On this Election Day, we talk about how the events of Jan. 6 have affected our elections. Plus, what nations participating in COP26 will have to give up to avoid more climate change catastrophes.

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For months, journalists at The Washington Post have been trying to understand: How did the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6 happen? And what’s happened to the country since then?

As part of a three-part investigative series by The Washington Post, Rosalind S. Helderman has been reporting on how a deep distrust of the voting process has taken root across the country.

“Democracy is in some ways a trust exercise,” she says. “We all go into it together and we make an agreement with each other that we are going to trust each other enough to hold an election, and if we lose, to accept the will of the majority. And if you don’t trust that anymore — if the bonds of that trust erode — you just can’t have a democracy.”

Then we turn to climate reporter Sarah Kaplan for an update on COP26 in Glasgow — the massive climate change summit of almost 200 countries where she says “humanity tries to figure out once again how we are going to tackle climate change.”

If you value the journalism you hear in this podcast, please subscribe to The Washington Post. We have a deal for our listeners: one year of unlimited access to everything The Post publishes for just $29. To sign up, go to washingtonpost.com/subscribe.

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Democracy as a trust exercise