The challenges this country faces when addressing how to approach immigration is anything but simple. Chris gives both a birds eye view and a personal account of how we often fail to see the forest for the trees when considering immigrants past and present, and the intrinsic value they add to our collective.

We've been through SARS, MRSA, and now COVID-19 with little indication that we will be better prepared for the next viral threat. Chris' intuition tells him that if those in charge don't act in an aggressively prudent way now, we are doomed to repeat a flailing response like the one we just endured.

Sinclair Lewis' enduring 1935 novel lays out how delicate and vulnerable our democracy is: we are living history and this time will be remembered. Chris urges us not to simply blame the narratives being fed to us, but to take ownership of our system so Lewis' cautionary tale can remain just that.

Chris' take: Everything is through the looking glass- things are seen only as we hope them to be. This ever-continuing game impacts all: voting laws, the filibuster, even our collective perception of mental health.

Chris talks with A.B. Stoddard about an idea that shifts how we vote and how we elect: Final Five Voting. It's an open primary where the final five go to the general and an instant runoff declares the winner. Can it scratch the itch?

The Wuhan Lab theory is not new. Yes, Trump talked about it but he never offered proof- and we only know what you show. Also: the popularity of populism on both sides of the aisle.

The Mo' Man takes home plumbing matters into his own hands. And he takes some air out of the latest MTG comments: the constant focus is a distraction, and while the GOP would rather be talking about her than infrastructure, the feigned outrage is not party specific.

Chris is in a ponderous mood and thinking about a basic truth: why chase after MGT's comments and continue to give her relevance? It just feeds the game.

Chris looks at how disparities in race and class are both pervasive and when pitted against one another as they often are, continue to create an impasse for any real change. But if the working class could be brought together by common cause, they'd drive real shifts in systemic inequality.

Get stuff done- make some deals. Otherwise the only position is opposition. Right now, there is no battle of ideas but a battle of fears, and the numbers show The Game is afoot.