Hello and welcome to the 538 Politics Podcast.

I'm Galen Drick.

After nearly 20 years of war, the Taliban has returned to power in Afghanistan far more

quickly and thoroughly than the Biden administration expected when it announced plans to withdraw

U.S. troops from the country.

New reports over the weekend showed scenes of chaos and desperation as thousands of people

try to flee the country.

Today we're going to take a look at what Americans thought of the war in Afghanistan

and the Biden administration's withdrawal plan.

Also last week we got once in a decade data about who Americans are and where they live.

The Census Bureau released the demographic and geographic information from its 2020

count which we're going to dig into.

Over the past decade, the country has grown significantly more racially and ethnically

diverse and concentrated around metropolitan areas.

In fact, a majority of U.S. counties lost population since 2010 with growth in metropolitan

areas making up virtually all of the country's population gains.

So here with me to discuss all that today are managing editor Micah Cohen, holmika.

Hello.

Also here with us is politics editor Sarah Frostonson, hey Sarah.

Hey Galen.

And elections analyst Jeffrey Scully, hey Jeff.

Hey Galen.

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