Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything - The Twentieth of January

Episode Date: January 20, 2017

A spy novel from the 80’s gives Donald Trump and his Russian friends some ideas. PLUS your host inspires the youth with cowardice.

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Episodes every other week at neverpo.st and wherever you find pods. This installment is called The 20th Day of January. My friend Josh has one of the best job titles in the world. He is a semiotic brand analyst. And his work takes him all over the country, all over the world. On the side, as a hobby, for several years now, he's been running highlowbrow.com, where he's been blogging about his favorite adventure novels, treasure hunt adventures, crime thrillers, war novels, which led him to the discovery of the to sit in the spy novel, excuse me, espionage thriller, that's the preferred term, book club in that city. And what's really great about these clubs is I meet a lot of interesting people from all walks of life, and I learn all about spy novels I might not have read

or even heard of. Over the years, Josh has learned about a number of cult spy novels. Jules Verne's 19th century spy adventure, Michael Strogoff, Jeffrey Household's 50s classic A Rough Shoot and a Time to Kill, and the Len Dyton Action Cookbook, a hard-boiled 1965 kitchen guide by the author of The Ipcris File. And this really obscure bit of spy novel written by Ted Albury, who was a contemporary of Len Dayton's. It's called The 20th Day of January. It was published in 1981. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've been told that it is Donald Trump's favorite thriller. I thought Donald Trump hasn't read any books. Well, I heard about this book everywhere, from spy novel fans in New York,

Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Miami, Jersey City, Dallas, even London, Paris, and Prague. In each case, this was from someone who had encountered Trump in the late 80s when Trump was first rising as a celebrity. One woman used to work backstage on Oprah's show. Trump talked to her about the book in the green room. There was a guy who worked as crew on Trump's yacht. What was it called? The Trump Princess. And one guy had been a pilot on one of Trump's Sikorsky helicopters. For a couple of years there, Trump apparently talked the book up to everyone he met so enthusiastically that years later they remembered. Now, I never paid any attention to this. I had no interest in reading an obscure spy novel just because Trump liked it.

But then over Christmas after the election, I was visiting family in Bozeman, Montana. And there I was in a used bookstore, the 20th day of January. And? Is it good? No, it's terrible. The plot is ridiculous. A Republican, Logan Powell, has just been elected president. This guy has never been in politics before, but he beats a crowded field of experienced politicians

to become first a senator, then president. He's from a wealthy East Coast family, but he sells himself as a populist. And his big idea is he wants the U.S. and Russia to be friends. And despite opposition from within his own party, this guy wins the election. This is kind of a weirdly prescient novel. I'm just getting started. With only a month to go before the inauguration, on the 20th day of January, an officer in Britain's intelligence service, who'd spent years under diplomatic cover working for the agency MI6

in Russia and Paris and London, gets wind of a plot by the Kremlin to influence the U.S. election. Whoa. The FBI is too political, and they can't be trusted with this intel. So the CIA get involved, but they're reluctant to investigate because they don't want a medal in the electoral process and because this guy is about to be their boss. It turns out that nobody, not even the Democrats, wants to reveal the truth about this guy's ties to Russia. They don't even want to

know the truth. Why not? Well, the Republicans believe they can control this joker because he's an outsider to Washington and ran through their own agenda. Which is? Tax cuts. Exposing the scandal could be like the Kennedy assassination and Watergate combined. Either way, whether this Muscovian candidate takes office or is exposed as a stooge, Russia wins. Here's how one of the CIA agents puts it. I'm going to read to you from the book. Every solution spelt disaster.

Deep depression for millions of people. All the words of 1776 made naught. It was like working diligently to prove you had cancer. Whatever happened was going to be bad for America. How is it possible that no one is talking about this book? People are, just not in the mainstream media. So you're saying this book predicts how

the Russians would get their, I guess in this case, commie stooge elected? No, no. He's a capitalist, but he's also a narcissist who desperately wants power and recognition. So he keeps dancing to Moscow's tune because he knows he can't win without them. Besides, the KGB has the goods on him, thanks to the art of kompromat,

which, as we all now know, means the collection of compromising material as a source of leverage. Oh my god. Yeah, old school Soviet sexual blackmail. They have photos of our man with a prostitute. Oh my God. How does this book end? And does he? Show him the compromising photos and beg him to retire on some pretext before the inauguration. And does he? No, he's so humiliated that he commits suicide. Hmm. Yeah, it's not a very good book.

