At just 40 years old, Stephen Miller has cemented himself as the most influential policy mind and speechwriter of the MAGA era. Aside from Steve Bannon — and Trump himself — few figures have done more to define what MAGA means in practice.

But influence is only part of the story. Miller is also one of the most polarizing figures in American politics. He has spent much of his career focused on restricting immigration, relentlessly pursuing those ideological efforts with striking intensity. To critics, that focus reflects a broader ideological project with profound consequences.

In this episode, Posting Through It is joined by two people who knew Miller before he became a national figure: author and intellectual Peter Laufer, and Katie McHugh, the former Breitbart News writer who later released emails from Miller that referenced white nationalist material. They join Jared and Mike in helping trace how Miller rose to power—and what his trajectory reveals about the movement he helped shape.

• Order your copy of "Strange People on the Hill: How Extremism Tore Apart a Small American Town"

• Join us in Washington, DC, on April 11 at Politics & Prose (Conn. Ave)

Transition Music: "Souvenirs" by Dragging an Ox through Water