You already know that the Electoral College lets candidates win the presidency while losing the popular vote (Donald Trump in 2016 springs to mind). But you might *not* know about the long history of failed attempts to reform or eliminate the institution — or how little guidance the Electoral College actually would actually provide in a close, hotly contested election like the one we’re currently having.

Spend a half hour with this Scrum, though — in which Peter Kadzis chats with Harvard’s Alex Keyssar, author of the new book “Why Do We Still Have The Electoral College?” — and you’ll gain that knowledge and more. (Warning: you may also be significantly more anxious about what the coming weeks may bring.)