Yes! (Danny's writing this) - especially when the author is my co-host, David K. Shipler. Dave's novel, The Interpreter - now out in paperback - takes us into the rice paddies and twisting alleys of Vietnam, right after US troops fled the war there in 1973. But Dave explores provocative issues that would resonate in Iran or China or any country where interpreters play a crucial role for Americans. David Ignatius, the acclaimed associate editor and columnist of the The Washington Post, reviews it like this: "Shipler captures the awful truth that every correspondent knows - that we are unworthy of the brave men and women who act as our translators and ‘fixers,’ the solitary heroes living between two languages and cultures but refusing to take sides." Dave's novel raises provocative questions, sure, but some of my favorite parts are like Vietnam travelogs: images of streets pulsing with motorbikes piled with families, chickens and guavas; lush jungles and spidery canals; and Vietnam's foul-smelling but magical-tasting fish sauce.

Since Trump returned to the White House, more than 1750 potential whistleblowers have asked for help from the Government Accountability Project, says GAP - a leading group that gives legal advice to whistleblowers and tries to protect them. That's more than triple the number during the last year of the Biden administration, which is even more remarkable when you consider how Trump and his enablers have made revenge a priority. One of the federal employees who asked GAP for help is Erez Reuveni, the Justice Department lawyer who told them that a top DOJ official had ordered him to say "Fuck you" to the courts, if they tried to block Trump's illegal actions. Dana Gold, one of GAP's senior lawyers, tells us the moving story of how Reuveni came to her and agonized over what to do - and then risked his career, and potentially his family's safety, by standing up for truth and justice. PS: Trump rewarded the DOJ official who said F-you to the courts by making him an appeals court judge.

As astonishing as it might seem - among all the astonishing changes in today’s America - it turns out that there is no legal way to stop Trump from profiteering from his presidency, even when it damages the nation's interests. We're learning that laws have always been important, but the main reason that America's democracy endured was because most people - from the president on down - followed a set of behavioral norms: They knew it was wrong to act like a dictator, and to make government decisions designed mainly to make them richer. Walter Shaub, former head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, details Trump’s corruption in a gripping, distressing conversation. And he has urgent advice for government employees who do, despite Trump, want to act ethically.