How Crisis Has Shaped Joe Biden and Donald Trump with Michael Kirk

Michael Kirk, the director of ‘The Choice,’ tells us what the presidential candidates’ response to tragedy, failure and humiliation tells us about how they lead. The two candidates are old. In fact, President Donald Trump was already the oldest American to assume the presidency when he was sworn in for his first term. Now he is four years older and his opponent Joe Biden is even older than that, by three years. So, both men have had a lot of time to wrack up successes, which they have obviously leveraged in their quests for political power. But both candidates have also experienced their fair share of personal crisis and the failure and humiliation that often accompanies such moments. Perhaps more than their fair share. Some of these tragedies were thrust upon these men and some were self-inflicted — and many involved issues of race — but they all demanded a response. It is in these responses, says director Michael Kirk, that the true character of the candidates is revealed. This week on the Crosscut Talks podcast, Kirk talks about his latest installment of "The Choice" for Frontline, which chronicles two lifetimes of crisis that have culminated with an election defined by crisis. Plus, Crosscut news and politics editor Donna Blankinship talks about our recent poll on protests and policing.