Dan Balz, The Washington Post’s former chief political correspondent, has covered every midterm election since 1978. This cycle, the country may again be facing a sea change in Washington.

Jason and Dan discuss President Donald Trump’s historically low polling numbers, the issues driving voter turnout, and what the balance of power in Washington could look like if Democrats retake control of Congress.

Today’s show was produced by Josh Carroll and Layli Nazarova. Video by Daniel Mich. Editing by Ted Muldoon.

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Regular listeners have heard Jason talk about his imprisonment in Iran. He chronicled his entire ordeal in the podcast “544 Days.” Today, we’re presenting the first episode of that series.

For 544 days, Jason Rezaian was held hostage in Iran’s notorious Evin prison. Interrogated. Sealed off from the outside world. He was accused of being an American spy, though his formal title was Washington Post Tehran correspondent. This is a story about government and family and journalism, and what it took to free an innocent man … all while navigating the high-stakes world of nuclear diplomacy.

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Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa has spent decades defending press freedom, work that made her a target of then-Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and left her facing years of legal jeopardy. She is out with a new book, “The Fight Back: A Citizen’s Guide to Standing Up to Dictators.”

Maria joins Jason to discuss the biggest threats facing democracy around the world: the ascendance of authoritarian governments, the impunity of technology companies and the ways artificial intelligence could erode our collective humanity.

Today’s show was produced by Josh Carroll and Layli Nazarova. Video by Daniel Mich. Editing by Ted Muldoon.

Subscribe to The Washington Post here. And watch us on YouTube here.