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 examine 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 theHeart 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.

Thank you. the stories in the news. I'm Noah Feldman. What has happened to the American right? That's our topic today. How did a party that

touted itself as the party of ideas turn into the party of Donald Trump? And what are

conservative intellectuals thinking about it?

To discuss that on this week's show, we're joined by Peter Wainer. Peter is my favorite

conservative intellectual of the moment. He's a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy

Center, and he's a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times,

and a contributing editor to the Atlantic Magazine.

He worked for the Reagan administration, the George H.W. Bush administration,

and I first met him when he was working for George W. Bush, first as a speechwriter,

and then as the head of the Office of Strategic Initiatives.

Boy, we haven't seen each other in a long time.

I literally think I at last saw you in the basement conference room in the West Wing

during the Bush administration.

Right, back in the good old days.

Depending on how you think of it.

Yeah, well, compared to Trump, I'd say.

...