The Nation Podcasts

The Forgotten Story of How Conservatives Shaped the Internet w/ Becca Lewis | Tech Won't Save Us Nov 21, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Becca Lewis to discuss the right-wing project to shape the internet in the 1990s and how we’re still living with the legacies of those actions today. Becca Lewis is a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University.

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Trump Voters for Abortion; and Learning from John Lewis | Start Making Sense Nov 20, 2024

A lot of people who voted for abortion rights referenda this year also voted for Trump. What were they thinking? How do they understand politics? Amy Littlefield spent election day in Amarillo, Texas, trying to find out.

Also: John Lewis, who died in 2020, challenged injustice from the sit-ins of 1960 to the Age of Trump. Historian David Greenberg talks about what we can learn from his example. Greenberg’s new book is “John Lewis: A Life.”

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The First Barbary War and America on the Global Stage | American Prestige Nov 19, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Abby Mullen, assistant professor at the US Naval Academy, joins the program to talk about her book To Fix a National Character: The United States in the First Barbary War, 1800–1805. We explore the conflict, American geopolitics in their infancy, the Barbary States and piracy committed on their behalf at the time, how US naval expeditions in an era without a global network of bases functioned, the myth of the war in "The Marines' Hymn", and more.

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UN Petrol State Climate Summit, Israel Ready to Annex Palestinian Territories, Japanese PM Remains in Power | American Prestige Nov 15, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, your weekly news roundup. This week: struggles at the UN COP29 climate change conference (1:48), not the least of which is the incoming climate denier president of the US (5:45); in Israel-Palestine, the US doesn't follow through on its 30-day humanitarian aid deadline (7:57), Trump appointments signal imminent formal annexation of Palestinian territories (12:24), and Qatar withdraws from ceasefire talks (16:48); in Lebanon, Israel is working on a ceasefire as a "gift" for Trump (18:33); Xi and Biden to meet in China (21:35); the Japanese government survives a confirmation vote (23: 45); a new report on horrifying death toll figures in the Sudan war (25:48); in Russia-Ukraine, Russia pushers to retake Kursk (28:01) while Europe and Ukraine show new flexibility to exchange land for a peace deal (30:25); Germany prepares for a snap election in February in the wake of the government coalition collapsing (32:38); in Haiti, the transitional council fires the PM (34:44) while the US bans flights there (36:15); and Trump announces a number of new appointments for his second term (37:35).

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Making Sense of a Pro-Tech Trump Presidency w/ Brian Merchant | Tech Won't Save Us Nov 14, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Brian Merchant to discuss the fallout from the US election, what it means for the tech industry, and more importantly, what it might mean for all of us. They also celebrate the show hitting 250 episodes!

Brian Merchant is a longtime tech writer and author of Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech.

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Rebecca Solnit on Hope in the Dark; plus the Trump-Musk Bromance | Start Making Sense Nov 13, 2024

Hope does not mean saying ‘this is not bad,’ Rebecca Solnit argues; it just means we will not give up—because we know that what we do matters, and we also know we’ve been surprised by good things we never expected.

Also: The bromance between Elon Musk and Donald Trump cannot last – historian David Nasaw will explain why.

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Studying the Far Right w/ Benji Rolsky | American Prestige Nov 12, 2024

Historian Benji Rolsky speaks with Danny about how others in their profession have thought about the far right, a subset of history which has expanded greatly in the last decade or so. They explore how the study of the far right might be "broken", anti-fundamentalism, Christian nationalism, the episodic nature of this field, and how Trump might have changed the historiography.

Read Benji's piece "Why the Study of the Right is Broken": Part 1 and Part 2.

Also check out his book The Rise and Fall of the Religious Left: Politics, Television, and Popular Culture in the 1970s and Beyond.

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Where Do We Go From Here? | See How They Run Nov 09, 2024

On this final episode of The Nation's election coverage podcast, See How They Run, D.D. Guttenplan is joined by John Nichols and Jeet Heer to discuss lessons learned from the 2024 Presidential races.

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Ethnic Cleansing in Northern Gaza, German Government Collapse, Potential End to Ukraine War | American Prestige Nov 08, 2024

On this week's edition of the American Prestige world news roundup: in Palestine-Israel, Netanyahu fires defense minister Gallant (0:57), a leak scandal involving Netanyahu's office (6:36), an update on the humanitarian situation in northern Gaza (8:52), and the IDF appears to admit to committing ethnic cleansing (13:05); in Lebanon, the ceasefire push collapses (15:39), the IDF looks to create a "buffer zone" (17:46), and the Washington Post reports that Israeli evacuation warnings are misleading civilians (19:31); in Iran, Supreme Leader Khamenei threatens an attack on Israel (27:19); a new report details the mistreatment of migrant workers in Arabian Gulf states (30:35); the DPRK/North Korea conducts a new ICBM test (33:09); new RSF massacres in Sudan (36:41); in Russia-Ukraine, North Korean soldiers join combat operations (38:35), future concerns in the US about how the war will be conducted under Trump (41:38), and Russia floats the possibility of ending the war (44:36); the German government collapses (46:59); and in Bolivia, protesters supporting former president Evo Morales pause roadblocks amid clashes with the police (49:54).

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The Corruption of Open Source w/ tante | Tech Won't Save Us Nov 07, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won’t Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by tante to discuss troubling developments in the open source world as WordPress goes to war with WP Engine and a new definition of open source AI doesn’t require being open about training data.

tante is a sociotechnologist, writer, speaker, and Luddite working on tech and its social impact.

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What Happened, and What Comes Next | Start Making Sense Nov 06, 2024

John Nichols looks at the elections results: how we got here, and what we do next. For starters: Trump got fewer votes than 4 years ago; 55% of voters in the CNN exit poll said he was "too extreme."

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Foreign Policy and the 2024 US Presidential Election w/ Eli Clifton | American Prestige Nov 04, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Derek and Danny are joined by Eli Clifton, senior advisor and investigative journalist at large at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, to talk about the role of foreign policy in US presidential elections (including tomorrow's). They talk about chatter on the ground regarding Gaza/Lebanon, whether the Democrats are capable of "learning lessons" from a loss, how to once again make foreign policy relevant to American voters, the broken discourse around China, how money in politics defines the parameters of FP discussion in Washington, and more.

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The Dangers of Trump’s Cynical Anti-War Message w/ Matt Duss | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Nov 03, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Jeet Heer is joined by Matt Duss to discuss Trump's anti-war pitch.

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What The Polls Can (And Can’t) Tell Us | See How They Run Nov 02, 2024

On this episode of See How They Run, D.D. Guttenplan is joined by Ettingermentum’s Josh Cohen on how political junkies can get through the next few days.

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Knesset Banning UNRWA, A Massacre in Sudan, and The Election in Georgia | American Prestige Nov 01, 2024

On this week's American Prestige world news roundup: in Israel-Palestine, a new report of the Biden administration ignoring Israeli war crimes (0:30), the Knesset votes to ban UNRWA (2:43), and yet more ceasefire talks (8:12); in Lebanon, Hezbollah names a new leader (10:32) and a push for a ceasefire there (12:25); regarding Iran, the aftermath of the Israeli strikes (15:36) and reports of an imminent retaliation (19:10); North Korea/DPRK tests an ICBM (22:07); Japan's Liberal Democratic Party loses its parliamentary majority (24:33); in Sudan, a new massacre by the RSF (26:52) and a UN report on sexual violence in the conflict (29:18); Somalia kicks out another diplomat from Ethiopia (30:28); in Russia-Ukraine, North Korean soldiers in Kursk (32:49), Russia makes gains in Donetsk (34:50), and new talks on sparing energy sites (36:56), the results of Georgia's election (37:59); Venezuela withdraws its ambassador from Brazil over BRICS (41:07); and the annual UN General Assembly's vote over the embargo of Cuba (42:43).

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Silicon Valley is Reshaping US Democracy w/ Jacob Silverman | Tech Won't Save Us Oct 31, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss all the money Elon Musk is pouring into the US election and what Silicon Valley’s political influence will mean regardless of who becomes president.

Jacob Silverman is the author of Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley, coming in September 2025 from Bloomsbury. His book Easy Money is now available in paperback.

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Kamala's Closing Message, plus Election Protection | Start Making Sense Oct 30, 2024

New research suggests what messages win working class votes in Pennsylvania – strong economic populism, and not Trump’s threat to democracy. Bhaskar Sunkara, the Nation’s president, is on the podcast to discuss.

Also: The ACLU has been preparing for election day threats to voting and vote counting for years. Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the ACLU’s voting rights project, explains.

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The Ongoing Catastrophe of Sudan's Civil War w/ Khalid Medani | American Prestige Oct 29, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Derek and Danny are joined by Khalid Medani, associate professor of political science, director of the Institute of Islamic Studies, and chair of the African Studies Program at McGill University, to talk about the state of play in Sudan's civil war. They delve into the military stalemate between the Sudanese Army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the humanitarian crisis reaching 13 million displaced and 26 million on the brink of starvation, involvement from outsider actors including Egypt and the UAE, the strategic importance of the besieged city El Fasher in Darfur, the defection of the RSF’s Gezira commander, Abuagla Keikal, over to the Sudanese military, and more.

Note: After the recording of this episode, the RSF massacred 120 people in eastern Sudan.

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The Making of Donald Trump | The Time of Monsters Oct 27, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Jeet Heer is joined by David Klion to discuss 'The Apprentice' — a movie about Roy Cohn’s mentoring of a future president.

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Will 2024 All Come Down to the Ground Game? | See How They Run Oct 26, 2024

On this episode of See How They Run, D.D. Guttenplan is joined by Jeet Heer and Swing Left’s Yasmin Radjy discuss the importance of getting out the vote.

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BRICS Summit, IDF Assault on Lebanon, India-China Border Agreement | American Prestige Oct 25, 2024

On this week's American Prestige world news roundup: the 2024 BRICS summit was held, featuring Vladimir Putin pushing for a dollar alternative and potentially alienating some member states (1:36); in Palestine-Israel, an update on Northern Gaza (9:10), Antony Blinken visits (12:31), and a leaked document on Israel's planned counterattack on Iran (16:22); in Lebanon, the IDF targets the Qard al-Hassan banking network (18:22), US special enovy Amos Hochstein visits with special demands (21:13), and the IDF targets Tyre for the first time in this assault (23:45); in Turkey, a terrorist attack interferes with the Kurdish peace process (25:19) and Fethullah Gülen of (of the eponymous movement) dies (28:02); India and China negotiate a border agreement, with Xi and Modi meeting while at the BRICS summit (31:11); in Sudan, an RSF commander defects (34:18); the M23 ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of the Congo appears to have failed (36:03); in Ukraine, Russian forces are pressuring several towns (37:57) amid talk of DPRK/North Korean soldiers being deployed (40:18); and finally, a new UN climate report says countries have made no progress in cutting emissions to tackle climate change (43:42).

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The Threat of Data Colonialism w/ Ulises A. Mejias & Nick Couldry | Tech Won't Save Us Oct 24, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Ulises A. Mejias and Nick Couldry to discuss how Silicon Valley's extractive data collection regime and the power it grants them resembles a much older form of exploitation: colonialism.

Ulises A. Mejias is a professor of Communication Studies at SUNY Oswego and Nick Couldry is a professor of Media, Communications and Social Theory at the London School of Economics. They are the co-authors of Data Grab: The New Colonialism of Big Tech and How to Fight Back and among the co-founders of the network Tierra Común.

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Are Black and Latino Voters Really “Drifting”? Plus Melania and her Memoir | Start Making Sense Oct 23, 2024

Latino and Black voters in swing states, we are told by the New York Times, are “drifting away from the Democrats.” But how good is the evidence here? Steve Phillips has our analysis.

Also: Melania has published a memoir: “Melania,” where she revisits plagiarizing Michelle Obama for her 2016 RNC convention speech, and wearing that jacket that said “I don’t care, do U?” when she visited INS detention camps for children separated from their parents at the border. Amy Wilentz comments on her explanations—and on the rest of the book.

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The State Department, Weapons Deals, and Israeli Obstructions of Humanitarian Aid w/ Brett Murphy | American Prestige Oct 22, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Derek speaks with ProPublica's Brett Murphy about recent revelations about the US government continuing to arm Israel despite the State Department's knowledge of Israel preventing humanitarian aid getting into Gaza. They delve into the laws regarding arming countries engaging in such policies, Antony Blinken's denial of knowing Israel's humanitarian aid obstruction in Gaza, America's rationale for an unconditional flow of arms, and more.

Brett's pieces on the matter:

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Trump’s Bobbing and Dancing Disaster | The Time of Monsters Oct 20, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Jeet Heer is joined by Chris Lehmann to discuss the elite denial of presidential candidate’s mental decline.

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How to Win (or Lose) Wisconsin | See How They Run Oct 19, 2024

On this episode of See How They Run, Ben Wikler and John Nichols join D.D. Guttenplan to discuss how the election will turn out in the very particular, very important swing state of Wisconsin.

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Death of Yahya Sinwar, Sudan War, Defense Contractors Cashing In | American Prestige Oct 18, 2024

On this week’s edition of the American Prestige world news roundup: It’s another dose of doom, but we tacked on a relatively feel-good animal story. It appears that Israel has killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (1:32), the IDF’s brutal operation continues in northern Gaza (4:56), and the Biden administration floats withholding arms over the Strip’s humanitarian situation (6:42); an update on Israel’s invasion of Lebanon (13:09); the world continues to await Israel’s response to Iran’s ballistic missile strike (16:07); a diplomatic crisis for India and Canada (19:28); the DPRK/North Korea strikes unused rail lines connecting it with South Korea (21:04); an update on the war in Sudan (22:50); a devastating drought in southern Africa (26:12); in Russia-Ukraine, a Russian counteroffensive in Kursk makes progress (27:44) while Zelenskyy reveals part of his Victory Plan (31:19); stock prices soar for US defense contractors (34:22); and China has sent pandas to the National Zoo in Washington, DC (36:04).

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The “Dark Elf” Leading Tech’s Extreme Right w/ Julia Black | Tech Won't Save Us Oct 17, 2024

Paris Marx is joined by Julia Black to discuss who Curtis Yarvin is and how his anti-democratic, far-right writings have influenced the politics of Silicon Valley and the wider American extreme right.

Julia Black is a features reporter on The Information’s Weekend Team.

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Understanding the Undecideds, plus Working Class Voters Now | Start Making Sense Oct 16, 2024

One in six voters, pollsters say, are “still unsure of their choice.” What do people mean when they say they are “undecided”? Rick Perlstein says political writers have failed to understand the undecideds—and what Kamala might do to win their votes.

Also: Pennsylvania is the state where this year’s election may well be decided—and where nearly two-thirds of voters don’t have college degrees. Eyal Press went to Pennsylvania to find out what working class people there are thinking about and talking about in this election.

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India's Homeland Security and Israel w/ Rhys Machold | American Prestige Oct 15, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, we're joined by Rhys Machold, senior lecturer in international relations at the University of Glasgow, to talk about how India tries to achieve homeland security through its relationship with Israel. They talk about the watershed 2008 Mumbai attacks (aka 26/11), the origins of India's relationship with Israel, the latter's security tech industry, post-Mumbai attack ramifications like Modi and Hindutva's rise, and how the concept of homeland security permeates many aspects of the culture.

Buy a copy of Rhys' book Fabricating Homeland Security: Police Entanglements Across India and Palestine/Israel.

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Francis Ford Coppola’s Contentious Utopia | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Oct 13, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Kate Wagner on the polarizing politics of Megalopolis.

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Why Democrats Can’t Write Off the Rural Vote | See How They Run Oct 12, 2024

On this episode of See How They Run, D.D. Guttenplan is joined by Jane Kleeb, Anthony Flaccavento, and Sarah Taber to discuss how the party can win in small-town America.

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US Complicity in Gaza Crimes, President Sheinbaum of Mexico, Pont Sonde Massacre in Haiti | American Prestige Oct 11, 2024

On this week's world news roundup from American Prestige: In Palestine-Israel, the one year anniversary of October 7 (1:45), damning ProPublica and Drop Site reports on US complicity in aid worker deaths (5:10), a new IDF siege in northern Gaza (10:55), and Biden and Netanyahu discuss a retaliation for Iran (13:47); Netanyahu threatens to turn Lebanon into Gaza (17:27) while the IDF invades and orders evacuations of southern Lebanon (19:40), Beirut's airport seems to be the next target (21:50), and more Hezbollah leadership is killed (23:15); the DPRK/North Korea is cutting road and rail ties to South Korea (25:32); Japan has a new PM and snap election (27:51); in Sudan, new fighting in North Darfur state (30:28); escalation in Ethiopia's Amhara region (31:42); several Russian advances in Ukraine (33:43); the UK and Mauritius reach an agreement on the Chagos Islands (39:57); Claudia Sheinbaum takes office as president of Mexico (43:28); and Haitian armed groups kill dozens in Pont Sonde (45:17).

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Gaza Is a Laboratory for Future Warfare w/ Spencer Ackerman | Tech Won’t Save Us Oct 10, 2024

Paris Marx is joined by Spencer Ackerman to discuss the past year of Israel's actions in Palestine and the innovations in war technology being used to carry out what the ICJ has deemed a "plausible" genocide in Gaza.

Spencer Ackerman is a Pulitzer-prize winning author of Reign of Terror. He’s a contributor at Zeteo and publishes the Forever Wars newsletter. He’s also writing a new series of Iron Man comics that come out very soon.

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The Polls--and Us; plus How A Dem Wins in a Red District | Start Making Sense Oct 09, 2024

The polls have had disastrous failures for decades, but people continue to focus on them; Rick Perlstein has a better idea: ‘don’t follow polls—organize.’

Also: Democrat Marie Gleusenkamp Perez won a House seat in a Trump district, pointing the way for others. Marc Cooper analyzes her current reelection campaign in southwestern Washington State, starting from the fact that she’s a working class woman in a rural area.

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Marx’s Capital Re-Translated w/ Paul North and Paul Reitter | American Prestige Oct 08, 2024

Translating Marx’s Capital might be daunting to some, but Paul North, professor of Germanic languages and literature at Yale, and Paul Reitter, professor of Germanic languages and literature at Ohio State University, felt up to the task. On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek talk to them about their new translation of Capital, what goes into capturing the nuances of the original German text, why they chose the second edition in particular, the cosmopolitanism of the book, Marx’s anger, and what they each brought to the table in taking on this massive project.

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Expanding Wars With a Lame Duck President w/ Matt Duss | The Time of Monsters Oct 06, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Jeet Heer is joined by Matt Duss, a seasoned foreign policy analyst at the Center for International Policy, to discuss how the Biden administration keeps adding fuel to the fire.

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Did the Veep Debate Change Anything? | See How They Run Oct 05, 2024

On this episode of See How They Run, D.D. Guttenplan is joined by Chris Lehmann and Jeet Heer to discuss the Walz-Vance showdown.

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Letting It All Burn w/ Derek Davison | American Prestige Oct 04, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Daniel Bessner interviews Derek Davison on whether he sees any way out of the status quo in Western/North Atlantic politics.

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Don’t Fall for Mark Zuckerberg’s Rebrand w/ Karl Bode | Tech Won't Save Us Oct 03, 2024

Paris Marx is joined by Karl Bode to discuss how Mark Zuckerberg's makeover and the PR campaign that’s accompanied it shouldn’t distract from the ongoing harms of his company.

Karl Bode is a freelance tech journalist and consumer rights reporter.

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Travels in Trumpland; plus the Fight Over ‘Freedom’ | Start Making Sense Oct 02, 2024

John Nichols has been driving to places in middle America where Trump has gotten big majorities in the past: Iowa and Nebraska, central and Western Illinois, and southwestern Wisconsin, asking Democrats there about politics in their towns right now.

Also: Kamala’s campaign is challenging the Republican conception of “freedom” as freedom from government regulation, advancing instead a positive conception of the government’s ability to protect and expand freedom. Eric Foner explains the history, and significance, of this conflict.

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Welcome to Gun Country w/ Drew McKevitt | American Prestige Oct 01, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, hosts Danny Bessner and Derek Davison welcome Drew McKevitt, the John D. Winters Endowed Professor of History at Louisiana Tech University, to talk bout his new book Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture, and Control in Cold War America.

Pick up a copy of Drew's book here.

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Israel Escalates in Lebanon, More US $ and Weapons to Ukraine, Morales v Arce Supporters in Bolivia | American Prestige Sep 27, 2024

On this week’s world news roundup from American Prestige: Derek Davison and Danny Bessner bring you the latest in world news:

Israel's latest escalations in Lebanon (1:13), the potential Israeli invasion (4:23), and Israel’s rejection of the US-France ceasefire push (5:57); Israel’s potential besieging of the north of the Gaza strip (8:22), the Biden administration’s forfeiting of a ceasefire (10:06), and ProPublica‘s report on an apparent humanitarian coverup by State Department leadership (13:24); heavy fighting in Al Fashir and Khartoum in Sudan (16:19); US forces in Chad (18:49); Sri Lanka’s election of a leftist president (20:37); Russian negotiations with the Houthis/Ansar Allah over missiles (22:42); Zelenskyy floating a “victory plan” for Ukraine (25:22); in Bolivia, more fighting between Arce and Morales supporters (30:41); a New Cold War update featuring China testing an ICBM (33:06), Biden’s last Quad meeting (34:59) and final United Nations General Assembly address (36:51).

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What Happens to Our Digital Footprints When We Die? w/ Tamara Kneese | Tech Won't Save Us Sep 26, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Tamara Kneese to discuss the difficult question of what happens to our digital presence after we die and why some tech billionaires are so desperate to make themselves into chatbots. Tamara Kneese is a researcher, organizer, and author of Death Glitch: How Techno-Solutionism Fails Us in This Life and Beyond.

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Trump and Vance, Cats and Dogs, and Haiti; plus Small Town Trumpers | Start Making Sense Sep 25, 2024

Trump has cancelled his plans to visit Springfield, Ohio, but his lie about Haitian immigrants there eating cats and dogs continues to riccochet around the American political world. Amy Wilentz comments.

Plus: The presidential election is the main political battle in America today, but Trump’s followers have also been fighting, for years, to take over towns across the country. Sasha Abramsky reports on two exemplary battles. His new book is ‘Chaos Comes Calling.’

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One Year of Gaza w/ Rashid Khalidi | American Prestige Sep 24, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Rashid Khalidi, the Edward Said emeritus professor of modern Arab studies at Columbia University, is back on the program joining Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison for a discussion of where things stand regarding Palestine, the diaspora, and the Palestinian national movement. We talk about the abysmal state of US politics around the issue, Western and Israeli media coverage, the generational shift in Americans' outlook, Palestinian nationalism in the wake of the past year's onslaught, Fatah, current regional governing structures and the prospect of democracy, and more.

Be sure to check out our series with Dr. Khalidi, A History of Modern Palestine. You can grab a copy of his book The Hundred Years' War on Palestine.

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Israel’s Expanding War Against Lebanon | The Time of Monsters Sep 22, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Trita Parsi on the dangers of a lame duck president with spiraling crisis.

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Lebanon, Mexico, and Mali. This Week In World News | American Prestige Sep 21, 2024

On this week's American Prestige world news roundup: bombings via consumer electronics, likely carried out by Israel, rock Lebanon (0:55); in Palestine-Israel, the US appears to be giving up on a ceasefire (8:08), medical conditions in Gaza sink to 19th century standards (10:21), and a Houthi ballistic missile strikes within Israel (11:48); MBS of Saudi Arabia chills normalization talks with Israel (13:59); Sudan sees “unprecedented” fighting around Al-Fashir (17:28); a Chinese aircraft enters Japanese waters (19:06); a jihadist attacks in Bamako, Mali (20:39); South Sudan once again postpones its elections (23:10); in Russia-Ukraine, the Kursk counteroffensive appears to stall (25:01), Russia advances in Donetsk (27:14), and Biden appears to hold off on long-range strike permission for Ukraine (29:01); in Venezuela, four Americans are arrested in a "plot" against Maduro (32:26); Colombia-ELN ceasefire talks break down (34:30); and in Mexico, AMLO blames the US for rising cartel violence in Sinaloa (36:11).

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How Will Latinos Vote In November? | See How They Run Sep 21, 2024

On this episode of See How They Run, D.D. Guttenplan is joined by Bill Gallegos and Jack Herrera to discuss Latino voters—what kind of power they have, the complex ways they are using that power, and what Democrats need to do to stop Donald Trump's aggressive attempts to win their support.

Gallegos is a longtime Chicano activist, political organizer, and a member of the Nation editorial board. Herrera is a reporter who has covered Latino politics and immigration for just about every major outlet you can think of—including The Nation.

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Will Google’s Monopoly Be Broken Up? w/ Rob Larson | Tech Won't Save Us Sep 19, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Rob Larson to discuss the recent ruling that Google is a monopolist, what consequences it might face, and what lessons we can learn from the Microsoft antitrust case in the early 2000s.

Rob Larson is the author of Mastering the Universe: The Obscene Wealth of the Ruling Class, What They Do with Their Money, and Why You Should Hate Them Even More and Professor of Economics at Tacoma Community College.

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This Time it will be Harder for Trump to Challenge the Election, plus Talking to Trumpers | Start Making Sense Sep 18, 2024

Trump has made it clear he won't accept the results of the 2024 election if he loses, and Republicans are doing everything they can make it harder for Democrats to vote. But it will be harder for Trump to challenge this year's election, because of changes in the law--that's what Rick Hasen says. He's professor of law at UCLA, and his writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Slate and The New York Times.

Also: Trump supporters in Appalachia: Arlie Hochschild has spent years talking with them about how they understand their lives, and how Donald Trump helps overcome their shame. Her new book is “Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right.”

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The US vs Social Democracy in Ecuador w/ Ryan Grim and Jose Olivares | American Prestige Sep 17, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Ryan Grim, co-founder of Drop Site News, and investigative journalist José Olivares join the show to talk about their recent piece for Drop Siterevealing how Ecuador’s US-linked attorney general is using her office to attack the country’s left. The group gives the background of Rafael Correa and his left-wing “Correísmo” movement, how Correa and his successors became targets of “anti-corruption” Attorney General Diana Salazar, leaked messages of Salazar’s obtained by Drop Site leading to explosive allegations, the United States' potential links with assassinated presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, and why the US remains interested in domestic Ecuadorian politics.

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The Plutocratic Threat to Democracy | The Time of Monsters Sep 15, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Jeet Heer is joined by David Sirota to discuss how the Powell Memo created a plan for corporate domination.

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Kamala Crushed Trump. Will It Matter? | See How They Run Sep 14, 2024

On this episode of See How They Run, D.D. Guttenplan is joined by Jeet Heer to discuss the last presidential debate and where we go from here.

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IDF Kills American Citizen, Mexico Passes Judicial Reform, Pentagon Seeks New Home in West Africa | American Prestige Sep 13, 2024

On this week's American Prestige news roundup: a Gaza ceasefire talks update (1:15) while the IDF kills American citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi (5:18); Iraq is negotiating a deal for the US to withdraw its forces (11:43); the US gives Egypt a full military aid allotment (13:47); in Sudan, new Rapid Support Forces (RSF) activity in the country’s south (15:22); the Pentagon is trying to reconstitute a presence in West Africa (16:29); in Russia-Ukraine, the Russian counteroffensive in Kursk (19:24), claims of Iran supplying missiles to Russia (21:02), and Biden might be on the cusp of allowing Ukraine to strike inside Russia (23:00); Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo González flees the country (25:46); the Mexican Senate passes AMLO’s judicial reform (27:50); and a New Cold War update featuring US and Chinese theater commanders speaking for the first time since 2022 (30:02) and fears over a possible Chinese naval base (31:16).

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Google and Meta Are A Threat to Journalism w/ Matt Pearce | Tech Won't Save Us Sep 12, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Matt Pearce to discuss how Google sidestepped two California bills aimed at funding journalism and how major tech companies are transforming the web to make hyperlinks less relevant.

Matt Pearce is the President of Media Guild of the West and a former reporter at the Los Angeles Times.

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The Debate: What Kamala Accomplished; plus Victory for Homeless Vets | Start Making Sense Sep 11, 2024

Tuesday night’s debate showed what Kamala can do – and what Trump can’t. John Nichols has our analysis.

Also: homeless vets have been trying for years to get the VA to build housing for them in LA on land dedicated to that purpose. Now, a federal judge has finally ruled: the vets win, and the VA loses. Mark Rosenbaum, lead attorney in the vets’ class action suit, explain.

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AP x Chapo Trap House: Reagan The Movie | American Prestige Sep 10, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek called an emergency pod crossover with Chapo Trap House to break down the new Reagan film, where Dennis Quaid—supported by the likes of addled Hollywood heavy-hitter Jon Voight and Creed crooner Scott Stapp—takes his stab at portraying the man who brought us Morning in America.

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How Kamala Harris Can Use the Debate to Win Big w/ Ettingermentum | Time of Monsters Sep 08, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Jeet Heer is joined by Joshua A. Cohen a.k.a. Ettingermentum to discuss the state of the presidential race.

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What Makes Arizona Tick | See How They Run Sep 07, 2024

On this episode of See How They Run, DD Guttenplan is joined by Sasha Abramsky and Amy Littlefield to discuss the chaotic, complicated, high-drama prize of the Southwest.

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Unionizing the Video Game Industry w/ Taylor Welling & Kathryn Friesen | Tech Won't Save Us Sep 05, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Taylor Welling and Kathryn Friesen to discuss how they formed wall-to-wall unions in the video game industry and their thoughts on broader challenges like layoffs and corporate consolidation.

Taylor Welling is a producer and union member at OneBGS and Kathryn Friesen is quest designer and member of the World of Warcraft GameMakers Guild.

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Abortion Ground Zero: Florida; plus Rachel Kushner on “Creation Lake” | Start Making Sense Sep 04, 2024

Donald Trump announced Friday that he would be voting against a abortion rights ballot measure in his home state of Florida. Amy Littlefield reports on the crucial battle in the state that had been the South’s last refuge for abortion access.

Plus: Rachel Kushner talks about the informant and provacateur who infiltrates an anarchist eco-commune in rural France – the central character in her new novel, “Creation Lake.”

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Woke Iron Man w/ Spencer Ackerman | American Prestige Sep 03, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek welcome back AP mega-guest Spencer Ackerman, author of the Forever Wars newsletter and soon-to-be-published issues of Marvel Comics’ Iron Man. The group explores Spencer’s inspiration to pursue more work in the world of comic books, writing for a character who is a defense contractor, bringing left-wing messaging into the medium, the sand box of Marvel Comics vs. the behemoth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, plus Spencer’s impressions on some major current events.

NOTE: This interview was recorded on 8/30/24, prior to reports that the Israeli military had recovered the bodies of six hostages inside Gaza.

Click hear to learn how to pre-order Iron Man & get free merch!

More of Spencer’s work:

Further Reading:

Michael Blaakman – Speculation Nation: Land Mania in the Revolutionary American Republic
Daniel Immerwahr – How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States
Paul Kramer

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What We Talk About When We Talk About the "Black Vote" | See How They Run Jul 13, 2024

On this episode of See How They Run, a wide-ranging conversation with Christina Greer, Steve Phillips, and Adolph Reed Jr.

If there's one thing everyone knows about American politics, it's that there is no way for a Democrat to win the presidency without Black voters. That's one of the reasons why, as Joe Biden fights desperately to stay in the 2024 election, he's made an aggressive effort to shore up Black support. In recent days, Biden has spoken at Black churches, given interviews to Black radio hosts, and leaned on the powerful Congressional Black Caucus to help bolster his political defenses.

But there are signs that Black voters may not be ready to turn out for Biden as fervently as he needs them to. in the past few months, polls have shown Black support for Biden slipping to levels Democrats have not seen in generations. So can Biden overcome doubts about his fitness, reverse these trends, and hold the White House? Should we even believe the polls? And are we in the middle of a historic shift in the relationship between Black voters and the Democratic Party?

To discuss all of this, D.D. Guttenplan is joined by a powerhouse trio of guests: Christina Greer, Associate Professor of Political Science at Fordham University; Steve Phillips, political strategist, Nation contributor, and author most recently of How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good; and Adolph Reed Jr., Nation columnist and professor emeritus of political science at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Jack Dorsey’s Embrace of Crypto-Libertarianism | Tech Won’t Save Us Jul 11, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won’t Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by David Gerard to discuss Jack Dorsey’s decision to leave Bluesky, his obsession with Bitcoin, and his contributions (or lack thereof) to modern technology.

David Gerard is the author of Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain and Libra Shrugged. He also makes Pivot to AI with Amy Castor.

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Our Failing President, and Our Right-Wing Court | Start Making Sense Jul 10, 2024

On this episode of Start Making Sense, John Nichols on Biden, and David Cole on the Court’s big 6-3 decisions. Biden’s efforts to renew his candidacy are “risk-averse, uninspired, and dangerously misguided” – that’s what John Nichols says, as we review the efforts to persuade him to drop out of the race.

Also: During the Supreme Court term that just ended, the conservative majority granted new constitutional rights to hedge fund managers, big business—and Donald Trump. David Cole explains the shocking decisions that have transformed our government.

Finally, Jane McAlevey died Sunday--she was The Nation's strikes correspondent, and one of our best.

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The Rise and Fall of the American Constitutional Model with Aziz Rana | American Prestige Jul 09, 2024

This week on American Prestige, hosts Derek Davison and Danny Bessner welcome back to the program Aziz Rana, the incoming J. Donald Monan, S.J., professor of law and government at Boston College, for a multi-part discussion about how Americans came to revere the Constitution and the worldwide implications.

In this episode, the group discusses the latest Supreme Court ruling as of the recording date (Trump v. Anderson), how America’s treatment of its constitution compares with those of other nations, the Constitution’s development in the country’s first century, debates around the document in the Civil War and Reconstruction, and more through the end of the 19th century.

You can grab a copy of the book inspiring this series, The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document That Fails Them.

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The American Far Right and Conservatism in the Last Century w/ David Austin Walsh | American Prestige Jul 05, 2024

For American Prestige this week, in the first of two consecutive non-news Friday releases, Danny sits down for another rigorous academic exchange, this time with David Austin Walsh, historian at Yale’s program for the study of antisemitism and author of Taking America Back: The Conservative Movement and the Far Right. The two dig into the big issues broached by the book, including the “right-wing popular front” opposed to socialism, communism, and New Deal liberalism, the nature of conservatism vs fascism, figures from Pat Buchanan to Richard Spencer to Donald Trump, the advent of the left-right divide, and what, if anything, American liberals and leftists can do to defeat American fascism/semi-fascism/fascistish-ism.

Also check out David’s May op-ed in the New York Times, “Do You Want a ‘Unified Reich’ Mind-Set in the White House?” and see him at the Brooklyn Book Festival on September 29 to talk about the 2024 election.

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What Should The Democrats Do Now? | See How They Run Jul 04, 2024

On this episode of See How They Run, D.D. Guttenplan is joined by Nation political correspondents, Jeet Heer and John Nichols to discuss President Biden’s post-debate crisis and where the Democratic party goes from here.

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Facebook Is the Zombie Internet w/ Jason Koebler | Tech Won't Save Us Jul 04, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Jason Koebler, co-host of the 404 Media Podcast, to discuss the AI-generated spam filling Facebook, how the platform seems to have given up trying to stop it, and where the internet goes from here.

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What is to be done about Joe Biden? w/Marc Cooper and Harold Meyerson | Start Making Sense Jul 03, 2024

Marc Cooper argues that the narrative for Joe Biden’s presidency has now been set – he’s “too old.” And the Supreme Court decision on immunity for Trump makes it essential that he be defeated. Kamala Harris would be the choice of the Party establishment, if he agreed to step aside; at the convention, she might be nominated by acclamation, without a vote among alternative choices.

Also: Harold Meyerson analyzes what it would take to get Biden to decline the nomination: polls about the opinion of the Democratic rank-and-file; the views of Democratic senators and House members-- those in danger of losing their seats and political careers; and Biden’s own circle--the crucial factor for them will be their assessment of Biden’s legacy.

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Left-Wing Free Trade w/ Marc-William Palen | American Prestige Jul 02, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek speak welcome to the program Marc-William Palen, senior lecturer in history at the University of Exeter, for a discussion on his book Pax Economica: Left-Wing Visions of a Free Trade World. They delve into 19th century liberal radicalism and anti-slavery trade policies, how Marx and early socialists approached free trade, the role of consumption, where feminists and christian pacifists fell on the matter, the advent of neoliberalism, “free” vs “preferrred” trade, and more.

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What Can Jamaal Bowman's Defeat Teach Us? | See How They Run Jun 29, 2024

On this episode of See How They Run, Micah Sifry and Peter Beinart join D.D. Guttenplan for a discussion about 2024's most divisive congressional primary.

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A Failed Coup In Bolivia, Protests In Kenya, and Assange's Plea Deal | American Prestige Jun 28, 2024

On this week's American Prestige news roundup: in Palestine/Israel, a grim Save the Children report on Gaza (0:30), Netanyahu again rebuffs a ceasefire and suggests a new phase of the operation (2:41), a new court ruling on ultra-Orthodox Jews’ conscription (7:14), and Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich again pushes West Bank annexation (10:17); Lebanon is still on edge as the US—while hosting Israeli minister of defence Yoav Gallant—warns Hezbollah that it will not stop Israel from attacking (13:00); a preview of Friday’s presidential election in Iran (17:06); a disputed weapons test in the DPRK/North Korea (20:50); rumblings of an imminent coup in Burkina Faso (22:38); widespread protests break out in Kenya, leading President Ruto to back off of the controversial tax legislation (26:28); deadly attacks in Dagestan (29:47); the espionage trial of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich begins in Russia (32:02); a failed coup attempt in Bolivia (33:16); Kenyan police arrive in Haiti to face armed groups (36:23); and Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the United States (38:27).

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How Degrowth Will Reshape Technology w/ Jason Hickel | Tech Won't Save Us Jun 27, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Jason Hickel to discuss how technology would change in a degrowth society and why it doesn’t make sense to organize society around profit and infinite expansion.

Jason Hickel is the author of Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World. He’s also a Professor at the Institute for Environmental Science and Technology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a Visiting Senior Fellow at the International Inequalities Institute at the London School of Economics.

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White Voters and Joe Biden; plus Harriet Tubman and History | Start Making Sense Jun 26, 2024

What should the Democrats do about white voters? Most of them have voted for Trump, twice. How much of that can be changed? Steve Phillips reports on new research that should reshape Democratic strategy.

Also: Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery and returned again and again to lead others north to freedom. Now her story is being told in a wonderful new book, with the wonderful title “Night Flyer.” the author is Harvard historian Tiya Miles; she joins us on the podcast.

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The Ever-Evolving Espionage Act w/ Sam Lebovic | American Prestige Jun 25, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Sam Lebovic, professor of history at George Mason University, joins Danny and Derek for a look at the Espionage Act of 1917 and its use over the years. In this first part of the discussion, they explore the dominant ideologies at the time of its inception, its implementation in cases from Eugene Debs to Herbert Yardley, the law’s effect on whistle-blowing, America’s burgeoning “secrecy regime”, how the interpretation shifted from the early years of the Act’s existence, and more through World War II.

Subscribe to American Prestige on Patreon to hear the second part of this discussion on our Sunday bonus episode!

Sam’s book is State of Silence: The Espionage Act and the Rise of America's Secrecy Regime.

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Joe Biden’s Muddled Middle East Policy | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Jun 23, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, David Klion joins Jeet Heer to discuss the President’s mix of hawkish policy and moderate rhetoric.

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Everything You Need to Know About Nevada | See How They Run Jun 22, 2024

On this episode of See How They Run, Jon Ralston on one of the most complicated swing states of 2024.

Today we bring you the first in a series of special in-depth episodes about the swing states that will decide the 2024 election. We're starting with Nevada, a state that Joe Biden won in 2020 but is struggling to retain this year. To understand what makes Nevada tick and what hurdles Biden has to overcome, D.D. Guttenplan spoke to Jon Ralston, editor and CEO of the Nevada Independent and the dean of Nevada political journalists.

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Lebanon-Israel Tensions, Switzerland Hosts Ukraine "Summit on Peace", Revelations of US Anti-Vaccination Misinformation | American Prestige Jun 21, 2024

A day late and a lira short, Danny and Derek are back with this week's American Prestige news roundup. This week: in Gaza, Israel announces “tactical pauses” (1:44), Netanyahu disbands his war cabinet (4:27), friction between Bibi and the Biden administration (7:59), friction between Bibi and the IDF (11:53), and an update on the humanitarian situation (14:05); fears of war are rising in Lebanon, meanwhile Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah threatens Cyprus over the island nation’s potential collaboration with Israel (16:11); another cargo ship is sunk off the coast of Yemen by Ansar Allah/Houthi forces (19:16); a report on China’s nuclear program (21:01); Putin visits the DPRK/North Korea (23:29); an update on the crisis in Sudan (27:02); a governing coalition is formed in South Africa (30:53); Mark Rutte gets approval to become the new secretary general of NATO (32:51); a Swiss “peace conference” for Ukraine, plus the US promises more air defense ammo (34:57); and shocking revelations about the US engaging in an “anti-vax propaganda effort” (40:01).

