John is joined by Alex Wagner, MSNBC primetime host and Heilemann’s former co-star on The Circus, to discuss the big news stories of this past week and cultural touchstones of this past year. Wagner explains how Trump’s efforts at appearing reasonable in his recent Meet The Press interview were foiled by his “spikes of insanity” around freeing imprisoned January 6 rioters, jailing Liz Cheney, and ending birthright citizenship; analyzes his naming of Kimberly Guilfoyle, Don Jr's former fiancee, to be the U.S. ambassador to Greece; and weighs in on the hero worship in certain quarters of Luigi Mangione, accused murderer of healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Alex also reveals the music, movies, TV, and books that slayed her in 2024, as well as her secret history as the author of the beloved (by John, at least) fake food blog The Last Pancake.