Our conversation begins in the 1960s, when Guiliani, then a promising young Democrat, meets two men he admires: John and Bobby Kennedy. Two decades later, Guiliani is U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York prosecuting the heads of the five families, when John Gotti motions to order his assassination. Fast forward to 2001, we all know Giuliani’s role on 9/11 as the picture of leadership during a crisis, earning him recognition as Time Magazine's Person of the Year, being Knighted by the Queen, and dubbed, "America's Mayor" by Oprah. The morning of our interview, he retraces his steps in Lower Manhattan, reliving his experience of that fateful day. Nowadays, Rudy describes how some people run up to hug and thank him for his leadership, while at the same time, others yell expletives that he is unwilling to repeat.

For those of us who long to recreate an age where our leaders set aside personal differences to stand united in the face of an existential threat, Rudy Giuliani will not be of service. His podcast, Common Sense, features a steady stream of unfiltered claims against leading Democratic figures. Spoiler Alert: Rudy does not like the Bidens. As a podcaster, his goal is to provide information that The New York Times will not. While Giuliani’s placement on the Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart ranks the show on par with Rachel Maddow and Anderson Cooper, advertisers who might consider alignment with his program must count the risks of his position on the right as commentator and participant.

The search for a modern unifying figure in America feels like an acid trip through a house of mirrors. The Rudy Giuliani we see today is beleaguered, but defiant, resembling more of the New York Prosecutor of the 80's than the unifying figure we met on September 11th, 2001, but this time, without backing from the halls of power.

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