On this episode, The Washington Post's Libby Casey, Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann are joined by religion reporter Michelle Boorstein and Rome bureau chief Anthony Faiola to discuss the papal conclave and the election of the first American pope, Leo XIV.

The crew breaks down the process the cardinals followed, then dives into the politics of the conclave: How cardinals make themselves candidates, and how they try to elevate their positions behind the scenes while adhering to the strict traditions surrounding the process.

And finally, the crew breaks down whether the cardinals take American politics, or world politics, into account at all when choosing a new leader for the Catholic Church.

On this episode, The Washington Post's Rhonda Colvin and James Hohmann are joined by senior national political correspondent Naftali Bendavid to break down whether President Trump is setting up his second term to make him a chief executive associated with prosperity, or with austerity. Having run on a platform of economic populism, Trump now says the country will have to endure "pain" – but is that what voters wanted?

Then, Trump is using the power of the presidency to influence, or even bully, American institutions, from law firms to colleges and universities to the news media.

And is his social media post showing an AI-generated image of himself in papal clothing a joke that's landing in the Catholic community?

On this episode, The Washington Post's Libby Casey and Rhonda Colvin are joined by national political reporter Maeve Reston to break down what's going on with Democrats – from the big stars like Kamala Harris, who have recently run for office, to the up-and-coming names who are already positioning themselves for potential 2028 presidential runs.

Plus, what are Democrats in Congress, and former Biden officials, doing to fight back against the Trump administration's most controversial policies?