Chief Speechwriter, political adviser, and scribe to Ronald Reagan, attorney Ken Khachigian served in Richard Nixon's White House and assisted with Nixon's memoirs. In the first half, he discussed what it was like working under two influential presidents, Nixon and Reagan. "I was always a political junkie," he shared, recounting how he got his start volunteering for Nixon's 1968 presidential campaign, and then spent four formative years in the Nixon White House, gaining invaluable insights into politics and governance. When asked about Watergate and Nixon's resignation, Khachigian expressed regret, saying, "We misread a transcript... we thought it was a smoking gun." He argued they should have fought a constitutional battle with the Senate and Congress. He praised Nixon's resilience post-presidency, noting, "He went on to write nine bestselling books... and traveled the world."

Nixon had great political acumen and was a genius in terms of his global decisions, though he did have some shortcomings in judgment, Khachigian acknowledged. He rated Reagan high for his common sense understanding of economics and talked about how he liked to rework Khachigian's drafts before he presented a speech. Both Nixon and Reagan spoke at their campaign rallies without using teleprompters, which he thinks are overused today and reduce communication effectiveness by having less eye contact with the audience. Khachigian revealed that when he went to work in the Reagan administration, "Nixon used me to send secret memos to Reagan" that he passed on, and so Nixon could be considered an unofficial advisor to his successor.

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Music historian Scott G. Shea is a longtime radio producer who currently works at XM. In the latter half, he explored the rich history of rock and roll and pop music, focusing on the iconic group The Mamas and the Papas, as well as the legendary band Fleetwood Mac. During the 1960s, The Mamas and the Papas had a number of hits in the top 10, with "Monday, Monday" reaching number one. However, the group disbanded by 1971, largely due to internal conflicts, and the tragic death of Cass Elliot in 1974 prevented a reuniting of the original members. "You can't really have The Mamas and the Papas without her," Shea remarked. He credited John Phillips as the group's driving force-- he could take average singers and make them sound good; with people who could really sing like Cass and Denny [Doherty], "the sky was the limit."

The band's sound was influential, and even after they broke up, their records continued to sell well. Reflecting on their song "California Dreamin'," Shea remarked, "it really caught the hippie spirit…although they didn't sing protest songs." Addressing the enduring legacy of Fleetwood Mac as they approach their 57th anniversary, he noted how their music has resonated with new generations through platforms like TikTok. The band's unique blend of talent was really heightened when they brought on Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham in 1975. But like The Mamas and the Papas, the group went through various turmoils. They disbanded and reformed several times, but Shea does not believe they'll reunite again, due to Christine McVie's death in 2022, and the firing of Buckingham in 2018.

News segment guests: Lauren Weinstein, Steve Kates