interracial parents. My dad is black and my mom is white. They met in Los Angeles in the late 60s, got married, moved to South Texas in 1971.

It wasn't a time to be in vogue to be an interracial couple in South Texas at that time.

And I studied computer science at Texas A&M University, which is in a place called College Station.

And my freshman year, I was walking

across campus and I saw a sign to take two journalism classes in Mexico City for $425. I had

$450 in my bank account, so I go to Mexico, fell in love with another culture. It was cool,

saying things I only read about books. And that began really my

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