Be sure to check out The Night Won’t End: Biden's War on Gaza from Fault Lines on Al Jazeera English, produced by friend of the show Laila Al-Arian.

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Can Europe Chart Its Own Path on Tech? w/ tante | Tech Won't Save Us Jun 20, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by tante to discuss why it’s hard for Europe to challenge the US and China on tech and why we should change how we think about innovation.

tante is a writer, speaker, and Luddite working on tech and its social impact.

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How the Sixties Ended, plus the Endless War in Gaza | Start Making Sense Jun 19, 2024

“1974,” the new memoir by Francine Prose, recalls the year when “the sixties” came to a definitive end, when it became clear that the changes we’d wanted, the changes we’d fought for, were not going to happen. She spent that year in San Francisco, where she got to know Tony Russo of the Pentagon Papers case.

Also: On May 31, Joe Biden declared, “It is time for this war to end.” But the leaders of both Israel and Hamas seem content for the war in Gaza to grind on into the indefinite future. Hussein Ibish explains why.

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Assassination And US Foreign Policy Since 1945 with Luca Trenta | American Prestige Jun 18, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek are pleased to welcome back to the podcast Luca Trenta, associate professor in International Relations at Swansea University and author of The President’s Kill List. The group discusses assassinations and international law, when and how assassination became a tool for US foreign policy, the difficulties in accessing declassified documents about this topic, the unsuccessful attempts on the life of Fidel Castro and successful operations against the likes of Osama Bin Laden and Patrice Lumumba, the intelligence community using assassination as a “low level” (i.e. not nuclear) form of retaliation in the Cold War, the contemporary justifications for assassinations as “self defense”, the notion of “imminence”, and more.

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Trump Versus The Sharks with Chris Lehmann | The Time of Monsters Jun 16, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Chris Lehmann joins Jeet Heer to discuss Trump's obsession with sharks.

Donald Trump does not like sharks. During his memorable encounter with Stormy Daniels, he fixated on a documentary about the predator that was playing on the hotel television and muttered, “I hope all the sharks die.” The former president returned to this topic at a recent campaign rally where he went on bizarre and lengthy digression asking what would be worse, being electrocuted or being eaten by a shark? Trump said he thought a shark attack would worse.

It's easy to dismiss Trump’s rantings as mere gibberish but my Nation colleague has written incisively on how this rhetoric should be understood not as logic but as an emotional and religious appeal. Chris joined me to talk about Trump’s appeal to his MAGA base. We also take up how Trump is increasingly aligned with Christian nationalism (a topic Chris wrote about here) and how the mainstream media doesn’t offer enough cultural context to make clear just how dangerous Trump’s rhetoric is.

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What Are the Polls Actually Telling Us? | See How They Run Jun 15, 2024

On this episode of See How They Run, we’re talking about the thing that probably defines the political horserace more than anything else: polling.

First, we're joined by Danielle Deiseroth, executive director of progressive polling firm Data for Progress, to talk about how polls are really conducted and how we should think about them. Then, Josh Cohen, the political scientist behind the Ettingermentum newsletter, takes us through what the 2024 polls are really saying about Biden and Trump’s chances in November.

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An Israeli Hostage Operation, A Victory For The European Right, And Tensions in Korea | American Prestige Jun 14, 2024

On this week's American Prestige news roundup: in Gaza, Israel carries out a hostage rescue operation, massacring more Palestinian civilians in the process (0:30), while ceasefire talks amble along (10:54); Israel also kills a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon prompting an armed response (14:32); the field is finalized for Iran’s upcoming presidential election (17:41); in Myanmar, rebels advance in Rakhine State (21:21); tensions rise between the DPRK/North Korea and South Korea (24:20); there's an update on Sudan and the situation in El Fasher (28:44); coalition talks begin in South Africa in the wake of the recent election (30:31); the Right sees wins in European Parliament elections, plus Macron tries a gambit amidst the fallout in France (35:20); the G7 meets and pledges further support for Ukraine (41:26); the US considers expanding its nuclear arsenal (44:14); and a new Pew poll finds that global support for America/Biden is declining (46:03).

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Silicon Valley is Courting Gulf Monarchies to Fund AI w/ Nitasha Tiku | Tech Won't Save Us Jun 13, 2024

On this episode of the Tech Won't Save Us podcast, Paris Marx is joined by Nitasha Tiku to discuss how US tech companies are flocking to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to fund their expensive AI ambitions.

Nitasha Tiku is a tech culture reporter at the Washington Post.

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AIPAC vs The Squad, Plus State Constitutions Protecting Rights | Start Making Sense Jun 12, 2024

The Israel lobby AIPAC is spending millions to defeat Representative Jamaal Bowman in the New York state Democratic primary. That’s because he called for a permanent ceasefire back in October, and describes what’s happening in Gaza now as “an ongoing genocide.” Alan Minsky has our analysis fo the campaign--he’s Executive Director of Progressive Democrats of America.

Also: at a time when Republicans have a lock on the Supreme Court, state constitutions can provide a basis not only for protecting abortion rights, but for criminal justice reform,voting rights protection, the right to public education and even, in some states, the right to breathe clean air. Eyal Press reports.

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Chinese Soft Power w/ Maria Repnikova | American Prestige Jun 11, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek welcome to the podcast Maria Repnikova, associate professor in global communication at Georgia State University, to talk about China’s use of so-called “soft power”. They explore the origin of the phrase and what Maria means by it, Confucius Institutes, public diplomacy, Chinese efforts to build a global media network, how the US frames these initiatives, and what kind of image China might be trying to project.

You can find Maria’s book of the same name here.

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Hollywood’s Blockbuster Crisis | Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Jun 09, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Jeet Heer and Daniel Bessner discuss what corporate monopolies are doing to the dream factory.

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Does Trump's Conviction Change Anything? | See How They Run Jun 08, 2024

On this episode of See How They Run, D.D. Guttenplan is joined by The Nation's Joan Walsh and Jeet Heer for a roundtable discussion about the fallout from Donald Trump's felony conviction in New York. What will the guilty verdict mean for Trump's chances in November? How should the Democrats respond to the conviction? And will any of this ultimately matter?

Joan Walsh, a national affairs correspondent for The Nation, is a coproducer of The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show and the author of What’s the Matter With White People? Finding Our Way in the Next America. Her latest book (with Nick Hanauer and Donald Cohen) is Corporate Bullsh*t: Exposing the Lies and Half-Truths That Protect Profit, Power and Wealth In America.

Jeet Heer is a national affairs correspondent for The Nation and host of the weekly Nation podcast, The Time of Monsters. He also pens the monthly column “Morbid Symptoms” and is the author of In Love with Art: Francoise Mouly’s Adventures in Comics with Art Spiegelman (2013) and Sweet Lechery: Reviews, Essays and Profiles (2014).

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Biden's Gaza Ceasefire Push, India and South Africa Elections, Immigration Executive Order | American Prestige Jun 07, 2024

Once again, it’s your patented American Prestige News Roundup™. This week: in Palestine/Israel, Biden pushes a new ceasefire plan (0:30), an update on the situation on the ground in Gaza (8:06), Slovenia recognizes Palestinian statehood (11:37), and Congress (prematurely?) announces a Netanyahu visit (12:37); things further escalate between Hezbollah and Israel on the border with Lebanon (13:55); registration opens for candidates in Iran’s upcoming presidential election (16:45); India’s election sees another Modi victory, but the end of his BJP party’s 10-year majority (19:41); in Sudan, accusations of genocide in Darfur while another RSF atrocity is carried out in the country’s Gezira state (22:49); the results of South Africa’s election, where the African National Congress (ANC) has lost its parliamentary majority (25:21); Ukraine appears to have taken Blinken’s cue to begin using US/Western weapons in Russia (28:01); the results of Mexico’s election (31:02); Joe Biden issues a new executive order limiting asylum at the southern border (32:06); and the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reports that May 2024 confirms 12 consecutive months of record-breaking global temperatures (35:12).

Check out our pre- and post-Mexican election specials with Alexander Aviña.

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How the FBI Tapped the Encrypted Chats of Criminals Around the World with Joseph Cox | Tech Won't Save Us Jun 06, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Joseph Cox to discuss how the FBI created an encrypted phone company called Anom to read criminals’ messages and eventually carry out the largest international sting operation by law enforcement.

Joseph Cox is the author of Dark Wire: The Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever and the host of the 404 Media Podcast.

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The Trump Verdict and the Pundits, plus Trump and Women Now | Start Making Sense Jun 05, 2024

The punditocracy has been arguing that the guilty verdicts in the Trump trial won’t matter much in the election – Marc Cooper disagrees, and explains what’s wrong about the conventional wisdom.

Also: The Trump verdict and women voters: Exit polls have consistently shown women voting Democratic, and men voting Republican – especially with Trump. How much wider will the Gender Gap get, now that Trump has been found guilty-of lying about having had sex with a porn star? Katha Pollitt will comment.

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The Nuclear Club, Part 3 w/ Jonathan Hunt | American Prestige Jun 04, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek welcome back Jonathan Hunt, assistant professor at the U.S. Naval War College and a fellow of the Nuclear Security Program at Yale University, to talk about his book The Nuclear Club, which follows the efforts of a select few world powers to maintain exclusive access to nuclear weapons. This final episode examines President Lyndon Johnson’s approach to nuclear weapons, the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and how Vietnam factored into its scope, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA), tactical nuclear weapons, the Treaty of Tlatelolco, and more.

Note: The views expressed here are those of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the views, policies, or positions of the U.S. Department of Defense or its components, to include the Department of the Navy or the U.S. Naval War College.

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How Trump Swallowed The GOP Whole | See How They Run Jun 01, 2024

On this episode of See How They Run, D.D. Guttenplan is joined by John Nichols to discuss how Donald Trump turned the Republican Party into a supine extension of his own political ambitions. Then, Jeff Sharlet takes us through the Christian nationalist movement's embrace of Trump, and how their partnership risks plunging us into a fascist future.

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Where Does the Uncommitted Movement Go From Here? | See How They Run Jun 01, 2024

On this episode of the Nation's new election podcast, See How They Run, D.D. Guttenplan is joined by Waleed Shahid to discuss how the "uncommitted" movement got started and what he thinks its impact on 2024 will be. Then, James Zogby on the Democratic Party's complicated relationship with the Arab American community and how the "uncommitted" campaign can influence the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

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Strikes on Rafah, Long-Range Weapons in Ukraine, And A South Africa Election | American Prestige May 31, 2024

Danny and Derek are innocent, with news to boot. This week: in Gaza, Israeli bombs displaced Palestinians in tents (0:29) despite the ICJ ruling calling for a halt in that operation (4:36), global opinion on Palestine continues to shift (7:12), Egyptian-Israeli border clashes (13:59), and more; some developments regarding Iran’s nuclear program (18:19); a summit attended by representatives of China, South Korea, and Japan (22:35); the DPRK/North Korea has a failed satellite launch (25:55); an update on Sudan, namely the besieged city of El Fasher (27:56); the Burkina Faso military junta delays the transition to civilian control (29:54); in Ukraine news, Vladimir Putin hints at a ceasefire recognizing the current territorial status (34:22) while Antony Blinken hints at the US greenlighting Ukraine using American long-range weapons to strike Russia (36:09); in Mexico, a presidential election on Sunday (39:56) while Mexico City is on the verge of losing its water supply (41:59).

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GoFundMe Profits from People’s Pain | Tech Won't Save Us May 30, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Nora Kenworthy to discuss how people rely on GoFundMe to access healthcare and the further inequities that adds to an already deeply unequal healthcare system.

Nora Kenworthy is the author of Crowded Out: The True Costs of Crowdfunding Healthcare and an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Washington Bothell.

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Origins of American Empire in the Asia-Pacific Region with Stuart Rollo | American Prestige May 28, 2024

We all know about the United States’ deep commercial ties with China in this day and age, but has this been the case since America’s inception?

On this episode of American Prestige, hosts Danny and Derek are joined by Stuart Rollo, postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for International Security Studies at the University of Sydney, for a discussion of his book Terminus: Westward Expansion, China, and the End of American Empire. The group examines the United States’ imperial evolution alongside China’s parallel trajectory, considering the (sometimes oblique) role of China in major US conflicts, domestic Chinese milestones’ effect on the US-China dynamic, the watershed change in their trade relations in the 1970s, and how America is trying to manage its current imperial decline.

Note: Stuart was unfortunately ill with Covid when recording this episode, but said that the show must go on!

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Gaza Protest and Free Speech, plus Biden’s Haiti Gala | Start Making Sense May 28, 2024

As campus protests continue against American support for Israel’s war in Gaza, universities and colleges have legal obligations to combat discrimination and a responsibility to maintain order. But they must not sacrifice the principles of free speech that are core to their educational mission. Ben Wizner of the ACLU will explain.

Also: Kenya finally is sending 1000 police officers to Haiti on what is called a “UN security mission,” and Joe Biden held a gala state dinner honoring the president of Kenya for doing it. Amy Wilentz will comment on what she calls “the Devils’ Ball.”

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Marty Peretz And The Neoliberal Reckoning | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer May 26, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, David Klion on the legacy of the former New Republic publisher.

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Death of Ebrahim Raisi, Rafah Offensive in Gaza, Unrest in New Caledonia | American Prestige May 24, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek return with the news roundup. This week: a Gaza update (0:35), three countries recognize Palestine (10:47), the ICC pursues arrest warrants (14:17), and an ICJ hearing wraps up (18:07); Yemeni Ansar Allah / Houthi forces down two US drones, plus the US admits its bombing campaigns have been futile (20:19); the death of Iranian president Embrahim Raisi (25:16); Taiwan inaugurates a new president and sees protests at the parliament while China conducts military drills nearby (27:38); protests and riots in France’s New Caledonia colony territory, prompting a visit from Macron (29:49); the US finally sets a date for withdrawing troops from Niger (33:52); Kenya’s William Ruto visits the US, with the former country’s mission to Haiti starting soon (34:40); an update on the Kharkiv offensive in Ukraine (36:58); and the UK schedules an election for July 4 (39:22).

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Tech’s Plan to ‘Ethnically Cleanse’ San Francisco with Gil Duran | Tech Won't Save Us May 23, 2024

Paris Marx is joined by Gil Duran to discuss Balaji Srinivasan’s plan to implement “tech Zionism” in San Francisco and the threat posed by Silicon Valley's growing opposition to democracy.

Gil Duran is an independent journalist and former editorial page editor for the Sacramento Bee.

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The Abortion Pill Underground, plus Can Dems Hold the Senate? | Start Making Sense May 22, 2024

Since Roe was overturned, pregnant people seeking abortions in Red states have found help from providers operating at the edge of the law. Amy Littlefield reports.

Also: Democrats in the Senate are going to lose the seat vacated by Joe Manchin in West Virginia -- can they hold all the others in November? John Nichols has our analysis, starting with Maryland, where Democrat Angela Alsobrooks will face Republican ‘moderate’ Larry Hogan, the popular anti-Trump former governor.

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Soviet Monumental Architecture with Katherine Zubovich | American Prestige May 21, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek speak with Katherine Zubovich, associate professor of history at SUNY Buffalo, about her book, Moscow Monumental: Soviet Skyscrapers and Urban Life in Stalin's Capital. The discussion broaches what distinguishes Soviet design in the history of monumental architecture, the ill-fated Palace of the Soviets project, postwar Soviet skyscrapers, how ideology is reflected in the architecture, the challenges of ambitious urban planning in Moscow, and more.

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The New Threat to Civil Liberties After Gaza | The Time of Monsters May 19, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Tom Durkin and Joe Ferguson join Jeet Heer to discuss the FISA renewal.

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Biden's Carte Blanche for Israel, Slovakia PM Shot, Myanmar's Rohingya Conscription | American Prestige May 17, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek are back at “it” (the news). This week: in Gaza, a Rafah invasion update and Biden’s “red line” (0:29), more questions about Israel’s postwar plans (6:16), an update on the humanitarian situation and the American “aid pier” (11:10), and the Biden administration’s refusal to punish Israeli rights violations (15:05); Egypt-Israel tensions are escalating as Gaza continues to deteriorate (19:56); in Myanmar, a report on the forced conscription of the nation’s embattled Rohingya minority (22:49); in Sudan, the RSF has surrounded the city of El-Fasher, trapping about 2.5 million displaced civilians (25:36); the US withdrawal from Niger grinds on as the former sends a negotiating team to iron out the details (28:08); Vladimir Putin replaces defense minister Sergei Shoigu (30:34); in Ukraine, a new Russian offensive (33:34) and a visit from Antony Blinken (35:57); prime minister Robert Fico of Slovakia was shot five times in an attempted assassination (36:54); the State Department removes Cuba from a counterterrorism list only to keep it on a terrorism supporter list (38:23); a New Cold War update featuring Biden’s new tariffs on Chinese imports (40:29) and Putin visits Xi Jinping (42:23).

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How BYD is Upending the EV Market with Paolo Gerbaudo | Tech Won't Save Us May 16, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Paolo Gerbaudo to discuss how Chinese electric car maker BYD operates, its growing international success against Tesla, and whether it will be able to move into the North American market.

Paolo Gerbaudo is the author of The Digital Party and The Great Recoil. He’s a senior research fellow at the Department of Political History, Theories and Geography of Complutense University in Madrid.

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American Origins of the Israel - Palestine Conflict, plus Climate Hope | Start Making Sense May 15, 2024

The most important event in the history of Israel and Palestine was not the 1948 founding of Israel and the Nakba, or Israel’s 1967 occupation of Palestinian territories. It was the outlawing of immigration of Jews (and others) to the US from Russia, Poland, and Eastern and Southern Europe. That was the purpose of the immigration restriction act passed by Congress in May, 1924, 100 years ago this month. Without that, the Jews of Europe would never have moved to Palestine, Harold Meyerson argues.

Also: The New Yorker’s award-winning climate writer Elizabeth Kolbert talks about her fascinating new book, “H is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z.’”

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The Nuclear Club, Pt. 2 w/ Jonathan Hunt | American Prestige May 14, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny welcomes back Jonathan Hunt, assistant professor at the U.S. Naval War College and a fellow of the Nuclear Security Program at Yale University, to talk about his book The Nuclear Club, which follows the efforts of a select few world powers to maintain exclusive access to nuclear weapons. This second part of the discussion picks up in the mid-1950s after Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” speech, non-proliferation movement leaders like Irish foreign minister Frank Aiken, the flexible response policy and other changes to America’s nuclear posture under the Kennedy Administration, the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty, proliferation optimists vs pessimists, and more through the late 1960s.

Note: The views expressed here are those of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the views, policies, or positions of the U.S. Department of Defense or its components, to include the Department of the Navy or the U.S. Naval War College.

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An Interview with Steve Albini (2020) | American Prestige May 13, 2024

On this special episode of American Prestige: In light of the untimely death of engineer/producer/musician Steve Albini, we wanted to share an interview Danny did with him for an upcoming (non-American Prestige) podcast on grunge music. This was recorded in August 2020.

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The War In Sudan with Khalid Medani | American Prestige May 10, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek welcome to the podcast Khalid Medani—associate professor of political science, director of the Institute of Islamic Studies, and chair of the African Studies Program at McGill University—for a deep dive into the conflict that has engulfed Sudan since last Spring. They delve into its roots going back to the 1989 coup, break down the makeup of the primary combatants (the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces), how these groups are able to continue recruiting and maintain support networks, the conflict’s catastrophic humanitarian crisis and regional effects, foreign mercenaries and whether it has become a proxy war, efforts of local civil leaders to quell the fighting, and what things might look like moving forward.

As Khalid noted, two places to which he recommends you donate are the Sudanese Doctors Union or the Sudan Solidarity Collective.

Some of Khalid’s recent work:

“The Struggle for Sudan” from Middle East Report’s Spring 2024 issue is a primer on Sudan.
Middle East Research and Information Project’s Spring 2024 issue has multiple contributors, including Khalid, writing about the conflict.
His book Black Markets and Militants: Informal Networks in the Middle East and Africa, which is free via Open Access.
“Opinion: The brutal conflict in Sudan is not a civil war. It’s a war on civilians” from The Globe and Mail.

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Tesla is Choosing Hype Over Substance with Edward Niedermeyer | Tech Won't Save Us May 09, 2024

On this week's episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Ed Niedermeyer to discuss Tesla's stagnation as an electric vehicle manufacturer and what that could mean for its future as competitors cut into their market share.

Ed Niedermeyer is the author of Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors, and is the co-host of the Autonocast, a podcast on the future of transportation.

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The Mob Attack on UCLA’s Gaza Encampment, plus Israel, Hamas, and Rape | Start Making Sense May 08, 2024

Lots of pro-Palestine encampments on college campuses have been attacked by local police, but UCLA was different: a pro-Israel mob attacked the encampment on April 30. The attack continued for three hours before police stepped in, and they didn’t arrest any of the attackers. The next night, the police themselves attacked and shut down the encampment. UCLA Professor and Chair in Jewish History, David Myers has our report.

Also on this episode: There’s no doubt that Israeli women and girls were raped during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7; but there is little evidence to support Israel’s charge that rape was a “premeditated, systematic” strategy by Hamas—offered as a justification for Israel's destruction of Gaza and killing of 35,000 civilians. At the same time, evidence is growing of sexual abuse of Palestinian women held in detention by Israel. Azadeh Moaveni reports on the findings of her reporting for the London Review of Books.

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State of the Sahel: Niger and Chad with Alex Thurston | American Prestige May 07, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, we welcome back to the pod, Alex Thurston, associate professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Cincinnati and non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute, to discuss the situations in Niger and Chad now that the two nations have respectively kicked out most US troops.

We discuss the State Department’s underwhelming treatment of some African heads of state, how this dynamic differs when working with a military junta, what specifically precipitated the US withdrawals from Niger and Chad, AFRICOM’s security-focused framing, how Russia’s role in the region factors into things, and more.

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Biden Versus the Pro-Palestinian Protesters | The Time of Monsters May 04, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Yousef Munayyer on a president at war with his base.

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News: Netanyahu Rejecting ICC, US-Saudi Security Deal, US Sanctioning Chinese Companies | American Prestige May 03, 2024

Antony Blinken might claim to play the blues, but Danny and Derek have to deliver…the news. This week: in Palestine/Israel, the latest round of Gaza ceasefire talks (0:42), Netanyahu panics over a potential International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant (6:54), and Blinken backs off of a threat to use the Leahy Law against IDF troops despite evidence of human rights abuses (10:39); Colombia announces that it will cut diplomatic ties with Israel (15:26); Saudi Arabia pushes for a security deal with the US (18:58); in Sudan, an imminent RSF attack on El Fasher in North Darfur (24:01); the US agrees to withdraw forces from Chad (25:26); Dutch PM Mark Rutte may be in line to become secretary general of NATO (28:33); new US sanctions will target Chinese firms supplying Russia (30:46); Ukrainian forces are falling back in Donetsk (33:10); in Haiti, a surprise PM appointment sparks dispute (35:04); and a New Cold War update featuring the potential addition of South Korea and New Zealand to AUKUS (37:09) and the Solomon Islands parliament’s election of a new PM friendly to China (39:50).

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How SHEIN Took Over Fast Fashion w/ Nicole Lipman | Tech Won't Save Us May 02, 2024

On this episode of the Tech Won't Save Us podcast, we're joined by writer and assistant editor at n+1, Nicole Lipman, to discuss SHEIN’s rise to the top of the fast fashion industry and how it exacerbates the sector’s labor and environment problems.

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How Dems Can Win Rural Voters, plus “Who’s Afraid of Gender?” | Start Making Sense May 01, 2024

Rural America is Trump country. In 2016, Hillary got barely 30 percent of the rural vote. Biden did only a little better in 2020. But he can do a lot better than that this year—and he needs to, if he’s going to carry some of the swing states. Anthony Flaccavento will explain – he’s co-founder and executive director of the Rural Urban Bridge Initiative.

Also: Judith Butler may be the most famous feminist theorist in the world today. Now Butler has a new book out, with the provocative title, “Who’s Afraid of Gender?” Katha Pollitt provides a critique.

NOTE: The views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the editorial views of The Nation.

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The Nuclear Club, Pt. 1 with Jonathan Hunt | American Prestige Apr 30, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Jonathan Hunt, assistant professor at the U.S. Naval War College and a fellow of the Nuclear Security Program at Yale University, joins us to talk about his book, The Nuclear Club, covering the efforts of a select few world powers to maintain exclusive access to nuclear weapons.

In this first part, we discuss U.S. efforts to maintain nuclear supremacy during the early Cold War, nuclear threshold states, nuclear propaganda, and more up until Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” speech.

Note: The views expressed here are those of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the views, policies, or positions of the U.S. Department of Defense or its components, to include the Department of the Navy or the U.S. Naval War College.

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Columbia University and the New Student Anti-War Movement | The Time of Monsters With Jeet Heer Apr 28, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Joe Howley on how Israel’s war in Gaza is coming to the home front.

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News: A Biden War Funding Package, Mass Graves in Gaza, and a New Cold War Update | American Prestige Apr 26, 2024

On this news episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek bring you another dose of Reality™️. This week: Congress passes Biden’s war funding package (0:59); Israel prepares to invade Rafah (7:31); the US begins construction of a Gaza pier (10:33); Antony Blinken may blacklist an IDF unit (12:58); mass graves are discovered in Gaza hospitals (16:57); US forces come under attack in Iraq and Syria (19:01); the IDF makes a small retaliation against Iran (21:42); Azerbaijan and Armenia make progress toward a peace agreement (24:06); Myanmar rebels withdraw from Myawaddy (27:18); the US finally agrees to withdraw forces from Niger (29:36); Russia makes gains in Ukraine (32:32); the US is sending long range weapons to and negotiating a military agreement with Kyiv (35:16); Ariel Henry resigns and a new Haitian council takes office (37:53); and a New Cold War update featuring Blinken visiting China (40:31) while Biden suggests that his uncle was eaten by cannibals in Papua New Guinea (43:02).

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The Religious Foundations of Transhumanism with Meghan O’Gieblyn | Tech Won't Save Us Apr 25, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Meghan O’Gieblyn to discuss parallels between transhumanism and Christian narratives of resurrection, despite the fact many transhumanists identify as staunch atheists. Meghan O’Gieblyn is an advice columnist at Wired and the author of God, Human, Animal, Machine.

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A Better Two-State Solution—Plus, the UAW's Victory | Start Making Sense Apr 24, 2024

Transforming the two-state solution for Palestine and Israel to meet today’s realities: a federation, something like the European Union. That’s the project of the visionary group A Land for All. May Pundak, co-executive director, explains.

Also: History was made last Friday in Chattanooga, when workers at Volkswagen’s factory there voted to join the United Auto Workers -- by an overwhelming margin, 73 to 27 percent. This was the first major union victory in the South in many decades, and it may mark the rebirth of a powerful union movement. Harold Meyerson comments; he’s editor-at-large of The American Prospect.

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Did It Happen Here? with Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins | American Prestige Apr 23, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek welcome back Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins, assistant professor in the College of Social Studies at Wesleyan University, to talk about his edited volume Did It Happen Here? Perspectives on Fascism and America. The group explores the utility of the so-called “fascism debate”, its popular resonance since the 2016 election, how Daniel curated the book, analysis of fascism in the Black radical tradition, perceptions of fascism in academia vs. those in organized labor, how social media fuels an otherwise arcane, academic discussion, and more.

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Where Did Biden’s Foreign Policy Go Wrong? | The Time of Monsters Apr 21, 2024

Writing in the Nation, David Klion recently reviewed a Alexander Ward’s new book on Biden’s foreign policy, which offers a redemption arc whereby an administration wounded by the botched exit from Afghanistan made good by its handling of the Ukraine invasion.

But as Klion notes, the two year frame of the book is too narrow. In conversation, David and I contextualize Biden’s foreign policy, which is deeply unpopular and flawed, in the larger history of hawkish liberalism. We look at the attempt to revive a style of military Keynesianism and Biden’s deep investment in Zionism, as well as the contradictions on issues of human rights that are hampering Biden’s presidency.

During the discussion, I alluded to this excellent Mother Jones article by Noah Lanard on Biden and Israel.

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Israel and Iran, Mass Coral Bleaching, and US Allegedly Refusing to Leave Niger | American Prestige Apr 19, 2024

Producer’s note: This was recorded on Thursday, April 18, before Israel’s strike on Iran, hence us releasing this earlier than usual. Overnight, Israel did launch a strike on Iran.

On this week's news episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek bring you another world news roundup. This week: Israel's retaliation for Iran’s strike last week, Iran floats the possibility of developing nuclear weapons in response (0:31), and plans for an IDF Rafah operation in Gaza are underway (8:09); the US is still pursuing Saudi normalization with Israel (10:40) and vetoes a Palestinian statehood resolution at the UN (13:38); the US is trying to create an “independent” sanctions monitor for the DPRK/North Korea (15:11); in climate news, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is suffering the “worst” bleaching event ever (17:19); in Sudan, the fighting expands into North Darfur (19:46); the UN’s Libya envoy quits in frustration (21:18); a whistleblower says that the US is ignoring the order to withdraw from Niger (23:44); the US pushes back over oil refinery attacks in Ukraine (26:41) while the House of Representatives will take up military aid bills (30:01); and the US will reinstate sanctions on Venezuela’s energy sector (32:12).

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How Sports Betting Is Fueling Gambling Addiction w/ Alex Shephard | Tech Won't Save Us Apr 18, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Alex Shephard, senior editor at The New Republic, to discuss the legalization of sports betting in the United States, the growing influence of gambling in professional sports, and its negative impact on the lives of sports fans.

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Trump's Very Bad Week, plus Prestige TV, from The Sympathizer to Shogun | Start Making Sense Apr 17, 2024

Donald Trump on Monday became the first president in history to face trial on criminal charges; his polls are down, and the stock price of Trump Media fallen has 60 percent. John Nichols comments – he’s National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation.

Also: TV right now is featuring several prestige historical dramas. John Powers compares and contrasts “The Sympathizer,” centering on a spy for the Communists in Vietnam and then California in the seventies; “Manhunt,” following the search for Lincoln’s assassin; “A Gentleman in Moscow,” portraying a Russian aristocrat after the Bolshevik Revolution, and “Shogun,” about feuding 17^th century Japanese warlords. John is critic at large for Fresh Air with Terry Gross

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'Patriots' on Broadway with Michael Stuhlbarg | American Prestige Apr 16, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, we welcome to the podcast, actor Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man, Call Me By Your Name, Boardwalk Empire) to discuss his role in the new Broadway play, Patriots, which portrays billionaire Boris Berezovsky’s (Stuhlbarg) relationship with Vladimir Putin (Will Keen) in 1991. The group discusses the challenges in nuanced portrayals of Berezovsky and Putin, how preparing for the character pushed Michael to reframe his perspective on the end of the USSR, the resonance between the events of the play and the current situation in the United States, notions of homeland and patriotism for Berezovsky, and more.

Patriots is playing now on Broadway through June 23 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

The documentary series, Russia 1985–1999: TraumaZone, that Michael referenced was created by Adam Curtis.

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Larry David Was The Last Man | Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Apr 13, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Jeet Heer and Daniel Bessner on Larry David.

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US and Israel Await Iran Response, Mexican Embassy Raid in Ecuador, New Cold War Update | American Prestige Apr 12, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek bring you stories from around the globe. This week: Iran warns of an imminent response to Israel bombing the IR’s embassy in Syria (0:31); Gaza ceasefire talks remain tenuous (6:15) while the IDF’s “withdrawal” has not yet enabled sufficient aid to enter the Strip (10:47); in Myanmar, rebels seize a key border town (15:27); battlefield dynamic shifts in Sudan with a supply of Iranian drones (19:00); in Ukraine, Russia strikes destroy a major power plant (21:17) and the Ukrainian parliament passes a new conscription law (23:17); international fallout ensues after the Ecuadorian goernment raids the Mexican embassy in Quito (25:36); a New Cold War update featuring Biden hosting Japanese PM Kishida and Philippine president Marcos Jr. (29:28); and in climate news, March continues a 10-month streak of the hottest respective month ever recorded (32:43).

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Kara Swisher Shows Tech Journalism’s Flaws w/ Edward Ongweso Jr. | Tech Won't Save Us Apr 11, 2024

Paris Marx is joined by Edward Ongweso Jr. to discuss Kara Swisher’s attempt to rebrand herself as the most feared journalist in Silicon Valley, how she spent her career forwarding the industry’s narratives, and the larger problems with access journalism.

Edward Ongweso Jr. is finance editor at Logics Magazine and co-host of This Machine Kills.

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Democrats vs. Billionaires, plus Hamas vs. Fatah | Start Making Sense Apr 10, 2024

The issues and the language that win for Democrats: research shows it’s not just “jobs,” but attacking the rich. Bhaskar Sunkara, President of The Nation and author of The Socialist Manifesto, explains.

Also: why did Hamas decide to provoke massive Israeli retaliation now? Hussein Ibish, who writes for The Atlantic, the New York Times, and Daily Beast, says Hamas had a clear political goal on October 7: to defeat the Palestinian secular nationalists of Fatah and the PLO.

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The Cold War's Afterlife, Pt. 2 w/ Penny Von Eschen | American Prestige Apr 09, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek again chat with Penny Von Eschen, William R. Kennan Jr. professor of American studies and professor of history at UVA, about her book Paradoxes of Nostalgia: Cold War Triumphalism and Global Disorder since 1989. This second part of the conversation picks up with Cold War nostalgia in American pop culture, the 90s search for a new “bad guy” in places like DPRK/North Korea and the Balkans, the “kitschification” of the Cold War, ways this nostalgia manifested throughout the War on Terror, how U.S.-Russia relations were reshaped in the 1990s and 2000s, and the influences of this refracted view of the Cold War on the “New Cold War” dynamic we’re seeing today.

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IDF Kills More Aid Workers, IRGC Hit in Damascus, & a Moscow Terror Attack | American Prestige Apr 05, 2024

On this week's news episode of American Prestige, Derek and Danny return with the news. This week: In Gaza, the IDF kills members of the World Central Kitchen organization (0:31), Biden follows up with Netanyahu (6:18), more reports on the IDF’s AI targeting systems (10:35), and more; Israeli airstrikes hit Iranian IRGC officers in Syria (20:59); a drone strike in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw (25:04); the DPRK/North Korea tests a hypersonic missile (26:51); the results of Senegal’s election (29:01); Somalia expels the Ethiopian ambassador (31:02); a terrorist attack in Moscow (32:43); NATO discusses a Ukraine fund (35:27); a UN update on displacement in Haiti (38:42); and a New Cold War update featuring a Biden-Xi phone call (41:28).

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Deepfake Abuse is a Crisis w/ Kat Tenbarge | Tech Won't Save Us Apr 04, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Kat Tenbarge to discuss the proliferation of AI-generated, non-consensual sexual images, their impact on the victims, and the potential fallout for tech companies who helped make it all possible. Note there is some discussion of self-harm and suicide in this episode.

Kat Tenbarge is a tech and culture writer at NBC News.

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Israeli Jews and Palestinians Standing Together; plus Blue Cities in Red States | Start Making Sense Apr 03, 2024

Standing Together, Israel’s biggest Jewish-Palestinian grassroots movement, is organizing against the war and for a Palestinian state. Sally Abed, one of the group’s founders, explains their vision, their strategy, and their recent actions.

Also: Cities everywhere in America are Democratic, and often raising minimum wages and strengthening rent control. But in states where Republicans hold unchecked power, state governments are blocking cities from acting. Harold Meyerson, editor-at-large of The American Prospects. Reports on preemption—and on “pre-preemption.”

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The Cold War's Afterlife, Pt. 1 w/ Penny Von Eschen | American Prestige Apr 02, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, we chat with Penny Von Eschen, William R. Kennan Jr. professor of American Studies and professor of history at UVA, about her book Paradoxes of Nostalgia: Cold War Triumphalism and Global Disorder since 1989.

In this first part of the discussion, the group explores the affective dimension of nostalgia, how the “end of history” and “clash of civilizations” narratives influenced U.S. policy starting in the 1990s. We also discuss the post-Cold War malaise that took hold, and the proliferation of anti-government ideologies amidst a massive increase in military spending.

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Rethinking U.S. World Power w/ Michael Brenes and Stephen Wertheim | American Prestige Mar 29, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Michael Brenes and Stephen discuss the new volume Danny and Michael edited, Rethinking U.S. World Power: Domestic Histories of U.S. Foreign Relations. They talk about the current tenor in DC around foreign policy, the degree to which domestic factors affect U.S. decisions therein, and how their careers thus far have shaped their thinking.

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What Elon Musk Won’t Tell You About Settling Mars w/ Zach Weinersmith | Tech Won't Save Us Mar 28, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Zach Weinersmith to discuss the impracticalities of space colonies some interested parties keep forgetting to mention.

Zach Weinersmith co-wrote A City On Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through? with Kelly Weinersmith. He also makes the Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal comic.

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Wages on The Ballot in Battleground States; Plus Cites With Ceasefire Resolutions | Start Making Sense Mar 27, 2024

Minimum wage initiatives on the ballot in battleground states could mobilize potential Democratic voters who are unenthusiastic about Biden. Saru Jayaraman of One Fair Wage explains the strategy for Arizona, Michigan, and Ohio.

Also: 100 American cities and towns have formally called for a ceasefire in Gaza. John Nichols has our report.

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Prabowo and the 2024 Indonesia General Election | American Prestige Mar 26, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek speak with Michael G. Vann, professor of history at California State University, Sacramento, about Indonesia, which recently held an election resulting in Prabowo Subianto as president-elect. They discuss the country’s era of reform (Reformasi) since the end of Suharto’s rule in 1998, the composition of its elite class, Prabowo’s controversial career long predating his 2024 campaign, the issues motivating voters in this election, and potential legal challenges to him ultimately taking power.

Check out Michael’s work in Jacobin, as well as his book The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt: Empire, Disease, and Modernity in French Colonial Vietnam.

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The Roots of Trump’s Dictator Fetish | The Time of Monsters Mar 24, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Jeet Heer talks to Jacob Heilbrunn about the American right’s long history of opposing democracy.

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Famine in Gaza and Sudan, Niger Kicks Out US Forces, Pakistan Airstrikes |. American Prestige Mar 22, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Antony Blinken plays the blues while Danny and Derek bring you the news. This week: in Gaza, famine sets in (0:29), U.S.-Israel tensions rise over a potential Rafah invasion (3:52), and more; Pakistan conducts airstrikes in Afghanistan (12:11); Indonesia’s general election results are confirmed (14:37); the DPRK/North Korea tests a hypersonic missile engine (17:28); there’s new evidence of coral bleaching in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (19:15); a Sudan humanitarian update (20:55); Niger’s junta government kicks out U.S. forces (23:00); Vladimir Putin wins reelection in Russia (26:42); Ukraine strikes targets in Russia and is debating a new conscription bill (27:52); the EU debates using Russian assets to support Ukraine* (32:52); the Colombian government is in peace talks with the Clan Del Golfo (Gulf Clan) (35:41); an update on CARICOM’s transition plan for Haiti (37:26); and a new study finds no evidence of brain damage from Havana Syndrome (40:02).

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What the TikTok Ban Reveals About US Tech Policy w/ Jacob Silverman | Tech Won't Save Us Mar 21, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss the motivations behind the proposed TikTok ban and what the effort tells us about US tech policy.

Jacob Silverman is a tech journalist and the co-author of Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud.

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Jews Against AIPAC, plus Free Speech on Campus | Start Making Sense Mar 20, 2024

In the campaign to end American funding for Israel’s war in Gaza, a key front is the fight against AIPAC. This week, more than a hundred prominent American Jews have joined in a statement opposing AIPAC and its efforts to defeat Democratic candidates who have criticized Israeli government policy toward Palestinians. The signers include author Ariel Dorfman, actors Elliott Gould and Wallace Shawn, and Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s. Alan Minsky, Executive Director of Progressive Democrats of America, is on the podcast to explain.

Also on this episode: David Cole, National Legal Director of the ACLU, makes the case for freedom of speech on campus and against cancel culture, starting from the confrontation between Elise Stefanik and the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn.

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Ariel Henry and Foreign Intervention in Haiti | American Prestige Mar 19, 2024

On this episode of the American Prestige podcast, we speak with Jemima Pierre, professor of global race in the Institute of Race, Gender, Sexuality and Social Justice (GRSJ) at the University of British Columbia, about foreign intervention in Haiti—namely instances led by the U.S. and European powers— from the country’s inception to Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s resignation last week.

