Deval Patrick, Democratic presidential candidate; Piotr I. Tchaikovsky, immortal composer (Brian Snyder / Reuters; Library of Congress)

That’s kind of an odd pairing up there, right? Deval Patrick and Piotr I. Tchaikovsky? I’d better explain.

I’ve done a podcast — a Q&A — with Alexandra DeSanctis, my colleague here at National Review. We cover the waterfront, or a fair stretch of it: impeachment, the 2020 campaign, North Korea, South Korea, abortion, baseball, cooking . . . In the process, we spend some time on Deval Patrick, the former governor of Massachusetts, who has made a late entry into the Democratic race. Will Bain be a stain? Will Patrick prove “woke” enough?


Yesterday, the candidate said, “I love that the party has moved to the left. I love that we are the party of the woke.” Okay. Does he mean it or is he just pretending? He can’t play woker-than-thou with Warren, Harris, and Sanders, can he?

I have also done a new episode of Music for a While, here. It has a slew of composers, performers, and issues. I begin with Tchaikovsky, and specifically his famous piano concerto. (He wrote two of them, but one is far better-known than the other.) How should the opening go? Should the audience applaud after the first movement?

Anyway, two podcasts for you, bringing Patrick and Tchaikovsky together, at least in photos atop a post.