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The Catholics say hope is a theological virtue, and while none of the four participants in a special Need to Know is Catholic, all are upholding it this week.

Peter Wehner joined first, Wednesday morning, for reflections on the challenge to conservatives of a Trump presidency. On Thursday, Jay and Mona welcomed David French. They talk Supreme Court, Obamacare, and then, inevitably, foreign policy and character. It's a bizarre stew, cooked up by history.

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Jay and Mona wonder what the next four years will look like now that the Republican Party has taken on so many of the features of the Democratic Party. Is demography destiny? Does anyone still uphold good character and deplore the "coarsening of the culture"? They close with light and dark: A note of fortitude about our task, and dark foreboding from Shostakovich.

Music from this week’s show: End of Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink

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Did Citizens United hand the US electoral system to nefarious corporate interests and "dark money"? We ask former FEC chairman and free speech advocate Bradley Smith. His lucid explication makes even this murky realm of the law very clear.

Jay and Mona then consider emotionalism, tribalism, and extremism in American politics. Also, is it just the women angle that makes Trump unacceptable? Bob Dylan gets a shout out that he might not like.

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Presidential historian Tevi Troy drops by to talk about crises. He's written a book titled Shall We Wake the President? Wilson was a flop at responding to the 1918 flu, but Reagan responded well to the Tylenol poisoning case. This much is certain: Every president will have to respond to a crisis, so . . .

After Tevi departs Jay and Mona consider the crisis of the election and the hypocrisy of the right. How did we get here? Will we all come back together after November 8? 

Music from this week’s episode: Leontyne Price, Carlo Bergonzi – Aida, “O terra addio”

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Note: This podcast was recorded before the Trump video story broke. 

Mona and Jay talk about him and her - you know, the major-party presidential nominees. They also talk about some other things: including the Nobel Peace Prize, Captive Nations Week, Bill Cosby, and music.

Bill Cosby, you say? In his legal distress, he has turned to racism - charges of racism. With patriotism, they are a last refuge. 

The podcast goes out on music by Prokofiev - from his great ballet "Romeo and Juliet."

Also, here is a link to the Czardas piece discussed in the show.

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The match of the century? Hardly. Jay and Mona speculate on which Republican could have done what Trump failed to do in the first debate - really take it to Hillary Clinton. They talk trade, Lewinsky, taxes (did Trump admit he doesn't pay them?), "trickle down" economics, demeanor, and more. The closing music is emblematic of the Republican Party this year.

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