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Farewell to Freakonomics | Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Mar 18, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Marshall Steinbaum on economics as a toxic discipline.

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Biden's "Red Lines" for Gaza, Ukraine Hits Oil Facilities, US Leads Global Arms Sales | American Prestige Mar 15, 2024

This week on American Prestige: Russia kicks off its presidential election (1:47); a Gaza humanitarian update (4:29) and Biden speaks on a Rafah invasion (11:24); more Israeli strikes in Lebanon (15:30); U.S. policy potentially shifts on DPRK/North Korea (17:17); in Sudan, the military makes gains in Omdurman (20:20); Ukraine attacks Russian oil facilities (24:26) and receives a U.S. stopgap aid package (26:54); the right surges in Portugal’s election (29:37); PM Ariel Henry resigns as chaos ensues in Haiti (32:20); and the U.S. expands its lead in global arms sales (35:17).

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Silicon Valley Deserves Your Anger w/ Ed Zitron | Tech Won't Save Us Mar 14, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Ed Zitron to discuss the public’s growing disillusionment with the tech industry as it pivoted to chasing profits instead of providing us with anything useful.

Ed Zitron is the host of Better Offline and writes the Where’s Your Ed At newsletter. He’s also the CEO of EZPR.

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What the Polls Get Wrong about Biden, plus Haiti in Turmoil | Start Making Sense Mar 13, 2024

After gangs took over most of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s acting prime minister, Ariel Henry, agreed to step aside. Long-time Haiti observer Amy Wilentz analyzes the forces at work shaping the country’s next steps.

Also: the polls and the pollsters are missing the political potential in 9 million people who have turned 18 since the last election. Steve Phillips explains – his book, ‘How We Win the Civil War,’ is out now in a new edition, updated for the 2024 election.

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Masters of the Air With John Orloff | American Prestige Mar 12, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek welcome writer and co-executive producer John Orloff to the pod to discuss Apple TV+’s Masters of the Air miniseries. They go into John’s background, his work on HBO’s seminal Band of Brothers, the distinct horror of WWII aerial warfare, how MOTA tackled the POW experience, the challenge of writing and shooting such a massive production, and how a WWII-era drama is informed by the current global climate.

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“Dune” and the Allegories of Empire | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Mar 10, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, David Klion and Jeet Heer on Dune: Part Two, the science fiction epic with real world echoes.

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Haiti Gang Offensive, Sudan Crisis, Gaza | American Prestige Mar 08, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek bring you news from around the world. This week: in Gaza, the U.S. makes airdrops while Biden announces a temporary port (0:30), some countries restore UNRWA funding (4:02), and more; a cargo ship is sunk and data cables cut in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen (12:26); the parliament of Pakistan elects a new prime minister (16:15); a renewed attempt at a ceasefire in Myanmar (18:02); an update on the crisis in Sudan (20:17); a new date is set for Senegal’s presidential election (23:16); an attack in Odesa during a visit by Zelensky and the Greek prime minister (25:32); Sweden officially joins NATO (27:08); in Haiti, a new gang offensive threatens to oust Ariel Henry (28:33); and we continue to break new climate records (33:54).

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Plastic Recycling Is a Scam, with Dharna Noor | Tech Won't Save Us Mar 07, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Dharna Noor to discuss widely-held misconceptions about the effectiveness of plastic recycling and how industry lobbies invented them to protect the market for plastic products.

Dharna Noor is the fossil fuels and climate reporter at The Guardian.

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Biden After Super Tuesday, plus A Voting Rights Amendment | Start Making Sense Mar 06, 2024

After Super Tuesday: John Nichols reports on the evidence of weaknesses of both Biden and Trump, as well as some signs of strength, in the wake of voting in primaries in 16 states.

Also: Now is the time to add the right to vote to the constitution – that’s what Richard Hasen says. And, he argues, there are good reasons why Republicans could support that--maybe not this year, but sometime soon. Rick is professor of law and political science at UCLA and author of the new book “A Real Right to Vote.”

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Democracy and the Left Turn in Latin America | American Prestige Mar 05, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek speak with Gabriel Hetland, associate professor of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latina/o Studies and Sociology at the University at Albany, about his book Democracy on the Ground: Local Politics in Latin America’s Left Turn.

We discuss the regional shift to the Left, how right-wing forces reacted to this trend, the ways democracy has been shaped by these conditions, and the different tacks taken by leftist movements, particularly in Bolivia and Venezuela.

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Gaza City Massacre, Darfur Aid Crisis, And Sweden Joins NATO | American Prestige Mar 01, 2024

On this News episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek work on leap days. This week: in Gaza, a massacre in Gaza City (0:29), ceasefire talks (5:20), and Netanyahu’s postwar plan (8:35); the U.S. and U.K. launch more joint airstrikes against Yemen (10:25); North Korea trades arms for food with Russia (11:54); in Sudan, military groups block aid shipments to Darfur (14:13); a new date is set for a presidential election in Senegal (15:58); a Ukraine War update (19:04); Sweden’s NATO accession is finally ratified (26:08); Colombia reopens talks with the ELN (28:29); NORAD intercepts a new balloon (29:55).

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Abortion could make Florida a swing state in 2024; plus ‘Ukrainians in Exile’ | Start Making Sense Feb 28, 2024

An abortion rights amendment to Florida’s constitution has gotten enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot. Now it’s up to the state’s supreme court to decide whether people will get to vote on it, potentially transforming the electorate there in November. The Nation’s abortion access correspondent, Amy Littlefield, is on the podcast to report.

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense: This week is the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. To commemorate the anniversary, The Nation has released a new documentary short film, Ukrainians in Exile. We’ll speak with the filmmaker, Janek Ambros.

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Christian Zionism With Daniel Hummel Pt 2 | American Prestige Feb 27, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, hosts Danny Bessner and Derek Davison speak with Daniel Hummel, director for university engagement at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Upper House. Hummel returns to the podcast to continue a conversation about Christian Zionism in the United States since 1948.

In this episode, we pick up with the rise of the new Christian right in the 1970s, the role of Zionism therein, dispensationalism and its notion of Jews and Israel, the Israeli right’s concurrent rise to power, Jimmy Carter as a non-Zionist evangelical, the Camp David Accords, Ronald Reagan’s relationship with Christian Zionism, and where the movement stood on the eve of the Oslo Accords.

You can catch up on the first episode in this series here.

Daniel’s book is Covenant Brothers: Evangelicals, Jews, and U.S.-Israeli Relations.

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Gaza War, Ansar Allah (Houthi) Attacks, Russia Advances in Ukraine | American Prestige Feb 23, 2024

This week, on American Prestige: Danny and Derek are just the messengers. This week: in Gaza, ceasefire talks may be heating up again, America assesses the UNRWA allegations, and more (0:42); Yemen’s Ansar Allah (Houthi) militants potentially sink a cargo ship, damage another ship, and attack Eilat (12:11); a potential governing coalition is formed in Pakistan (14:31); tensions between Taiwan and China over the Kinmen Islands (17:13); in Senegal, Macky Sall agrees to reschedule the election, but hasn’t offered a new date yet (19:07); Somalia cuts new military deals with Turkey and the U.S. (21:19); Alexei Navalny dies in Russia (25:44); in Ukraine, the Russians take Avdiivka as we approach the second anniversary of the invasion (28:52); Hungary schedules a NATO ratification vote for Sweden (34:10); the ELN suspends peace talks in Colombia (35:06); the government of Ecuador backs out of a deal to send arms to Ukraine (38:35); and a New Cold War update featuring the restoration of panda relations between China and the U.S. (40:16).

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How Foreverism Degrades Our Culture with Grafton Tanner | Tech Won't Save Us Feb 22, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Grafton Tanner to discuss the dangers and consequences of companies and politicians leveraging nostalgia for their own purposes.

Grafton Tanner is the author of Foreverism. He also teaches at the University of Georgia.

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“Renters are the sleeping giants of LA politics,” plus the Hidden History of AIDS | Start Making Sense Feb 21, 2024

A political battle is underway in Los Angeles, where landlords, multi-millionaires, and the police are trying to defeat the leading progressive on the city council. Their key issues are protection for renters and new taxes on mansions.

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense: A new podcast brings us stories from the early days of HIV & AIDS. It's about how the epidemic decimated poor communities of color and the people who refused to stay out of sight. WNYC's Kai Wright and The Nation's Lizzy Ratner are behind the new show, Blindspot: The Plague in the Shadows.

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UFO Mythology with David Halperin | American Prestige Feb 20, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek speak with David Halperin, retired professor of Jewish studies at UNC Chapel Hill, about his book Intimate Alien: The Hidden Story of the UFO. The group looks at the phenomenon of UFO encounters as part of a longer tradition of mythology, examining their relationship to the historical epochs in which they occur, their place in politics and culture, and what ultimately the search for aliens says about our own views of humanity.

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From McCarthyism to Citizens United | The Time of Monsters Feb 18, 2024

The mathematician Chandler Davis, who died in 2002 at age 96, was one of the notable victims of the second Red Scare. In 1960, Davis was sentenced to six months in prison for refusing to answer questions about his membership in the Communist Party. Davis’s lawyers defended him with the innovative legal argument that the First Amendment barred such questioning. While Davis lost in the courts, his legal battles were still an important effort in a larger battle to extend the parameters on political speech. Davis’s story is told in a new book, The Prosecution of Professor Chandler Davis by Steve Batterson. Siobhan Robert’s obituary for Davis ran in The Nation.

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, I talked to journalist Doug Bell, who knew Chandler Davis, about this book and Davis’s larger place in history. We take up the history of anti-communism and how it has limited free speech, the legal philosophy of Alexander Meiklejohn, and the reactionary Supreme Court's use of the First Amendment to expand corporate power.

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The Gaza War, Pakistan Election, And Venezuela-Guyana Tensions | American Prestige Feb 16, 2024

On this week's news episode of American Prestige: Global military spending reached new heights in 2023 (0:31); an update on Gaza (3:51); a major exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah (12:12); contentioius election results in Pakistan (14:38); reports of the military in disarray in Myanmar (19:08); Indonesia holds a general election (22:36); protests continue in Senegal (25:11); allegations of a massacre in Ethiopia (27:19); Russia might be planning for space nukes (29:58); Venezuela is massing troops on the Guyana border (33:17); and an update on the United States’ military supplemental (36:17).

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How Interfaces Shape Our Relationship to Tech w/ Zachary Kaiser | Tech Won't Save Us Feb 15, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won’t Save Us, Zachary Kaiser is on the show with Paris Marx to discuss the power of tech interfaces, why data isn’t an accurate reflection of the world, and why we need to explore democratic decomputerization.

Zachary Kaiser is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Experience Architecture at Michigan State University. He’s also the author of Interfaces and Us: User Experience Design and the Making of the Computable Subject.

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The Families that Made Fortunes Selling Opium, plus the News from Haiti | Start Making Sense Feb 14, 2024

The blue-blood families that made fortunes in the opium trade: Amitav Ghosh recounts the origins of much of the wealth for the 19th century New England elite on this episode of the Start Making Sense podcast. He wrote the cover story for The Nation's latest print issue. His new book is called Smoke and Ashes.

Also on this episode: The latest US moves in Haiti are framed in democratic rhetoric but are deeply anti-democratic in their effect. Amy Wilentz is on the podcast to explain. She’s written two books about Haiti, most recently the award-winning Farewell Fred Voodoo.

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US Security Assistance to Africa w/ Elizabeth Shackelford | American Prestige Feb 13, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Derek speaks with Elizabeth Shackelford, former U.S. diplomat and current foreign affairs columnist for The Chicago Tribune, about U.S. involvement across Africa. They talk about Elizabeth’s own history in Somalia and South Sudan, America’s understanding of the places in which it’s involved, the generational timeline needed to change the trajectory of foreign policy, where the securitized view of Africa began, how the U.S. has approached places like Burkina Faso and Cameroon, and what a better U.S. policy in Africa might look like.

Elizabeth’s report with Ethan Kessler and Emma Sanderson, “Less is More: A New Strategy for US Security Assistance to Africa”.

Elizabeth’s book The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age.

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The Democrats Embrace The Right on Immigration | The Time of Monsters Feb 11, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, a discussion with Adam Johnson on the Democrats' failed border policy.

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US Strikes in Iraq and Syria, Sudan Humanitarian Disaster, Zelensky Fires Top General | American Prestige Feb 09, 2024

On this week's News episode of American Prestige: the U.S. hits targets in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for the American troops killed in Jordan (0:30); Israel refuses Hamas’ terms for a ceasefire as IDF troops enter Rafah (6:06); in the Philippines, a feud between Sebastian Duterte and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. escalates (11:46); in Sudan, humanitarian assistance is cut off and telecom services are down as the catastrophe intensifies (15:04); President Macky Sall postpones elections in Senegal (17:47); Ukrainian president Zelensky fires top general Valerii Zaluzhnyi while a U.S. aid bill is stuck in Congress (22:23); in the Netherlands, coalition talks for the Geert Wilders-led government falter (26:38); the Colombian government extends its ceasefire with the ELN, while the latter swears off kidnapping (29:41); protests in Haiti demand the resignation of president Ariel Henry (31:22); Joe Biden's top Asia aide Kurt Campbell is confirmed as the new Deputy Secretary of State (33:21); and a new climate report says the opportunity for limiting warming to 1.5°C might be gone (34:26).

Note: Zelensky’s firing of Zaluzhnyi was officially announced after the time of recording

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France’s Start-Up Nation Is a Neoliberal Hell w/ Nastasia Hadjadji | Tech Won't Save Us Feb 08, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Nastasia Hadjadji to discuss Emmanuel Macron’s plan to run France like a start-up, how that justified a further dismantling of France's welfare state, and how his desire to create national tech champions is having domestic consequences.

Nastasia Hadjadji is a French journalist looking at tech from the lens of political economy and is the author of “No Crypto. Comment Bitcoin a envoûté la planète.”

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Jeff Merkley on a Ceasefire in Gaza, Sean Wilentz on Disqualifying Trump | Start Making Sense Feb 07, 2024

Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon is one of our leading progressives, and one of 5 Senators to call for a cease-fire in Gaza. He's on this episode of the Start Making Sense podcast to explain why, and to discuss his new book, “Filibustered! How to Fix the Broken Senate and Save America.”

Also on this episode: the case for disqualifying Trump as a candidate, based on the 14^th Amendment banning those who have engaged in insurrection from holding public office. That case goes before the Supreme Court this week. Princeton historian Sean Wilentz has our analysis.

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The Queer State w/ Samuel Huneke | American Prestige Feb 06, 2024

On this episode of the American Prestige, podcast, hosts Danny and Derek welcome back Samuel Huneke, assistant professor of history at George Mason University, to talk about his new book, A Queer Theory of the State.

The group discusses the various notions of queer theory and the state, how queer politics and activism can engage in state power, the neoliberal contingent of the queer community, where thinkers from Michel Foucault to Judith Sklar fit into this, and Huneke’s vision of what a queer state might look like.

Be sure to check out Sam’s past AP appearances in Queer Theory and the Queer Germany series.

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The Abortion Battle Needs A Fighting President | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Feb 04, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Moira Donegan on Joe Biden’s need to embrace pro-choice politics.

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Drone Strike on US Base, Gaza Ceasefire Talks, And Record US Weapons Sales | American Prestige Feb 02, 2024

On this news episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek return with headlines from around the globe. This week: the ICJ decision on Israel (0:29), Israeli accusations of UNRWA (5:08), ceasefire talks (10:35), and Biden sanctions settlers (15:56); a U.S. outpost in Jordan is bombed by a drone (18:54); secret Sudan peace talks in Bahrain (23:52); several countries quit the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) (25:37); in Ukraine, Zelensky fires a top commander (27:23); the Biden admin is reimposing sanctions on Venezuela (33:34); international intervention is in doubt in Haiti (37:13); and the U.S. had record arms sales last year (40:24).

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What’s Really Killing the News Media? w/ Victor Pickard | Tech Won't Save Us Feb 01, 2024

On this episode of the Tech Won't Save Us podcast, Paris Marx is joined by Victor Pickard to discuss the continued layoffs in news media, and how they are symptomatic of a deeper, structural crisis in journalism.

Victor Pickard is Professor of Media Policy and Political Economy at University of Pennsylvania. He’s also the author of Democracy Without Journalism?: Confronting the Misinformation Society.

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Heroes of the Left, Plus Healthcare for the Undocumented | Start Making Sense Jan 31, 2024

The Nation’s annual Progressive Honor Roll features movement leaders who provide hope for 2024. John Nichols tells their stories.

Also: California moved one step closer to universal healthcare on January 1, when it expanded coverage to all low-income residents, regardless of immigration status. Sasha Abramsky reports.

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Video Games, War, and Capitalism With Adam Ganser and Michael Swaim | American Prestige Jan 30, 2024

On this episode of the American Prestige podcast, Danny and Derek sit down with Adam Ganser and Michael Swaim of the 1Upsmanship podcast to discuss the confluence of history, U.S. foreign policy, and capitalism in video games. The group broaches topics like the implicit politics of first-person shooters, the capitalist logic in games based on survival and growth, the portrayal of governments in different series, and how far developers can go to portray the reality of war in a game.

Check out more of Adam and Michael's work at their Small Beans podcast network.

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The ICJ Israel Case Explainer w/ Aslı Bâli | American Prestige Jan 29, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek chat with Aslı Bâli, professor of law at Yale Law School.

Aslı, whose research focuses largely on human rights law and the law of the international security order, helps us break down the legal definition of genocide, the substance of the ICJ ruling and what was ordered, and the court’s ability to enforce it.

The conversation continues for subscribers, covering the American legal community’s reaction, how this decision compares with the ICJ’s 2022 ruling on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, what Gaza’s “occupied” status means regarding Israel’s prerogatives in this situation, and more.

[https://www.americanprestigepod.com/]

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Gaza War, Yemen Strikes, Argentina Protests | American Prestige Jan 26, 2024

On this week's news episode of American Prestige: Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks amble along (0:30), Netanyahu snubs Qatar (5:11), militants kill 21 IDF soldiers in a single attack (10:25), and more from Israel-Palestine; in Yemen, the U.S. prepares for a “sustained military campaign” (15:40) while a new report details the effect of sanctions on humanitarian relief (16:50); talk of (another) U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq (19:24); Pakistan and Iran agree to stand down (22:22); India’s Modi opens a controversial new temple (24:39); Cameroon begins implementing a malaria vaccine program (26:09); Somalia-Ethiopia tensions continue to simmer (27:24); Ukraine all but confirms it shot down a Russian plane carrying Ukrainian POWs (29:23); Turkey ratifies Sweden's NATO accession (31:01); and protests erupt in Argentina against Milei’s shock therapy policies (33:50).

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How Spotify Tried to Take Over Podcasting with Eric Silver | Tech Won't Save Us Jan 25, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Eric Silver to discuss Spotify’s big plan to dominate podcasting, why it’s now pulling back from those efforts, and the difference between highly produced and more independent podcasts. Eric Silver is a podcast producer and head of development at Multitude.

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New Hampshire Left And Right, Plus Frantz Fanon Today | Start Making Sense Jan 24, 2024

On this episode of Start Making Sense, John Nichols has our analysis on the New Hampshire primary--Biden's big win, and Trump's furious victory speech.

Also: Adam Shatz talks about Franz Fanon, whose books Wretched of the Earth and Black Skin, White Masks made him a huge figure on the left, not just in the '60s when they were published, but in the era of Black Lives Matter when “his shadow looms larger than ever.” Now he's the subject of Adam's new book, The Rebel's Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon. Adam is the US editor of the London Review of Books, and former Literary Editor of The Nation.

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The Assassination of Patrice Lumumba with Stuart Reid | American Prestige Jan 23, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Patrice Lumumba, the first president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has become a mythic figure among the left, due in no small part to the CIA’s role in his ousting and assassination less than one year after the start of his premiership. Stuart Reid, editor at Foreign Affairs, joins Derek to discuss the full story of Lumumba’s downfall, as detailed in Reid’s recent book The Lumumba Plot: The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination.

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Dangers of a Wider War In The Middle East | Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Jan 21, 2024

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, I speak with Trita Parsi, vice president and co-founder of The Quincy Institute, about the cascading violence in the region. We also take up the Biden administration’s decision to double down on its push for a Saudi/Israeli alliance, a program that could itself deepen the violence. As an alternative, we consider the possibility of other great powers taking over the job of negotiating a settlement to the regions problems. Trita has written on these issues in many venues, including The Nation.

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Iran Attacks, Israel-Palestine, Taiwan Election | American Prestige Jan 19, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige: Iran attacks targets in Syria, Iraq, and Pakistan (1:01); U.S. strikes on Ansar Allah (Houthi) targets fail to deter attacks on shipping (10:17); an Israel-Palestine update (12:55) including a Qatari medicine deal (15:26) and Netanyahu’s take on a Palestinian state (17:41); Taiwan’s presidential election (22:18); Kim of the DPRK (North Korea) lashes out at the South (25:16); tensions continue to escalate between Somalia and Ethiopia (27:06); a Ukraine War update featuring a drone strike on St. Petersburg (29:49); Guatemala’s Arévalo takes office after an apparent coup attempt (32:59); and Biden and Congress make progress on military aid for Ukraine, Israel, and border security (36:32).

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A.I. Hype Distracted Us From Real Problems, w/ Timnit Gebru | Tech Won't Save Us Jan 18, 2024

On this episode of Tech Won’t Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Timnit Gebru to discuss the past year in AI hype, how AI companies have shaped regulation, and tech’s relationship to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Timnit Gebru is the founder and executive director of the Distributed AI Research Institute.

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Reasons for Hope from the Iowa GOP, plus “American Fiction” | Start Making Sense Jan 17, 2024

John Nichols reports on Monday’s Republican caucuses in Iowa, and explains why Iowa is the state with the biggest shift from blue to red between Obama in 2008 and Trump in 2020.

Also: The new film "American Fiction," starring Jeffrey Wright, takes up the question, do Black writers have to "write Black"? The film is based on the novel "Erasure" by Percival Everett, which is considerably wilder and more uncompromising than the film. John Powers comments—he’s critic at Large on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

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The End of Liberal Certainty with John Gray | American Prestige Jan 16, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, John Gray, emeritus professor of European thought at the London School of Economics, joins Danny for a lively chat about liberalism, the powers that be, and what the duo calls “the bads”. Centering John’s recent book The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism, this wide-ranging discussion tries to make sense of the post-Cold War world, assess the threats posed by political and environmental factors, and reckon with what John sees as the extreme default condition of human life.

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The White House, Gaza, and the NSC’s Lies with Akbar Shahid Ahmed | American Prestige Jan 16, 2024

Recorded Monday, January 15, 2024:

Akbar Shahid Ahmed, senior foreign affairs reporter at HuffPost, returns to the American Prestige podcast to discuss his recent pieces covering the post-Gaza plans of top White House official Brett McGurk and the imminent departure of the White House’s special Middle East envoy on humanitarian issues.

Then, for American Prestige subscribers, the group gets into the NSC’s attempts to discredit Akbar’s reporting, the media backlash, how this compares to treatment of reporters under Trump, and more.

Subscribe to American Prestige for the full interview!

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ICJ Israel Genocide Case, US-UK Yemen Strikes, Ecuador Crisis | American Prestige Jan 12, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek come off the hottest year on record with the new year’s cold, hard facts. This week, South Africa brings a genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) (2:39) while Antony Blinken tours the region (8:48); Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani is looking to request the withdrawal of U.S. forces (19:09); the Israel-Hizbollah border battles continue to escalate (22:23); the U.S. and U.K. launch strikes on Yemen (25:31); rebels in Myanmar take the border city of Laukkaing (28:49); Ethiopia looks to make a deal with the unrecognized state of Somaliland (33:56); Ukraine is running out of air defenses and shifting to a defensive posture (37:12); armed battles and chaos break out in Ecuador (40:23); 2023 was indeed the hottest year on record (43:55).

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What Social Media Meant for the Mass Protest Decade | Tech Won't Save Us with Paris Marx Jan 11, 2024

On this episode of the Tech Won't Save Us podcast, Paris Marx is joined by Vincent Bevins to discuss the mass protests of the 2010s, the role that social and traditional media played in them, and why the horizontalism of those movements ultimately didn’t work.

Vincent Bevins is a longtime foreign correspondent who has worked for the Washington Post, Financial Times, and LA Times. He’s the author of The Jakarta Method and If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution.

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Only Joe Biden Can Stop the War in Gaza, plus ‘Corporate Bullsh*t’ | Start Making Sense with Jon Wiener Jan 10, 2024

Israel's war in Gaza has been going on now for three months, and the IDF said over the weekend they plan to keep the war going for another year. Amy Wilentz talks about Netanhayu’s use of the war to hold on to power.

Also: the lies that protect profit, power and wealth in America: they are documented, and dealt with, in a wonderful new book co-authored by Joan Walsh. It's called Corporate Bullsh*t.

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Kissinger and Nixon in Southeast Asia With Carolyn Eisenberg | American Prestige Jan 09, 2024

On this episode of American Prestige, an exploration of Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon’s joint pursuit of war in Southeast Asia during the '60s and '70s.

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Reasons for Hope in 2024: John Nichols, plus the Bill Gates Problem | Start Making Sense with Jon Wiener Jan 03, 2024

Hope is different from optimism – it’s an embrace of uncertainty, and a basis for action. The polls look bad for Joe Biden, but Democrats’ chances are much brighter in the House, and perhaps the Senate. John Nichols talks about reasons for hope in 2024, starting in the tipping point state of 2020, Wisconsin.

Also: Bill Gates is now the 6^th richest man in the world, with 104 billion dollars. He’s spent the last 20 years giving away some of his money--the Gates Foundation gave away $7 billion in 2022. But with the money comes a host of problems. Tim Schwab will explain; his new book has a great title: “The Bill Gates Problem: Reckoning with the Myth of the Good Billionaire.”

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Katha Pollitt’s End-of-Year Giving List, plus Bob Dylan’s Xmas Album | Start Making Sense with Jon Wiener Dec 27, 2023

Our holiday giving list: Katha Pollitt presents her list of groups that need—and deserve—our support: Gaza aid, abortion assistance, and organizing against Trump.

Also: Bob Dylan fans have been puzzled and troubled by his Christmas album ever since he released it in 2009. To help figure out what Dylan was doing, we turned to Sean Wilentz. He’s the official historian at BobDylan.com, and he also teaches history at Princeton.

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Feminists and rape: the case of Hamas; plus Moms for Liberty | Start Making Sense with Jon Wiener Dec 20, 2023

Why have American feminist groups been slow to condemn rapes of Israeli women and girls by Hamas? that’s the question posed by Katha Pollitt, The Nation's award-winning columnist.

Also: They call it “the parents’ rights movement.” we call it a culture war against public education. It failed as a Republican election strategy in 2023, but what about 2024? Randi Weingarten has our analysis – she’s president of the AFT.

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Democrats are Sleepwalking Toward a Trump Victory; plus Israel’s future | Start Making Sense with Jon Wiener Dec 13, 2023

Joe Biden has historic achievements as president, but polls show him to be the candidate least able to defeat Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Democrats need someone else to run and an open primary. Harold Meyerson is editor-at-large of The American Prospect, and he joins the show to make the case for Biden to not run again.

Also on this episode: What conditions are needed for an end to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank? David Myers – professor of Jewish history at UCLA and contributor to the LA Times, the Forward, and the Atlantic – is on the podcast to comment on what it would take to get to Palestinian self-determination.

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Biden’s Bear Hug Disaster | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Dec 10, 2023

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, I talked to Yousef Munayyer, a Palestinian-American analyst who heads the Palestine/Israel Program at the Arab Center in Washington, DC. He offered an informed perspective on the ideological origins of the bear hug strategy and how it has manifestly failed in its stated goal of trying to restrain Israel from excessive violence. We also discuss the way Biden’s strategy is bad for American national interest and hurts Biden’s re-election chances. We also take up the repression of free speech as a result of the conflict.

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Randi Weingarten on the Peace Movement in Israel; Gary Younge on ‘Rustin’ | Start Making Sense with Jon Wiener Dec 06, 2023

Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT, spent Thanksgiving weekend in Israel; she reports on meetings with shared society groups and peace movement leaders, and on the role of the US in bringing not just peace but equality and justice to Palestinians.

Also: Who was Bayard Rustin before the 1963 March on Washington? Gary Younge comments on the remarkable life of a gay Black pacifist and former communist, the subject of a new biopic on Netflix, ‘Rustin.’ Gary wrote “The Speech: The Story Behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dream.”

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Kissinger’s Corruption and Palestinian Solutions | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Dec 03, 2023

Matt Duss and Jeet Heer on moving on beyond war.

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Basketball Butterfly Effect: Steph Curry & the Knicks | Edge of Sports with Dave Zirin Dec 01, 2023

In Part 6 of our series, Basketball Butterfly Effect, Arya Shirazi joins the show again to discuss the 2009 NBA draft and the Knicks coming close to getting Davidson sharpshooter Steph Curry, the most revolutionary player of his generation. You don’t want to miss this episode!

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Ending the War in Gaza: D.D. Guttenplan; plus John Powers on 'Slow Horses' | Start Making Sense with Jon Wiener Nov 29, 2023

People with very different visions of what a just peace between Israel and the Palestinians might look like must work together to stop the war: That’s what D.D. Guttenplan argues. He’s Editor of The Nation.

Also:Also: “Slow Horses,” the British spy series based on the books by Mick Herron, is starting its season 3 this week. John Powers has our review.

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Why We Need the Israeli Left Now More Than Ever | Start Making Sense with Jon Wiener Nov 22, 2023

What comes after Israel’s war on Hamas? The Israeli government seems incapable of thinking about that. Now, the ideas of Israel’s left-wing, pro-peace camp are needed more than ever. Dahlia Scheindlin, a political scientist based in Tel Aviv, is on the podcast to explain.

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense: “California has always been a place to write home about.” David Kipen reads letters and diary entries from Charles Mingus, Vita Sackville-West, Marilyn Monroe, Susan Sontag, Thomas Pynchon, and Mike Davis – David’s new book is Dear California: The Golden State in Letters and Diaries.

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AIPAC Versus the Squad | Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Nov 19, 2023

On Wednesday, Alex Sammon reported in Slate that “one of the biggest, bitterest, and most expensive political battles of the 2024 election cycle has emerged: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee [AIPAC], one of the most powerful, best-funded influence operations in Washington, is planning to go all out to knock the famed “Squad”—the small group of highly visible and popular progressive legislators of color, most of them women—out of office.”

AIPAC is planning on spending more than $100 million to push the Democratic party to the right. Given AIPAC’s successful track record, this is a genuine threat.

For this episode of the podcast, Alex and I sat down to talk about this development, the way the current Israel-Palestine conflict is sending political shockwaves in America, and the Democratic party’s selective defense of incumbents. We also discuss the fact that Israel’s war is increasingly unpopular and facing mass opposition— a fact that could undermine AIPAC’s agenda.

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Palestinian Lives And Deaths: Rachel Kushner and Adam Shatz | Start Making Sense with Jon Wiener Nov 15, 2023

For this week’s Start Making Sense podcast we have two archival segments about Palestinians; neither is about the current war.

In 2016, Rachel Kushner visited Shuafat, the only Palestinian refugee camp inside Jerusalem. She went alongside a community organizer as he tried to solve massive problems. Her report, published originally in the New York Times Magazine, appears in her 2021 book of nonfiction, The Hard Crowd.

Also on this episode, Adam Shatz talks about Edward Said, the leading voice of Palestinians in the US before he died in 2003. Said was also The Nation’s classical music critic, and Adam Shatz, now an editor for the London Review of Books, was The Nation‘s literary editor. His work included editing Edward Said’s pieces for the magazine.

(This show was first broadcast in May, 2021)

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Basketball Butterfly Effect: 1993 Draft | Edge of Sports Nov 13, 2023

On this episode of the Edge of Sports podcast, it's Part 5 of our series, Basketball Butterfly Effect, Arya Shirazi joins the show again to discuss the 1993 NBA draft and a crucial trade that takes place that changes the course of 90s basketball.

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The Religious Right Is Loving the Middle East Apocalypse | Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Nov 12, 2023

On this episode of the Time of Monsters podcast, Chris Lehmann and Jeet Heer discuss Pentecostal beliefs about the Middle East, the Cold War, Trumpism, the prosperity gospel and the Americanization of the faith.

The news from the Middle East remains bleak, with the Israeli response to the Hamas massacre leading to more than 10,000 deaths, mainly of civilians. Most people regard the unfolding news with horror, but there is a subset of people who are not hiding the fact they are thrilled. A subset of evangelicals known as Pentecostals see the news as proof that the long awaited apocalypse, which will herald the creation of a new heaven and a new earth, is at hand. They are strongly pro-Israel because they believe that the return of the Jews to the holy land, to be followed by their mass conversion to Christianity, is a necessary fulfillment of God’s plan.

Nation columnist Chris Lehmann wrote about this influential religious faction in a recent column.

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Abortion and the Democrats: John Nichols, plus Gaza and History: Fintan O'Toole | Start Making Sense with Jon Wiener Nov 08, 2023

Tuesday’s vote tested the potency of abortion rights as an issue for Democrats, with a referendum in Ohio and the election of a new state legislature in Virginia. John Nichols has our analysis of those elections, and some others.

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense: What is Israel’s endgame in its war with Hamas? Over the past 50 years they’ve tried two radically different strategies in Gaza, and neither succeeded. Fintan O'Toole explains that history. He teaches at Princeton and is an advising editor at the New York Review of Books, where he's been writing about Israel, Hamas, and Gaza.

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Trans Athletes Fight for Inclusion in Sports | Edge of Sports with Dave Zirin Nov 06, 2023

Inclusion for trans athletes in sports has become a flashpoint in the culture war that extends from schools to international competitions. Katie Barnes joins Edge of Sports to discuss their new book, Fair Play: How Sports Shape the Gender Debates, which offers one of the most comprehensive views yet on how the struggle for inclusion in the realm of sports has much wider social and political consequences.

We also have Choice Words about why the public financing of stadiums is little more than corporate theft writ large. And on Ask a Sports Scholar, we have Prof. Tracie Canada to speak about her cutting edge work about the racial economy of college football. Plus, we have a new segment called Ask Dave!

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Scorsese’s Indigenous Epic | Time of Monsters Nov 05, 2023

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, I am joined by David Klion to talk about this fascinating movie. David wrote about the movie for The New Republic and my review appeared here.

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Martin Scorsese’s masterful new movie, Killers of the Flower Moon strikes out to new territory for the famed director. It’s his first foray into the American West (although set a generation after the traditional western and overturning many of the conventions of the genre).

The film also explores many of his familiar themes: toxic masculinity, domestic violence, gangs, criminal conspiracies, spirituality and the limits of the law.

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, I am joined by David Klion to talk about this fascinating movie. David wrote about the movie for The New Republic and my review appeared here. In the course of the discussion, I mentioned a novel about the Osage murders recommended by Lily Gladstone. The novel is Charles Red Corn’s A Pipe for February.

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After a Gaza Ceasefire: D.D. Guttenplan; plus the UAW Victory Nov 01, 2023

A cease-fire in Gaza is only the beginning of what Israel and the Palestinians need. D.D. Guttenplan, The Nation’s editor, argues that “both peoples will have to find a way to share the land—in peace, yes, but also with justice.”

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense: victory for the United Auto Workers in their strike against the big three automakers, GM, Ford, and Stellantis. Harold Meyerson, editor-at-large of The American Prospect, explains what’s in the new contract, and what it took to get there.

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Adam Shatz on Israelis, Palestinians, and Hamas | Start Making Sense with Jon Wiener Oct 25, 2023

In response to Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7, Adam Shatz says Israel’s disregard for Palestinian life has never been more callous or more flagrant. But Israel can’t extinguish Palestinian resistance by violence any more than the Palestinians can win an Algerian-style liberation war.

The only thing that can save the people of Israel and Palestine is a political solution that recognizes both as equal citizens. Shatz is the former literary editor of The Nation and now US editor of the London Review of Books, where he wrote about Israel and Gaza.

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What Makes Deion Sanders Deion Sanders | Edge of Sports with Dave Zirin Oct 24, 2023

This week on the Edge of Sports podcast, we speak to Jean Jacques Taylor, author of the new book, Coach Prime. With near total access to Deion Sanders, Taylor explains what makes Deion Deion.

Also on this episode, we speak to best selling author Adam Mansbach about his incredible book, The Golem of Brooklyn. We have some Choice Words for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the NAIA.

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How Canada Became a Nazi Haven | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Oct 22, 2023

Last month, the Canadian parliament embarrassed itself during an official visit by Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelensky when the entire legislative body gave a standing ovation to a veteran of the Waffen SS, the paramilitary wing of the Nazi movement. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later apologized for incident.

To understand what happened, it’s important to realize that Canada, like other Western nations, has a long history of sheltering Nazi war criminals. This was not a matter of negligence but official policy. During the Cold War, these hardened Nazi criminals were seen as valuable allies against the Soviet Union. This policy is all the more shameful because during World War II, the vast majority of Ukrainians who took up arms did so in the Red Army against Nazism.

Lev Golinkin, a Ukrainian-American reporter, has been doing excellent work for The Forward and The Nation bringing this shameful history to light. On this episode of The Time of Monsters, I sat down with Lev to talk about the long history of Canada’s hospitality to Nazi war criminals. In the podcast, he references this enlightening video.

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Gaza and Us: Amy Wilentz | Start Making Sense Oct 18, 2023

Israel and Gaza, Hamas and the Palestinians, war crimes and mideast history: On this episode of the Start Making Sense podcast, we have comment and analysis from Amy Wilentz, Nation contributor and former Jerusalem correspondent of The New Yorker.

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The Moral and Policy Catastrophe in Israel/Palestine | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Oct 15, 2023

The Hamas massacres that started last Saturday and the ensuing retaliation by the Israel government deserve both a moral witness and policy analysis. On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Spencer Ackerman, Nation contributor who wrote about the events here, provides both.

In a searing and informed conversation, he places front and center the human worth of all the innocent victims. He also places the event in the framework of the bipartisan Abraham Accords, supported by Donald Trump and Joe Biden alike, which elevated alliances between authoritarian states at the expense of human rights.

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The UAW’s Historic Victory, plus Elon Musk and American Democracy | Start Making Sense with Jon Wiener Oct 11, 2023

The UAW won a historic victory in their strike against GM—an agreement that EV workers will be covered by the union contract. Harold Meyerson explains, and also comments on Israel’s war against Hamas.

Also: Elon Musk has been a leader in the transition to renewable energy, and has made Twitter into a threat to democracy. He has become the face of 21st-century capitalism. David Nasaw has our analysis.

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Len Bias and the 1980s War on Drugs | Edge of Sports Oct 11, 2023

This week on the Edge of Sports podcast, we welcome back Arya Shirazi to discuss another basketball butterfly effect: what if the NBA had handled the death of Len bias differently? How is that of affected that generation of 1980s players?

Dave Zirin – How DeSantis Is Using Sports to Hijack a Florida College:

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/new-college-sarasota-florida-desantis/

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The GOP Congressional Clown Show | Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Oct 08, 2023

A government shutdown has been temporarily avoided, but congress remains a mess. Kevin McCarthy has been ousted from his position as House Speaker. The hand-shake deal he made over Ukraine funding is now in doubt and the prospect of another shutdown drama looms, bringing with it the real danger of a prolonged government closure.

Chris Lehmann, D.C. Bureau Chief for The Nation joins the program to look at the deep history of the GOP’s persistent proclivity for empowering extremists in congress. Special emphasis is given to Newt Gingrich and the Tea Party. This Politco interview with the sociologist Theda Skocpol is also discussed.

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Bill McKibben: Power to the People in Maine, plus Clinton’s ‘Fabulous Failure’ | Start Making Sense Oct 04, 2023

Voters in Maine will decide next month whether to turn the state’s private utilities public. If that happens, it would be a huge step toward dealing with the climate crisis, and a model for other states. Bill McKibben explains -- of course he’s an author and environmentalist and co-founder of 350.org, currently working with the new environmental group Third Act, for people over 60.

Also: Our politics today is haunted by the failures of Bill Clinton—the “centrist” who “triangulated” with Republicans, lost on healthcare, and proclaimed that “The era of big government is over.” Nelson Lichtenstein explains Clinton’s turn to the right, and the lessons for today’s Democrats – his new book on Clinton is “A Fabulous Failure.”

