Episode 132 travels (in spirit) to rural Wisconsin, where a down-to-earth Democrat who didnt talk about Trump just won a major state senate race. What does it mean? Also discussed: Facebooks big algorithm change and an about-to-explode play called Straight White Men.
Episode 132 travels (in spirit) to rural Wisconsin, where a down-to-earth Democrat who didn’t talk about Trump just won a major state senate race. What does this victory mean? Scott Olson / Getty Images

Now that we’re more than a few days into Trump’s “shithole countries” scandal, a strategic point of order has been raised: “Is all this talk of racism bad for Democrats?”

Charles Mudede, Rich Smith, and Eli Sanders tackle this query, which came from a New York Times opinion writer, and they do it in light of Tuesday’s big and unexpected win for Democrats in, of all places, rural Wisconsin. Out there, the winning state senate candidate, Democrat Patty Schachtner, pointedly did not focus her campaign on Trump or his racist prattle. Schachtner beat her Republican opponent by nine points in a region that Trump won, less than two years ago, by 17 points.

After that, Chase Burns is back to talk about a major change to Facebook’s algorithm and what it means for you, the news business, and your grandma’s posts.

Finally, Rich and Eli talk about Straight White Men, a play by Young Jean Lee that’s on its way to Broadway and, probably, an explosion into the national consciousness.

Plus…