The Vermont Conversation with David Goodman is now a VTDigger podcast. Goodman's show, which has aired on WDEV Radio since 2013, features in-depth interviews on local and national issues with politicians, activists, artists, changemakers and citizens who are making a difference. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify to hear more.

This week: For 25 years, Stuart Stevens was a leading strategist and media consultant to top Republican politicians, helping to elect presidents, senators, congressmen, and governors. He was top strategist for 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, and he worked on both of George W. Bush’s presidential campaigns. Stevens, who lives in Vermont, has just written a book, It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump. He argues that Trump did not hijack the Republican Party, he is the natural outcome of five decades of the party’s hypocrisy, racism and self delusion.