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Why Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf Didn't Stand For The Anthem | Edge of Sports Oct 02, 2023

In the early 90s, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf had a promising career ahead of him in the NBA as an up-and-coming star. That all changed in 1996 when he refused to stand for the US National Anthem and called the US flag a symbol of oppression. The NBA retaliated by suspending him, and Abdul-Rauf spent the next two decades playing exclusively for international leagues.

On this episode of Edge of Sports, Abdul-Rauf looks back on his protest and how engaging the literature of revolutionary icons like Malcolm X influenced his decision. Elsewhere in the episode, Dave Zirin takes aim at Ron DeSantis’s use of sports to stage a political takeover at the New College of Florida, and Dr. Ron Bishop joins the show to discuss how sports media covers mental health.

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The Auto Strike Upturns Politics | Time of Monsters Sep 30, 2023

The United Auto Workers union has launched an innovative strike against all three major automakers, a major disruption that is upturning American politics, as both major parties are divided on it.

On the Republican side, Donald Trump is disingenuously posing as a populist by going to the picket line. But rivals like Nikki Haley and Tim Scott show that the GOP commitment to union-bashing is still strong. On the Democratic side, Joe Biden has a strong record as a president supporting labor but he has been cautious about showing overt support. Only after much prodding did he decide to join picketers.

Luke Savage wrote about the strike for Jacobin magazine where he is a staff writer. We talk about the strike and the larger labor upsurge.

Savage is the author of the forthcoming book Seeking Social Democracy. In the conversation, he references a Tim Scott video, which can be viewed here as well as a Politico article which can be read here.

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Dahlia Lithwick on Voting Rights, plus Katha Pollitt on ‘The Forgotten Girls” | Start Making Sense Sep 27, 2023

The right-wing supermajority on the Supreme Court has returned to a case about racial gerrymandering in Alabama, where Republicans have defied the Court’s order. Dahlia Lithwick will comment about that, and about her book “Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America”—it’s out now in paperback.

Also: Two girls grew up in the 1980s and ’90s in a small town in Arkansas. One made it out and became a successful journalist and writer; her best friend, who had been supersmart as a kid, fell into drugs,getting pregnant too young, and petty crime. How did their lives turn out so different? Katha Pollitt talks about the new memoir by Monica Potts, “The Forgotten Girls.”

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Trump and the Auto Strike, plus 'Manufactured Insecurity' | Start Making Sense Sep 20, 2023

The UAW strike against Detroit’s Big Three is rapidly becoming a major political battle as Donald Trump speaks to auto workers in Detroit, challenging Biden’s massive initiatives for America’s transition to electric vehicles. Nelson Lichtenstein provides historical perspective on what’s at stake.

Also: We face two kinds of insecurity in our lives today, Astra Taylor argues: existential insecurity, the unavoidable issues of life and death, and manufactured insecurity—intended to make workers more submissive to authority. Communal action can do a lot to reduce the second kind. Astra's new book is “The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together As Things Fall Apart.”

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Northwestern's hazing scandal with Byron Hurt | Edge of Sports with Dave Zirin Sep 18, 2023

Officially, hazing is illegal and unwelcome just about everywhere you turn—but it continues as an open secret in far too many fraternities, sports teams, and other institutions. The latest revelations from Northwestern University's football team are a stark reminder that we have a long way to go to uproot the culture of hazing for good. Anti-gender violence activist and documentarian Byron Hurt joins Edge of Sports for a timely discussion on the harm hazing does and how we can stop it. Dr. Neftalie Williams joins us in our Ask A Sports Scholar segment to discuss the uniqueness and global influence of skateboarding.

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The Triumph and Tragedy of Betty Friedan | Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Sep 17, 2023

Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique (1963) and one of the founders of the National Organization for Women (NOW), was a hero of feminism, but a complicated and difficult hero. Her book and activism were pivotal for igniting second-wave feminism in the 1960s. But as head of NOW, her leadership was irascible and nettlesome, marred especially by her homophobic hostility towards lesbian activism.

In a recent review for The New Yorker looking at books about NOW and Friedan, Moira Donegan lays bare the contradictions of Friedan’s legacy, her world-changing importance but also the way she sabotaged both herself and the movement she did so much to create. On this episode of The Time of Monsters, we talk about the lessons of Friedan’s life and how they remain urgent in current feminist struggles. Moira is a frequent guest of the podcast. She’s a columnist for The Guardian and also cohosts a podcast called In Bed With the Right.

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Gary Younge: from Mandela to Black Lives Matter; plus Amy Wilentz on Haiti in September | Start Making Sense Sep 13, 2023

Gary Younge, the award-winning former columnist for The Guardian, talks about Black writing and Black writers—and his own writing about Mandela, Obama, Travon Martin, and Claudette Colvin.

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense, the news from Haiti, where the UN, with US support, is authorizing a new security force. Made up of mostly Kenyan troops, it's supposed to restore “law and order” in Port-au-Prince. The Nation's Amy Wilentz is on the podcast to report.

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Chamique Holdsclaw on Depression and Fame | Edge of Sports Sep 12, 2023

Chamique Holdsclaw's legendary status was apparent from the moment she entered professional sports. After helping the US National Team win the Gold Medal in the 1998 Berlin Olympics, Holdsclaw was named Rookie of the Year in her first WNBA season. Her talent on the court and success in the WNBA projected an image of stability, but away from the cameras, Holdsclaw struggled with her mental health.

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Naomi Klein and Her Doppelganger | Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Sep 10, 2023

On this episode of the Time of Monsters podcast, Laura Marsh discusses Noami Klein's new book, Doppleganger, about Noami Wolf.

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Heather Cox Richardson on ‘Our Authoritarian Experiment,’ Plus Chile Since Allende | Start Making Sense Sep 06, 2023

Every night, more than a million people read Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletter about the day’s political events. Now she has a new book out, “Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America.” It’s about the history of Americans’ fight for equality—about which she remains optimistic, despite Trump’s current polling.

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense: September 11th is the 50^th anniversary of the coup that overthrew Salvador Allende in Chile, ending 150 years of democracy there and putting the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in Power. Marc Cooper wrote about Chile since the coup for Truthdig.com. He joins the show to discuss the legacy of that coup and the deep divisions in Chile today, both economic and political.

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Basketball Butterfly Effect Part III: MJ in Portland? | Edge of Sports with Dave Zirin Sep 05, 2023

This week on the Edge of Sports Podcast, part three of our discussion with basketball savant Arya Shirazi about basketball butterfly effects. This time we're talking what would have happened if Michael Jordan, on draft night in 1984, had not been drafted by the Chicago Bulls and had instead been selected by the Portland Trail Blazers. Also we have words about the controversy surrounding Michael Oher and the Blind Side.

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Oppenheimer’s Inopportune Opportunism | Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Sep 02, 2023

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is the rarest of things: a summer blockbuster that is super-smart and repays close analysis. Two weeks ago, this podcast teamed up with Jewish Currents writers and editors Mari Cohen, David Klion, and Raphael Magarik to talk about the way the film portrays the 20^th century left.

But there is more to be said about the movie. Frequent Time of Monsters contributor, Doug Bell had some bones to pick with the the film. In particular, he feels it slighted the way Oppenheimer compromised with the anti-communist witch-hunters who tried to destroy his career. Was Oppenheimer a martyr or an opportunist? To take up the movie and the longer history of anti-communist repression in the United States, Jeet Heer talks with Doug Bell about the movie and the reality it sometimes fails to do justice.

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Our Hot Labor Summer, plus Melania, Ivanka, and the Indictments | Start Making Sense Aug 30, 2023

Our hot labor summer continues. Harold Meyerson, editor at large of The American Prospect, comes on the Start Making Sense podcast to discuss the coming auto strike, the continuing Hollywood strikes, the Teamsters’ big victory, and a historic action by the NLRB which will make union organizing possible again.

Also on this episode: Melania and Ivanka Trump have been mostly absent from the former president’s side as he rages against the 91 felony charges brought against him in four different trials. Amy Wilentz comments on the news, the rumors, and the photos.

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The Trump Wannabees | Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Aug 27, 2023

The GOP held their first presidential debate for the 2024 election cycle and the crowded stage was notable for a significant absence.

Former president Donald Trump was nowhere to be seen. Enjoying a commanding lead in the polls, Trump rightly felt that it was beneath his dignity to share a stage with a crew of also-rans. So the evening became a contest to see who could imitate Trump best. But Trump did remain in the news thanks to fresh new indictments in Georgia over his alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election.

To examine the debates and Trump’s domination of the GOP, fellow Nation writer Chris Lehmann joins the Time of Monsters podcast. He's written on these topics lately, and we had a robust discussion about a party in deep trouble.

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Drew Faust Remembers the Sixties, plus Erwin Chemerinsky on Trump and Georgia | Start Making Sense Aug 23, 2023

Drew Faust grew up in Virginia in the ’50’s, in the segregated south, in a family that was part of the white elite—and went on to make “necessary trouble” as a college student and activist in the ’60’s. The first woman to serve as president of Harvard University, Faust comes on the Start Making Sense podcast to talk about her memoir, “Necessary Trouble: Growing up at Midcentury.”

Also on this episode: If it was a good strategy for Special Prosecutor Jack Smith to charge Trump with four felonies, is it also a good idea for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to charge Trump and 18 other people with a total of 41 felonies? Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at UC Berkeley, is on the show to discuss.

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Delegitimize The Supreme Court | Contempt of Court with Elie Mystal Aug 22, 2023

This is the eighth and final episode of Contempt of Court, our podcast series about reforming the Supreme Court. On this episode, we’re going to talk about the court’s only true form of power: legitimacy.

To discuss potential paths toward delegitimizing the Court, my first guest on this episode is Harvard Law School professor, Nikolas Bowie. He makes a compelling case that the people, through their representatives, should be the ones in charge, not the Supreme Court.

Afterward, Rhiannon Hamam, host of the fantastic Supreme Court podcast 5-4, has some thoughts on what’s happening on the ground, as people try to take back power from the Court through direct action.

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The Jewishness of "Oppenheimer" | Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Aug 18, 2023

Christopher Nolen’s Oppenheimer, a biopic about the famed scientist who oversaw the Manhattan Project and the creation of the atomic bomb, is a surprise hit of the summer. It’s made more than $650 million worldwide, putting it ahead of more conventional blockbusters such as the newest entry into the Mission: Impossible franchise.

Time of Monsters host Jeet Heer sat down with writers and editors at The Jewish Currents (Mari Cohen, David Klion, and Raphael Magarik) for a team-up of podcasts to talk about the movie. We discuss the way the movie portrays tensions within the Jewish community, its grappling with the history of the American left, its avoidance of direct portrayals of the effect of nuclear weapons, and its critique of the military-industrial complex.

During the discussion we touch on David Klion’s review of the movie which ran in The New Republic.

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Right-Wing Attacks on Small-Town Libraries; plus “The Snow Leopard” | Start Making Sense Aug 16, 2023

Public Libraries are often wonderful places, but they have become targets of right-wing attack in the culture war. On this episode of the Start Making Sense podcast, Sasha Abramsky talks about his reporting on the battle in one small town in Washington state.

Also on this episode: Peter Matthiessen’s exploration of suffering, impermanence, and beauty in his book “The Snow Leopard,” an account of his trek in the Himalayas. Pico Iyer, who wrote the introduction to the Penguin Classics paperback edition, is on the show to talk about the book. The conversation with Iyer was recorded in 2008.

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Basketball Butterfly Effect | Edge of Sports Aug 16, 2023

This week we speak to basketball savant Arya Shirazi about what could have happened if the Detroit Pistons had drafted Carmelo Anthony instead of Darko Milicic in 2003. It would have been a profound basketball butterfly effect. I also speak about the USWNT getting bounced from the World Cup.

Zirin, Why the Right Wanted the USWNT to Lose

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/reactionary-defeatism-uswnt-world-cup-rapinoe/

http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@gmail.com | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)

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Stripping The Court of Its Power | Contempt of Court with Elie Mystal Aug 15, 2023

Instead of reforming how the Supreme Court uses its power, what if we took its power away?

Harvard Law School professor, Ryan Doerfler, and Michigan Law School Professor Leah Litman join Elie Mystal's Contempt of Court podcast to discuss their perspectives on jurisdiction stripping.

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It’s a Barbie World But Is That a Good Thing? | Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Aug 13, 2023

Barbie has smashed through the glass ceiling. Greta Gerwig’s new movie based on the popular Mattel doll is the big summer film of 2023. It’s made more than $1 billion –the first time that box office benchmark has been reached by a film directed by a woman. This popular success is all the more notable because the movie deals explicitly with feminist critiques of patriarchy.

Barbie has generated an enormous public debate, but not everybody wholeheartedly loves the movie. I think the best piece of writing on the film was written by Tarpley Hitt for The Nation. Hitt, a writer and editor for The Drift who is working on a book about the Barbie doll, described the movie’s feminism as “muddled.” I sat down and talked to Tarpley for an enlightening discussion about this year's buzziest blockbuster.

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Erwin Chemerinsky on The Trump Indictment, plus Katha Pollitt on “Barbie” | Start Making Sense Aug 09, 2023

Should Trump have been charged with incitement of insurrection, or at least violence? What’s the line between free speech and incitement? If Trump sincerely believed he’d won the election, can he still be prosecuted for conspiracy? Erwin Chemerinsky explains – he’s dean of the law school at UC Berkeley.

Also: What’s bad about Barbie the doll, and what’s good about “Barbie” the movie—Katha Pollitt comments.

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How to Fix The Supreme Court’s Ethics Problem | Contempt of Court with Elie Mystal Aug 08, 2023

The Supreme Court has a serious ethics problem—actually, ethics problems. The justices have been dogged by allegations of corruption. They’ve been peppered with questions about how they make money. And then, of course, there’s the long career of Clarence Thomas, who, along with his wife Ginni Thomas, appears so brazenly corrupt that his scandalous behavior has made the very idea of Supreme Court ethics seen like a complete joke.

I have long argued that Supreme Court ethics reform is as critical to fixing the Supreme Court as any of the more structural changes that reformers want to make—like increasing the number of justices or decreasing the length of time those justices serve.

On this episode of Contempt of Court, we’re going to talk about what can be done to stop these people from wallowing in the slop of their own graft. First up, we talk to New York Times Magazine writer and Yale Law professor, Emily Bazelon about what corruption looks like when it comes in the form of a Supreme Court justice. Then, we talk to Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson, who is one of the few lawmakers who is doing something about it.

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The Secret Origins of Marvel | Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Aug 05, 2023

Disney has released a new documentary which myself and many others have criticized for regurgitating a mythical version of history that extolls Stan Lee as sole creator of the Marvel universe.

To talk more about the documentary, I’m joined by Elana Levin, who has written widely on comics and hosts the Graphic Policy podcast– an excellent forum that takes up the intersection of politics and popular culture.

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, beyond rebutting the documentary, Elana and I talk about the true history of Marvel, with particular emphasis on the contribution of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, the artists who were also (at a minimum) co-writers of the stories credited to Lee. In the discussion, Elana recommends some excellent resources for more information including Abraham Josephine Riesman’s biography of Lee and Kate Willaert's fascinating tumblr page, Kirby Without Words.

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Trump’s Trials, plus Barbie and Oppie | Start Making Sense Aug 02, 2023

This month, Donald Trump will be facing four indictments in four different jurisdictions at the same time, each for multiple felonies. Yet, Republicans still want him as their candidate. On this episode of the Start Making Sense podcast, Joan Walsh comments on the former President's latest legal developments, and the latest poll numbers.

Also on this episode: Barbie is one of the most feminist blockbuster films ever made, and it grossed $774 million worldwide in its first ten days. In the same period, Oppenheimer made $400 million worldwide. John Powers joins the podcast to discuss this summer’s two big Hollywood hits. He’s Critic at Large on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

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Finding the Balance | Contempt of Court with Elie Mystal Aug 01, 2023

Beyond raw court expansion, or the (probably unconstitutional) big stick of forced term-limits, there are a number of other ways one might go about balancing the Supreme Court.

On this episode of Contempt of Court, Elie Mystal speaks with legal experts Dan Epps and Steve Vladeck about potential ways we might find that balance.

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The Case For Abolishing Harvard | Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Jul 30, 2023

It’s no secret that the rich have an outsized role in Ivy League colleges, both as students and alumni. But a new study, by a group of Harvard-based economists, documents in detail just how much elite private education in the Untied States favor the ultra-wealthy. As the New York Times reports, “At Ivy League schools, one in six students has parents in the top 1 percent.” The rich enjoy disproportionate access to these schools due to a mixture of legacy admission, sports admissions for specialized sport programs (like fencing), and weight given to personal essays as well as letters of recommendation.

In a very real sense, elite private universities are a major pillar of plutocracy, allowing a narrow caste to hold on to social and political dominance that goes hand in hand with their economic wealth.

Matt Bruenig of the People’s Policy Project has written an excellent summary of the report. For this episode of The Time of Monsters, I talked with Matt about the problem of inequality in higher education. We take up possible reform policies and also the possibility that these institutions might be inherently harmful to democracy. This leads to a discussion of possible measures to nationalize elite private schools and absorb them into a proper and robust public education system.

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What Happened to Black Activism in Professional Sports? | Edge of Sports Jul 28, 2023

The growth of the Black Lives Matter movement through the 2010s catalyzed a resurgence of Black activism in professional sports that had its climax in 2020 with the athletes' boycott following the shooting of Jacob Blake. Just a few years later, this energy seems to have dissipated. What happened, and how can we comprehend these recent events in the longer arc of Black activism in sports? Sports journalist and author Howard Bryant joins the Edge of Sports for a look at the build-up to 2020 and how many athletes' politics were co-opted in the aftermath.

Later in the show, we have Choice Words about the social cost of smartphone sports gambling becoming the economic lifeblood of sports.

And in our segment, Ask a Sports Scholar, we speak with Hofstra University Professor Brenda Elsey, whose research focuses on the development of women’s soccer internationally, as the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament approaches.

Howard Bryant is the author of ten books, including the forthcoming Kings and Pawns: Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America. He has been a senior writer for ESPN since 2007 and has served as the sports correspondent for NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday since 2006.

Dr. Brenda Elsey is a professor of history at Hofstra University, where she focuses on the history of popular culture and politics in twentieth century Latin America, in addition to gender, social theory, sports, and Pan-Americanism. She is the author of Futbolera: Women and Sport in Latin America.

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The Class Struggle This Summer | Start Making Sense Jul 26, 2023

The Teamsters reached a historic agreement for UPS workers this week, protecting and rewarding more than 340,000 UPS Teamsters nationwide. We had been headed for the biggest strike in decades, scheduled to start next week, but now we have what looks like one of the biggest labor victories in decades. The Nation’s John Nichols is on the Start Making Sense podcast to report.

Also on this episode: Hollywood actors and writers have been on strike–the Writers Guild of America since May, and the Screen Actors Guild since July 14. The studios are showing no signs of settling. WGA member and Nation writer Ben Schwartz joins the show. He argues that the studios and streamers are likely to fracture before the unions do.

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Reform the Media | Contempt of Court with Elie Mystal Jul 25, 2023

The court ended its most recent term completely off the chain. Having already killed reproductive rights, it accomplished another longstanding conservative goal: banning affirmative action in college admissions. That's not even the half of it.

And yet, a lot of the mainstream media coverage suggested that the Court turned *moderate* and worked hard to achieve a mainstream consensus.

Why does the media keep feeding us this bullshit? Let’s talk about it.

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Young Americans for Freedom Hates Freedom | Time of Monsters Jul 22, 2023

There’s an old joke that the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor even an empire. The right-wing student group Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), founded in William F. Buckley’s house in 1960, is similarly misnamed. It’s not young; the current head, Scott Walker, is 55. It’s definition of American is very narrowly partisan and reactionary in ways that most Americans would reject. And as for freedom, it has a long history of aligning with administrators and government authorities to suppress its political foes– something I wrote about in a recent column. Most recently, YAF launched a vexatious lawsuit designed to cripple Dissent magazine and its affiliated podcast, Know Your Enemy.

To talk about YAF, I spoke with historian Lauren Lassabe Shepherd, author of the forthcoming book Resistance from the Right: Conservatives and the Campus Wars in Modern America. In that book, Lauren documents how groups like YAF groomed the ideological extremists who have taken the GOP into authoritarianism. In our talk, Lauren and I look at the group's ties to powerful plutocrats and politicians as well as their strategy of using legal power as a political tool.

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150 Years of Black Activism In Sports | Edge of Sports Jul 21, 2023

The central place of sports in American life lends immense influence to athletes to shift the culture of the country—and for more than 150 years, Black athletes have done just that. Few scholars are as attuned to the intricacies of this history as renowned sociologist Dr. Harry Edwards. From his role in shaping the events of the 1968 Olympics to the politics of Colin Kaepernick, Edwards is just as much a participant in this history as a student and teacher of it. Now 80 years old, Dr. Harry Edwards joins Edge of Sports as he embarks on his "Last Lectures," a final project to close his long career as a public intellectual.

Dr. Harry Edwards is a renowned sociologist whose work examines the relationship between race, sports, and politics. He is the author of The Revolt of the Black Athlete.

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The War on Black Studies, plus Hollywood on Strike | Start Making Sense Jul 19, 2023

Remember how the state of Florida banned the African-American studies curriculum proposed by the College Board on the grounds that it might cause guilt, anguish or other forms of psychological distress in students? Now, teachers, scholars, and activists have been fighting back. Historian Robin D.G. Kelley explains.

Also: last week the actors joined screenwriters on the picket lines outside film and TV studios in LA and New York - the writers have been out for 75 days. The issues: compensation in the age of streaming, and protection against AI. Josh Gondelman comments—he’s a member of both SAG and the WGA.

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You're Wrong About Term Limits | Contempt of Court with Elie Mystal Jul 17, 2023

Term limits are by far the most popular form of Supreme Court reform. According to a recent poll from the Associated Press, two-thirds of Americans favor term limits for Supreme Court justices.

On this episode of Contempt of Court, Elie Mystal is joined by Leah Litman and Aaron Belkin, to discuss what's wrong with everybody's favorite reform option.

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Start Making Sense: Cornel West Should Run as a Democrat, plus Supreme Court Wins and Losses Jul 12, 2023

Cornel West is running for president as the Green Party candidate. On this episode of Start Making Sense, editor in chief, D.D. Guttenplan, explains why he ought to run in the Democratic primaries, instead.

Also: The Supreme Court, in the term that just ended, was not completely terrible. It surprised us all by doing some good things, especially with regard to voting rights. David Cole, the National Legal Director of the ACLU, is on the podcast to analyze what happened and why.

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Edge of Sports: Solomon Hughes on playing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 'Winning Time’ Jul 12, 2023

From 1979 to 1991, the Los Angeles Lakers would become a dominant force in the world of professional basketball and in American culture more broadly. Led by coach Pat Riley and star players Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the “Showtime” era of the Lakers is still, in many ways, the standard by which other sports dynasties are measured today. On the court, in the locker room, and beyond, the legendary Lakers franchise was both a reflection and a driver of a culture, a sport, and a country undergoing seismic changes, and the HBO dramatized series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty tells the story of the the larger-than-life personalities and politics that defined the Showtime era.

This week on Edge of Sports, host Dave Zirin speaks with actor Solomon Hughes about Winning Time, which is debuting its second season on August 6, and about stepping into the role of playing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar himself. Later in this episode, Zirin shares some choice words on the Oakland A’s and Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred; then, in “Ask a Sports Scholar,” we talk with Amira Rose Davis, assistant professor in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas-Austin, about her forthcoming book “Can’t Eat a Medal”: The Lives and Labors of Black Women Athletes in the Age of Jim Crow.

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Time of Monsters: Moms For Liberty and Its Media Apologists Jul 12, 2023

Although only formed in 2021, Moms For Liberty, a group agitating for reactionary policies in schools, is already a major player in national politics. Republican presidential hopefuls like Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump are eager to speak at the group's convention. Moms for Liberty is also receiving generous profiles in major media outlets like the New York Times.

As my Nation colleague, Chris Lehmann notes in a recent column, such profiles tend to whitewash Moms for Liberty, falsely portraying it as a grassroots organization and ignoring its bigoted agenda and ties to the institutional right. On this episode of The Time of Monsters, we talk about the true nature of Moms for Liberty as well as the way anti-trans agitation is remaking politics. In the discussion, we reference this earlier conversation I had with the historian Rick Perlstein about the deep roots of right-wing agitation over education.

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Elie Mystal's Court Packing Plan | Contempt of Court Jul 10, 2023

When most people talk about expanding the Supreme Court, they're talking about adding a few justices. Two or four to the bench. But I am not most people. I do not think we should add a few justices to get into an endless tit for tat. With Mitch McConnell and his federal Society forces, I think we should add 20 justices.

On this episode of Contempt of Court, we explain why.

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Edge of Sports: 1968 Olympian Dr. John Carlos on the Legacy of the Black Athletic Revolt Jul 06, 2023

The year 1968 was a time of rebellion across the US and the wider world. Tremendous demonstrations and rebellions shook American cities in opposition to the Vietnam War, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and the arrest of Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party. Amidst this tumult, two athletes, John Carlos, and Tommie Smith, captured the spirit of the times by raising their fists at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics after placing first and third in the 200-meter dash. 45 years later, Dr. John Carlos is still with us—but many of his contemporaries have passed on. Dr. John Carlos joins Edge of Sports for a look back on the lives of Jimmy Hines, Ralph Boston, Herb Douglas, Harry Belafonte, Tina Turner, and Jim Brown.

Elsewhere in this episode of Edge of Sports, Dr. Maria Veri, co-author of Gridiron Gourmet: Gender and Food at the Football Tailgate, joins to discuss the gender politics of tailgating culture. Dave Zirin also dives into the recently leaked details of a Professional Golfers' Association merger with the Saudi Arabian LIV Golf tour.

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Start Making Sense: Summer of Strikes, plus After Affirmative Action: Jane McAlevy on Labor, John Nichols on Education Jul 05, 2023

Two nationwide strikes may be in the works right now. The Teamsters have been negotiating with UPS for a new contract, and the Auto Workers have been preparing to strike at least one of the Detroit auto makers. These have the potential to provide swing-state voters with a political education in the lead-up to the 2024 election. The Nation's Strikes Correspondent, Jane McAlevey joins the podcast to discuss.

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense: After affirmative action, what should progressives do to help people of color and other working class students get into college, and pay for it? The Nation’s National Affairs correspondent, John Nichols comments on the politics and economics of higher education.

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Time of Monsters: Moira Donegan on the Reactionary Vision of the Supreme Court Jul 05, 2023

The Supreme Court ended its term last week with a spate of extremely right-wing decisions that included severely restricting affirmative action in elite universities and colleges, clawing back on anti-discrimination protection for LGBTQ citizens under an argument for expressive free speech, and squashing the Biden administrations plan to give relief to student debtors. These ruling come after earlier decisions curtailing labor rights and the end of a constitutional right to abortion. Taken together, the court has emerged as the powerful reactionary force in American society, one that is working overtime to roll back a century of expanding rights for workers, people of color, women, and LGBT citizens.

To survey the reactionary agenda of the court and the extremist social vision undergirding that agenda, I talked to Moira Donegan. She’s a frequent guest of the podcast and a columnist for the Guardian. She brings her characteristic incisiveness to analyzing the courts and warning of the dangers ahead.

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Packing the Court! | Contempt of Court with Elie Mystal Jul 03, 2023

On this episode, we start with the most powerful reform available: court expansion.

As a matter of Constitutional structure, Court expansion has always been the constitutionally preferred way of handling a court that has overstepped its bounds. But as a political matter: court expansion has been treated like it is a radical solution. But It’s not. It is the way a President and Congress can check the Supreme Court, and it’s the easiest and most simple method of court reform.

Chris Kang and Congressman Jamaal Bowman join Contempt of Court to explore what court expansion actually is, and how attitudes around it are finally changing.

CREDITS:

Host: Elie Mystal

Producer: Babette Thomas

Executive Producer: Ludwig Hurtado

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Start Making Sense: The Battle on the Abortion Borderland, plus RFK Jr. Jun 28, 2023

Crossing the abortion borderland from Texas to New Mexico: Amy Littlefield describes the heroic work being done in both states to provide help to people seeking abortions, one year after the repeal of Roe, and reports on the new obstacles being raised by anti-abortion forces.

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense, 20 percent of likely Democratic voters tell pollsters they support Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his primary challenge to Joe Biden. Joan Walsh joins the podcast to tell the story of her history with Kennedy and his anti-vax crusade.

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Edge of Sports: Aaron Maybin: "Athletes aren't superheroes, we're human beings" Jun 28, 2023

After four years as a professional linebacker for football teams in the U.S. and Canada, Aaron Maybin put down his helmet and picked up a range of new hats off the gridiron. As a public school teacher, artist, and activist, Maybin's best days are still yet to come. Aaron Maybin joins Edge of Sports for a wide-ranging conversation on the boxes athletes get placed in, racism within the NFL, and his life after football.

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http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@gmail.com | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)

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Time of Monsters: The State of the Left in Chile, El Salvador and Nicaragua Jun 28, 2023

This week we return to Central and South America with Jeffrey Gould, a scholar and filmmaker who has a long history of documenting social movements in the region. Currently distinguished visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, Gould is author of many books on social movements in Latin America, including the recent Solidarity Under Siege (2019). In this discussion we’re joined by journalist Doug Bell. This episode is a follow up to a previous conversation with Gould and Bell in February.

Gould has just returned from a trip to Chile and El Salvador. He discusses developments in those countries, including the difficulties the left in Chile is facing in its efforts to amend the constitution. While the Chilean left is meeting resistance, it is still much more robust than the left in El Salvador and Nicaragua. Gould discusses why once vibrant political movements in those countries have gone into abeyance. Among the themes of the discussion are the need for movements to be grounded in working class activism and also the problems issues like immigration and crime present to the left.

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Welcome to Contempt of Court with Elie Mystal! Jun 27, 2023

If you have a problem with how the Supreme Court operates and how much power it is allowed to hold over the rest of us: welcome! On this show, we'll look at ways to make the Supreme Court stop hurting us. In each episode, The Nation's Justice Correspondent Elie Mystal will talk to experts and advocates who are doing the work to reform the Supreme Court and salvage American democracy from the court’s greedy jaws.

Subscribe for new episodes each Tuesday!

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Start Making Sense: How Democrats can win Working-Class Voters; how Doctors are Fighting—against Hospitals Jun 21, 2023

How can Democrats win back at least some white working class swing voters? We have some striking new research about that. Katie Rader joins the Start Making Sense podcast to discuss the issues that are most likely to mobilize them.

Also on this episode: Doctors these days are caught between caught between the Hippocratic oath--“first, do no harm” -- and “the realities of making a profit from people at their sickest and most vulnerable.” Eyal Press is on the show to report on the ways doctors are fighting back.

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Edge of Sports: W. Kamau Bell, the reluctant optimist Jun 21, 2023

In this episode of Edge of Sports, host Dave Zirin highlights two takes on the gender politics of sports culture. Dr. Cheryl Cooky joins the Ask a Sports Scholar segment to discuss the history of sports and gender equality, as well as her book, No Slam Dunk: Gender, Sport, and the Unevenness of Social Change. Finally, W. Kamau Bell climbs aboard for a special interview looking back on his career as a media personality, from the early days of Totally Biased to United Shades of America.

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Time of Monsters: Establishment Economics Under Siege Jun 21, 2023

The debate over the causes of inflation is heating up and showing an important divide in the discipline of economics. Mainstream economists like Larry Summers blame it on rising wages and recommend interest rate hikes to cool the economy by raising unemployment. But other scholars, notably Isabella Weber of the University of Massachusetts, have a different theory: they argue inflation is due to price gauging made possible by the Covid emergency and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Weber’s ideas, which are gaining traction, suggest the solution is price control.

The possibility that establishment economics is losing its dominance over policy is making some economists angry. There’s been a vicious backlash to Weber’s work. To talk about the inflation debate and other examples of heterodox thinking on the rise, as well as the circling-the-wagon approach of the discipline, I talked to Marshall Steinbaum, an economist at the University of Utah and a Senior Fellow at the Jain Family Institute. On this episode of The Time of Monsters, we range widely over the discipline of economics and the unseemly hissy fit of many leading practitioners. Marshall’s twitter account can be followed here.

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Start Making Sense: Cornel West Should Not Be Running for President; plus the GOP vs. Divorce Jun 14, 2023

Cornel West is running for president as a third party candidate, so he’s not going to get many votes. Nevertheless, Joan Walsh argues, he could discourage Democrats from voting, which would make Trump’s election more likely.

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense: you might think Republicans would take a breather after banning abortion in the states they control, but no! Instead, they’ve set their sights on a new target: no-fault divorce. The Nation's Katha Pollitt is on the podcast to discuss.

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Pat Robertson’s Terrible Legacy Jun 13, 2023

Pat Robertson, who died at age 93, was a much hated figure on the left and for good reason. For many decades, through his television show, The 700 Club, and in his frequent interventions in political debates, he’s been one of America’s most prominent voices for the religious right: a sexist and homophobic preacher with a wide audience.

Unfortunately, Robertson left a large legacy, which we need to reckon with. To do so, I spoke with the journalist Sarah Posner, who writes frequently on the intersection of politics and religion. She is the author of the book Unholy, about white evangelical support for Donald Trump. Sarah also wrote a very fine essay for Talking Points Memo about Robertson’s role in creating an infrastructure of right-wing lawyers who are pushing the religious right’s agenda through the courts and the policy ranks of the Republican Party.

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Sarah and I talk about Robertson’s background as the son of Democratic senator, his distinctive brand of charismatic Christianity which has been gaining force, his conspiracy theories and sundry bigotries, and the support he gets from more mainstream institutions such as AIPAC.

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Start Making Sense: The Far Right’s Takeover of Shasta County, plus the Enslaved Black Family: Sasha Abramsky on politics, Brenda Stevenson on history Jun 07, 2023

Shasta County, California, north of San Francisco, is a pretty place, but right wing extremists have taken over the Board of Supervisors there. They’ve driven out public health workers and pushed to make the county what they call a “Second Amendment sanctuary.” They're dubbing it a blueprint for the rest of the nation. The Nation's Sasha Abramsky reports.

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense, historian Brenda Stevenson dissects the Black family both under slavery and after. Stevenson is the author of a new book on the history of the enslaved black family, titled “What Sorrows Labour in My Parent’s Breast.”

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Time of Monsters: Car Dealers Versus Electric Vehicles Jun 07, 2023

Accelerating the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) is a centerpiece of Joe Biden’s climate policy. In making this push, the most likely choke point will come not from the car companies but from car dealers. Slate writer Alexander Sammon recently attended the annual conference of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) and filed a fascinating report detailing just how adamantly opposed dealers are to EVs on both ideological grounds (most dealers are staunch conservatives) and economic ones (EVs require less repair, a major source of dealer profit). The article is unusually rich and I highly recommend reading it.

I talked to Alexander about his report and the larger politics of auto dealership. We discuss how dealers are rent seekers who benefit from policies that stifle change and harm the consumers. They also form the economic and organizing backbone of the GOP. We also address a critique of his piece by policy analyst Matt Stoller.

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Start Making Sense: D.D. Guttenplan on Biden and the Vision Thing; plus Disappearing Islands May 31, 2023

The polls about the 2024 election are not good. Democrats lack enthusiasm for Biden, especially after his debt limit deal. The Nation's editor in chief, D.D. Guttenplan argues that the president needs to remake his candidacy—now.

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense: Climate change is raising sea levels, and soon low-lying coastal areas will be under water. But the most severe threat, the brunt of the suffering, is coming first to low-lying islands around the world, even though they are least responsible for global warming. Christina Gerhardt, author of the new book, Sea Change: An Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean, is on the show to discuss.

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Time of Monsters: How Ron DeSantis Botched His Launch May 31, 2023

After months of teasing voters and reporters, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has finally launched his presidential bid. He did it on an unusual platform: Twitter Spaces. The launch was widely viewed as a bungle because of its small audience and many technical glitches.

Even if was a fiasco, it was significant as an example of Elon Musk trying to remake himself as a right-wing media mogul, a Rupert Murdoch of the digital age. To better understand what DeSantis and Musk are up to, I talked with Parker Molloy, who runs the fine newsletter The Present Age.

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Edge of Sports: Shine On, Denver Nuggets May 26, 2023

On this episode of the Edge of Sports podcast, we chat with the great Washington Post journalist, Michael Lee, about what makes the Denver Nuggets and their star player, Nikola Jokic, so special.

We also have a lot of Choice Words about the passing of Jim Brown.

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Start Making Sense: Is Planned Parenthood Too Cautious? Plus: Writing and Politics May 24, 2023

Has Planned Parenthood gotten too cautious and too corporate? Are the risk managers running the organization? Eyal Press reports on the courage of independent abortion services, and the failures of Planned Parenthood.

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense: What does it mean to be a politically committed writer? That's the central question of Adam Shatz's talks new book, “Writers and Missionaries: Essays on the Radical imagination.” He joins the podcast to discuss. Shatz is The Nation’s former literary editor and the US editor of the London Review of Books.

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Time Of Monsters: Biden, The Republicans, and The Debt Ceiling May 23, 2023

Joe Biden has a divided mind when it comes to the Republican Party. On the one hand, he’s all to aware that the GOP has become radicalized and is an existential threat to American democracy. On the other hand, Biden, drawing on his many decades in Washington, is drawn to the idea of bipartisan compromise and acts as if it is his duty to elevate the more moderate wing of the Republican party. We can see the two sides of Biden’s approach to the opposition party as he tries to navigate through the debt ceiling crisis. Biden has acknowledged the idea of taking the debt ceiling weapon off the table by invoking the Fourteenth Amendment even as he has also indicated a willingness to cut a deal.

It's unclear which side of the equation will win. To take up the issue of Biden’s handling of the GOP and the debt ceiling crisis, I spoke with Brian Beutler, the editor-in-chief at Crooked Media. Brian edits a very fine newsletter, Big Tent, which can be found here.

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Start Making Sense: Jeffrey Toobin on the Roots of Jan. 6; Adam Hochschild on Anti-Woke History May 17, 2023

The ideological roots of the January 6 insurrection go back decades before Trump entered politics -- back to the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995. Jeffrey Toobin joins the podcast to explain. His new book is Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism.

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense: Ron DeSantis is campaigning for president promising to “stop woke history.” That is, to stop teaching about slavery and its legacy of institutional racism. Adam Hochschild found the history guide DeSantis wants: the Hillsdale College “1776 Curriculum.” He reports on what’s in it —and what’s not.

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Time of Monsters: Slaying the Debt Ceiling Dragon May 17, 2023

Over the last thirty years, Republicans, when in control the House of Representatives, have repeatedly used the debt ceiling to force Democratic presidents to make draconian budget cuts. This drama took place under both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. We are now witnessing a replay under Joe Biden. Under pressure from divergent political forces, Biden is being forced to make a choice between negotiating with the Republicans or figuring out a way to squash the debt ceiling threat.

In a recent statement, Jeff Hauser, founder of The Revolving Door Project, makes the case for a direct fight: “GOP leaders have sent a wildly exploitative ransom note to the public. The administration should not accept its terms. Biden, Yellen, and Garland have many executive branch pathways to avoid doing so, including by refusing to defend the debt ceiling against the recent lawsuit from government employees arguing that it is unconstitutional for the federal government to not pay its debts. The Biden Administration must not cave in to extremists and overwrite the best of the administration’s legacy merely in order to sustain the legal incoherence that is elites’ understanding of the debt ceiling.” I spoke to Jeff about the dangers of the debt ceiling as a threat to the constitutional order and how Biden can fight it.

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Start Making Sense: Bhaskar Sunkara on Biden in 2024, plus Josh Gondelman on the Writers Strike May 10, 2023

Progressives and Biden: what is to be done—about the 2024 election? Bhaskar Sunkara, president of The Nation, comments.

Also: 11,500 members of the Writers Union are on strike against the film, TV and streaming companies, with picket lines up in L.A. and New York. Both sides of the fight have prepared for a months-long conflict. Award-winning TV writer Josh Gondelman is on the show to explain the issues.

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Time of Monsters: Can the Corrupt Courts Be Fixed? May 10, 2023

The emerging scandals at the Supreme Court are only getting worse with new revelations about Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginni being the beneficiaries of plutocratic largess. But it remains unclear whether the Democrats can mount an effective attack that uses the scandal to reform the courts.

To discuss how gridlock and a lack of political will is allowing a constitutional crisis to fester, I spoke with Alexander Sammon, a political writer for Slate. He provides an expert tour of both the scandals and also of the completely inadequate political response, as well as providing some insights on how Democrats could use their existing power to actually reign in an increasingly lawless judiciary.