But you think Trump actually read it? Like I said, I've met a lot of people over the years who say he did. But the real question you need to ask is, did the KGB give Trump this book? Why would they do that? Okay. In 1986, shortly before Trump starts telling everyone he meets that the 20th day of January is his favorite thriller, he met this guy, the director of the information department of the Soviet Union's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in New York. He was in town to talk about Chernobyl. His name? Vitaly Churkin. Churkin meets Trump and tells him how much he loves Trump Tower and how they want to build one in Moscow right across the street

from the Kremlin. That can't be true. It was a lie, but it was a great way to put a hook in Trump and reel him in. On the 4th of July the following year, Trump travels to Russia with Ivana, his first wife. She speaks fluent Russian, but it's Churkin who acts as his tour guide to Moscow. Now at this time, guess who's stationed in Moscow, working for the KGB's first chief directorate, which is dedicated to monitoring foreigners? Vladimir Putin. I know this because I've seen some of the photos of him following Reagan around at this time. Well, we don't actually know for sure if he and Putin met, but after he comes back, he can't stop obsessing

about two topics. One of which is this crazy idea that he is the only one who can end the Cold War by making friends with Russia. In 1988, he spends $100,000 on a full-page ad in the New York Times and other papers, making the case that Russia should be America's friend, and that America is getting taken advantage of by NATO and its allies. The same pro-Russian stuff that he's been spouting ever since. And what's his second obsession? Trump starts talking about the 20th day of January to everyone he meets. How do you know all of this?

Okay. So, like I said, I go to spy book clubs all over. And just last week, as all this Russia stuff was breaking, I'm in London for work. And I get an email from this book club that I've spent many an enjoyable evening with they call themselves the dear Watson's Well, it turns out they're having a special get-together to discuss the 20th day of January like the night before I leave town So obviously I go That's weird. No, I mean, why would they suddenly be into this book?

Because I'm pretty sure that half the members of the Dear Watsons are retired MI6 agents. In fact, Christopher Steele is a member. Christopher Steele, the British intelligence agent that broke this whole thing about Trump and the prostitutes. You met him at your book club. No, he's in hiding. I think I might have met him on an earlier occasion, though. But one of the ladies, definitely MI6, she made it sound like Steele told her everything before going to ground.

And she said it was Churkin who gave Trump the book, which explains all that stuff he did after his trip to Moscow in 86. Yeah, but, like, what's the point? I mean, the Berlin Wall falls shortly after that, and then the whole Soviet Union collapses. I mean... Oh, yeah. This was devastating for Trump. And, at the same time, don't forget, he was going bankrupt.

He abandoned his presidential ambitions. Well, obviously, someone got him to reconsider. But was it really the Russians? So in 2013, Trump makes his now-famous trip to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant. And guess who shepherds him around? No.

Oh, yeah. Churkin even takes Trump out to dinner with Rex Tillerson, who is in town to personally accept Russia's Order of Friendship Award from Putin. And do they meet this time? According to this woman from the book club, no one knows for sure.

But she says this is when Trump gets videotaped by the FSB doing whatever he was doing in that hotel room. But here's the thing. Trump knew that he was being filmed, and not for the first time either. That doesn't exactly add up though Because why would Trump let himself get caught on tape Doing something shameful When that is exactly how the guy in the novel Gets taken down

Benjamin, Trump is an exhibitionist He wants the world to know what a sexy beast he is. He performs better when he's being filmed than when he's not being filmed. So you're saying Trump played for the cameras and beat the Russians. He's not a puppet. Think about it. The KGB gave Trump this book. They're the ones who studied this novel.

Remember, in the book, the CIA couldn't stop Logan from taking office. Logan Powell committed suicide because of shame. In order to win, the Russians knew they would need a man who could overcome shame. I'm so confused. Well, think about Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins, purposely getting himself thrown into prison in Bhutan so he can hone his fighting skills. Think about Rocky IV, how the Soviets spent years training Ivan Drago to win the World Heavyweight Championship. I must break you. What are you even saying? After the fall of the Soviet Union, with help from his ex-KGB handlers,

Trump spent 25 years in training, purposely making a buffoon of himself. You mean The Apprentice? Yeah. Trump University. Yep. Lusting after his own daughter publicly. Naturally. Trump steaks.

