Welcome back to "The Stakes," the podcast where we collectively try to untangle the colossal clusterfuck that is politics, news, and social justice in the year 2016. Coming up on the show today:

Part 1: The MTV News debut of Ana Marie Cox's "Some of My Best Friends."

Part 2: Jaime Fuller interviews Moira Weigel, author of the new book Labor of Love: The Invention of Dating.

Part 3: Fuller briefs Julianne Ross on the conspiracy-happy race for the Texas State Board of Education.

Part 4: Marcus Ellsworth presents a spoken-word piece on his overriding faith in humanity.