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Start Making Sense: Impeach Clarence Thomas; plus Joe Biden, the GOP, and 'Freedom' May 03, 2023

D.D. Guttenplan, editor of The Nation, argues that it's time to impeach Clarence Thomas. He also says it's time to remove and replace Diane Feinstein, whose inability to serve is denying the Democrats a majority on the Judiciary Committee..

Also on this episode: Joe Biden announced that the theme of his reelection campaign will be that the Democrats are the party of “freedom.” But the Republicans claim they are the defenders of freedom. Who's right? Eric Foner, author of "The Story of American Freedom," joins the show to discuss.

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Edge of Sports: Lamar Jackson And The State of the Black Quarterback May 03, 2023

On this week's episode of the Edge of Sports podcast, we talk to Prof. Louis Moore, author of "We Will Win The Day," about Lamar Jackson's new contract, the NFL Draft, and what both say about the state of the Black Q.B. in the NFL.

I have some Choice Words about France on the precipice of both the Olympics and social chaos. We've got a Just Stand Up award for Miami Heat legend, Dwyane Wade, for his courage in the face of the anti-trans bigotry his family has been facing, which caused them to leave the state of Florida. We also have and Just Sit Down awards for the cowardly silence from some of the biggest stars in the Florida sports community.

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Time of Monsters: A Corrupt Court Faces No Accountability May 03, 2023

The American judicial system is facing a far reaching legitimacy crisis, with the Republican ominated judges continuing to push an extremist ideological vision and Supreme Court justices Clarence Thomas and Neal Gorsuch standing accused of serious conflict of interest violations.

Moira Donegan, who wrote on the issue in her column for The Guardian, joins the podcast to discuss how the courts are leading the country into a constitutional crisis. We also take up the failure of Democrats to use what power they have in the Senate to check right-wing judicial extremism and possible corruption.

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Start Making Sense: Anatol Lieven Reports from Ukraine, plus Amy Wilentz on Haiti Apr 26, 2023

Anatol Lieven is back after three weeks in Ukraine, where he found soldiers determined to win, and Russian bombardment doing surprisingly little damage.

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense: A neighborhood in Port-au-Prince fights back against the gangs. Amy Wilentz comments on the news from Haiti.

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Time of Monsters: Tucker, Twitter and Taibbi Apr 26, 2023

This has been an eventful week in both the news media and social media. Tucker Carlson was apparently fired from Fox News. Meanwhile, Twitter under the aegis of Elon Musk continues to be in turmoil as it changes verification policies, to the irritation of longtime users.

To make sense of it all, I talked to Ryan Cooper, managing editor of The American Prospect. Ryan has produced a fascinating Youtube video about the journalist Matt Taibbi, a one-time muckraking radical who in recent years has increasingly aligned himself with the reactionary agenda of Carlson and Musk. As it turns out, Taibbi’s trajectory provides a perfect storyline for tracing recent changes in the media and also the disturbing tendency of some former leftists to shift right under the impetus of the culture wars.

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Edge of Sports: David Aldridge on The End of Dan Snyder Apr 21, 2023

This week, we speak to Washington media legend David Aldridge about the forthcoming sale of the Washington football team by its much-loathed owner Dan Snyder.

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Start Making Sense: Rebecca Solnit on Climate Action, plus John Nichols on Abortion Politics Apr 19, 2023

It’s getting late to take action about the climate emergency, but it’s not too late: that’s what Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua say in their new book, “Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility.”

Also: abortion rights will be a key issue for Democrats in the 2024 election, especially after Republican judges have tried to ban medication abortions. John Nichols comments.

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Time of Monsters: Resurgence In The Midwest Apr 19, 2023

The victories of Brandon Johnson in Chicago and Janet Protasiewicz in Wisconsin are the latest signs that the upper Midwest, after a long period of trending right, is now the home of a liberal and left resurgence. Chris Lehmann, who surveyed the region in a recent column for the Nation, joins the podcast to talk about this development. We look at the history of how the “Blue Firewall” that helped Obama win in 2012 became a cornerstone of Trump’s victory in 2016, the disastrous impact of the 2010 midterms, the GOP campaign (aided by Koch-family money) to create permanent Republican power in the region using gerrymandering, and the counterattack led by grass-roots activism and union organizing.

In discussing the recent liberal resurgence, we examine the impact of social issues (notably abortion and trans rights) and economic issues (notably workers’ rights and trade). We also contrast the politics of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan (where the Democrats are finding their footing) with Iowa (where the right continues to be ascendant).

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Start Making Sense: Elie Mystal, Joan Walsh and Chris Lehmann on Trump and his 34 Felonies; plus Afghan Girls in Exile Apr 12, 2023

Donald Trump and his 34 felonies: can he really be brought to justice for paying off Stormy Daniels? We feature highlights of The Nation’s roundtable discussion among Elie Mystal, Justice Correspondent, Joan Walsh, National Affairs Correspondent, and Chris Lehmann, D.C. Editor.

Also: Afghan girls who escaped from the Taliban. The story of a boarding school that evacuated its students from Kabul during the chaotic withdrawal of the Americans, and moved -- to Kigali, Rwanda. SOLA, the School of Leadership Afghanistan is the place where Afghan girls study to become members of the generation that will one day lead a peaceful and united Afghanistan. The founder, Shabana Basij-Rasikh, explains.

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Time of Monsters: The Abortion Battle Rages in the Courts Apr 11, 2023

In an earlier podcast, Moira Donegan, frequent Time of Monsters guest and columnist for the Guardian, predicted that Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk would strike down FDA approval of mifepristone, the medication used in most abortions in the United States. Donegan’s prediction came true on Friday.

Moira returns to the podcast this week to discuss the impact of this decision. We talk about how outrageous Kacsmaryk’s ruling was on both legal and factual grounds as well as the way the decision will likely end up being reviewed by the Supreme Court. We also talk about the political divides over how to deal with abortion inside both the Democratic and Republican Party as the Dobbs effect reshapes politics.

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Edge of Sports: A Radical Retelling of NBA History Apr 09, 2023

This week we speak to Theresa Runstedler, author of the book Black Ball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation that Saved the Soul of the NBA.

We'll have Choice Words about what Caitlin Clark has taught us throughout the fallout after the NCAA women’s championship game. We also have Jake’s Takes on the NBA finals and more.

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Start Making Sense: John Nichols on Recent Progressive Victories and Chris Lehmann on Trump's Indictment Apr 05, 2023

The landslide victory of the progressive candidate in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race, Janet Protasiewicz, ten times bigger than Biden's, shows how abortion wins elections. And in Chicago, progressive candidate Brandon Johnson won the race for mayor. John Nichols joins the show to discuss these victories.

Also on this episode: Will Trump's indictment on 34 felonies change anything in the 2024 election? Or had everybody already decided what they think about Donald Trump? The Nation's DC Bureau Chief, Chris Lehmann reports.

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The Time of Monsters: Two Cheers for Arresting Trump Apr 04, 2023

While the arrest of former president Donald Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business record can be welcomed as a rare example of accountability for the elite Americans, the actual case will have to be tested in court. My colleague Elie Mystal has written an important column cautioning against having high expectations. The fact is the case brought by Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg is for one of Trump’s lesser offenses (compared to ongoing investigations over obstruction of justice, over attempted influencing of election officials, over incitement of the January 6 attempted coup, and over handling of classified documents, among other matters).

Further, this particular case against Trump has to clear some high legal hurdles. On this episode of The Time of Monsters, I talked to Elie about Trump’s legal status, why we should welcome the former president’s arrest, why we should be clear-eyed about how far the court case can go, and how MAGA Republicans are using this case to foment racism.

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Edge of Sports: Why the NBA World Lost Its Joy Mar 30, 2023

On this episode of Edge of Sports, we speak to Michael Lee of the Washington Post about why this has been the most dispiriting NBA season in recent history. We don’t just catalog the moments, though. We also try to understand the underlying issues.

We have Choice Words about the late Willis Reed, and what his life meant for the New York Knicks as well as the city. We have a Just Stand Up awards for the Maryland Terrapins lady women’s team that went on a great tourney run. We also have a Just Sit Down award for Silver who has not done a great job of handling the flame ups that have occurred during the NBA season. All that and more on this episode of the Edge of Sports podcast!

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Start Making Sense: Low-Paid Workers Strike and Win in LA; Minor League Baseball Players Form a Union Mar 29, 2023

In Los Angeles last week, a three-day strike by 30,000 public school custodians, food service workers, bus drivers and teacher's aides ended with a 30% pay increase. Harold Meyerson, the editor-at-large of The American Prospect, joins the podcast to discuss.

Also: For a century, thousands of young baseball players have lived with low wages, overcrowded housing, and all-night rides in uncomfortable buses in order to play in baseball’s minor leagues, hoping to eventually make it to the majors. Now, their lives are changing because they organized a union. Kelly Candaele and Peter Dreier have more on that story.

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The Time of Monsters: Trump Is Still GOP Top Dog Mar 28, 2023

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Alex Shephard discusses why Ron DeSantis and other rivals are faltering.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is the preferred Trump foe of the Republican establishment. Both the donor class and media outlets (notably those owned by Rupert Murdoch) have rallied around DeSantis as a figure who can unite the party by adopting the policies of Donald Trump but without Trump’s embarrassing personal flaws. But their theory of Ron Santis isn’t working out: he’s faltering in the polls and some of his major supporters are starting to waver. Other Trump rivals, like former vice president Mike Pence, are also having trouble gaining traction.

Writing in The New Republic, Alex Shepard cogently noted that De Santis and other would-be Republican presidential nominees face the same difficulty as candidates like Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz did in 2016: they're afraid to alienate Trump’s passionate base of support, so they can’t fully challenge him. This makes them look weak when Trump attacks them in the most lurid and contemptuous ways imaginable. In this podcast, Alex and I survey the GOP primary race with a focus on why Trump remains the man to beat.

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Start Making Sense: Katha Pollitt on Women in 2023, plus Christian Appy on Protest in 1969 Mar 22, 2023

American women in 2023: the news is bad, but it’s not all bad. Katha Pollitt is on the Start Making Sense podcast to explain.

Also: the largest anti-war demonstrations in American history were the protests in the fall of 1969--with more than two million people in the streets demanding “End the War in Vietnam.” But did those demonstrations help end the war? Historian Chris Appy comments on the new documentary, “The Movement and the ‘Madman,’” out on PBS American Experience March 28.

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The Time of Monsters: New Fronts on the Abortion Fight Mar 21, 2023

Last year, the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision. This has only emboldened the anti-choice movement. Those who hoped that abortion would at least be safe in blue states and kept available in red states via mifepristone are waking up to a world where the anti-choice movement is using legal warfare to move towards its goal of a nation-wide abortion ban. As Moira Donegan notes in a recent column in The Guardian, a right-wing Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas is hearing arguments for rolling back FDA approval of mifepristone. Elsewhere, pharmacists and doctors are being intimidated by legal threats so that even legal abortion services are getting harder to come by. A novel legal argument is being used to raise the possibility that anti-abortion laws can be applied retroactively, again creating a chilling effect.

I talked with Moira about these and other trends. As she notes, they raise a fundamental question about not just reproductive freedom but also the future of American democracy. It’s no longer clear whether there is a federal rule of law that can protect reproductive freedom even in blue states. We also take up the urgency of Democrats making reproductive freedom a top issue.

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Edge of Sports: Ja Morant On The Edge Mar 17, 2023

On this episode of the Edge of Sports podcast, we speak to Daily Memphian columnist Chris Herrington about the personal troubles of Memphis Grizzlies point guard and budding icon Ja Morant. We talk about the Grizzlies, the city of Memphis, and what’s next for the superstar point guard.

We have Choice Words about the MVP debate going on between Embiid, Jokic, and Giannis. We also have a Just Stand Up award to Lamar Jackson for standing on his principle, and a Just Sit Down award for the NFL owners that are seemingly colluding against Lamar. All that and more on this episode of the Edge of Sports podcast!

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Start Making Sense: John Nichols on Banks and Regulations, plus Gregg Gonsalves on Masks and Covid Mar 15, 2023

Since the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last week, we need to understand how and why medium-sized banks have been allowed to avoid strict supervision from federal banking authorities and avoid safety requirements. John Nichols comments.

Also: Do masks work to help stop the spread of COVID-19? A New York Times columnist recently said that they don’t, and cited an authoritative review of research as his source. But it turns he was wrong about that study. Gregg Gonsalves is on the show to explain.

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The Time of Monsters: Havana Syndrome and the Psychosomatic Empire Mar 14, 2023

The good news is we have one less thing to worry about: so-called Havana Syndrome turns out not to be caused by a mysterious super-weapon to harm American diplomats and military personnel, despite numerous press reports warning of a hypothetical ray gun created by a foreign foe (Cuba? Russia? China?). Instead, an assessment by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) concluded that the symptoms of Havana Syndrome, reported by hundreds of government officials working all over the world) likely had “medical, environmental, and social factors that plausibly can explain.” In less polite terms, this was an example of a mass psychogenic illness, a product of hysteria and over-active imaginations.

Writing in Jacobin, Branko Marcetic links the Havana Syndrome frenzy to other examples of national security paranoia such as the false reports of Russians paying for Taliban bounty hunters and the recent meltdown over Chinese surveillance balloons. I talked with Branko about both the Havana Syndrome, and the reasons – political and psychological–that the military-industrial complex is going into over drive conjuring up imaginary or overhyped threats.

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Edge of Sports: Hooked On Women's Hoops with Kate Fagan Mar 09, 2023

On this episode of the Edge of Sports podcast, we speak to author and sports opinionist Kate Fagan about her new illustrated history of the women in basketball, Hoop Muses: An Insider’s Account to Pop Culture and the (Women’s Game). The book is illustrated by Sophia Chang and curated by the legendary hoopster Seimone Augustus. Fagan and I talk about her inspiration, creative process and what it was like working with Seimone Augustus.

We'll have Choice Words about the effort to ban trans athletes from youth sports. We give a Just Stand Up award to the New York Knicks for looking like a legitimate, joyous playoff contender down the home stretch of the season. We also have a Just Sit Down award for Texas Tech basketball coach, Mark Adams for the wild comments he made to members of his team.

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Start Making Sense: Ron DeSantis says ‘The Left Made Me Do It”; plus our Oscar preview with John Powers Mar 08, 2023

Ron DeSantis has written a political autobiography, “The Courage to be Free.” The Nation's DC Bureau Chief, Chris Lehmann calls it “a paranoid rant disguised as campaign memoir.” Chris joins us on this episode of Start Making Sense to discuss it.

Also: Sunday is Oscar night in America and, as usual, we have a lot of complaints about the nominations. So does John Powers, Critic at Large on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. We talk about this year’s films we didn’t like – and some we thought were wonderful.

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The Time of Monsters: Fox News and the Quicksand of Lies Mar 07, 2023

The ongoing defamation suit launched by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News for its coverage of the 2020 election has already resulted in the release of an eye-opening tranche of documents that give an unprecedented window into the inner workings of the TV network. As National columnist Chris Lehmann has noted, the major revelation is how completely beholden the network is to its right-wing base, to the extent of knowingly pushing false stories to please that audience.

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Chris and I talked about what the Fox News revelations say not only about the powerful media site but also the state of journalism and American democracy. The problem is not just that Fox News lies but that millions of viewers have grown addicted to those lies, so much so that they’ll look for any source to bolster their worldview. More than a media problem, this is a democracy problem; one with few obvious answers. Using the Dominion lawsuit as a starting point, Chris and I talk about the broader problem of a post-truth society.

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Start Making Sense: Saree Makdisi on Israelis and Palestinians; Kimberlé Crenshaw on the Battle over Black Studies Mar 01, 2023

Israel’s new far-right government, headed, again, by Benjamin Netanyahu, is working to undermine democracy for Israelis and advance Israel’s annexation of Palestinian land. Provocations by Israel in the West Bank have been followed by settler pogroms against Palestinian villages. Saree Makdisi provides comment and analysis of how Israel is “destroying the fantasies of liberal Zionism.” https://www.thenation.com/article/world/israel-liberal-zionism/

Also: the worst thing that happened to Black History during Black History Month was not Ron DeSantis banning critical concepts and approaches - it was the College Board revising its new African American Studies curriculum to meet all of his demands. But now scholars in Black History, Black Studies and related fields are fighting back. Kimberlé Crenshaw will explain. She founded the African American Policy Forum.

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Start Making Sense: John Nichols on the Most Important Election Before 2024, plus Gregg Gonsalves on the End of the Covid Emergency Feb 22, 2023

The most important election of 2023 is in Wisconsin next month, where voters can change the state's supreme court and end domination by conservatives. They’ve banned abortion and enforced the worst gerrymandering in the nation. John Nichols joins the show to talk about the results of Tuesday's primary, which look good for Democrats.

Also on this week's episode: COVID remains the number 3 cause of death in the US, after heart disease and cancer, with almost 3,000 deaths every week. However, Biden and the Democrats are ending the federal COVID emergency. Is that really a good idea? The Nation’s public health correspondent and Yale professor of epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves comes on to comment.

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Start Making Sense: Black history banned in Florida; “The Crown” and the Royal Family: Robin Kelley on Ron DeSantis, plus Gary Younge on the monarchy Feb 15, 2023

Black history, banned in Florida—and excluded from the College Board’s recommended AP Black Studies course. UCLA professor Robin Kelley will comment on that – he’s one of the historians whose work has been targeted. Also: "The 1619 Project" on Hulu.

Also: the Royal Family and “The Crown”– you know, Queen Elizabeth and Charles and Diana, and the Netflix series about them. Gary Younge explains why he loathes the monarchy in Britain, but loved “The Crown” on Netflix.

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Start Making Sense: QAnon & the Republicans, Ireland & the Irish: Chris Lehmann on politics, plus Fintan O’Toole on his ‘personal history’ Feb 08, 2023

“The government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation”—that’s QAnon’s crazy idea, and 30 million Americans say they mostly agree. Chris Lehmann comments.

Also: Fintan O’Toole’s personal history of Ireland since the fifties: how a country dominated by a corrupt Catholic church came to legalize gay marriage and abortion -- by referendum. His much-honored ‘personal history’ of Ireland, titled “We Don’t Know Ourselves,” is out now in paperback.

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Start Making Sense: The Constitutional Solution to the Debt Limit Crisis, plus Victor Navasky Remembered Feb 01, 2023

House Republicans are refusing to raise the debt limit, threatening that the US will default on its bond payments. But the Constitution has the solution for President Biden -- that’s what historian Eric Foner says. He joins the podcast to shed light on a little-known section of the 14^th Amendment.

Also on this episode, we’re still thinking about Victor Navasky, who died on Jan. 23. He was editor or publisher of The Nation for 27 years, starting in 1978, and author of several books, including one about his life in magazines, titled “A Matter of Opinion.” We’ll listen to our conversation about that book, recorded in 2006.

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Start Making Sense: How to Defeat Kyrsten Sinema; Universal Basic Income in L.A.: Steve Phillips on politics, Sasha Abramsky on poverty Jan 25, 2023

Kyrsten Sinema, the Arizona senator who quit the Democratic Party in December, is up for reelection next year, and will be challenged by progressive Democrat Ruben Gallego. Steve Phillips points to evidence that her chances of reelection are poor. His new book, “How We Win the Civil War,” has a chapter on Arizona politics.

Also: What if government provided a basic income to all residents? Something like $1000 a month? How much could that change inequality and poverty? Sasha Abramsky reports on the experiment in Los Angeles with Universal Basic Income.

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Start Making Sense: Abortion rights battles return in the 2023 elections; plus wages at Walmart Jan 18, 2023

Abortion rights voters are reshaping politics in the coming political season—starting with a special election to the Virginia State Senate. Also: the most important election of 2023 is for the open seat on the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. John Nichols explains.

Also: Walmart is the biggest employer in America, and the Walton family, the children of Walmart founder Sam Walton, is the richest family in the world. The company has raised wages and become more socially conscious-but it provides a case study of the limits of socially conscious capitalism. Rick Wartzman will explain – his new book on Walmart and its workers is titled “Still Broke.”

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Start Making Sense: Fintan O’Toole on the Next Insurrection; Katha Pollitt on “She Said” Jan 11, 2023

If you were planning a future coup, what could you learn from the failure of Trump’s efforts on January 6? Fintan O’Toole says it would need a better story – not attacking Congress, but “defending democracy.” He teaches at Princeton, and is the author most recently of We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland.

Also: Who’d want to see a movie about Harvey Weinstein? But the film “She Said,” about the two New York Times reporters who broke the Harvey Weinstein story, is not about Harvey; it’s about the system that protected him. And it’s really good. Katha Pollitt comments.

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Nelson Lichtenstein's Post-Mortem on the UC Strike and Andrew Bacevich on America’s “Very Long War” Jan 04, 2023

Teaching Assistants and other grad student employees at the University of California won a historic victory in their strike last month. What does that mean for other universities and other union organizing campaigns? Nelson Lichtenstein joins the show to comment.

Also this week, Andrew Bacevich talks about our “very long war” going back to the sixties, and the relative insignificance of Donald Trump. Bacevich's new book is On Shedding an Obsolete Past: Bidding Farewell to the American Century.

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Best of 2022: Elie Mystal on the Constitution, plus Kelly Lytle Hernández on “Bad Mexicans” Dec 28, 2022

For our end-of year show, we are featuring a couple of our favorite book segments from 2022. First, a Black guy’s guide to the Constitution: Elie Mystal explains why “our constitution is not good.” He’s The Nation’s justice correspondent and author of Allow Me to Retort.

Also: “Bad Mexicans”—that’s what the revolutionaries of 1910 were called as they fought on both sides of the US-Mexico border against the robber barons and their political allies. UCLA historian Kelly Lytle Hernandez tells that story and talks about her book on race, empire, and revolution in the borderlands.

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UC Strike Settlement? Nelson Lichtenstein; plus Sean Wilentz on Bob Dylan’s Xmas Album Dec 21, 2022

The biggest strike in the country this year, and the biggest in the history of American universities, may be over. After five weeks of picketing and protests, the union representing 48,000 graduate student employees at the University of California announced a settlement. The university made an offer, and union members are voting this week. Nelson Lichtenstein has the analysis. He teaches History at UC Santa Barbara, where he directs the Center for the Study of Work, Labor, and Democracy.

We also have a Christmas music special this week. Bob Dylan fans have been puzzled and troubled by his Christmas album, “Christmas in the Heart,” ever since he released it in 2009. To help figure out what Dylan was doing, we brought on Sean Wilentz. He's the official historian at BobDylan.com, and also teaches American history at Princeton University.

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Steve Phillips on Sinema and Nelson Lichtenstein on the U.C. Strike Dec 14, 2022

The Democrats triumphed in Arizona this November, electing the governor and the secretary of state, and reelecting senator Mark Kelly --in what used to be a red state. But then Senator Kyrsten Sinema quit the Democratic Party, and Progressives moved towards a primary election to challenge her. On this week's podcast, Steve Phillips explains how the victories happened, and what's to be done about Sinema.

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense– the largest strike in the nation entered its fifth week. 36,000 grad student employees of the University of California –including teaching assistants– are not grading final exams. The union agreed to mediation—which seems unlikely to succeed. Nelson Lichtenstein has our update.

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Joan Walsh on the Georgia runoff and Nelson Lichtenstein on the UC strike Dec 07, 2022

On this episode of the Start Making Sense podcast, Nation correspondent, Joan Walsh, comments on Democratic incumbent, Senator Raphael Warnock beating Herschel Walker in the Georgia runoff, and what that means for the future of American politics.

Also on this episode, the largest strike in the country this year, and the largest in the history of higher education, entered its fourth week at the University of California. Historian Nelson Lichtenstein joins the show to discuss.

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Beverly Gage on J. Edgar Hoover, plus Erwin Chemerinsky on Originalism Nov 30, 2022

We know a lot about the bad things J. Edgar Hoover did, but it turns out there’s a lot we didn’t know. Historian Beverly Gage joins the podcast to explain. Her new book is “G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover & the Making of the American Century.”

Also: Should the Supreme Court base its decision on what it can discern about the original intent of the framers? That’s what the “originalists” say – and they dominate today’s court. Erwin Chemerinsky comments. Chemerinsky is dean of the law school at UC Berkeley and author most recently of “Worse Than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism.”

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The Undocumented Can Work Jobs at the U. of Calif., and Latinas Are Fighting Toxic Pollution Nov 23, 2022

Hundreds of thousands of young immigrants brought here by their undocumented parents since 2007 are not eligible for DACA. But now they may be eligible for jobs--at the University of California. UCLA law professor Ahilan Arulanantham explains.

Also: the fight against pollution in LA’s port communities, where 300,000 people, mostly Latino, live next door to oil refineries, chemical facilities, and one of the largest oilfields in the nation. For decades they’ve been fighting for basic rights and a cleaner environment. Eliza Moreno has that story.

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Joan Walsh on the Georgia Runoff; Gustavo Arellano on the LA Vote Nov 16, 2022

The Georgia Senate runoff campaign has begun--Joan Walsh has just returned from Atlanta, and explains why Trump’s candidate Herschel Walker seems likely to lose. Also: comment on what happened in Stacey Abrams’ tragic loss.

Plus: in Los Angeles the terrible sheriff has lost his re-election campaign. Gustavo Arellano, the LA Times columnist, comments, and reports on how the billionaire developer running for mayor campaigned for the Latino vote.

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The Nation and the Midterms: D.D. Guttenplan, Elie Mystal, Joan Walsh, John Nichols, and Chris Lehmann Nov 09, 2022

The Nation's political writers analyze the good, the bad, and the ugly in the midterms, and find keys to building a winning coalition for 2024.

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How We Win the Midterms: Steve Phillips; plus Black Landowners in North Carolina: Cameron Oglesby Nov 02, 2022

How can we save democracy from white nationalism and right-wing authoritarianism? Steve Phillips argues we need to organize and turn out the millions of non-voters – people of color and young people – with a long-term, data-based strategy. Steve’s new book is “How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good.”

Also: a story about Black landownership, starting in Piney Woods, North Carolina, one of the oldest examples of uninterrupted land ownership by Black people in the US, going back to before the Civil War. Cameron Oglesby has that report.

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Stacey Abrams Explains her Work; We Remember Mike Davis Oct 26, 2022

Stacey Abrams, running for governor in Georgia, is behind in the polls of likely voters, which the pollsters define as people who vote regularly, especially in the last midterms, four years ago. But her whole strategy is to organize and mobilize people who do NOT vote regularly – to expand the electorate with young people, people of color, and those the political scientists call “low-propensity voters.” She explains in this interview, from April, 2019, after her first campaign for governor.

Also: Mike Davis, author and activist, radical hero and family man, died on Tuesday, Oct. 25. After talking about his life and work, we play part of an interview with him on this podcast from November, 2016, one week after Trump was elected.

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Chris Lehmann on Republican Plans for 2023, plus Adam Hochschild on Repression in WWI America Oct 19, 2022

What will Republicans do if they win control of the House in the midterms? Now they’ve said something about that, officially: they call it their “Commitment to America.” Chris Lehmann calls it “a grab bag of cultural resentments papering over an anemic policy wish list.”

Also: The Trump years are not the only time American democracy has been threatened; the World War One years, when Democrat Woodrow Wilson was president, were another. That’s what Adam Hochschild argues –his new book is “American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis.”

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John Nichols on Democrats and Marijuana, plus Greil Marcus on Bob Dylan Oct 12, 2022

Joe Biden has just made marijuana legalization a campaign issue--the Democrats should run with it, says John Nichols.

Also: Greil Marcus talks about Bob Dylan, from "Blowin' in the Wind" to "Murder Most Foul." He has a new book out, it's called "Folk Music: A Bob Dylan Biography in 7 Songs."

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Nurses on Strike, plus Women Lawyers who Challenged Trump: Bryce Covert on hospitals, plus Dahlia Litwick on the Courts Oct 05, 2022

Nurses have taken the lead in the wave of this year’s labor activism. The largest private-sector nurses’ strike in American history took place recently in Minnesota – 15,000 nurses walked off the job for three days in the Twin Cities and the Twin Ports. Other nurses threatened strikes in half a dozen other places. Bryce Covert reports a key front in the fight for better health care in America.

Plus: Dahlia Lithwick talks about some of the heroes of the Trump years: the women lawyers who fought him on the big issues—the Muslim ban, neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, and voting rights. Her new book is “Lady Justice.”

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Can the Democrats hold the Senate? John Nichols; Plus David Nasaw on Ken Burns's "Holocaust" Sep 28, 2022

Can Republicans win control of the Senate? Trump’s candidates are the GOP's biggest problem, starting in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin. The Nation's National Affairs Correspondent, John Nichols has our analysis.

Also on this week's episode of the Start Making Sense podcast, a discussion about Ken Burns' new documentary on PBS, “The US and the Holocaust.” Historian David Nasaw comes on the show to discuss why the film may be the most politically engaged and relevant work of Burns' career.

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Bhaskar Sunkara: Bernie in 2024? plus Chris Lehmann on the Brooks Brothers Riot Sep 21, 2022

Should Bernie Sanders run in the Democratic primaries in 2024? President of The Nation, Bhaskar Sunkara says “yes” IF Biden doesn’t. Sanders transformed American politics and, Bhaskar argues, he remains a uniquely important figure for Democrats and the left.

Also: 20 years before the January 6 attack on the capitol, a Republican mob attacked a central hub of government operations claiming the vote count in the presidential election that year was fraudulent, trying to reverse the results. That was the “Brooks Brothers Riot” in Miami, a Republican effort long before Trump. On this week's episode of Start Making SenseThe Nation's DC Bureau Chief, Chris Lehmann reviews that history.

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Sarah Posner on the Conservative Takeover of the Southern Baptists, plus Amy Wilentz on Jared Sep 14, 2022

The transformation of the Southern Baptist Convention into a powerful right wing political force developed over the last 50 years. Before 1973, when abortion became a constitutional right, the Southern Baptists did not have a political position on abortion. Then came what they call the “conservative resurgence”—we call it the “fundamentalist takeover.” Sarah Posner explains that history. Her book “Unholy: How White Christian Nationalists Powered the Trump Presidency, and the Devastating Legacy They Left Behind” is out now in paperback.

Also on this episode, a new installment of The Children’s Hour: stories about Ivanka, Jared, Don Junior and Little Eric. This week: Jared writes a book! He called it “Breaking History.” We have comment from our Chief Jared Correspondent, Amy Wilentz.

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Amy Littlefield on How Abortion Rights Triumphed in Kansas, plus Barbara Ehrenreich Remembered Sep 07, 2022

Remember how Kansas was the first state to vote directly on abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, and how Kansans surprised everyone by voting to keep abortion rights in the constitution, 59%-41%? Amy Littlefield went to Kansas to report on the election for The Nation and see how the victory had been organized and won.

Also on this week's episode, we’re still thinking about Barbara Ehrenreich, who died last week. She was one of our best. We’ll listen to an interview with Ehrenreich from 2002, about “Nickel and Dimed,” her unforgettable book about trying to live on low-wage work which had just been published.

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Chris Lehmann on GOP Plans for 2023, Patrick Leahy on Jan. 6 Aug 31, 2022

Republicans are making plans if they win control of the House in November--Chris Lehmann reports that their top targets include the NLRB and the Department of Labor. Chris is The Nation’s new D.C. Bureau Chief.

Also: Patrick Leahy of Vermont has been a senator for almost 50 years. He describes how, on January 6, when senators took refuge from the mob attacking the capitol, they prepared to complete the work of counting the electoral votes in their underground bunker--until he insisted they should wait until they could return to the Senate chamber. His new book is ”The Road Taken.”

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The Mar-a-Lago Raid and the Democrats, plus ‘Dirty Work’ John Nichols on Trump, and Eyal Press on bad jobs Aug 24, 2022

The Mar-a-Lago raid by the FBI put Donald Trump back at the center of American politics, just before the midterms. Is that good for the Democrats? John Nichols comments.

Also: Dirty work—and the people who do it: the low-income workers who do our most ethically troubled jobs. What does that have to do with the rest of us? Eyal Press explains—his book “Dirty Work” is out now in paperback.

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Abortion Rights Victories in Red States, plus the Crisis in Haiti Aug 17, 2022

Ever since the Supreme Court abolished the constitutional protection for abortion, activists have been fighting in the states -- to protect abortion rights where possible, and to expand them where that’s possible. They’ve had some remarkable success, at least in the short run. Katha Pollitt reports. Also: the attack on Salman Rushdie.

Plus: The Organization of American States released a statement admitting, finally, that the international community was responsible for the crisis ravaging Haiti today. But what is to be done now? Amy Wilentz comments.

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Liz Cheney in the Wyoming Primaries and White Supremacy in Southern California Aug 10, 2022

Liz Cheney is way behind in the polls leading up to next week’s Wyoming primary. John Nichols went to Wyoming to see her in action, and reports that she’s “fighting to outlast and replace Trump as the manager of the right-wing franchise in American politics.”

Also on this week's show, a deep dive into Orange County, California. Ronald Reagan once called it “the place all good Republicans go to die.”

But there’s another history of Orange County. LA Times columnist and author of the new book “A People’s Guide to Orange County," Gustavo Arellano explains that, just as there's a history of white supremacy and right wing power, the O.C. also has a history of people –especially immigrants– leading a resistance.

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Pramila Jayapal, from Banker to Organizer, plus Eric Foner on the Right to Vote Aug 03, 2022

Pramila Jayapal is head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and represents Seattle in the House. She will explain how, as a young immigrant from India, she went from being an investment banker to a lifelong organizer. Her book, “Use the Power You Have: A Brown Woman's Guide to Politics and Political Change,” is out now.

Also historian Eric Foner talks about about voting rights and voter suppression, about who gets to be a citizen, the rights of undocumented immigrants, and about the roots of mass incarceration -- --they all relate to the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, part of the country’s attempt to redefine citizenship after the end of slavery. His book, “The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution,” is out now in paperback.

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Katha Pollitt on Advice for Men and J. Hoberman on Film in the Age of Reagan Jul 27, 2022

Jordan Peterson’s books of advice for men have sold five million copies – he says men should work hard, be responsible, demand more of themselves—and make their beds.” Katha Pollitt joins the Start Making Sense podcast to discuss.

Also: The synergy between politics and popular culture has never been clearer or stronger than in the Age of Reagan. J. Hoberman, author of “Make My Day: Film Culture in the Age of Reagan," explains how this came to be. Hoberman was a legendary film critic for the Village Voice for 30 years and now writes for the New York Review, the New York Times, and The Nation.

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Daniel Squadron on How Trump’s Fake Electors Scheme Could Become Law, plus Amy Wilentz on Ivana Jul 20, 2022

The Supreme Court next term will take up a case that could make Trump’s fake electors scheme the law of the land. Daniel Squadron explains the situation – and how winning majorities in state legislatures in swing states is the key to preserving democracy in 2024. Squadron is the co-founder and executive director of The States Project.

Also: Ivana Trump, the mother of Ivanka, Don Junior and Little Eric, died last week – Amy Wilentz comments on her memoir, “Raising Trump,” first broadcast in 2017.

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John Nichols on the 'Stop the Steal' rally, plus Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua on Climate Change Jul 13, 2022

On Tuesday the January 6 committee held yet another dramatic hearing, this one on the origins of the ‘Stop the Steal” rally and the events that provoked that 1:30 am tweet of Trump’s urging supporters to come to Washington, where it “will be wild.” John Nichols has our analysis.

Also on this week's episode, Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua say it’s not too late to act to slow climate change. Their new project, Not Too Late, invites newcomers to join the climate movement, and guides people from despair to possibilities.

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David Cole on What To Do About the Supreme Court, and Sarah Posner on School Prayer Jul 06, 2022

What is to be done about The Supreme Court? David Cole, national legal director of the ACLU, and legal affairs correspondent for the Nation, has the best answer: organize, and vote.

Also: the people who say “America is a Christian Nation” had some big victories at the Supreme Court last week, on school prayer, and on taxpayer funding of religious schools. Sarah Posner comments on the endgame of the Christian Nationalists; she’s the author of Unholy: How White Christian Nationalists Powered the Trump Presidency, and the Devastating Legacy They Left Behind.

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Michele Goodwin on the end of abortion and Anatol Lieven on Ukraine Jun 29, 2022

The end of abortion in 26 states will be deadly for many poor women, especially poor women of color. Law professor Michele Goodwin explains, reviewing the history of forced pregnancy under the slave regime in antebellum America, and how it was banned by the 13^th Amendment’s prohibition of “involuntary servitude.”

Also: How will the war in Ukraine end? The Russians have failed to install a puppet government there but the Ukrainians are not going to recover the territory Russia seized in 2014. So some kind of negotiated settlement is necessary, and better sooner than later. Anatol Lieven, author of “Ukraine and Russia” joins the podcast to discuss.

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Sarah Posner on White Evangelicals and the Jan. 6 Insurrection, plus Joan Walsh on Sex Ed Jun 22, 2022

In understanding the January 6 insurrection, much of the focus has been on white nationalist militias like the Proud Boys. But white evangelicals also played a big part on January 6. Sarah Posner, author of Unholy: How White Christian Nationalists Powered the Trump Presidency, and the Devastating Legacy They Left Behind, joins the podcast to discuss religion's role in the riots.

Also: Republicans have opened another front in the culture war with the slogan “parental rights." Joan Walsh joins the podcast to explain how it's not just about banning the teaching of Critical Race Theory, but also about a ban on comprehensive sex education.

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John Nichols on January 6 and Peter Dreier on Progressive Prosecutors Jun 15, 2022

The January 6 committee hearings have been powerful and devastating, explains John Nichols.

We’re also still thinking about Chesa Boudin's recall in San Francisco. Pundits everywhere are saying it means Democrats need to abandon their commitment to reforming the police and the criminal justice system. Peter Dreier doesn’t agree, explains why this week's on the podcast.

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John Nichols on Crime and the Democrats, plus Sarah Posner on Sex and the Southern Baptists Jun 08, 2022

The results of Tuesday’s primaries in L.A. and San Francisco, according to the New York Times, were “a stark warning to the Democratic Party about the potency of law and order as a political message in 2022.” John Nichols disagrees. Also: our preview of the live TV hearings of the House committee on the January 6 insurrection.

Plus: sex, politics, and the Southern Baptists: Southern Baptists have been at the center of the Trump movement, but now the denomination has been rocked to its core by a massive sex abuse scandal. Could the sex scandal change the Southern Baptists? Sarah Posner will comment.

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Katha Pollitt on How to Protect Abortion Rights and Kelly Lytle Hernandez on “Bad Mexicans” Jun 02, 2022

The coming repeal of constitutional protection for abortion leaves us with a lot of work to do--to protect and expand abortion rights in the states where it will remain legal, and to help women in states where it will be banned. Katha Pollitt joins the Start Making Sense podcast to explain what we need to do now – in politics, health care, and funding.

Plus: “Bad Mexicans” – that what the revolutionaries of 1910 were called as they fought on both sides of the US-Mexico border against the robber barons and their political allies. UCLA historian Kelly Lytle Hernandez tells that story, which is the subject of her new book.

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John Nichols on Politics in 2024; Amy Wilentz on Reparations for Haiti May 25, 2022

The next 6 months will be crucial in determining what happens to American democracy in 2024. Republicans are preparing to challenge the popular vote in many of the states they control by empowering state legislatures to pick electors for the electoral college rather than voters. To do that, they also need to elect Republican governors. The Nation's national affairs correspondent, John Nichols, joins this week's show to discuss how the most crucial battlefield for those efforts right now is in Pennsylvania.

Also: Haiti is back on the front page—at least in the New York Times— and it’s not because of what’s happening there right now. The Times has published the results of a year-long investigation into the history of Haiti’s forced payments to France following Haiti’s successful slave revolution and the establishment of the world’s first Black Republic. Nation contributor, Amy Wilentz, joins the show to discuss the findings.

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John Nichols on Progressives in the Primaries, plus Lynn Garafola on 'La Nijinska' May 18, 2022

Tuesday’s Democratic primaries for the House were flooded with money from pro-Israel groups seeking to defeat progressive candidates. It worked in North Carolina, but not Pennsylvania, where Summer Lee won. John Nichols has our analysis.

Also in this week's show, a discussion with Lynn Garafola about Bronislava Nijinska, the ballet dancer, choreographer, and long-neglected sister of the legendary dancer Vaslav Nijinsky. Garafola, author of the new biography, La Nijinska, Choreographer of the Modern, tells us about how this “amazon of the avant-garde” started out in revolutionary Russia, worked in wartime Kiev, and then came to Hollywood in the thirties.

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Read 'Summer Lee Shows Progressive Ideals Can Overcome Corporate Smears' by John Nichols.

Read Jennifer Wilson's review of La Nijinska here.

