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Prologue

Ira and producer Robyn Semien go behind the scenes with some of the Obama staffers to hear what it felt like in the days leading up to the infamous Beer Summit of 2009.

Act Two: Lagerheads

A Democratic club at a bar in South Bend, Indiana, melts down over President Trump, and producer Ben Calhoun is there to see who’s still left in the club at the end of the night.

Prologue

Producer Zoe Chace drives around with Washington Post political reporter extraordinaire Dave Weigel. He delights in this special period in the race where it’s easy to trip over people running for president.

Act One: Wannabes One

Weigel and Zoe drop in on two candidates desperately trying to break out of the one percent.

Act Two: Wannabes Two

Host Ira Glass follows presidential hopeful Julián Castro as he prepares for the first debate of the Democratic primary. His goal is just to let people know he’s in the race! By, possibly, interrupting somebody onstage.

Act Three: Wannabes Three

Producer Emanuele Berry plays Ira Glass some weird inside his head tape of presidential hopeful Cory Booker trying to walk two blocks.

Act Four: Wannabes Four

Producer Ben Calhoun gets on the road with presidential hopeful Andrew Yang as he bestows free money on an Iowa family to make a point.

Act Five: Wannabes Five

Producer Zoe Chace and Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel spin through some greatest hits of their weekend in Iowa once more, and Weigel reflects on what’s about to come next in the presidential race.

Act Six: Wannabes Six

Producer David Kestenbaum drops in on some Republicans who are still trying to field a candidate to challenge this president.

Act Two: The Fairer Sex

When Heidi Schreck was 15 years old she loved the United States Constitution — in part, because she believed it enshrined the idea of fairness. She traveled to American Legion posts across the country, where she competed in speaking competitions about the Constitution.

Act Two: The Red Menace Hits the Crimson Tide

A Democrat in Alabama watches helplessly as Russian internet bots play dirty with the 2016 election. But a year later, those same tactics inspire him to organize an election conspiracy of his own. Producer Ben Calhoun has the story.

Act One: New Sheriffs in Town

Jerry Nadler and other democrats in the House Judiciary Committee were anticipating their first major public appearance – and show of power – since winning back the house in November. As Nadler and his staff prepared to get some answers from then-acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker about his role and conduct as interim AG, producer Zoe Chace follows them behind the scenes for weeks in the run-up to the hearing, to see if their strategies work, or don’t.