Washington Post editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes says her profession serves as a canary in the coalmine for freedom of expression, a kind of oxygen monitor for democracy itself. When cartoonists are ducking for cover, she says, you'd better watch out. She also shares with Kim why she made the jump from Disney animator to thick-skinned political commentator, through drawing. Then Wendy Wick Reaves, who procured stacks and stacks of political cartoons for the National Portrait Gallery, explains why President Nixon with a Pinocchio nose is indeed a form of portraiture.

Find Ann’s work on Twitter, @AnnTelnaes.

See other images we discuss:

Polly Got A Cracker, by Charles Nelan

Anti-Cartoon Bill Defiance

The Watergate Bug, by Patrick Oliphant

The Credibility Gulf Stream, by Draper Hill

The Gulf Stream, by Winslow Homer