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Amy Littlefield on the fight for Abortion Rights, plus Chesa Boudin on Progressive Prosecutors May 11, 2022

It’s all up to the states now, where activists are fighting to elect pro-choice candidates and strengthen laws protecting abortion rights, and grassroots groups are preparing an enormous logistics operation to move people across entire regions of the country that are about to go dark on abortion access. Amy Littlefield, The Nation’s abortion access correspondent, weighs in.

We also have the elected District Attorney of San Francisco, Chesa Boudin, on progressive prosecutors and their opponents. Progressive prosecutors have been pushing for criminal justice reform for a while now, Boudin explains, seeking to end mass incarceration and deal with police misconduct, which began with the election of Larry Krasner in 2017, followed by Boudin in 2019, and George Gascon in 2020. Of course, the defeated law and order forces pushed back. In San Francisco, opponents have collected enough signatures to force a recall vote on Boudin on June 7.

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Rebecca Solnit on How People Change and Why We Care; plus Eric Foner on 1776 and 2022 May 04, 2022

Why did we stop believing that people can change? Don’t we want people who did bad things to understand the damage they caused? Don't we want them to acknowledge it and make reparations? Bestselling author, Rebecca Solnit explains.

Also on this week's show, Historian Eric Foner comments on the ways Republicans have made the teaching of American history a key battleground in their culture war against Democrats in the upcoming elections —especially the history of the American revolution.

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David Nasaw on Biden’s disgraceful Ukrainian refugee policy and Katha Pollitt on what abortion opponents are really thinking Apr 27, 2022

Biden’s “new and improved” procedure for admitting Ukrainian refugees to the U.S. is “disgraceful." Historian and Nation contributor, David Nasaw joins us to discuss the shortcomings of the policy, and how it excludes all asylum-seekers who aren’t white and European.

Also: Abortion and its opponents. Do opponents of abortion really believe abortion providers are “baby-killers”? There’s some new research about that that found opponents help family members and friends get abortions. Katha Pollitt explains.

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Jane McAlevey on Amazon Workers' Next Big Battles and Margo Jefferson on "Constructing a Nervous System" Apr 20, 2022

The Amazon workers on Staten Island have won a historic victory—but now they must prepare to strike, and to win support for their strike from the community power structure. The Nation’s Strikes Correspondent, Jane McAlevey explains why, and how

Also on this week's show, we have a conversation with Margo Jefferson about her new memoir, “Constructing a Nervous System.” Her earlier memoir, “Negroland,” won the National Book Critics Circle Award, and before that she won a Pulitzer Prize for criticism for her work as book and arts critic for the New York Times. She’s also written for The Nation.

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Gustavo Arellano on The Sheriff vs. Black L.A., and Michele Goodwin on Ketanji Brown Jackson Apr 13, 2022

The sheriff of Los Angeles County: he’s got 10,000 deputies, in America’s biggest county, with 10 million people - and he’s become LA’s biggest political problem as he faces reelection. LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano, recently interviewed the LA sheriff, Alex Villanueva, and is on the show to talk about the LAPD's war on L.A.'s black community.

Also: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson won’t be seated on the Supreme Court until late June, but we’re still thinking about the significance of her confirmation as America’s first Black female supreme court justice and of that horrible confirmation hearing she endured. We have UC Irvine Law professor and Nation contributor, Michele Goodwin on the show to reflect.

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How the Ukraine War Could End: Anatol Lieven; Plus E.J. Dionne & Miles Rapoport: 100% Voting Apr 06, 2022

How could the war in Ukraine end? Anatol Lieven says Russia could gain control of the entire Donbass region and then declare a cease-fire – but if we want Russia to withdraw, we’ve got to give it incentives to do so. Lieven is a senior fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and a contributor to The Nation.

Also: What if everybody voted? What if voting was a duty, not just a right, an obligation, something like jury duty? E.J. Dionne and Miles Rapoport explain; their new book is 100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting.

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Joan Walsh on Ginni Thomas, and Astra Taylor on Abolishing Student Debt Mar 30, 2022

Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, will be called to testify before the House Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection. Joan Walsh has our analysis of the text messages she sent supporting the riot, and of their significance for the court ––as well as our politics.

Also: Monday April 4 is the Day Of Action to Abolish Student Debt, when thousands of young people will gather in Washington D.C. to say "Pick Up the Pen, Joe" -- and abolish student debt via executive action. Astra Taylorwill explain; she’s co-founder of the Debt Collective.

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Fighting about the Constitution: Fishkin & Forbath, plus P.E. Moskowitz on antidepressants Mar 23, 2022

The Senate confirmation hearings for Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson, have been following a familiar script: opponents look for scandal, and nominees say very little about how they’ll decide cases. Progressives instead should be arguing—inside and outside the hearings—that the Constitution requires protecting our “republican form of government” from becoming a “moneyed aristocracy” or “oligarchy,” Joseph Fishkin and William E. Forbath explain. Their new book is calledThe Anti-Oligarchy Constitution: Reconstructing the Economic Foundations of American Democracy.

Also this week, P.E. Moskowitz talks about the dangers and the benefits of antidepressants, from both a scientific and personal perspective. Their piece, Breaking Off My Chemical Romance, is featured in The Nation's new special issue on drugs.

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What The Media Should Be Doing During Wartime; plus Hoberman on Comics As Propaganda Mar 16, 2022

Bhaskar Sunkara, the founder of Jacobin, has become President of The Nation. He joins us to talk about what independent media can and should do during wartime.

Also: “the Left in Purgatory”-- at the end of a period of rapid politicization, settling into either gradual decline or slow advance.

Plus: the changing politics of comic books, from WWII to today: critic J. Hoberman explains how comics served as wartime propaganda in the 1940s, how they were condemned as causing juvenile delinquency in the 1950s, how new kinds of superheroes emerged and then conquered Hollywood, and made billions for the studios--at a time when America was definitely NOT a superhero in the world. Hoberman reviewed the book “Pulp Empire” by Paul S. Hirsch.

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Jamie Raskin: Why It's Been So Hard to Nail Trump; plus Michael Kazin on the Democrats Mar 09, 2022

Jamie Raskin, member of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, talks about the committee’s evidence against Trump–and the committee’s future if Republicans prevail in the midterms. He represents Maryland’s 8th District in the House, and was manager of Trump’s second impeachment trial. His new book is “Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy.”

Also: Historian Michael Kazin joins us to explain what the Democrats have done wrong ––and what they’ve done right–– not just in the last week, but in the last century. His new book is “What It Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party."

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Putin’s War: What is to be Done? Katrina vanden Heuvel, plus Elie Mystal on the constitution Mar 02, 2022

Putin’s indefensible invasion of Ukraine has revived the Cold War, and renewed militarism and nuclear threats. We need Russia to negotiate a ceasefire—but we also can’t forget about fighting pandemics and climate change, editorial director Katrina vanden Heuvel says.

Also on this episode, our justice correspondent Elie Mystal talks about his new book, Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution. “Our constitution is not good. It urgently needs to be reimagined if we want justice and equality for all," Mystal says. You can buy his book here.

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Canadian Truckers: a Working Class Protest? Jeet Heer, plus Amy Wilentz on Paul Farmer Feb 23, 2022

Now that Canada's "Freedom Convoy" has come to an end, we're wondering: was this protest really a working-class movement? As Jeet Heer explains on this week's episode, the leadership and funding for the protest came from right-wing networks, and the “truckers” were mostly owners of trucking firms rather than drivers. Nevertheless, it was a movement that gained significant support, and something left-wing political activists should pay attention to, Heer says.

Also this week, Amy Wilentz remembers her friend and a hero to many: Paul Farmer. Farmer brought high-quality healthcare to some of the poorest communities in the world, beginning in Haiti. For more, read Wilentz's obituary of public health hero.

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Will Trump’s candidates lose in November? John Nichols; Hunter S. Thompson: Peter Richardson Feb 16, 2022

Mitch McConnell thinks Republicans are going to lose the Senate in November if Trump's candidates and issues dominate the election. Is McConnell right? Our national affairs correspondent John Nichols weighs in.

Also this week, Peter Richardson discusses Hunter S. Thompson, the writer credited for inventing “Gonzo Journalism." Thompson wrote a classic book about Richard Nixon, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, ‘72. Richardson, author of Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson, explains how he did it.

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Biden and the Border: Ahilan Arulanantham, plus Amy Wilentz on Haiti Feb 09, 2022

When Biden took office, progressives looked forward to a dramatic transformation of Trump’s anti-immigrant policies—and Biden’s initial moves were promising. But since then, many people have been disappointed. Ahilan Arulanantham, a professor at UCLA Law School and co-director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy comments on the topic. Before working at UCLA, Arulanantham litigated a number of cases involving immigrants’ rights at the ACLU of Southern California.

Also this week, Amy Wilentz discusses Haiti: a country that should be inaugurating a new president. It has done so every five years on February 7—except for glitches, coups, and postponements—ever since Baby Doc Duvalier fled the island 37 years ago. But not this year. Wilentz explains why it's struggling to get the new beginning in needs, and how it might make it there.

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The Progressives’ Agenda: What’s Left? Ro Khanna, plus Katha Pollitt on Sex Feb 02, 2022

The Democrats are not doomed to defeat in the midterms, says Ro Khanna. Politics can turn around in the next few months. Khanna represents Silicon Valley in Congress, where he’s a prominent figure in the Progressive Caucus. His new book is Dignity in a Digital Age: Making Tech Work for All of Us.

Additionally, Katha Pollitt comments on The Right to Sex, a provocative title by the feminist philosopher Amia Srinivasan. Does anyone have a right to sex? Who does? Who doesn't?

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Our Coronavirus Criminals: John Nichols; plus Eric Foner on Slaveholders in Congress Jan 26, 2022

Donald Trump is responsible for about 100,000 unnecessary deaths from Covid-19 during his presidency, according to scientists at The Lancet. John Nichols explains who in his administration made which of the deadly decisions, and who made money off of the pandemic: a topic he delves into in his new book, Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers.

This episode also covers slavery and its political legacy in Congress: More than 1,700 congressmen owned Black slaves, according to The Washington Post. Even after the abolition of slavery in 1865, hundreds of men who had owned slaves were senators and members of the House of Representatives. The last senator who had owned slaves served in 1922. Eric Foner comments on the political power of slavery in America's past.

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California Dems’ Big Moves on Health Care: Sasha Abramsky; Ellen Schrecker on the ’60s Jan 19, 2022

The paralysis of politics in Congress leads us to turn away from Washington and look at the states: What can the Democrats do when they control a state government? Like California? Democrats there are proposing dramatic changes in health care, expanding coverage to everyone below the federal poverty line–regardless of immigration status. Sasha Abramsky reports on that—and on the more radical proposal, also before the California legislature, to create a single-payer health-care system for all residents of California.

Also: American universities in the ’60s: Was that a golden age destroyed by student radicals who were protesting the war in Vietnam and racism in America? For some answers we turn to historian Ellen Schrecker—her new book is The Lost Promise: American Universities in the 1960s.

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Beto Can Win: Steve Phillips; plus Dave Lindorff on Atom Spies Jan 12, 2022

Beto O'Rourke's strategy for winning the governorship of Texas focuses on organizing everywhere to massively boost Democratic voter turnout—the strategy Stacey Abrams has followed in Georgia. Steve Phillips explains how more than a million young voters of color will be eligible to vote in 2022 who were not old enough four years ago—when Beto first ran statewide and came within 214,921 votes of winning.

Also: new discoveries about America’s atom spies. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed in June, 1953. We know that Julius did not give ‘the secret of the a-bomb’ to the Russians—that was the work of a couple of other people. And the FBI knew it at the time. So: why did the FBI go after the Rosenbergs, instead of the person they knew was the real spy? His name was Ted Hall—a brilliant young physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project. The FBI investigated him, but never charged him with a crime. Now Dave Lindorff has found out why.

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Omicron: A Kinder, Gentler Covid? Mike Davis, plus John Nichols on Jan. 6 Jan 05, 2022

Is Omicron the kinder and gentler Covid we’ve been waiting for? Less lethal, and more like the flu? Mike Davis comments on the pandemic—and the age of pandemics we are now living in.

Also: On the first anniversary of the insurrection of January 6, John Nichols argues that, to defend democracy, we need the Senate to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act—which requires changing the filibuster rules in the Senate. Also: proposals to expel members of congress who aided or abetted the insurrectionists.

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Remembering Rennie Davis, Remembering Joan Didion Dec 29, 2021

For our last podcast of 2021, we want to remember two people who died in the past year, and listen again to our interviews with them. Rennie Davis was probably the New Left’s most talented organizer, best known for the trial of the Chicago 7. He died on February 2 at his home outside Boulder, Colorado. He was 80. We spoke at an event for The Nation magazine in October, 2020.

Also: Joan Didion died December 23—she was 87. She wrote personal essays about California in the sixties and seventies, collected in books like Slouching Toward Bethlehem and The White Album, and then about politics and history, especially her reports in Salvador and Miami. We spoke in October, 2003, at KPFK in Los Angeles, when her book about her family's California, Where I was From had just been published.

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Ivanka, Jared, Don Junior, & Eric on Jan. 6: Amy Wilentz on the Insurrection, plus Tom Lutz Dec 22, 2021

Revelations about the January 6 insurrection include striking new information about the Trump kids that day: Who did what, and also who didn’t do anything. Amy Wilentz reports.

Also: A report from Kwajalein, one of the Marshall islands in the Pacific that’s a major US military base. Tom Lutz says it’s completely paved over, and the only greenery is the golf course. The runway is one foot above sea level. The island will be under water by about 2035. Tom also describes life in some other places—his new book is The Kindness of Strangers.

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Why Trump Won’t Be the Candidate in 2024: David Cay Johnston; Foner & Gates on DuBois Dec 15, 2021

Trump is going to be indicted for racketeering and fraud, because of his financial crimes, and that will prevent him from being the Republican candidate: that’s what David Cay Johnston says—he’s an award-winning investigative reporter, and his new book is The Big Cheat: How Trump Fleeced America and Enriched Himself and His Family.

Also: Eric Foner and Henry Louis Gates talk about W.E.B. DuBois, the Black historian and activist of the first part of the 20^th century, and his book Black Reconstruction 1860-1880—published originally in 1935, and out now in a new edition from the Library of America, edited by Foner and Gates.

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U.S. vs. China vs. Climate Change: Alfred McCoy, plus Kristina Wong on Mutual Aid Dec 08, 2021

How will global warming change the world’s systems of power? Alfred McCoy argues that American global hegemony will end around 2030, replaced by China as world leader, but Chinese hegemony will last only for about 20 years—and that by 2050, climate change will have brought environmental catastrophe to both countries, and the rest of the world, with consequences that are almost unimaginable. His new book is To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change.

Also: Mutual aid and racial justice during the year of Covid: Kristina Wong explains how, in the darkest days of the pandemic, she started the Auntie Sewing Squad to make masks for the most vulnerable communities—and how she became, in her words, a sweatshop overlord. Her new co-edited book is The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide to Mask Making, Radical Care, and Racial Justice.

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Omicron and Inequality: Gregg Gonsalves; plus Gary Younge on Josephine Baker Dec 01, 2021

The new Omicron variant of Covid-19: Gregg Gonsalves argues that it serves as a reminder of how little we're doing on pandemic prevention. We need government action to address the inequalities in power, resources, and information that leave some people at far greater risk. Meanwhile, Republicans are describing Omicron as a Democratic plot to bring back mail-in voting.

Also: being Black in America, and being Black in France: Gary Younge talks about Josephine Baker, the Black American dancer who went to Paris in the twenties and later renounced her American citizenship. She’s being interred at the Pantheon, alongside Voltaire and Rousseau, this week.

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White Vigilantes and Black Protest: John Nichols on Kyle Rittenhouse; Eric Foner on Housing Nov 23, 2021

We’re still thinking about the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict in Kenosha, where Republicans have been celebrating the “not guilty” verdict in the trial of a 17-year-old who shot three people, killing two, during the street protests over the police shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake. John Nichols comments on the threat from white vigilantes to Black protest, and on the broader anti-democratic moves by Republicans in Wisconsin and nationally.

Also: Racism in America for decades led to strict housing segregation. But historians are now showing that that wasn’t simply the result of white people refusing to live near Blacks—segregated housing was the result of a carefully organized, long-term effort to establish a legal basis for systematic racial discrimination. And the groups that succeeded were not the KKK or White Power groups. It was realtors’ organizations. Eric Foner reviews that history.

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Why Republicans Want to Ban the 1619 Project: Martha Jones, plus Gregory Boyle on gangs Nov 17, 2021

Republicans continue to work to ban teaching about Black Americans’ place in our history – their legislation, proposed in 27 states, would prohibit teaching the 1619 Project, which has just published a book offering what the authors call “a new origin story” about the United States. Martha Jones, a historian at Johns Hopkins University, and one of the contributors, talks about the battle, the book, and the larger project.

Plus: Father Greg Boyle is the founder of Homebody Industries, the largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation, and reentry program on the planet. He’s got a new book out now, it’s about “the power of extravagant tenderness” and it’s called “The Whole Language.”

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Trump Will be a Lousy Candidate in 2024: John Nichols, plus Rebecca Solnit on George Orwell Nov 10, 2021

The Democrats need to do big things fast if they want to have a chance of winning in 2022 and 2024. John Nichols says that Trump will be a “lousy candidate” then—but he will still pose an even greater threat to American democracy than he did in 2020.

Plus: Rebecca Solnit talks about politics and pleasure, about knowing your enemies, and about joy as an act of resistance to authoritarianism—on the right, and on the left. Her new book is Orwell’s Roses.

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Cancel Bail Debt, Abolish Student Debt: Astra Taylor; plus Adam Shatz on John Coltrane Nov 03, 2021

The Debt Collective has a new project: Cancelling probation debt of formerly incarcerated people. They’re actually doing it, for tens of thousands of people—and setting out to abolish bail debt completely in California. Astra Taylor explains how they're going about it, and reports on the continuing campaign to get Joe Biden to use executive action to cancel student debt.

Plus: John Coltrane was the tenor player who started out with Miles Davis in the fifties and then in the mid-sixties set out to pursue music as a quest for spiritual enlightenment. His most popular work was “A Love Supreme.” Now, a live performance from 1965 has been discovered and released—and Coltrane people are calling it “nothing short of a revelation.” We’ll talk about Coltrane’s place in Black culture with Adam Shatz.

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The Politics of Kidnapping in Haiti: Amy Wilentz; plus Dave Zirin on ‘The Kaepernick Effect” Oct 27, 2021

Who really runs Haiti—the government, or the gangs? The kidnappings suggest it’s the gangs – and the leader of the gang that kidnapped 16 Americans has openly expressed political ambitions. Amy Wilentz explains.

Plus: Colin Kaepernick’s silent protest, taking a knee, became the symbol of resistance to racial injustice in America. Dave Zirin talks about how that political movement has swept through college and high school sports. His new book is “The Kaepernick Effect.”

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How Dems Can Turn Texas Blue John Nichols on politics, plus Adam Shatz on Richard Wright Oct 20, 2021

A recent poll found that only 42 per cent of registered voters in Texas say Republican Governor Gregg Abbott deserves to be re-elected in 2022. Biden lost Texas by only 630,000 votes, and millions of young people and people of color didn’t vote. John Nichols reports on how the biggest Republican state could elect a Democratic governor next year.

Also: Richard Wright was America’s most famous Black writer in the 1940s and 50s – with his novel ‘Native Son’ and his character Bigger Thomas. But his place on the throne was shakier than he imagined. Adam Shatz talks Black American writing, and Black America, at mid-century.

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Winning in 2022: John Nichols, plus Melina Abdullah on the LAPD and Ray Suarez on “Going for Broke” Oct 13, 2021

Some pundits say the only way Democrats can hold the House and Senate in 2022 is by appealing to swing voters in Republican states by talking about economic issues—and NOT talking about climate change, immigration reform, or policing. John Nichols challenges that argument.

Also: The co-founder of Black Lives Matter LA, Melina Abdullah, talks about the LAPD, and how they showed up, in force, at her house twice in the week since she filed a lawsuit over a similar incident last year. We call it "SWATting," and we also call it retaliation.

And The Nation and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project are launching a new podcast: “Going for Broke,” personal stories about how the pandemic made it a lot harder for working class people to pay the rent, stay in their homes, or find a new job. Host Ray Suarez provides a preview—he’s best known for his work on NPR and PBS. The podcast launches on October 18 and you can subscribe now here.

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America’s Lunatics: Katha Pollitt; plus John Powers on Percival Everett’s Emmett Till novel Oct 06, 2021

Are we a nation of lunatics? Katha Pollitt has been thinking about that—about the millions of people who say that Satan-worshipping pedophiles control American politics and media, or that, if you’ve come down with Covid-19, you should pick up some Ivermectin at the local feed store.

Plus: The murder of Emmett Till in Mississippi in 1955 is probably the most famous lynching in American history. Now, there’s a novel about it that’s wild and funny. The author is Percival Everett—it’s called The Trees. And it’s really good. How is it possible to write a comic novel about a lynching? John Powers explains—he’s critic at large on NPR’s Fresh Air.

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Controlling the Police: What is to be Done? Erwin Chemerinsky, plus Eyal Press on Dirty Work Sep 29, 2021

Many proposals to reform the police were made after the Black Lives Matter protests of last summer the largest protest movement in American history. But the problem, Erwin Chemerinsky argues, is not just the police; the Supreme Court has empowered the police and subverted civil rights. Erwin is Dean of the law school at UC Berkeley, and author of many books—most recently Presumed Guilty.
Also: dirty work—and the people who do it: the low-income workers who do our most ethically troubled jobs. Eyal Press will explain—his new book is Dirty Work: Essential Jobs and the Hidden Toll of Inequality in America.
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Biden’s Disastrous Deportation of Haitians: Amy Wilentz; plus Ruth Milkman and Stephanie Luce on Occupy Wall Street Sep 22, 2021

Joe Biden is deporting 15,000 Haitian refugees who crossed the border at Del Rio, Texas, to a country ravaged by assassination, earthquake, poverty, and gang violence—it’s a disastrous move. Amy Wilentz comments; she’s been reporting on Haiti and Haitians for more than two decades.
Also: Ten years ago this week, a small group of young radicals declared “We are the 99 percent” and set up camp in Zuccotti Park in Manhattan’s financial district. Instead of a few people protesting for a few days, the movement exploded; hundreds of thousands of people joined Occupy camps in more than 600 US towns and cities. CUNY professors Ruth Milkman and Stephanie Luce comment—they’ve written for The Nation’s special issue on the 10th anniversary of Occupy.
This episode of Start Making Sense was developed as part of a collective of podcasts brought together to explore the legacy of Occupy, in light of the 10-year anniversary. Through this project you can also hear analysis on the impact of Occupy from Belabored, The Dig, Upstream, and more. The producing partners for this project are the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s New York office and The New School’s Milano program. We encourage you to learn more and listen to some of the other episodes by visiting RosaLux.NYC/Occupy.
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How Mosques Became FBI Targets after 9-11: Ahilan Arulanantham on State Secrets, plus Amy Wilentz on ‘The Chair” Sep 15, 2021

We’re still thinking about the 20th anniversary of 9/11. After the attacks that day, Muslim Americans endured years of racism and discrimination, oftentimes at the hands of the state itself.The fight against government surveillance of Muslim Americans continues today, as the Supreme Court takes up a challenge to government efforts to conceal FBI abuse of power—in a case dating from 2006, when the FBI in LA hired an informer to infiltrate several mosques in Orange County, California. Ahilan Arulanantham explains—he will be arguing the case at the Supreme Court. He’s a Professor at UCLA Law School and Co-Director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy there.
Also: there’s a new comedy on TV about college teachers and campus politics—The Chair, on Netflix, starring Sandra Oh as the first Asian American woman chair of an English department. Amy Wilentz comments—she’s a professor in the English Department at UC Irvine, which has some surprising connections to the show.
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Abortion Politics and Republican Power: Rick Perlstein, plus Eric Foner on Tulsa Sep 08, 2021

In Texas, the Republicans are empowering vigilantes to go after people helping women who seek abortions, turning the state’s citizens as bounty hunters. Rick Perlstein explains the long history of how the GOP adopted abortion as a key issue—Rick’s latest book is Reaganland: America's Right Turn 1976-1980, out now in paperback.
Also: We’re still thinking about Tulsa, about the massacre of Black people there in 1921, probably the deadliest instance of racial violence in the country’s history. It was covered up for a hundred years—how was that possible? Historian Eric Foner comments.
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Long-term political cost of the Afghan pullout? Not much: John Nichols on Biden, plus Adam Shatz on a Black American in Paris Sep 01, 2021

America’s longest war came to an end on Monday as the last troops left Afghanistan, 20 years after we started fighting there. How much have the disasters around the Afghan pullout hurt Joe Biden and his agenda? How much will it hurt the Democrats in the midterms next November? John Nichols comments.
Also: The story of a Black writer who moved to Paris in the fifties and discovered French racism—aimed at Algerians. Adam Shatz explains the story of William Gardner Smith—he was literary editor of The Nation, and has now written the introduction to a novel called The Stone Face, by Smith, originally published in 1963 and out now in a new edition.
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What America Owes Afghan Women: Katha Pollitt, plus Eric Foner on Black politics and history Aug 25, 2021

Katha Pollitt reports on Afghan womens’ organizations and what their leaders are saying about support from Americans—starting with the Afghan Women’s Fund, MADRE, and Women for Afghan Women.
Also, Black politics and history, from the 1870s to the 1930s to today: Eric Foner talks bout how our understanding of Black politics and history, starting with Reconstruction, has changed—and about the historian-activists who challenged the prevailing racist historians back in the 1930s, starting with W.E.B. DuBois and James S. Allen—his book Reconstruction: the Battle for Democracy, has just been reissued with a new introduction by Foner.
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The Taliban Triumph: Andrew Bacevich, plus John Powers on Dick Gregory Aug 18, 2021

Over almost 20 years in Afghanistan, the US lost 2,400 troops and personnel. Another 21,000 Americans have been wounded. The mission cost more than a trillion dollars—including 80 billion dollars to train and arm the Afghan army. But that army didn’t resist the recent Taliban advance and now the Taliban control the country and the last Americans are fleeing. Andrew Bacevich comments; his books include America’s War for the Greater Middle East.
Also: There’s a documentary out now about Dick Gregory, the Black stand-up comedian and political activist of the sixties and after. It’s called The One and Only Dick Gregory, and it’s on Showtime. John Powers comments—he’s critic at large on NPR’s Fresh Air.
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Trump: the Big Loser on the Infrastructure Bill—Joan Walsh, plus Anne Sebba on Ethel Rosenberg Aug 11, 2021

19 Republican Senators voted in favor of the bipartisan infrastructure bill on Tuesday, after Trump demanded they vote “no.” It took significant concessions by Democrats to win their support for the bill—was that a good idea? Should Democrats help Republicans step away from Trump? Joan Walsh comments.
Also: the life, and death, of Ethel Rosenberg, the accused “atom spy”: who she was, before she was framed by the FBI, before she called their bluff and went to her execution. Anne Sebba has written a really good book about that—it’s called Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy.
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The Dems’ miserable concessions on infrastructure: John Nichols, plus Art Spiegelman on ‘Street Cop’ Aug 04, 2021

We said it couldn’t be done: a bipartisan bill getting through Congress. Now, however, it looks like the $1 trillion infrastructure bill will get the Republican votes it needs in the Senate to pass. But what miserable compromises did the Democrats make to get ten Republican votes? John Nichols explains.
Also: the great comics artist Art Spiegelman, who won a Pulitzer Prize for Maus, has a new book out: Street Cop, illustrations for a story by Robert Coover, published by Isolarii.com. He talks about working on that during the pandemic, and about his most controversial drawings—some of which only The Nation would publish.
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The Delta Variant: What Joe Biden Needs to Do Now--Gregg Gonsalves on the Pandemic, plus John Powers on ‘Summer of Soul’ Jul 28, 2021

Joe Biden needs to do a lot more to stop the global spread of the covid virus and its Delta variant—and to prepare the world for the next pandemics. Gregg Gonsalves explains three key actions that are necessary right now.
Also: the story of a music festival in a park in Harlem in 1969: the documentary about it, “Summer of Soul,” is a powerful and moving contributions to the history of the sixties. And the story it tells was completely unknown; the footage sat in a basement for nearly 50 years, and no one cared. John Powers, critic at large on NPR’s “Fresh Air,” comments.
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Bernie's Big Deal: John Nichols on the budget, plus Francine Prose on Ethel Rosenberg Jul 21, 2021

Bernie Sanders recently spoke with our John Nichols about the importance of doing big things in politics--and now Senate Democrats have agreed on a $3.5 trillion budget proposal that would dramatically expand Medicare, provide for paid family leave, subsidize child care, make community college free, and fund some meaningful climate crisis initiatives. Big things! John Nichols comments.
Also: A comic novel about Ethel and Julius Rosenberg? Who’d have thought that was possible? Now Francine Prose has written one: it’s called “The Vixen,” and it’s terrific.
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Rethinking global security: Katrina vanden Heuvel; plus Amy Wilentz on Haiti Jul 14, 2021

World politics after the Biden-Putin Summit: Katrina vanden Heuvel argues that we need to rethink what real security means, and that it can't mean a new cold war, but joint action with Russia and China on climate change, pandemics, and the threat of nuclear war.
Also: Amy Wilentz comments on Haiti after the assassination of its unloved president—and the necessity of following grassroots progressive civil society groups in finding a path forward towards free and fair elections.
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Why We Need the Utopian Imagination: Jeet Heer; plus George Sanchez on LA’s Boyle Heights Jul 07, 2021

"Utopian" has been a term of abuse in politics for a long time now, synonymous with “irrational” and “impossible.” Instead, we are told, we should focus on realistic plans to improve things. But The Nation is publishing a special issue in defense of utopia. Jeet Heer explains how the dreams of a good society keep hope alive and expose the inadequacy of present structures.
Also: the Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights is known today as the heartland of Chicano culture. Historian George Sanchez explains how its multicultural, interracial past made it a bastion of progressive democracy. His new book is Boyle Heights.
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The Attack on “Critical Race Theory”: Kimberlé Crenshaw; Plus David Talbot and Margaret Talbot on the Sixties Jun 30, 2021

“Critical Race Theory” has been attacked on Fox News nearly 1300 times. It’s being banned from public schools and colleges in something like 15 Republican states. But what IS “critical race theory”? And why is this happening now? Kimberlé Crenshaw explains; she teaches law at Columbia and UCLA, and she’s probably the most prominent figure associated with critical race theory—she coined the term 30 years ago. She’s also creator of the concept “intersectionality.” Also: there’s a new book about the sixties--about the heroism, and the disasters, of the movements of that decade. The authors are the brother and sister team David Talbot and Margaret Talbot--David is the founder of Salon.com, and Margaret writes for the New Yorker.
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It's Time to Mobilize for Voting Rights: John Nichols; plus David Kipen on a new Federal Writers Project Jun 23, 2021

Voting rights suffered a defeat in the Senate this week, but really it's just the latest battle in a continuing struggle—and if anything, it clarifies the real problem: the filibuster must go, at least for voting rights legislation. John Nichols says it’s now up to grassroots groups to go to work on reluctant Democrats during the July 4 break.
Also, here's an idea: Create a new Federal Writers Project, hiring a thousand out of work writers and journalists to document American lives during the pandemic year. It’s in a bill proposed in the House by Los Angeles Representative Ted Lieu. David Kipen explains; he’s former director of literature for the National Endowment for the Arts, and it was his idea.
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It’s Not Just Joe Manchin: Joan Walsh on ‘Moderate’ Democrats, plus Kai Bird on Jimmy Carter Jun 16, 2021

Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are not the only Democrats opposed to filibuster reform—Dianne Feinstein says she won’t vote for it, either. And there are more Democrats in the Senate staying the same thing. But without filibuster reform, the rest of the Democrats’ agenda is dead—starting with protection of voting rights and elections. What’s wrong with these people? Joan Walsh comments.
Also: Many people think of Jimmy Carter as a failure as president, the Democrat who opened the door to Reagan, and the only president whose work after leaving office was better than his work in office. Kai Bird says that’s wrong—Carter had more accomplishments, and was more complicated, than people realized. Kai’s new book is called The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter.
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What Does Joe Manchin Want? John Nichols on Filibuster Reform, plus Amy Wilentz on Israeli Politics Jun 09, 2021

Republicans are not just making it harder to vote—they’re making it easier for judges and state legislatures to reverse the results of elections they have lost. Congressional action could block these changes—but that requires filibuster reform, and Joe Manchin says he won’t vote for filibuster reform. What does Joe Manchin want? John Nichols comments.
Also: Amy Wilentz comments on the earthquake in Israeli politics: the end of Bibi Netanyahu, after 12 years as Prime Minister, and a new governing coalition that includes for the first time in Israeli history and an Israeli Palestinian Islamist party as part of the government. Amy, who was Jerusalem bureau chief for The New Yorker, talks about what this might mean for Palestinians inside Israel, and on the West Bank and in Gaza.
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White Politics and Black History in Tulsa: David Perry on the Tulsa Race Massacre Commemoration, plus Katha Pollitt on Advice for Men Jun 02, 2021

Joe Biden went to Tulsa on Tuesday to commemorate the fact that, one hundred years ago this week, in 1921, a white mob attacked an all-Black neighborhood there. It was one of the worst episodes of racial violence in U.S. history. Historians think it left 300 dead and 10,000 homeless. David M. Perry comments on the political issues around the historical facts -- he’s a journalist and historian whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and The Nation.
Plus: Katha Pollitt talks about a new book of advice for men – Jordan Peterson’s “Rules” start with “stand up straight, with your shoulders back.”
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Democrats, Israel, and Palestine: John Nichols, plus Robin D.G. Kelley on "Exterminate All the Brutes" May 26, 2021

While Joe Biden has pledged an “ironclad commitment to Israel's security," many Democrats in Congress, and outside of Congress, have been moving away from unquestioning support for Israel since the Israeli attacks on Gaza last week. John Nichols reports.
Plus: It’s probably the most radical show that’s ever been on TV: Exterminate All the Brutes, the 4-part, 4-hour documentary about colonialism and genocide, by Raoul Peck, playing now on HBO Max. Historian Robin D.G. Kelley comments.
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Palestinians' "Second Front': Saree Makdisi, plus Eric Foner on "The Underground Railroad" May 19, 2021

Palestinians and Israel: Saree Makdisi talks about what Netanyahu has called “the second front”: Palestinian citizens of Israel, who are increasingly subject to attack by right-wing Jewish mobs, and who are increasingly active in support of Palestinians in East Jerusalem and Gaza. Saree is a professor of English and comparative literature at UCLA and his work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, and the London Review of Books, as well as The Nation.
Also: The big TV event of the month-—maybe of the year—is The Underground Railroad, a ten-part series on Amazon Prime Video, directed by Barry Jenkins and based on the Colson Whitehead novel. It’s being called “the most ambitious take on American slavery since Roots”—and that was on TV almost 40 years ago. Eric Foner comments on the imagined and real history in the series; he wrote the book on the hidden history of the underground railroad: it’s called Gateway to Freedom.
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Palestinian Lives--and Deaths: Rachel Kushner on refugees and Adam Shatz on Edward Said May 12, 2021

Conflict between Israel and Palestine has been escalating this week. For this podcast we have two segments about Palestinians; neither is about the current crisis, which changes daily. Rachel Kushner visited a Palestinian refugee camp in 2016 – Shuafat, the only one inside Jerusalem – alongside a community organizer as he tried to solve massive problems. Her report, published originally in the New York Times Magazine, appears in her new book of nonfiction, “The Hard Crowd.”
And Adam Shatz talks about Edward Said, the leading voice of Palestinians in the US before he died in 2010. Said was also The Nation’s classical music critic, and Adam Shatz, now an editor for the London Review of Books, was The Nation’s literary editor--his work included editing Edward Said’s pieces for the magazine.
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Rapists, Misogynists, Creeps, and their Books: Katha Pollitt on Blake Bailey, plus Louis Menand on Cold War Culture May 05, 2021

Blake Bailey’s new book about Philip Roth was taken out of print by the publisher after Bailey was accused of rape and attempted rape and “grooming” his teenage students for sex with him when they reached 18. Nation columnist Katha Pollitt argues that, while she believes the women—Bailey probably was a rapist, as well as a misogynist and a creep—readers should nevertheless have the chance to buy the book and come to their own conclusions.
Also: Literature, art, and the idea of ‘freedom’ during the Cold War, from George Orwell to James Baldwin to The Family of Man: Louis Menand has been thinking about all of this. His new book is The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War. Menand teaches at Harvard and writes for The New Yorker.
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Senator Mazie Hirono: Reform the Filibuster—and the Supreme Court; plus Tim Schwab on Bill Gates and Katha Pollitt on Dr. Seuss Apr 28, 2021

Mazie Hirono, Senator from Hawaii: She’s the only immigrant currently serving in the Senate, and she was the first Asian American woman elected to that office, starting in 2013. She talks about the need for filibuster reform and Supreme Court reform, about the storming of the capitol on January 6, and about her vote on Amy Coney Barrett: “Hell No.” Her new autobiography is Heart of Fire: An Immigrant Daughter’s Story.
Also: Bill Gates, the second richest man in the world, has spent the last 20 years giving away his money—through a $50 billion foundation. But who exactly has he been giving that money to? Tim Schwab has some answers—his three reports in The Nation on the Gates Foundation just won this year’s Izzy Award, named after I.F. Stone and awarded by the Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College “for outstanding achievement in independent media” during 2020.
Plus: We’re still thinking about how Dr. Seuss Enterprises took six of his books out of print because they contained racist drawings. Right-wing media were pushing this story nonstop; according to a recent poll, more Republicans said they’d heard “a lot” about the move to withdraw some Dr. Seuss books than said the same about Biden’s huge Covid-19 relief bill. Katha Pollitt comments.
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The Chauvin Verdicts and the Movement That Made Them Possible: Jody Armour on Minneapolis, plus Mark Hertsgaard on Earth Day Apr 21, 2021

Guilty, guilty, guilty! The verdicts in the Derek Chauvin trial in Minneapolis made history—and came only after millions of people took to the streets, for months, in hundreds of cities across America; and only after a decade of sustained organizing by Black Lives Matter. Jody Armour comments—he’s the Roy Crocker Professor of Law at the University of Southern California, and author of N*gga Theory: Race, Language, Unequal Justice, and the Law.
Also: Earth Day 2021 is the world’s largest civic event—three days of climate action by millions of people around the world, including Joe Biden hosting a global climate summit on April 22: and pledging to take bold action to slash greenhouse gas emissions in the US in the next ten years. Mark Hertsgaard, The Nation’s environmental correspondent, says that for starters we need to start using the term “climate emergency” rather than “climate issue” or “climate crisis.”
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Organizing at Amazon: What Went Wrong? Jane McAlevey, plus Amy Wilentz on Hunter Biden Apr 14, 2021

The union organizing campaign at the Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama, was defeated by a vote of 1798 against and 738 in favor. Jane McAlevey argues that the biggest factor in the vote was the laws that give tremendous advantages to the corporate side—but the union itself made a series of tactical and strategic errors. Jane is The Nation’s strikes correspondent.
Also: Hunter Biden was the target of a massive Republican attack campaign for more than a year leading up to the election; at the same time, the gossip pages seized on his disastrous private life. They made the most of his decades of alcohol addiction and drug abuse, and his subsequent affair with the widow of his brother. Now he’s written a book—it’s called Beautiful Things: A Memoir. Amy Wilentz comments.
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The Fight Against Voter Suppression: Dale Ho on Georgia, plus Karen Greenberg on Ending our Forever Wars Apr 07, 2021

There’s one political prediction that always comes true: record turnout in one election will be followed by a tidal wave of voter suppression efforts before the next one. So it’s not surprising that, after 2020 had record turnout, 2021 is seeing voting rights under attack nationwide by Republican-controlled state legislatures. Georgia has taken the lead—and Georgia is being challenged in court by the ACLU, along with the LDF (the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund) and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Dale Ho comments: he’s Director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, and supervises the ACLU’s voting rights litigation nationwide.
Also: Joe Biden and Congress should end our forever wars--and they can--by starting with three key steps: Karen Greenberg explains. She is director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School and author, most recently, of Rogue Justice: The Making of the Security State.

