Carol Leonnig & Philip Rucker

Pulitzer Prize journalists Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker discuss their book “A Very Stable Genius.”

Carol Leonnig is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who has worked at The Washington Post since 2000. She won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for her work on security failures and misconduct inside the Secret Service. She was part of a Post team that was awarded the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for revealing the U.S. government’s secret, broad surveillance of Americans through the disclosures of Edward Snowden. She is a three-time winner of the George Polk Award for investigative reporting. She reports on Donald Trump’s presidency and investigates Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Leonnig is also an on-air contributor to NBC News and MSNBC.

Philip Rucker is the White House Bureau Chief for The Washington Post. He previously has covered Congress, the Obama White House and the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaigns. Rucker also is a Political Analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. He joined The Post in 2005 as a local news reporter.

Leonnig and Rucker authored “A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America” which debuted at number one on The New York Times best-seller list. The book tracks the first three years of the Trump presidency relying on intimate, revelatory interviews with first-hand witnesses and including never-before-reported details. 

Jeff Flake

Former U.S. Senator Jeff Flake gives his perspective on Washington politics.

Jeff Flake served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and was then elected to the United States Senate where he served for six years. He chaired the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology & the Law and the Africa Subcommittee of the Foreign Relations Committee where he passed landmark legislation on wildlife trafficking and democratic governance. Working across the aisle, Senator Flake was the lead House Republican in a successful effort to prohibit spending earmarks and the lead Senate Republican to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba. Flake did not seek re-election in 2018 and became a contributor to CBS News.

Michael Beschloss

Presidential historian and author Michael Beschloss discusses his book “Presidents of War,” the state of U.S. democracy and writing history books that hold relevance in the modern era.

Michael Beschloss is a historian and author of numerous books on presidential history including The New York Times bestsellers “Presidential Courage” and “The Conquerors,” as well as two volumes on Lyndon Johnson’s White House tapes. His book “Presidents of War” chronicles the difficult decisions made by presidents from James Madison during the War of 1812 to present. Beschloss was also editor of the bestseller “Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy.” He is the NBC News Presidential Historian, a “PBS NewsHour” contributor and has received an Emmy and six honorary degrees. Beschloss lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and two sons.

John Kerry

Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talks about climate change, his military service in the U.S. Navy and his 2018 memoir, “Every Day Is Extra.”

John Kerry has served most of his adult life in public service – as Navy lieutenant in combat in Vietnam, a prosecutor, lieutenant governor, Democratic nominee for president of the United States, five-term senator and U.S. Secretary of State. He has been witness to and participant in some of the most important events of our recent history. His book, “Every Day Is Extra,” is a revealing memoir where he acknowledges faults, mistakes and lessons learned the hard way.

Yamiche Alcindor

Journalist Yamiche Alcindor talks about covering the 2016 election, writing for The New York Times and reporting for “PBS NewsHour.”

Yamiche Alcindor is the former White House correspondent for the “PBS NewsHour” and is currently the Washington correspondent for NBC News. Before joining “NewsHour,” she worked as a national political reporter for The New York Times where she covered Congress and wrote about the impact of President Donald Trump’s policies on working-class people and people of color. She earned a master’s degree in broadcast news and documentary filmmaking from New York University and a bachelor’s in English, government and African American studies from Georgetown University.

Peter Baker

New York Times chief White House correspondent Peter Baker discusses his book, “Obama: The Call of History.” Baker also talks about his experience covering the Trump presidency.

Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times and a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine. He has covered the presidencies of Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. Before joining The Times in 2008, he spent twenty years writing for The Washington Post. Baker has written several books.

Overheard with Evan Smith made possible with generous support from these underwriters.