Embedded

Embedded  goes deep into the news of the day. This year, one of its featured stories was a five-part profile of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell—and though many listeners may already feel burned out on congressional politics, bringing a subject that seems drab or exhausting to life is the host Kelly McEvers’s specialty. The show combines conversations with journalists and people close to McConnell, exposition by way of  Embedded ’s own reporting, sound bites from the audiobook of McConnell’s memoir, and an interview with McConnell himself. The result is a character sketch that doubles as an analysis of strategy and semantics. McConnell’s low approval rating and the controversies about his role in enabling President Trump all get addressed, but perhaps the clearest portrait painted is of what it looks like to value winning above all else.