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How Kyrsten Sinema Sold Out: Aída Chávez; plus Joan Walsh: Should Breyer Retire? Mar 31, 2021

The political transformation of Kyrsten Sinema, the new senator from Arizona: She’s one of the two most conservative Democrats in the Senate—but Aida Chavez explains that she started out to the left of the Party.
Also: Should Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer retire? He’s 82, and apparently healthy and competent—but his retirement would give Biden a chance to nominate a younger person—he’s promised a Black woman—while the Democrats control the Senate. Joan Walsh comments.
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The Covid Vaccines: Big Pharma Profits while the Global South Waits--Gregg Gonsalves on the Pandemic, plus John Nichols on Ron Johnson Mar 24, 2021

The arrival of multiple vaccines against Covid-19 in less than a year after the virus’s emergence is sort of a miracle—but there’s nothing miraculous about the failure of donor nations, along with pharmaceutical and biotech companies, to prepare for, and mount, a global vaccination campaign. Gregg Gonsalves comments.
Also: now that Trump is gone, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson has become the leading Republican voice of conspiracy theories and the leading defender of the attack on the capitol on January 6. But will he run for reelection next year? John Nichols explains.
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How the Democrats can Win in Ohio: Steve Phillips; plus Carol Sobel on Black Lives Matter vs. the LAPD Mar 17, 2021

One of the senate seats being abandoned by a Republican incumbent is in Ohio. Can Democrats win that seat? It’s going to be hard. Unlike North Carolina, which will also have an open Republican seat, Ohio has not been divided 50-50 recently. For the last decade it has elected only one Democrat to statewide office--one of our heroes, Senator Sherrod Brown. Steve Phillips thinks they can send a second Democrat to the Senate from Ohio next year—by following the Georgia playbook and focusing on turning out voters of color. Also: Black Lives Matter versus the LAPD: a new official report in Los Angeles says the police in LA violated the law by attacking and arresting BLM marchers in last summer’s protests. Civil rights attorney Carol Sobel explains.
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Mike Davis: ‘Beware the light at the end of the covid tunnel’; plus Amy Wilentz on Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’ Mar 10, 2021

It’s been almost exactly a year since the covid lockdown began – 220 million Americans have died of Covid-19, and now 90 million Americans have gotten at least one shot of the covid vaccine. We could have herd immunity in July. But Mike Davis points to the proliferation of variants of the virus and says “beware the light at the end of the covid tunnel.” Also: Michelle Obama’s memoir is out now in paperback - It’s called “Becoming,” and it has sold more than 14 million copies worldwide in hardcover, and was named one of the best books of the year by the New York Times, NPR, and a dozen other places. But the book avoids politics—which seems strange for the person the New York Times called "the most outspoken first lady in modern history." Amy Wilentz comments. (originally broadcast in November 2018)
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Parents in Prison: Chesa Boudin, plus Amy Wilentz on Protest in Haiti Mar 03, 2021

Chesa Boudin, the recently elected district attorney of San Francisco, talks about prisoners as parents—he grew up with parents in prison (David Gilbert and Kathy Boudin), and wrote about it for The Nation.
Also: Amy Wilentz reports on the huge protests in Port-au-Prince last Sunday, the biggest in decades, and asks: Why is the Biden administration following Trump when it comes to US policies in Haiti?
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The Trumpers Among Us: Katha Pollitt; plus Eric Foner on Will Smith’s series on the 14th Amendment Feb 24, 2021

What are we going to do about the 74 million people who voted for Trump? Katha Pollitt has been thinking about that—and about proposals that we should try to find common ground with the 75 percent who have told pollsters they think Trump “definitely” or “probably” won the election.
Also: Historian Eric Foner talks about Will Smith’s 6-part series on Netflix on the 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War, which established birthright citizenship and guaranteed equal protection to all “persons”—the series, with a stellar cast, is called Amend.
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Republicans After Trump: Rick Perlstein on the future of the GOP, plus Alan Minsky on what a true economic recovery should look like Feb 17, 2021

The Republicans after the second impeachment: As Mitch McConnell takes the lead in trying to purge Trump from the party, how divided are they? And how much weaker as a result? Rick Perlstein comments—he’s the author of the new book Reaganland: America's Right Turn, 1976-1980—widely regarded as the best political book of last year. Also: Biden and the Democrats still have to succeed at changing things enough to win new supporters—and now that impeachment is finished, his $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill takes the center of the political stage, including the $15 minimum wage. Alan Minsky comments on that, and on the longer term problem of restoring American manufacturing—he’s Executive Director of Progressive Democrats of America.
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How Trump Incited an Insurrection: John Nichols on impeachment, plus Steve Phillips on Turning Texas Blue Feb 10, 2021

John Nichols considers the arguments made by Trump’s lawyers, and by Republican Senators, that Trump is not guilty of inciting the insurrection of January 6, that he did not incite his followers to storm the capitol and attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden as the winner of the electoral college. Also: the implications of finding Trump not guilty.
Plus: we take a step back from this week’s politics and look forward to 2022 and future elections—the Democrats’ victories in Georgia were a decade in the making can we do it again in another Republican state? Steve Phillips says “Texas is next.”

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Prosecute the Insurrectionists—All of Them: Elie Mystal on Storming the Capitol, plus Gary Younge on Obama; and We Remember Rennie Davis Feb 03, 2021

Eight hundred people stormed the Capitol building on January 6, but fewer than 200 have been charged with crimes. Why so few? Elie Mystal, The Nation’s Justice correspondent, says every one of the 800 committed crimes that day and should be prosecuted. Also: For Black History Month, Gary Younge talks about Barack Obama and his memoir A Promised Land—and the refusal of many liberals to critique his policies and decisions.
Finally: we remember Rennie Davis--he died on Feb. 2.
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Joe Biden vs. Covid-19, Week One: Gregg Gonsalves on the Pandemic, plus John Nichols on Biden’s first week Jan 27, 2021

The national death toll from covid-19 will reach half a million next month, and new strains of the virus are threatening. Joe Biden has called for what he calls “full-scale wartime effort,” including $350 million in direct funding, and now he’s aiming for 150 million vaccine doses in is first 100 days. Gregg Gonsalves comments on what Biden and Congress need to do now. Also: Faced by the pandemic and economic collapse, Biden knows he has to work harder and faster than any president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt – he doesn’t have a hundred days to launch his initiatives – he’s got to set the tone in ten. John Nichols comments on what Biden has accomplished in his first week – and what his next priorities ought to be.
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Joe Biden and Us: Joan Walsh; plus Barbara Ransby on Biden and Black America and Gary Younge on Storming the Capitol Jan 20, 2021

Biden’s inauguration marked a triumph of hope over fear, says Joan Walsh. First we celebrate, and then we go to work debating what is possible and what is necessary—all the things that real people really need. The next four years will bring progressives some political frustration and some disappointments, but that will be so much better than what we’ve had for the last four yers.
Plus: In Joe Biden’s first speech as president-elect, he promised Black America that he would have their backs. Now he needs to take prompt action to fulfill that pledge. Barbara Ransby comments—she’s a historian, writer, and longtime political activist, a distinguished professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, best known for her award-winning biography Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement.

Also, Gary Younge, the award-winning former columnist for The Guardian and member of The Nation's editorial board, comments on the insurrectionists of January 6. They failed to stop Congress from certifying Biden as the winner of the election—so what WAS the plan? And what IS their future?
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Trump’s Crime: Incitement of Insurrection—John Nichols on impeachment, plus Astra Taylor on debt and Robert Lipsyte on Trump and golf Jan 13, 2021

As the House moves to impeach Trump—a second time—for “incitement of insurrection,” Republican support for Trump is wavering. John Nichols comments on the historic moment that is at hand. Also: Biden’s first 100 days begin January 20, and his first acts should include an executive order cancelling student debt—that’s what Astra Taylor says, she’s co-founder of the Debt Collective and has published widely. Other forms of debt cancellation can follow—medical debt, consumer debt, the coming bills for deferred rent and mortgage payments. Plus: the PGA is cancelling their longstanding plans to hold its 2022 championship at Trump’s Bedminster golf course in New Jersey. The New York Times reports he is more devastated by this than by impeachment. The legendary sportswriter Robert Lipsyte comments on Trump and golf. (This segment originally broadcast in August, 2017).
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The Trump Mob that Stormed the Capitol: Joan Walsh and Eric Foner Jan 07, 2021

Wednesday was one of the worst days in the history of American democracy—Joan Walsh comments on the Trump mob that stormed the capitol, the capitol police who didn't arrest them, the Republicans who continue to stand by Trump—and the Republicans who don't.
Also: Eric Foner provides historical context for Wednesday's events in Washington, and also the victories in the Georgia Senate races.
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Vaccine Priorities: Politics and Ethics. Gregg Gonsalves on Covid-19, plus John Nichols on politics in 2020 Dec 30, 2020

Vaccine priorities: political and ethical questions about who comes first, after health care workers. Gregg Gonsalves considers the arguments—the choice is between reducing the death toll—which means giving priority to the oldest people—and keeping society functioning—which means giving priority to essential workers. And the Global South must be included in all vaccine distribution plans—because “the virus doesn’t care where you live.”
Also: 2020 in review: the political year began with Bernie winning early primaries and losing the rest; then came the summer of Black Lives Matter, with the largest protest movement in American history; and then Election Day, without fighting in the streets or the courts overturning the results. John Nichols comments.
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White Voters in 2020—and Everybody Else: Joan Walsh on Politics, plus Amy Wilentz on the Trump Kids Dec 23, 2020

A year, and a decade, of political challenges: Joan Walsh reviews the fall and rise of Kamala Harris, the return of Joe Biden, and the deepening problem posed over the last decade by white voters who now support Trump.
And Amy Wilentz reviews what happened in 2020 to Ivanka, Jared, Don Junior and Eric Trump—boy did those kids get into trouble this year! Jared was put in charge of pandemic response, Ivanka carried the bible for that disastrous photo-op, and Don Junior and Eric tried to outdo their father on the campaign trail.
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From Obama to Trump: Eric Foner; plus John Powers on John le Carré Dec 16, 2020

Obama’s memoir of his political rise and his first two years in office, A Promised Land, reminds us of a time when Donald Trump barely existed on our political landscape and in our consciousness. Eric Foner comments on what’s in the book—and what Obama leaves out.
Also: John le Carré died on Saturday—he was 89, and one of the greats, author of two dozen books people called “spy novels,” although they were much more than that. John Powers comments—he’s critic-at-large on Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
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Mike Davis: We Need a Commission to Investigate Trump’s Covid Response; plus Amy Wilentz on pardons for the Trump kids Dec 09, 2020

This week, as the UK began vaccinating people against Covid 19, we consider proposals here in the US to establish a coronavirus commission, empowered to investigate the many failures in the fight against the virus: Mike Davis says that is something progressives should fight for—and insist on subpoena powers.
Also: Will Donald Trump pardon Ivanka and Jared—and Don Junior and Eric? What exactly are their crimes? It sounds like it's time for another episode of The Children’s Hour—with Amy Wilentz.
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How the Dems Can Win in Georgia: Joan Walsh on politics, plus David Cole on the Supreme Court and reapportionment Dec 02, 2020

Georgia is the center of the political universe right now. On January 5, Georgia votes for two senators, a runoff election that will determine which party controls the Senate and thus the fate of any Democratic initiatives after Biden becomes president on January 20. Joan Walsh comments on the campaigns of Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock as they challenge incumbent Republicans Kelley Loeffler and David Purdue—and on Trump, who once again is eager to make it all about himself.
Also: On Monday the Supreme Court heard arguments on Trump’s effort to change the way seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned. It has been based on a state’s total population, as the Constitution requires; he wants to exclude the undocumented, which would mean California would lose 2 or 3 seats. David Cole reviews the arguments—he’s The Nation’s legal affairs correspondent and national legal director of the ACLU.
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Stacey Abrams: The Fight for Georgia; plus Amy Wilentz on Ivanka, Don Jr., Eric—and Lara Nov 25, 2020

All eyes are on Georgia now, as the campaigns for both senate seats are underway to determine which party will control the US Senate. For Democrats, the starting point for winning in Georgia is the historic work of Stacey Abrams. When she ran for governor of Georgia in 2018 as the first African American and the first woman candidate, she got more votes than any Democrat in Georgia history, including Obama and Hillary Clinton. But because of Republican vote suppression she was not elected. Nevertheless she paved the way for Biden to win the state—a historic victory. We spoke with her in April 2019, about how she built the coalition that now hopes to win two senate seats in January.
Also: How are the Trump kids dealing with the refusal of their father to admit he lost the election? Amy Wilentz comments—on another episode of The Children’s Hour, stories about Ivanka, Don Junior, Little Eric—and Lara.
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The Covid-19 vaccine: Why does Moderna get to keep all the profits? Gregg Gonsalves on virus politics, plus J. Hoberman on ‘The Chicago 7’ Nov 18, 2020

Monday we had good news on a Covid vaccine from Moderna, created with a billion dollars of taxpayer funding. Gregg Gonsalves takes up the question, Why does Moderna get to keep all the profits? Also: Why Mitch McConnell is a bigger threat to Americans than the virus.
Plus: The legendary film critic for the late, lamented Village Voice, J. Hoberman, talks about Aaron Sorkin’s new film, playing now on Netflix, The Trial of the Chicago 7. He asks the question, “is it great courtroom drama—or boomer porn?”
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Mike Davis: Biden's Big Mistake; plus Jody Armour: Electoral Victories of Black Lives Matter Nov 11, 2020

Mike Davis on the Trump voters: Latinos in south Texas and white workers in the rust belt—and Biden’s big mistake: allowing Trump to claim "the economy" as his issue, instead of connecting jobs to controlling the pandemic.
Also: Black Lives Matter had massive victories in the elections in America’s biggest county—LA, with 10 million people. They elected a progressive D.A. and passed an initiative to re-imagine public safety by moving 10 per cent of the county’s $5 billion unrestricted budget to alternatives to incarceration, to community services, and barring the county from using the money on prisons, jails ,or law enforcement agencies. Jody Armour explains—his new book is N*gga Theory: Race, Language, Unequal Justice, and the Law.
Correction: In this episode, guest Mike Davis states that McAllen is in Valverde County, Texas. McAllen is in Hidalgo County.
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Biden's Successes—and Trump’s: John Nichols and Joan Walsh Nov 04, 2020

John Nichols says Joe Biden seems to be headed for a historic win. On Wednesday afternoon he already had more than 70 million votes—the largest number of votes for a president in American history. He’s also above 50 per cent, something no Democrat has done in our lifetimes, except for Barack Obama. So this is likely to be a big victory, except for one thing: The Electoral College. That’s where it’s close, and that’s our problem.
Joan Walsh looks at Trump’s support, and finds it shocking that he did about as well as last time, despite everything that he’s done in the last four years, culminating in the disaster of the pandemic response and the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression. She concludes that too much of our country consists of racists who prefer white supremacy to equality.
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The Politics of White Men, from Obama to Trump: Melissa Harris-Perry and Dorian Warren, plus Sherrod Brown on voting and Eric Foner on disputed elections Oct 28, 2020

Melissa Harris-Perry and Dorian Warren talk about the changing voter turnout among white men and people of color over the last three presidential elections—and other features of our political system. They are hosting a new podcast for The Nation, “System Check”—checking the systems that hold us back: premiering Friday at TheNation.com, Apple podcasts, and elsewhere.
Also: talking politics, and history, with Sherrod Brown. Of course he’s the senior senator from Ohio, first elected in 2006. He was re-elected in 2018—he won by 7 points—in a state Hillary Clinton had lost—by 8 points—just 2 years earlier. He talks about how he did that, and how Biden has learned the lessons of that campaign.
Plus: disputed elections past and present: Maybe the election next week will have a big enough vote for Biden so that it can’t be challenged in court; maybe the Republicans won’t dispute the outcome. But maybe they will. We’ve had other disputed elections in our history—of course we had the Supreme Court stopping the count in Florida in 2000; and there was another one, much less well known—the election of 1876. Historian Eric Foner explains.
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Mike Davis: Climate Change, Extreme Fires, and White Flight plus Rennie Davis on ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7' Oct 21, 2020

Mike Davis argues that climate change is bringing “extinction events” to native land cover around the world. Extreme fires are one of the main forces bringing this apocalypse—spurred in places like California by white flight among Trump supporters to high-fire-danger areas.
Also: The new Aaron Sorkin film, Trial of the Chicago 7, opened on Netflix this past weekend. Of course it’s about the 1969 trial of leaders of the antiwar movement, including Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Rennie Davis—and we have Rennie Davis as a guest. He was the New Left’s most talented organizer, and he talks about the film and the real history of those protests—and also politics today.
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Can ‘herd immunity’ lead to ‘re-opening America’? Gregg Gonsalves on Covid-19, plus Allissa Richardson on Black Cell-Phone Videos Oct 14, 2020

A group of scientists are calling it “The Great Barrington declaration”—a strategy to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic by age-targeted reopening. The advocates call it “focused protection”; they say it would create herd immunity. Gregg Gonsalves argues that it will not—and that “we can do better.”
Also: Cell-phone videos of police killing Black people have had an immense political impact over the last couple of years. Allissa Richardson comments on the videos and the new Black protest journalism, based largely on Twitter. Her new book is Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones, and the New Protest #Journalism.
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Trump Gets the Best Medical Care While Working to End Healthcare for Tens of Millions: Amy Wilentz on Covid-19, plus Ari Berman on Voting Rights Oct 07, 2020

When Trump left Walter Reed hospital, he tweeted “don’t be afraid of Covid-19.” Amy Wilentz disagrees, and argues that, while the president got the best medical care in the world—which we would want for any president—at the same time he’s trying to abolish Obamacare, which provides healthcare for tens of millions of Americans.
Also: Ari Berman talks about voting rights and voter suppression, about the voter protection efforts of the Biden campaign and the Democratic Party, and about recent Supreme Court decisions on voting rights cases.
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That Terrible Debate: John Nichols, plus Katha Pollitt on Melania Sep 30, 2020

Biden debated Trump on Tuesday night—John Nichols has our analysis, and suggests that it may be the Republicans who pull out of the remaining debates, given the damage their candidate did to his candidacy and the rest of the Republican candidates.
Also: Remember the days of the hashtag “Free Melania”? Remember how we said she was a hostage in the White House? Now there’s a book that says we were all wrong about that—Katha Pollitt talks about Stephanie Winston Wolkoff’s “tell-not-quite-all," Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship With the First Lady.

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Expand the Court! Elie Mystal on Court Packing, plus Sonia Shah on Climate Disasters Sep 23, 2020

We need at last two more justices on the Supreme Court—and more would be better—as many as ten more. Elie Mystal explains—he’s the magazine’s justice correspondent.
Also: how climate change is forcing migration out of low lying coastal areas: Sonia Shah reports on what happened in the Bahamian island of Abaco after Hurricane Dorian last September—and what we need to do now about migration forced by climate change. Sonia is an award-winning reporter; her new book is The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move.

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Trump Needs Wisconsin to Win, but Biden Is Ahead: John Nichols With Good News from a Swing State, plus David Nasaw on Refugees Sep 16, 2020

Voting by mail in Wisconsin will not be thrown into chaos by the state supreme court—John Nichols reports on a state Trump needs to win, where Biden is ahead.
Plus: Refugees—after World War II in Europe, and today. Historian David Nasaw explains—his new book is The Last Million: Europe’s Displaced Persons, from World War to Cold War.
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Chris Hayes: The Catastrophe of Trump; plus Joan Walsh: Politics on TV in 1968 Sep 09, 2020

We are in “one of the most perilous and fraught moments for American democracy since the mid-nineteenth century,” says Chris Hayes; what’s hopeful is that “the movement we’ve seen in the streets is the largest protest movement in American history.” Chris of course hosts “All In” weeknights on MSNBC; he’s also editor-at-large of The Nation, and he spoke recently with Katrina vanden Heuvel at a Nation magazine online event.
Plus: Politics on TV–in 1968, when Harry Belafonte hosted the Tonight Show, for an entire week—and his guests included Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Also: Aretha Franklin. Joan Walsh, National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation, talks about the new documentary, The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show—she’s one of the producers, and it’s streaming now on Peacock.
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Trump in Kenosha: John Nichols; Black Lives Matter in Europe: Gary Younge Sep 02, 2020

Trump’s visit to Kenosha on Tuesday was part of a backlash strategy, with right wing militias and their allies encouraged to provoke violence with Black Lives Matter demonstrators, followed by Trump claiming he alone can bring an end to “chaos and looting.” John Nichols was in Kenosha for Trump’s visit – he reports on what happened there, and on the larger issues at stake.
Also: There’s a huge movement in Europe supporting Black Lives Matter. Gary Younge describes some key examples and comments on the effort to address racism in Britain, France, and elsewhere in Europe – and on the English falling back on the argument that racism there is “better” than in the US. Gary lives in London, teaches at the University of Manchester, and is a member of the editorial board of The Nation.
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Rick Perlstein: The Republicans from Reagan to Trump: plus Pramila Jayapal: From Investment Banker to Community Organizer Aug 26, 2020

Rick Perlstein talks about the rise of Reagan, from what seemed like a career-ending defeat in the 1976 GOP primary, to his narrow victory in the popular vote in 1980--and how the darkness of the culture war has shaped the Republican Party that Trump came to dominate. Rick's long-awaited book, 1100 pages long, is "Reaganland: America's Right Turn, 1976-1980."
Also, Pramila Jayapal, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus--she represents Seattle in the House--talks about how she went from being an investment banker as a young immigrant to a lifelong organizer. Her new book is "Use the Power You Have: A Brown Woman’s Guide to Politics and Political Change.”
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When the LAPD came looking for a BLM activist: Melina Abdullah, plus Katie Porter on Voting by Mail and Jody Armour on Unequal Justice Aug 19, 2020

A Black Lives Matter leader in LA confronts the LAPD—outside her house. Melina Abdullah is a co-founder of Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles; she’s also professor of Pan-African studies at Cal State Los Angeles—and last week she was on the front page of the paper in LA. We asked her what happened.
Plus: Katie Porter, the new member of Congress who flipped a longtime Republican district in California’s Orange County, talks about defending the postal service and about ending student loan debt. (Watch her full conversation with Katrina vanden Heuvel.)
Also: Changing our broken criminal justice system—radically. Jody Armour, who teaches law at USC and is a prominent defender of Black Lives Matter has a new book out, with the provocative title N*gga Theory: Race, Language, Unequal Justice, and the Law.
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Fighting for Vote By Mail: Pramila Jayapal; plus Tom Frank on Trump, Biden, and ‘Populism’ Aug 12, 2020

When Attorney General Bill Barr told the House Judiciary Committee recently that voting by mail on a large scale presented a “high risk” for “massive voter fraud,” Pramila Jayapal challenged him—with evidence. She’s co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, she represents Seattle, and she talks about the fight against Trump for voting by mail. Her new book is Use the Power You Have: A Brown Woman’s Guide to Politics and Political Change.
Also: Tom Frank, author of the classic What’s the Matter with Kansas, talks about Trump’s phony populist appeal—and whether Joe Biden, the guy from working-class Scranton, can win back the working-class white men who turned to Trump last time around. Tom’s new book is The People, NO: A Brief History of Anti-Populism.
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Trump's Dangerous Push for a Vaccine by October: Gregg Gonsalves, plus David Cole on the Police Aug 05, 2020

Trump is rushing to develop a vaccine, and declare victory over Covid-19 just before the November election – whether or not the current research, “Operation Warp Speed,” has succeeded. Gregg Gonsalves explains the challenges to the researchers, and the dangers posed by Trump: an ineffective vaccine that will create more resistance and skepticism about future vaccines. Gregg is codirector of the Global Health Justice Partnership and an assistant professor of epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health. He’s also the winner of a MacArthur genius fellowship.
Also: David Cole, national legal director of the ACLU, says we need less punishment and more justice from the police and the courts. One key way to achieve that is to reduce enforcement of misdemeanors, which currently leads to millions of avoidable arrests, especially of people of color – and many cases of police violence against them.
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This Is Disaster Relief Under Corporate Power: David Dayen, plus Amy Wilentz on Mary Trump Jul 29, 2020

Senate Republicans introduced their new trillion-dollar economic stimulus bill, which they call “The HEALS Act.” It’s woefully inadequate, says David Dayen—and part of life in the age of corporate power—the subject of David’s new book, Monopolized.
Plus: Trump’s unfortunate childhood: Amy Wilentz talks about Donald, Fred Junior, Marianne, Elizabeth, and little Robert—as described in the new blockbuster bestseller by Mary Trump, daughter of Donald’s brother Fred Jr., Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.
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Naomi Klein: Pandemic Capitalism and the Black Lives Matter Protests; plus Zoe Carpenter on Portland and Ivy Meeropol on Roy Cohn Jul 22, 2020

The pandemic has slowed the speed of life under capitalism, Naomi Klein suggests in her recent conversation with Katrina vanden Heuvel—and that has created greater empathy and solidarity, expressed in the unprecedented support for the Movement for Black Lives. But the “Screen New Deal”—the virtual classroom and workplace—are bringing greater isolation and increasing corporate power. Plus: Zoë Carpenter reports from Portland on the ominous developments there involving federal agents in camouflage in the streets attacking protesters—over the objections of local and state officials—which Trump says he will take to other Democratic cities. Also, how Roy Cohn gave us Donald Trump: Ivy Meeropol talks about her new documentary on Roy Cohn, “Bully. Coward. Victim.” It’s playing now on HBO on demand.
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To Fight the Virus We Need a Massive Campaign of Disruption: Gregg Gonsalves, plus Meagan Day on the Eviction Crisis Jul 15, 2020

The increasing number of cases of Covid-19, and of deaths, should be scary to everybody, Gregg Gonsalves says. A direct action campaign of disruption is necessary to bring the changes we need—something like the Act Up movement of the eighties. Gregg is an assistant professor of epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health and the recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant, and he writes regularly for The Nation about the pandemic.
Also: We’re heading for an eviction crisis. On July 31 the direct cash payments of the CARES act expire and right now Republicans in Congress are not renewing it or anything like it. That means millions of people won’t be able to pay their rent on August 1. Meagan Day comments—she’s coauthor of Bigger than Bernie: How We Go from the Sanders Campaign to Democratic Socialism.
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Mike Davis: The Problem with Dr. Fauci; plus Amy Wilentz on Ivanka, and Debbie Nathan on Sandra Bland Jul 08, 2020

Mike Davis argues that, while Dr. Anthony Fauci has been handed a golden opportunity to speak truth to power, America’s most respected doctor remains a team player in an administration bent on disaster.
Also: another episode of The Children’s Hour—Amy Wilentz with stories about Ivanka, Jared, Don Jr., and little Eric. This week, Ivanka is in trouble for wearing a mask—and Don Jr.’s girlfriend tests positive.
Plus: Black Lives Matter: Sandra Bland’s was one of them. This week is the fifth anniversary of the death of Bland in a Texas jail—July 13, 2015. What happened to Sandra Bland? To understand that, you have to begin way before she died. Debbie Nathan reports on the life, as well as the death, of Sandra Bland. (This segment originally broadcast in April, 2016).
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Defund—and Disarm—the Police: Kelly Lytle Hernandez, D.D. Guttenplan, and Zoë Carpenter Jul 01, 2020

Defunding the police and re-imagining public safety—in Los Angeles—starts with the LAPD, but includes the sheriffs, the school police, and the UCLA police force. Kelly Lytle Hernandez comments—she’s a professor of history at UCLA, she wrote City of Inmates, a history of the LA jails, and she’s the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant.
Also: it’s time to disarm the police. They didn’t always carry guns, and there are other big cities in the world where most cops are NOT armed—like London. D.D. Guttenplan, editor of The Nation, explains.
Also: Black Lives Matter protests are everywhere, even the most unlikely places: for example, Laramie, Wyoming; Florence, Alabama; and even Vidor, Texas—it’s a former Ku Klux Klan haven that Texas Monthly described as the state’s “most hate-filled town.” Nation contributing writer Zoë Carpenter reports.
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How Racism Works in a Liberal Democratic City: Michele Goodwin, plus Mia Birdsong on abolishing the police Jun 24, 2020

Michele Goodwin talks about her experiences of racism in daily life in Minneapolis—before she became Chancellor’s Professor of Law at the University of California Irvine. Also: removing statues from the Capitol Building honoring traitors and defenders of slavery—there’s one that’s been overlooked: Chief Justice Roger B. Taney.
Plus: In the current mobilization around Black lives, everyone can do something, even if it’s not marching in the streets—Mia Birdsong explains. She's the host of The Nation’s podcast More Than Enough, about universal basic income, and her TED talk has been viewed almost two million times. Now she has a new book out—it’s called How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community.
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The Protests, the Police, and Juneteenth: Robin Kelley, plus Dahlia Lithwick on Trump Jun 17, 2020

Juneteenth, a day of celebration and reflection for African Americans, is particularly significant in this season of protest and demands for change by Black Lives Matter. Historian Robin Kelley comments.
Also: The great thing about the protests of the past month is not just that they have been so massive, so sustained, so diverse, so inspiring—the best thing is that they are NOT about Trump. That’s what Dahlia Lithwick says—she hosts Slate’s podcast “Amicus.”
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The Police vs. the People: Jody Armour, plus Amy Wilentz on Ivanka and that Bible Jun 10, 2020

Democrats in Congress have introduced legislation to reform police practices nationwide and hold bad cops responsible—while LA has spent decades trying to reform its police force. Jody Armour comments—he’s the Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law at the University of Southern California, and speaks widely on Black Lives Matter and the movement’s agenda. His book N*gga Theory: Race, Language, Unequal Justice, and the Law will be published in August.
Also: Trump’s disastrous walk across Lafayette Square for that bible photo-op outside St. John’s Episcopal Church apparently was Ivanka’s idea—she’s also been tweeting Bible verses. Amy Wilentz, our Chief Ivanka Correspondent, has a report.
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America in Revolt: Elie Mystal, plus John Nichols with Keith Ellison Jun 03, 2020

Across America, protests against police violence are met with more police violence. Elie Mystal talks about the failure of Democratic mayors in deep blue cities to stop their police forces from engaging in racist violence—especially Bill De Blasio in New York City. Elie is The Nation’s Justice correspondent, and writes the magazine's “Objection!” column. Also: John Nichols has been speaking with Minnesota’s attorney general Keith Ellison about what has been happening in Minneapolis, and what is to be done about unending police violence against people of color.
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Thinking Big about politics and the virus: Mike Davis, plus Christopher Shay on the crisis, and Amy Wilentz on Jared and Ivanka May 27, 2020

It’s time to think big about the coronavirus crisis and the 40 million workers who have lost their jobs—while the rest struggle to hold on to what they’ve got. Everything seems more fragile now, and the cruelty of the system has never been clearer. For some big thinking about where we need to go and how to get there, we turn—again—to Mike Davis.
Also: Christopher Shay talks about The Nation’s special issue on thinking big about the political requirements, and political opportunities, of this historic moment. He’s a senior editor at The Nation.
And we have a new episode of The Children’s Hour, stories about Ivanka, Jared, Don Jr. and little Eric, told by Amy Wilentz—today, Jared’s failed effort to procure PPE for FEMA, and some outrageous remarks from Don Jr. and Eric—while Ivanka celebrates “exciting platforms the private sector has created to upskill our workforce!” (her exclamation point).
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Does the Evidence Support Joe Biden, or Tara Reade? Katha Pollitt; plus John Powers on TV during the pandemic May 20, 2020

Did Joe Biden sexually assault Tara Reade in 1993? Katha Pollitt examines the evidence—and concludes that it supports Biden’s denial. Especially significant: the PBS NewsHour interviews with 74 former Biden staffers, of whom 62 were women; none said they had experienced sexual harassment, assault or misconduct by Biden. All said they never heard any rumors or allegations of Biden engaging in sexual misconduct, until the recent assault allegation made by Tara Reade.
What to watch, and read, while the stay-at-home orders are in effect: John Powers recommends “The Sleepers,” a Czech spy thriller, on HBO GO, and the 1950s Hollywood noir novels of the amazing Alfred Hayes, from New York Review Classics. John is Critic at Large on Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR.
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The fight for universal vote-by-mail: David Cole, plus Katha Pollitt on right-wing women May 13, 2020

Universal vote-by-mail: it’s obviously necessary for our Nov. 3 election, but Trump, of course, is against it. He said that if we were to adopt voting by mail, “you’d never have another Republican elected in this country again.” David Cole explains why it’s essential for our democracy—and why Trump is wrong that it would bring the end of the Republican party. David is National Legal Director of the ACLU, and legal affairs correspondent for The Nation. Also: Katha Pollitt talks about right-wing women. We’ve never forgotten that, in 2016, exit polls showed that 53 percent of white women voted for Donald Trump rather than Hillary Clinton. Now there’s a TV miniseries about beginnings of the political organizing of right-wing women: it stars Cate Blanchett as Phyllis Schafly, and it’s called “Mrs. America.”
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Fighting for the Soul of the Democratic Party: John Nichols, plus Amy Wilentz on Jared and Ivanka May 06, 2020

Before Bernie and AOC, before Jesse Jackson and George McGovern, there was Henry Wallace, FDR’s vice president, who fought for the soul of the Democratic party in the 1940s. John Nichols tells that story, and links it to today’s battles between progressives and Wall Street Democrats—his new book, out this week, is “The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party.” Also: a new episode of “The Children’s Hour” with Amy Wilenz, stories about Ivanka, Jared, Don Junior, and little Eric--boy are those kids in trouble this week! Amy of course is our Chief Jared Correspondent—and was just awarded a Guggenheim fellowship.
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Mike Davis: Back to Work in the Covid-19 Economy? Plus John Powers on Virus Time TV Apr 29, 2020

Minnesota’s back-to-work plan is a lot better than Georgia’s, Mike Davis says – it requires employers to provide PPE and bans face-to-face activity—i.e. the restaurants, shopping malls, and tattoo parlors that Georgia and South Carolina have opened. Mike’s book The Monster at Our Door examined the avian flu. Also: John Powers, critic-at-large for Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR, recommends “The Good Fight” and “The Bureau” for virus-time TV watching.
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Joseph Stiglitz: What Workers Need Right Now; plus Katrina Vanden Heuvel on Solidarity Apr 22, 2020

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says the US has “one of the poorest systems of unemployment insurance in the world”—and that our number one priority should be to keep workers connected to their jobs. His book People, Power and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent is out now in paperback, with a new preface. Also: Katrina vanden Heuvel talks about solidarity with the front-line workers fighting the virus—starting in New York, where people cheer hospital workers coming off their shifts at 7pm every night.
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Mike Davis: Is Coronavirus Ushering in a New World Order? plus Barbara Ehrenreich on low-wage work Apr 15, 2020

Mike Davis talks about the fragmentation of Europe, the marginalization of the WHO, the danger to Africa, and whether China will emerge less powerful in the world economy because of the rise of economic nationalism. Mike wrote about the avian flu in The Monster at Our Door. Also Barbara Ehrenreich reports on her experiment in trying to survive on low wage work. Her classic essay, “Nickel and Dimed,” is the lead piece in her new book, a collection of essays titled Had I Known. We recorded this interview when Nickel and Dimed was published, in 2002.
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What the Pentagon Knew about the Coronavirus—in 2017: Ken Klippenstein, plus Amy Wilentz on Jared and Laila Lalami on “The Other Americans” Apr 08, 2020

The Military Knew Years Ago That a Coronavirus Was Coming. The Pentagon warned the White House about a shortage of ventilators, face masks, and hospital beds in 2017, according to a document obtained by Ken Klippenstein, The Nation’s Washington Correspondent – but of course Trump ignored the warning. Also: Jared Kusher has a new job on the White House coronavirus task force—and Ivanka is at home, reading “The Odyssey” and playing the guitar. Amy Wilentz comments – she’s our Chief Jared Correspondent. Plus: Nation columnist Laila Lalami talk about her novel “The Other Americans”--it’s about the suspicious death of a Moroccan immigrant in a small town in California. It’s a family saga, a murder mystery, and a love story. And it’s out now in paperback.
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Mike Davis: The Coronavirus--Politics vs. Science; plus Rebecca Solnit on Becoming a Feminist Apr 01, 2020

Mike Davis talks about who gets forgotten in a pandemic—and about the political, and economic, obstacles to making faster progress on effective anti-viral medication and a vaccine. Mike is the author of many books, including City of Quartz and The Monster at Our Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu.
Also: Rebecca Solnit talks about how she became a feminist, and a writer—in San Francisco in the eighties, “the queerest city in the world.” Her new book, a memoir of sorts, is Recollections of My Nonexistence.
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E.J. Dionne: The Coronavirus and the election; plus Melina Abdullah on Black Lives Matter and Katha Pollitt on "Contagion" Mar 25, 2020

What’s our strategy for beating Trump in November? Is the Coronavirus making that easier, or harder? E.J. Dionne analyzes the effect of the virus on politics – he’s a columnist for the Washington Post, and his new book is Code Red: How Progressives and Moderates can Unite to Save Our Country. Also: How the coronavirus is changing the issues, and the tactics, of Black Lives Matter – a conversation with Melina Abdullah, one of the founders of the LA chapter and a professor of Pan-African Studies at Cal State LA. Plus: Katha Pollitt has some recommendations about what to watch, and read, during those days at home: starting with the classics.
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Paul Krugman: The Coronavirus and the Economic Crisis; plus John Nichols on elections and Amy Wilentz on the Kushners and the Coronavirus Mar 18, 2020

Paul Krugman, the New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize winning economist, says we don’t have an easy way of responding to the economic threats posed by the coronavirus, and Trump’s preoccupation with the stock market is a big mistake. Krugman’s new book is Arguing with Zombies: Economics, Politics, and the Fight for a Better Future.
Also: we’ll talk about the Republican senators who say paid sick leave for people with the coronavirus will “make workers lazy”—that’s what Ron Johnson says, he represents Wisconsin, and we’ll talk about that with our man in Madison, John Nichols. John also examines everything that went wrong with Tuesday’s elections, and talks about what we must do to ensure there’s no postponement of the November election.
And we’ll also talk about the Kushners and the coronavirus: Jared has been working in some unusual ways, and there’s also virus news about Ivanka and Don Junior. Amy Wilentz reports—she’s our Chief Jared Correspondent.
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Bernie's Next Steps: John Nichols; plus Steve Phillips on Big Data and Adam Hochschild on a Forgotten Radical Mar 11, 2020

Despite Bernie's big losses in Michigan and elsewhere on Tuesday, he's staying in the race to challenge Biden on the issues which Democratic voters support. John Nichols assesses the situation, and talks about what we need to do now about the coronavirus and the elections.
also: What Big Data says about beating Trump: Steve Phillips explains -- he wrote New York Times bestselling book Brown Is the New White and he’s the founder of Democracy in Color.
Plus: the story of an immigrant sweatshop worker who became one of the most charismatic radical leaders of the early 20th century. Rose Pastor Stokes has been forgotten, but now a new book tells her amazing story: “Rebel Cinderella.” Author Adam Hochschild explains.
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Super Tuesday: The Earthquake--John Nichols and Joan Walsh, plus D.D. Guttenplan with The Nation's Endorsement of Bernie Sanders Mar 04, 2020

John Nichols analyzes the bad night for Bernie--and the tasks that remain if Biden is going to be defeated in the primaries.
Plus: Joan Walsh covered the South Carolina primary and saw first-hand the results of Jim Clyburn's endorsement of Joe Biden.
And D.D. Guttenplan presents the case for Bernie and his movement--The Nation endorsed them this week.
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Nominating Bloomberg Would Destroy the Democratic Party: Jeet Heer on politics, plus Rick Perlstein on Bernie and Robert Edelman on Sports Feb 26, 2020

Bloomberg can’t win the primaries, but he might try to get the nomination if Bernie doesn’t go to the convention with a majority of delegates. Jeet Heer argues that nominating Bloomberg would destroy the Democratic Party and assure Trump’s reelection. Plus: political pundits are supposed to put forward strong opinions – that’s their job. The rest of us may be confused and uncertain and anxious, but the pundits are full of convictions and arguments. Today we depart from that rule and talk to Rick Perlstein – although he has argued for social democracy for decades, he’s got some doubts of his own about Bernie, while he acknowledges all that Bernie has achieved. Also: the Cold War was fought in many ways: it was a traditional political and military confrontation, but it was also a cultural contest on a global scale – and one of the most important arenas in the cultural contest was sports. Historian Robert Edelman explains: he’s co-editor of the new book The Whole World Was Watching: Sport in the Cold War.
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Elizabeth Warren: Unity Candidate? Joan Walsh, plus Bob Borosage on Bernie and John Sayles on 'Yellow Earth' Feb 19, 2020

Pundits have declared that Elizabeth Warren is finished, but we’re not so sure. Joan Walsh points out that, while Warren came in third in Iowa and fourth in New Hampshire, only 64 delegates have been selected—there are more than 1,900 delegates still to be picked. The case for Warren at this point remains potent, especially given the success of progressive women in the 2018 midterms.
Also: Bernie has already won the ideas primary in the Democratic Party. That’s what Bob Borosage argues—he sets the agenda for the race and the other candidates define themselves in relations to his positions.
Plus: John Sayles has directed two dozen films, including Matewan and Lone Star. Here he talks about his new novel, Yellow Earth—it’s about what happens when shale oil is discovered underneath an Indian reservation in the North Dakota badlands—and outsiders descend.
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After New Hampshire: John Nichols on politics, plus Jane Kleeb on rural America and Amy Wilentz on Don Jr. Feb 12, 2020

