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It's the Brian Laira Show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone.

Coming up on today's show, we have historian and now popular newsletter writer Heather Cox Richardson on, you might call it 250 years of democracy versus the temptation toward authoritarianism in this country, including yesterday's comment by Chief Justice John Roberts.

Did you hear this?

That indicates he's watching.

Richardson wrote a whole book a few years ago about what she calls Trump's authoritarian experiment

and what might be different today from previous eras in the U.S.

Heather Cox Richardson coming up. Also,

very interesting mayoral campaign news about who's raising money from a lot of people and who

might now run as an independent. You can probably guess who that one is. And a call in for Canadians.

How have Trump's demands and insults and claims that Canada is not

rightly a country, but the 51st state affected your sense of national pride or anything else?

That's all coming up. First, Chuck Schumer. The Senate minority leader continues to be a lightning rod

in his own party for not forcing a government shutdown last

week by refusing to vote for the Republican six-month budget bill, right? He argued the effects of

the shutdown and the fight would be worse for the country and worse for ultimately stopping

what the Democrats see as the Trump and Musk wrecking ball, worse than the

accusations of being limp. The divisions over that decision highlight longer-term ones in the party

along lines of age and ideology and strategy. Age is getting a lot of press, but it's not just age,

as exemplified by Nancy Pelosi

yesterday, who at 84 is a full decade older than Schumer.

It is about what comes next. I myself don't give away anything for nothing.

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