In one little, seemingly interminable year, a virus laid America low, protests over racial injustice erupted across the country, climate change unleashed record-setting wildfires and hurricanes, and citizens voted in one of the most fraught national elections in history. Will and Siva are joined by a panel of experts for this bonus episode — recorded live — to break it all down and build it back up.

Americans delivered the presidency to Joe Biden last week. But they also issued a referendum on the U.S. electoral system itself. This week we talk to Jamelle Bouie and Dahlia Lithwick about what those voices seem to be saying.

Many people still refer to unauthorized immigrants in America as “illegal” — but it’s the country’s immigration system itself that is lawless and inhumane, says political scientist Elizabeth Cohen.

Is the Supreme Court above politics, or is the law just politics by other means? UVA Law School Dean Risa Goluboff helps analyze the role of the federal judiciary amid America’s cultural shifts and rifts.

Kate Manne argues that contempt for women is not a bug but a feature of Donald Trump’s politics. More than that, she says, misogyny runs deep in American culture and shapes how our government works — for the worse.

Fascism. Can a creeping enthusiasm for World War Two–era totalitarianism prevail in the 21st century? Yale philosopher Jason Stanley thinks so. Not only that, he says: democracies are especially susceptible to fascist ideals.

Is Donald Trump a rhetorical genius? Communications expert Jennifer Mercieca thinks so. This time on the show, she unpacks Trump’s linguistic virtuosity — and explains why it makes him a demagogue.

Phil Howard has studied — and lived through — misinformation campaigns around the world, but he never thought Western countries like the United Kingdom and the United States could fall prey to bots, trolls and digital operatives.

The core safeguards of the Voting Rights Act are unraveling. We’ve been here before, historian Carol Anderson tells Will and Siva. But Americans won’t sit by as their ballots are shredded.