Two weeks until the midterms, and apparently everyone has decided to make things weird. Janesh and Markos dig into Republicans' increasingly desperate dirty tricks, from a Josh Hawley staffer's viral confrontation with Abdul El-Sayed to a truly ugly family attack ad in Ohio and a bizarre anti-trans mailing in Texas. Meanwhile, Democrats are finding time for their favorite pre-election tradition: fighting with each other. Plus, early voting is heating up, the hosts debate whether party unity can survive another two weeks, and nobody's quite sure what Trump will do when the election results start rolling in. Buckle up. The final stretch is getting messy.

Janesh returns from Italy with some thoughts on fascism, only to discover that Russia's internet is having a worse week than America's. He and Markos dig into Ukraine's attacks on Russian data centers, Elon Musk's increasingly questionable priorities, and the spectacularly bizarre conspiracy theory surrounding James Talarico's eight-day absence. Plus, Trump's new press secretary makes a memorable first impression, Mark Zuckerberg tries desperately to be a normal guy drinking Guinness, and the world's richest people prove once again that money can't buy taste. Turns out history's worst characters might just be failed creatives with unlimited resources.

Republicans are staring at ugly polls and have finally identified the problem: apparently they just need better messaging. Janesh and Markos dig into the increasingly desperate advice conservatives are giving Trump, why you can’t PR your way out of people struggling to afford groceries and gas, and the small problem that their proposed solution is usually just more Trump. Plus, gay whales enter the culture war, MAGA discovers trolling is less funny when the bills are due, and somebody finally suggests the one strategy Republicans haven’t tried: hiding Trump. Want more? Donate 👉 https://tinyurl.com/32j27yfy Newsletters 👉 https://tinyurl.com/yfc5w263 Signup 👉 https://tinyurl.com/4djw6rmn