Over the past year, I developed a stock answer for when new acquaintances asked what I wrote about. \u201cIt used to be language, books, and culture,\u201d I\u2019d say. \u201cNow it\u2019s language, books, culture, and Trump.\u201d While the rise of the former Apprentice star changed my beat explicitly\u2014after the election, I was tasked with critiquing his political performance as theater\u2014this general turn Trumpward is an experience most journalists share.