“The Duke” — a nickname for Michael Dukakis — chronicles casual conversations between the former governor and a comedian over a span of four years, beginning in 2020. While politics serve as an organic throughline for the book, its focus goes beyond Dukakis’s illustrious career.

Author Scott Kerman offers a more intimate view into Dukakis’s life than what can be gleaned from “looking him up online” — with anecdotes like the 1977 ice cream fundraiser where they met and how the then-governor took the Green Line to the State House every day during his time in office.