You bet. Birtherism. Of course. Grabbing women by the pussy. Right. The comb over. Ah, the pièce de résistance in the Muscovian candidate's quarter-century-long campaign to become the post-shame man.

So this whole post-truth thing, it's just a red herring. Classic spy novel plotting. Genius! Oh my God. We laughed at him, and that just made him stronger. And now he's become unstoppable. Hello. Hey, Isabel. Hello? Hey, Isabel, it's Benjamin. Hi. I met Isabel Barber eight years ago on a bus to the Obama inauguration.

This Dumbo art space had chartered a bus for the occasion, and I ended up sitting across from Isabel and her mom. Today, she's a painter living in Brooklyn. Eight years ago, she had just started college, and the way I remember it, things were pretty raucous on this bus. There was a lot of hooting and hollering, but Isabel, she was curled up against the window, lost in her book. Tolstoy's War and Peace. I don't remember that, but that's awesome that I was reading that. So I guess you're just going to have to reread it. I probably should reread it. And it might be, it might be helpful now too, but I remember general things. You know,

there is like a Trump guy in the book, Dolikov, the guy who cheats and duels. Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, and Russia, you know. So, yeah, it should be helpful. What do you remember about our trip to D.C. eight years ago? It was bitter cold. And that's the main thing uh but it was really exciting i remember it was like a full bus and everyone was kind of really stoked on seeing uh obama like the

inauguration it was it felt historic and probably like the first uh political event of my adult life so i was i mean it was the first time i voted uh for president so and now now that this whole thing is coming to an end how do you feel um just i mean i'm i'm always hoping for, like, progressive things to get to move in the progressive direction. And I think, like, you know, the financial issues, like, the whole Occupy Wall Street was, like, a push that needed to happen. And I think Obama could have tried to like move things in a better direction you think some bankers should have gone to jail yeah yeah yeah yeah for me uh it really came I was kind of like a one issue person when it came to Obama I was really really excited when he said that he was going to close Guantanamo.

He really got my support for that. And it's very frustrating to see that Trump is going to inherit this place. And there's still people there who have never been charged with anything. But I definitely understand that it's not from lack of trying. Yeah. You can't blame him for everything he didn't get done. Yeah. Obviously, you're not going to the Trump inauguration, but what about the protests?

It sounds like it's going to be huge, like tons of people there. But one thing that does bother me is that it's, in my mind, like it kind of rings like it's like a Hillary Clinton rally of sorts. I don't think she's going to be there, Isabel. Right, right I just think that it would have been better if it was just like overall just like opposition to Trump. I guess maybe I'm just a little sensitive. I voted for Bernie in the primary, and I have lots of issues with Clinton, even though, I mean, I would love to see her as the president

if Trump, you know, wasn't. So obviously I have to ask you the most important question. Would Bernie have won? Definitely. Definitely. I still want to say, like, I'm so glad the march is happening. Yeah, but you're not going. Right. Well, I'm going to do something in New York. Definitely. I'm definitely going to a protest here.

Yeah, hopefully the bikers for Trump people will all be in D.C. I don't know if you read about them, but they have promised to create a wall of meat to protect the good Trump people. Are you scared? Like, are you not going because, I mean, out of safety concerns, then? Oh, absolutely. Isabel, I'm terrified, okay?

On the one hand, I'm sure I would be the guy that, you know, the biker dudes would surround and pummel. And also, you know, I mean, let's face it, Trump is a psychopath. And he's a venal, petty,

vindictive psychopath. So, you know, there's going to be surveillance, obviously. Yeah, yeah. And basically he's going to start off day one with a list. Yeah. Of, you know, people he's going to destroy. Of course I'm terrified. You're kind of making me want to go, actually.

You have been listening to Benjamin Walker's Theory of Everything. This installment is called The 20th Day of January. You can find them all at radiotopia.fm. PRX does all the work behind the scenes. Thanks to everyone there, like Carrie Hoffman, our CEO. And special thanks, as always, to Roman Mars for making Radiotopia real. Radiotopia's launch sponsors are the Knight Foundation, MailChimp, and listeners like you. Radiotopia. From PRX.