New Hampshire’s primary has reshaped the Democratic race: Progressives are coalescing around Bernie, and moderates are abandoning Biden in favor of Mayor Pete and Amy Klobuchar. John Nichols reports. Plus: How the Democrats can win in rural America: Jane Kleeb talks about strategies for winning in red states. She’s a grassroots organizer based in Hastings, Nebraska, and she put together the coalition of ranchers, farmers, Native Americans, and environmentalists that stopped the Keystone XL Pipeline. She’s chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party, and her new book is Harvest the Vote. Also: another episode of The Children’s Hour: stories about Ivanka, Jared, Don Junior, and little Eric. Today: Don Junior writes a best-seller! Just like his father, his mother, and his sister: a family of literati. Amy Wilentz reports.
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Meltdown in Iowa: Winners and Losers—John Nichols on Politics, Rick Hasen on Elections, plus John Powers on the Oscars Feb 04, 2020

The problem in reporting the results in Iowa isn’t just a delay; it’s a disaster—that’s what John Nichols says—for the Democrats, and especially for Bernie, who so far appears to have won at least the popular vote. And if Biden did as badly as reports suggest, that’s a huge boost not just for Pete Buttigieg but also for Michael Bloomberg. But there is one excellent result: This may very well be the last of the Iowa caucuses.
Also: there are many other ways elections can go wrong—for example, we could have a cyberattack on the power grid on election day that could cause blackouts in big cities the Democrats need to win. Rick Hasen explains that and other potential threats—his new book is Election Meltdown: Dirty Tricks, Distrust, and the Threat to American Democracy.
Plus: Sunday is the Oscars—Hollywood’s own elections. And the nominees for best director are all men. Is that because there are no good women directors? John Powers thinks there are some other explanations. He’s critic at large on Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
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Defending Trump Now—and Losing the Senate in November: Joan Walsh on Impeachment Politics, plus Robert Lipsyte on the Superbowl and Morley Musick on the Border Patrol Jan 29, 2020

Republican Senators in swing states are falling in their approval ratings back home as the Senate impeachment trial unfolds. In Maine, Arizona, Colorado, and North Carolina, 63 percent of voters want the Senate to allow witnesses and subpoenas in the impeachment trial. Joan Walsh comments on the politics of impeachment, and on the losing arguments Trump’s attorneys have offered in his defense. Plus: This Sunday is the Superbowl, the biggest sports event in America- a hundred million people watch the Superbowl these days. The Superbowl—and all of football—is sort of like Donald Trump: both of them provide mass entertainment that promotes tribalism and toxic masculinity while keeping violence in vogue. The legendary sports writer Robert Lipsyte explains.
Also: the Border Patrol, it turns out, has a youth group – ‘Border Patrol Explorers,’ an extension of the Boy Scouts. Morley Musick went to the Arizona border to find out who signs up and what they do once they’re in the organization.
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Impeachment Has Already Succeeded: John Nichols, plus Andrew Bacevich on the End of the Cold War and Michael Klare on Climate Jan 22, 2020

51 per cent of Americans now think Trump should be removed from office, according to the new CNN poll (and 45 per cent think he shouldn’t). That, John Nichols argues. shows impeachment has succeeded—and if Republicans in the Senate block Trump’s removal from office, voters can do it in November. Also historian Andrew Bacevitch argues that America has squandered its Cold War victory – and considers where Trump fits into the history of the US since the collapse of the USSR. His new book is The Age of Illusions. And we talk about climate change –as seen from the perspective of the Pentagon. Trump may deny that the world is getting warmer, fast, but the Pentagon has been preparing for that for several years now—and is making disaster relief part of its mission. Michael Klare reports—his new book is All Hell Breaking Loose.
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Hunger and Hope in Haiti: Amy Wilentz, plus Mia Birdsong on poverty and Kate Aronoff and Michael Kazin on socialism Jan 15, 2020

It’s been ten years since Haiti was devastated by the earthquake that killed more than a hundred thousand people. Amy Wilentz, who has been reporting on Haiti for three decades, returned to the island and found the country oddly calm, despite deepening poverty, violence, and corruption. She also found “little sprouts of possibility everywhere.” Also: We have a lot of experts on what to do about poverty -- academics and policy makers. Mia Birdsong has been working with a different sent of experts: poor people themselves. She’s a Senior Fellow of the Economic Security Project, and her TED talk “The Story We Tell About Poverty Isn’t True” has been viewed almost two million times. Now she has a new 4-part podcast at The Nation – it’s called “More Than Enough.” Plus: Democratic socialism, American style: Kate Aronoff and Michael Kazin talk about socialism in America today—they are co-editors with Peter Dreier of “We Own the Future,” which includes chapters on sports, banks, work, health care, campaign finance, immigration, and families.
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The Failure of Trump’s Iran Strike: Andrew Bacevich, plus Henry Louis Gates on American slavery and Jelani Cobb on Joe McCarthy Jan 08, 2020

Trump’s Iran strike continues a long, failed history of American actions based on the idea that the U.S. military can shape the mideast in accord with our wishes. That’s what Andrew Bacevich argues—his new book is The Age of Illusions: How America Squandered its Cold War Victory. Plus: Henry Louis Gates discovers slave-owners – and also slaves—in the family histories of some surprising people--on the PBS series “Finding Your Roots.” On this season’s premiere, Anjelica Houston learned that one of her ancestors, who died in Maryland in 1811, was a slaveowner, and that in his will he acknowledged fathering four slave children. Gates, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University, also talks about his collaboration with historian Eric Foner on the award-winning PBS documentary on Reconstruction. Also: Joe McCarthy as a predecessor of Donald Trump: the connections and similarities (“McCarthy was willing to assert things that he knew weren’t true, and did it with aplomb”) are traced by Jelani Cobb of The New Yorker and the Columbia University faculty. He’s a contributor to the new McCarthy episode of the PBS series “American Experience.”
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Trump Will Lose in 2020: Stan Greenberg, plus Naomi Klein on the Green New Deal and J. Hoberman on Reagan and the Movies Dec 31, 2019

The 2020 election will liberate us from Donald Trump and Republican hegemony. A sweeping Democratic victory will make it possible at last for us to address our most serious problems—because 2020 will bring the death of the Republican party as we’ve known it. That’s what Stan Greenberg says—he’s a longtime pollster and adviser to presidents from Clinton to Obama. He’s also a bestselling author, with a new book out—it has the wonderful title R.I.P. G.O.P.: How the New America is Dooming the Republicans.

Plus: Naomi Klein on the Green New Deal—she says we need to follow the example of the New Deal era of the 1930s, when nothing would have happened without “massive pressure from social movements” that “changed the calculus of what was possible.” Naomi is the author of several number one bestsellers, including This Changes Everything.
Also: movies and politics. No political figure has blurred the line between them more than Ronald Reagan—and no president understood the power of collective fantasy better than Reagan did. That’s what the great movie critic J. Hoberman says—his new book about movie culture in the Age of Reagan is called Make My Day.
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Socialism is on the Agenda for 2020: Katrina vanden Heuvel, plus Kathleen Belew on White Nationalism and Rick Perlstein on Impeachment Dec 24, 2019

Capitalism is broken – that's why socialism is on the agenda for 2020. Katrina vanden Heuvel explains - she's publisher and editorial director of The Nation.
We also look back at some of the big events of 2019, and some of our favorite interviews, starting with the terrorist attacks by white nationalists,
in El Paso and elsewhere. Historian Kathleen Belew says they are NOT isolated events carried out by loners; in fact they are connected, the work of a movement, with tens of thousands of active members. Also 2019 of course has been the year of impeachment -- historian Rick Perlstein has comment and analysis.
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Does Boris Johnson’s victory in the UK mean Trump will win in the US? D.D. Guttenplan, plus John Nichols with the Progressive Honor Roll and Arundati Roy on India Dec 18, 2019

The British Labour Party suffered a historic defeat last week—working class people who voted Labour their entire lives have now switched sides. Centrists in the Democratic Party say this means that the socialist program doesn’t work as an alternative to racism and xenophobia--in other words, it’s bad news for Bernie. And for us at The Nation. They say Boris Johnson is a lot like Donald Trump, and that Boris’s victory suggests Trump will win in 2020—the way Brexit foretold the 2016 vote in the US. D.D. Guttenplan disagrees, and explains why. Plus: the end of the year brings The Nation’s progressive honor roll for 2019 - honoring those who’ve done the steady work of advancing economic, social and racial justice. John Nichols names the elected officials and also activists, organizations, and ideas that are shaping our future. Also: this week India is on fire--with massive protests, and massive repression, of Muslim students saying “no” to the government’s move toward making India a Hindu nation – the great Indian novelist and activist Arundhati Roy explains.
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Progressives and White Working-Class Voters: Joshua Holland, plus Katha Pollitt on Fetal Personhood and Ruth Marcus on Brett Kavanaugh Dec 11, 2019

Some analysts criticize progressives who urge Democrats to focus on turning out their core base—people of color, unmarried women, and younger voters—they say it’s a big mistake to give up on working class whites. And many progressives reply that it would be a disaster for the Democrats to try to “win back” working class white Trump voters by not talking about discriminatory policing, reproductive health care, and LGBTQ rights. Joshua Holland examines the actual evidence—and concludes that Democrats have already won back enough white working-class voters to defeat Trump in 2020.
Also: What happens to pregnant women when anti-abortion state legislatures grant legal personhood to fertilized eggs, embryos, and fetuses? What happens when pregnant women’s behavior is criminalized? Katha Pollitt reports.
Also: Brett Kavanaugh was not on the list of candidates for the Supreme Court that Trump released during the campaign—how did Kavanaugh end up ahead of everybody else? Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post has that story—her new book is Supreme Ambition: Brett Kavanaugh and the Conservative Takeover.
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How the Dems Can Win in 2020: Lessons of the Virginia Victories--Joan Walsh, plus Jeet Heer on Trump and War Crimes and Bryce Covert on Strikes Dec 04, 2019

Democrats need to learn the lessons of their historic victory last month, when Virginia became the first Southern state in the post–civil-rights-movement era to entirely flip back to Democratic control. Virgina Democrats now hold the governorship AND both houses of the state legislature. How did they do it? Joan Walsh says one key was that Republican attacks on abortion didn’t send Democrats running scared. Also: Trump’s pardons for war criminals: Jeet Heer says the military is right to stand up for the laws of war, but the basic issue is a political one, and the military can’t make this a political fight. But the voters can. And Bryce Covert has been examining strikes in America over the last couple of years. More workers went on strike last year than at any time since 1986 – more than 20 years ago. They include public sector workers, like teachers and nurses, and corporate employees, like auto and hotel workers – and even low-paid, part-time and temporary people who don’t have unions—like fast food workers and Uber drivers.
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‘It Can’t All Be Bernie’: The Candidate with John Nichols, plus Adam Hochschild on deportation and John Powers on “The Irishman” Nov 27, 2019

Bernie Sanders says it will take a movement to change America: “It can’t all be Bernie.” John Nichols comments on his interview with the candidate, who is now back in second place in the polls. And we play clips from the interview, originally broadcast on the Next Left podcast. Also: deporting the immigrants called “undesirable”--now, under Trump, and a hundred years ago. Historian Adam Hochschild notes that it’s the 100th anniversary of the Palmer Raids, where J Edgar Hoover got his start rounding up and trying to deport immigrant radicals—and when one heroic Labor Department official blocked thousands of deportations. Plus: Martin Scorcese’s new film “The Irishman” opens on Netflix this week; it claims to tell the true story of the murder of Jimmy Hoffa, the head of the Teamsters Union, who disappeared in 1974. But nobody who’s studied that history thinks the movie is right about what happened to Hoffa. Does that fact change our judgement about the film? John Powers comments; he’s critic at large for Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

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Gail Collins: Ruth Bader Ginsberg and the Complicated Story of Women and Aging in America; plus Rick Perlstein on Impeachment and Eric Foner on The 1619 Project Nov 20, 2019

The adventures of older women in America: Ruth Bader Ginsburg for example is 86,and Nancy Pelosi just turned 80. But where are the prominent Republican women in politics today who are older? Gail Collins has been thinking about that; of course she’s the New York Times op-ed columnist. Her new book is No Stopping Us Now. Also: Rick Perlstein says the Nixon impeachment limited the charges against the president in order to win a Republican majority in the Senate; since that’s not going to happen with Trump, the Democrats might as well include all his high crimes in their articles of impeachment. And historian Eric Foner talks about the New York Times’s “1619 Project,” which argues that the legacy of slavery is central to all of the American past and present.

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Sherrod Brown: How to Beat Trump; plus D.D. Guttenplan on Joe Biden and Thom Hartmann on the Supreme Court Nov 13, 2019

Sherrod Brown, the senior senator from Ohio, was re-elected in 2018. He won by 7 points—in a state Hillary Clinton had lost—by 8 points—just 2 years earlier. What are the lessons for 2020? “You need to talk to workers,” he says, “and you need to fight for workers—all workers.” Now he has a new book out: Desk 88 – Eight progressive senators who changed America.

Also: why Joe Biden is the wrong candidate to take on Donald Trump: D.D. Guttenplan, The Nation’s editor, explains why the magazine has published an “anti-endorsement.”
Plus: this week the Supreme Court heard arguments about the fate of DACA residents—whether those young people brought here as small children should be deported. But why should that be decided by the nine justices on the Supreme Court? In a democracy, shouldn’t that be decided democratically? That’s Thom Hartmann’s argument—not just about DACA, but about all of judicial review. His new book is The Hidden History of the Supreme Court.
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The Election, One Year Away: John Nichols on the Polls, plus Paul Adler on Socialism and John Powers on John Le Carré Nov 06, 2019

Where do we stand one year out from the election? The best polls this week show Trump losing the popular vote by around 15 points—but also show that he’s still “highly competitive” in the swing states Democrats must carry in order to defeat him. John Nichols has our analysis.
Also: Trump is trying to knock off Joe Biden because he wants to run against Elizabeth Warren—he thinks he can win by campaigning against “socialism.” And more young people have favorable views of socialism than they do of capitalism these days—but what is socialism? Paul Adler explains; his new book is The 99 Percent Economy: How Democratic Socialism Can Overcome the Crises of Capitalism.
Also: One of our favorite writers, John le Carré, has a new book out: Agent Running in the Field—they’re calling it his “Brexit Book.” It’s number five on the best seller list. He’s now 88 years old, he’s written 26 books, which have been published in over 50 countries and 40 languages. The books are about loyalty and betrayal, and many are about the ambiguities of the Cold War. John Powers comments—he’s Critic-at-Large on “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross.
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Joe Biden’s Zombie Campaign: Jeet Heer on Moderate Dems, plus Elie Mystal on Senate Republicans and Amy Wilentz on Haiti Oct 30, 2019

Joe Biden may be the frontrunner, but he’s slipping, and it seems doubtful that he will get better at this. Big donors are pulling away from him. But do the “moderates” in the party–-the Wall Street Democrats--have a Plan B? A backup candidate? A viable alternative? Jeet Heer evaluates the possibilities—there are a lot of them, but none are very promising. Also: Republicans in the Senate--we will need 20 of them to vote to convict Trump if he’s going to be removed from office. Is that possible? Elie Mystal runs the numbers--and concludes, “maybe—if we the people work really hard.” Plus: Haiti is at the brink of collapse—Amy Wilentz reports on one of Trump’s “shithole countries.”
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How TV Made Trump: Tom Carson, plus David Perry on Ilhan Omar and Pico Iyer on Japan Oct 23, 2019

We all know Trump got famous on TV with The Apprentice – but how many of us ever watched The Apprentice? Reality TV was a key force in making Trump president. Tom Carson talks about “Audience of One” by James Poniewozik. Tom, a longtime writer on pop culture and politics, won two National Magazine Awards during his time as Esquire‘s “Screen” columnist; now he writes for BookForum. Also: Ilhan Omar has endorsed Bernie for president – how does she deal with Trump’s vicious attacks? David Perry has spent the last few months with her in her Minneapolis district—he says he’s never seen a politician talk as little about themselves as she does in her town halls. Plus: Pico Iyer has lived in Japan part-time for the last 30 years – he says it’s hard to imagine how different that country is from our own. His new book is “A Beginner’s Guide to Japan.”
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The Deepening Desperation of Donald Trump: Sasha Abramsky on the President, plus Corey Robin on Clarence Thomas and Katha Pollitt on Abortion Oct 16, 2019

Trump’s increasingly reckless efforts at intimidation reveal the increasingly desperate situation he has created for himself, where even Fox News has become an inconsistent and unreliable defender of his actions. Sasha Abramsky separates Trump’s efforts at distraction from the political reality he now faces. Also: With the Supreme Court back in session, we turn our attention to the most right-wing and longest-serving Justice, Clarence Thomas. Is he a self-hating sell-out? Corey Robin says he’s something else: a conservative black nationalist. His new book is The Enigma of Clarence Thomas. Plus: The political promise of the abortion pill: Despite the fact that more than 75% of Americans favor Roe v. Wade, abortion rights face increasing jeopardy at the Supreme Court, and the right finally succeed at defunding Planned Parenthood. But there’s one immensely promising factor at work: abortion drugs, especially misoprostol, which is easily obtained on the Internet, despite the FDA’s attempts to prevent online pharmacies from selling them. Katha Pollitt explains.
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The new Supreme Court term will be worse than the last one—a lot worse: Elie Mystal, plus Amy Wilentz on Ivanka and Jeet Heer on impeachment Oct 09, 2019

The Supreme Court term began its fall term this week--and even though Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed at the start of last year’s court term, this year the Supremes’ decisions will be worse – a lot worse. Elie Mystal explains why—he’s the executive editor of Above the Law and a contributing writer for The Nation. Also: a new episode of ‘The Children’s Hour’--stories about Ivanka, Jared, Don Junior, and little Eric. This week: who’s helping Dad fight impeachment? Amy Wilentz has our story. Plus: Republicans and impeachment: lessons from the Nixon years. Jeet Heer comments.
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Republicans and Impeachment: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly--Joan Walsh, plus Andrew Bacevich on Afghanistan and Azadeh Moaveni on ISIS Women Oct 02, 2019

The big question about impeachment is not the House -- there now seem to be enough votes there to pass at least one article of impeachment--the big question is about the Senate and whether some Republicans will abandon Trump. Former Republican Senator Jeff Flake says that at least 35 Republican senators would vote to remove Trump from office--IF they could vote in private. Joan Walsh comments. Also: Afghanistan held elections on Saturday. Trump had declared a couple of weeks ago that negotiations with the Taliban were “dead”-this was after he had promised to end the American war there. How WILL that war end? Andrew Bacevich has been thinking about that. Plus: Thousands of Muslim women left their homes in the US and Europe to travel to Syria to join ISIS, the Islamic State, especially after it declared a Caliphate in 2013. Many of them were educated and successful – Why did they do it? Azadeh Moaveni wanted to find out—she spent years interviewing former ISIS women in camps in Turkey and Kurdistan. Her new book is Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS.
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Impeachment at Last: Jeet Heer on Trump, plus Eric Foner on voting rights and Jane McElevey on the UAW strike Sep 25, 2019

Trump finally went too far, even for Nancy Pelosi: he used money appropriated by Congress for foreign aid to pressure the president of Ukraine to come up with dirt on Joe Biden—dirt that Trump could use in the upcoming election. Jeet Heer comments – he’s National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation. Also: historian Eric Foner talks about about voter suppression, about who gets to be a citizen, what rights undocumented immigrants have, and about the roots of mass incarceration--they all relate to the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, part of the country’s attempt to redefine citizenship after the end of slavery. His new book is The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution. Plus: In the UAW strike against General Motors, workers are seeking not only higher pay but also ending plant closures and making temporary workers permanent--many of them have been on the job for several years, and yet they are paid less and denied union benefits. Jane McAlevey comments—she’s The Nation’s new Strikes Correspondent.
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2020 will Bring a Historic Defeat for the Republicans: Stan Greenberg on the Election, plus D.D. Guttenplan on Edward Snowden and Sasha Abramsky on Trump Sep 18, 2019

The 2020 election will liberate us from Donald Trump and Republican hegemony. A sweeping Democratic victory will make it possible at last for us to address our most serious problems. That’s what Stan Greenberg says – he’s a longtime pollster and adviser to Democratic presidents from Clinton to Obama. He’s also a bestselling author, with a new book out – it has the wonderful title R.I.P. G.O.P.: how the New America is Dooming the Republicans. Also: Edward Snowden published a memoir this week, called Permament Record, and The Nation magazine features an excerpt--it’s about his youthful enthusiasm for home computers connected to the internet, which had just become available, and the contrast he draws between the internet in those days and what it soon brought: the “identitarian consistency” required by “surveillance capitalism.” Editor D.D. Guttenplan explains.
Also: What’s Really Going on While Trump Creates Chaos: Sasha Abramsky separates what Trump is actually doing from what he’s tweeting. His new column at TheNation.com is “Signal/Noise.”
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Why Doesn’t the GOP Resist Trump the Way Tories Resist Boris Johnson? D.D. Guttenplan on Britian and America, plus Katha Pollitt on Trump and John Nichols on Republican Resignations Sep 11, 2019

Last week Tory rebels in parliament staged a dramatic insurrection against their own Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, blocking his plans for a “no-deal Brexit.” But virtually no Republicans in Congress have resisted Trump. Why is that? D.D. Guttenplan compares and contrasts the two parties and political systems – he’s editor of The Nation, and he’s lived in Britain for the last 25 years. Also: It’s hard to keep track of Trump’s outrages—there are new ones virtually every day. But Nation columnist Katha Pollitt remembers; she discusses almost every bad thing Trump did this summer. And she takes up the question, is Trump getting worse? More unhinged, more desperate, perhaps because he sees that his chances of winning reelection are not good? Plus: Thirteen House Republicans have announced their retirements in the past several weeks—they don’t want to run for reelection in 2020. They are a diverse group, and include moderates as well as conservatives, some newcomers and some with decades of seniority, two of the party’s 13 women, and its only African-American Congressman. How much can the Democrats hope to gain from this development? John Nichols comments--he’s National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation and host of the “Next Left” podcast.
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Why the Koch Brothers Don’t Support Trump: Christopher Leonard on “Kochland,” plus Joan Walsh on Indivisible Sep 04, 2019

How the Koch brothers transformed an obscure oil company based in Wichita into a $110 billion colossus, and reshaped the Republican Party—but failed to prevent Trump from becoming president: Christopher Leonard on Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America.
Also: Indivisible, the big network of local Democratic Party activists that sprang up after Trump’s victory, faces a big challenge: whether to endorse a candidate in the Democratic Primaries. Joan Walsh reports on the conflict between the Washington headquarters of the organization and the hundreds of grassroots groups.
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The White Power Movement after El Paso: Kathleen Belew on domestic terrorism, plus Davis Maraniss on HUAC Aug 28, 2019

We’re still thinking about the terrorist attack in El Paso, where 22 people were killed at a Walmart and two dozen more were injured. Like almost all of these attacks, the El Paso killings have been treated as an isolated event carried out by a loner. But the attacks in Charleston, Charlottesville, Christchurch, El Paso and elsewhere are connected; they are all part of the White Power movement, with roots going back to the 1970s. That’s what Kathleen Belew says -- she writes for the New York Times op-ed page, she teaches history at the University of Chicago, and she’s the author of the book “Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America,” it’s out now in paperback. Also: HUAC is history; the heyday of the House Un=American Activities Committee was the 1950s. But we’re still concerned about government attacks on people, and groups-- called “Un-American.” David Maraniss has been thinking about that history – his father was called before HUAC in 1952 and then blacklisted from his job as a newspaper editor. His new book is “A Good American Family: The Red Scare and My Father.”
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Trump’s Terrible Poll Numbers: Jeet Heer on the campaign, plus J. Hoberman on Reagan and the movies Aug 21, 2019

The latest polls—including the highly respected Fox poll—show Trump in terrible shape at this point: Among registered voters he trails Biden 50-38, Bernie 48-39, Elizabeth Warren 46-39, and even Kamala Harris 45-39. He’s losing crucial segments of his 2016 base. And in many of the states he carried last time, he’s deep into negative territory on the approval polls. Jeet Heer comments—and takes up the question, how does he think he can win?
Also: The synergy between politics and popular culture has never been clearer or stronger than in the Age of Reagan—and now there’s a wonderful new book on “movie culture in the Age of Reagan”—it’s called Make My Day, by J. Hoberman; for thirty years he was a film critic for the Village Voice. He talks about Dirty Harry, Star Wars, Rambo, and Ghostbusters—and how Trump compares with Reagan, pointing to Howard Beale in Network and to Rocky's racist happy ending.
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Bernie or Bust? Harold Meyerson on DSA, plus Katha Pollitt on Jeffrey Epstein and John Nichols on White Nationalism Aug 14, 2019

If Bernie does NOT get the nomination, the Democratic Socialists of America will not endorse the Democrat who does. “Bernie or Bust” was what they decided at their recent convention – but is that a good idea? Harold Meyerson comments--he’s editor-at-large of The American Prospect and a regular contributor to the LA Times op-ed page. Also: Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted pedophile and accused sex trafficker - who surrounded himself with an elite network of political leaders, wannabe billionaire types, and even scientists – and who committed suicide over the weekend. Katha Pollitt considers the people who have been named in court documents as having accepted invitations from Jeffrey Epstein and also had sex with the underage girls he provided. Plus: Last week—after the El Paso killings by a white nationalist--Tucker Carlson said on Fox news that white supremacy was “not a real problem in America.” He called it “a hoax, just like the Russia hoax.” John Nichols examines the history of white nationalism in recent American politics, going back to the election of Barack Obama.
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America After El Paso: Joan Walsh on Trump, plus Katha Pollitt on Protest and D.D. Guttenplan on the Green New Deal Aug 07, 2019

After Trump’s tweets about the El Paso killings, Beto’s response was the one of the best: “He’s not tolerating violence, he’s inciting racism and violence in this country.” Joan Walsh, National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation, examines the mainstream media’s failures in covering Trump. Also: Trump gets worse every week. Two years ago we had massive nationwide protest demonstrations--so why don’t more people take it to the streets these days? Nation columnist Katha Pollitt has been thinking about that. Plus: last month was the 50th anniversary of Americans walking on the moon. What would it take to get a similar mobilization today of money & effort—and vision–-to combat climate change? D.D. Guttenplan comments – he’s editor of The Nation.
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Trump’s Escalating Racism: A Sign of Political Desperation? Harold Meyerson, plus Jeet Heer on Al Franken and Paul Krassner remembered Jul 31, 2019

Are Trump’s recent racist tweets part of a political strategy, or an uncontrollable personal impulse? Harold Meyerson comments – and also proposes ways to end the potentially devastating divide among Democrats over a Green New Deal. Harold is editor-at-large of The American Prospect. Also: Was Al Franken railroaded, when he was forced to resign from the Senate in the face of #MeToo complaints about unwanted sexual touching and kissing? Jane Mayer wrote a long report on the case for The New Yorker and concluded “Yes, he was railroaded,” but our national political correspondent Jeet Heer disagrees. And we’re still thinking about Paul Krassner, the sixties anarchist activist and editor of “The Realist” – he died July 21st – we re-play an interview where he talks about how he got Norman Mailer to come out against masturbation.
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Is Trump Crazy? Would Pence be Worse? Amy Wilentz & Jane Mayer, plus EJ Dionne: America After Trump Jul 24, 2019

Amy Wilentz comments on the mental and emotional status of the president, as analyzed by 27 psychiatrists in ‘The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump,’ a book edited by Bandy X. Lee. The book was number four on the New York Times bestseller list.
Also: Would Pence be worse? Jane Mayer of The New Yorker reports—she interviewed more than 60 people in search of answers, including Pence’s mother. Several say he’s wanted to be president at least since high school.
Plus: America After Trump: E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post argues that Trump has mobilized progressive political forces that can transform America—and he reminds us that Trump never had a majority of voters, and is the most unpopular presidents in our history. E.J. is co-author of ‘One Nation After Trump: A Guide to the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet-Deported’–it’s out now in paperback.
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Democracy Is Not Well: Astra Taylor, plus Katha Pollitt on Travel to Mars Jul 17, 2019

Democracy is not doing well these days – we have Trump, and Brexit, and a host of other examples. Astra Taylor has been thinking about that: she talks about the paradoxes of rule by the people, the many ways it’s being frustrated, and why it remains at the center of our hopes for the future. Her new book is “Democracy may not exist, but we’ll miss it when it’s gone.” Also: travel to Mars--now there’s a way to get away from Donald Trump! Elon Musk, the billionaire who is co-founder of PayPal and Tesla, wants to build a colony on Mars. Katha Pollitt thinks that’s not a good idea. Actually she thinks it’s a terrible idea, but one that tells us something about the world we live in.
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Joy-Ann Reid: How Trump Happened; plus Amy Wilentz on Jared’s Mid-East Peace Plan Jul 10, 2019

Racial anxiety was more important than economic anxiety in motivating Trump’s voters, Joy Reid of MSNBC argues. A key factor in Trump’s victory was nostalgia for a white, Christian America where men were still in charge. And of course Hillary fell short not only with male voters but with voters of color overall. Joy’s new book is The Man Who Sold America: Trump and the Unraveling of the American Story. Also: Jared Kushner’s Mideast Peace Plan, announced in Bahrain to an audience of billionaires and Gulf potentates, promised $50 billion in economic development funds to Palestinians—if they would abandon their aspirations for an independent state. Neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis participated in the conference. Amy Wilentz, a longtime contributing editor at The Nation, comments – she was Jerusalem correspondent for The New Yorker.
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Joe Biden has No Place to Go Except Down: Robert Borosage on politics, plus Martin Duberman on the lost world of gay liberation Jul 03, 2019

It’s an extraordinary victory: the first round of Democratic debates shows that all the major candidates are working within a progressive framework. Robert Borosage says Bernie gets the credit—and that, although Biden currently is far ahead in the polls of Democratic voters, he has nowhere to go except down, once he is challenged on his record: Iraq, mass incarceration, NAFTA, and Clarence Thomas. Also: 50 years after Stonewall, historian Martin Duberman argues that, despite the obvious and necessary victories, the radical heart of gay liberation has been abandoned. The Gay Liberation Front of the late sixties critiqued monogamy, rather than campaigning for marriage equality, and opposed militarism and imperialism, rather than fighting to get gays into the military. Duberman is a longtime activist and writer on gay politics.
https://www.thenation.com/article/stonewall-gay-liberation-front/

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Elizabeth Warren’s American Story: Joan Walsh on the senator, plus Jeet Heer on Joe Biden and Andrew Bacevich on Mideast Wars Jun 26, 2019

Campaigning in Iowa, Elizabeth Warren has made her story an American story, Joan Walsh says, and thereby found a good way to connect her policy proposals to her own life, and thereby to other people’s lives--and also to refute critics who say she’s an out-of-touch policy wonk. Also: Joe Biden and his friends: he says some of them were segregationist senators – and he thinks that was a good thing, something that made it possible for him to pass important legislation. Jeet Heer says that’s a fantasy—Republicans are not going to work with Biden if he gets the nomination and defeats Trump. Jeet is a new National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation.
Plus: Recently Andrew Basevitch visited the Middle East Conflicts Memorial – it’s like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, but for all the Americans who fought and died in all of America’s wars in the Mideast. But unlike the Vietnam Memorial and the World War II Memorial, it’s not on the National Mall in Washington DC; instead, it’s in Marseilles, Illinois. That says a lot about the place of our unending mideast wars in our current political debates.
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Elizabeth Warren is Leading in the Ideas Primary: Katrina vanden Heuvel, plus John Nichols on Bernie and Socialism and Sasha Abramsky on Florida Jun 19, 2019

Elizabeth Warren may be running third in the Democratic polls, after Biden and Bernie, but she seems to be the clear leader in what we call “the ideas primary.” Katrina vanden Heuvel comments—and suggests that foreign policy, where Warren has said little, should be a focus for the upcoming Democratic candidate debates. Also: Trump declared in his State of the Union speech “America will never become a socialist country.” Of course that only makes it seem like maybe it will. Bernie Sanders gave an important speech on socialism last week, and our John Nichols spoke with him about it -- beforehand.
Also: One of the great progressive victories last November, along with the mid-term Congressional races, was the vote in Florida to restore voting rights to people who had been convicted of felonies and served their sentences–1.4 million people. But the voting rights news from Florida since then has NOT been so good--Sasha Abramsky will explain.
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Trump or Brexit: Which is Worse? DD Guttenplan on politics, plus John Nichols with Rashida Tlaib and Katha Pollitt on abortion and men Jun 12, 2019

For most Americans, the question “Which is worse: Trump or Brexit?” has an easy answer: of course it’s Trump! But D. D. Guttenplan, The Nation’s new Editor, says it’s more complicated than that: for starters, Americans can get rid of Trump in next November’s elections, but it’s almost impossible now for the Brits to get rid of Brexit. Also: Rashida Tlaib is one of the two the Muslim woman elected to the House. John Nichols spoke with her for the “Next Left” podcast, our sister podcast at The Nation. Tlaib, who represents Detroit, was born there; her parents are Palestinian immigrants, and she a long and deep engagement with progressive politics in that city. In this segment John introduces clips from his interview. Plus: At a time when several states have passed draconian new abortion restrictions, you don’t have to be a woman to stand up for reproductive rights: Katha Pollitt talks about abortion and men.
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The Missing Candidate in California: Joe Biden--David Dayen on the Primaries, plus Bruce Shapiro on Assange and Ezra Levin on the Indivisible Pledge Jun 05, 2019

Joe Biden was the only leading Democratic candidate who did NOT come to the California state Democratic convention last weekend in San Francisco – David Dayen reports on the biggest of the Super Tuesday primaries; he’s the new executive editor of The American Prospect. Also: The British should extradite Julian Assange to Sweden for the investigation of rape charges against him, but neither the Swedes nor the Brits should extradite him to the US – because the new “espionage” charges against him are a political threat to freedom of the press and to all journalists and publishers—Bruce Shapiro explains. Plus: Every Democratic primary candidate with more than 1 per cent in the polls has signed the Indivisible Pledge to support the Democratic winner – with one exception: Joe Biden. Why not? Ezra Levin comments—he’s co-founder of Indivisible, the nationwide network of grassroots progressive groups.
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Daniel Ellsberg: Espionage and Julian Assange; plus Robert Pollin on Medicare for All and Alyssa Battistoni on Climate Politics May 29, 2019

The indictment of Julian Assange on espionage charges is an attack on freedom of the press—that’s what Daniel Ellsberg argues. Ellsberg too was indicted under the Espionage Act – and put on trial by the Nixon Administration in 1972, because he leaked a top secret history of American involvement in Viet Nam to the New York Times and other publications. They called it the Pentagon Papers. Also: Medicare for All: Opponents say it would be impossibly expensive. Exactly how are we going to pay for it? Robert Pollin of U Mass Amherst explains; he’s one of 219 economists who just signed an open letter to Congress urging passage of Medicare for All. Plus: the politics of climate change. We know the world is getting hotter and the storms are getting bigger and the seas are rising. What we need to know now is not what climate change will do, but rather what we should do—because, for us, climate change is a political problem. Alyssa Battistoni comments.
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The New York Times vs. Bernie: Amy Wilentz on media bias, plus John Nichols on Ilhan Omar and Karen Greenberg on government secrecy May 22, 2019

Bernie is back on Page One of the New York Times, but their report last weekend was not about his new plan to save public schools–the most progressive education program in modern American history–or his proposal to end all subsidies for oil and gas companies. Instead, it was about a trip he made to Nicaragua in 1985, more than 30 years ago. They didn’t like it. How do we explain the New York Times’s coverage of Bernie Sanders? Amy Wilentz comments. Also: John Nichols talks about Justin Amash, the first Republican member of Congress to say that Trump has committed impeachable offenses—and also about The Nation’s new podcast, which he hosts – it’s called “Next Left,” and the premiere episode, out now, features Ilhan Omar. Plus: There are 1,000 redactions in the 448 pages of the Muller report--individual names and entire pages--that we are not allowed to see. They are part of a larger problem of government secrecy which started long before Trump and which is now threatening to cripple our democracy—Karen Greenberg explains.
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What Joe Biden Has In Common with Donald Trump: Harold Meyerson, plus Michael Ames on Bowe Bergdahl and Laila Lalami on ‘The Other Americans’ May 15, 2019

Joe Biden has one thing in common with Donald Trump: a campaign promising “restoration” of a lost past, rather than the kind of transformation we need to deal with our current problems-- That’s what Harold Meyerson says. Of course the past Biden wants to restore is not the white man’s 1950s, but rather the pre-Trump America of the Clintons and Obama. Harold is Executive Editor of The American Prospect and a regular contributor to the LA Times op-ed page. Also: during the presidential campaign, Donald Trump often talked about an American soldier in Afghanistan who became the longest-held American POW since Vietnam. Trump said he was “a dirty rotten traitor” who should be shot or thrown from a plane. He was talking about Bowe Bergdahl. Michael Ames explains how the Bergdahl story reveals a lot about why the Afghan war has been a disaster. Ames is co-author of the new book, “American Cypher: Bowe Bergdahl and the U.S. Tragedy in Afghanistan.” And we’ll also talk about immigrants, with Nation columnist Laila Lalami– her new novel is “The Other Americans,” about the suspicious death of a Moroccan immigrant in a small town in California. it’s a family saga, a murder mystery, and a love story.
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The New Voters of 2020 and the Democrats: Steve Phillips, plus Ben Ehrenreich on Climate and Commerce and Amy Wilentz on Haiti’s Notre Dame May 08, 2019

For the 2020 election, we’ve been focusing mostly on the candidates who want to challenge Trump – but we also need to consider the voters, and the changes in the electorate since 2016. Especially significant: young people of color. Steve Phillips explains – he’s the author of the best-seller "Brown Is the New White: How a Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority." Also: climate change and living in the city, where the health effects of hyrdocarbon production and global trade are felt most intensely. Ben Ehrenreich reports on local organizing in the city of Commerce, California, a transit point for the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Plus: Paris isn’t the only place where a cathedral of Notre Dame is in ruins and awaiting rebuilding – there’s another Notre Dame in Haiti, destroyed in the earthquake of 2010. Amy Wilentz has a modest proposal about a source for the money: reparations -- from France.
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Does it Have to Be Biden? Joan Walsh on the Candidates, plus Joshua Holland on Impeachment and Peter Richardson on Carey McWilliams May 01, 2019

When Joe Biden finally declared his candidacy, he immediately pulled way out in front in the polls of Democratic candidates. The polls also show him the one most likely to beat Trump. Joan Walsh points to some of the problems with Biden, and considers the alternatives. Also: should the House Democrats open impeachment hearings? The politics may be debatable, but congress’s duty is clear. Joshua Holland says impunity always breeds more lawlessness, and there’s plenty of evidence that Trump plans to continue to act without regard for the law. Plus: we take a trip back back to the darkest days of the Cold War, when muckraking journalists, independent Marxists, trade-union rebels, freedom riders, beatniks, and peace protesters all found a home at America’s Oldest Weekly, The Nation magazine. That was the work of a great editor—who was also a great historian—Carey McWilliams. Peter Richardson explains—his new book is American Prophet: The Life and Work of Carey McWilliams.
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‘We’re capable of doing remarkable things to combat climate change’: Bill McKibben plus Richard J. Evans on Eric Hobsbawm Apr 24, 2019

What can we do to reduce the speed of climate change? Bill McKibben argues that we're at a bleak moment in human history -- and we'll either confront that bleakness, or watch the civilization our forebears built slip away. Bill was one of the first people to warn of the dangers of global warming, 30 years ago with his book The End of Nature. Then he founded the environmental organization 350.org, the first truly global citizens movement to combat climate change. It offers some possible ways out of the trap. His new book is FALTER: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? Also: Eric Hobsbawm was everybody’s favorite Marxist historian. His books, especially “The Age of Revolution,” “The Age of Capital,” “the Age of Empire,” and “The Age of Extremes,” have been translated into 50 languages and sold millions of copies. He was also a lifelong member of the British Communist Party, and his fight against Stalinist orthodoxy in the Party shaped his understanding of the past. Richard J Evans explains – he’s the author of a big new biography of Hobsbawm.
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Trump’s Tax Returns: Why We Will See Them, and What We Will Find: David Cay Johnston, plus Zoe Carpenter on plastics and Laurie Winer on Stephen Miller Apr 17, 2019

The chair of the House Ways and Means Committee formally requested six years of Trump’s personal & business tax returns earlier this month. Trump has said he won’t do it—and that the law is “100 per cent” on his side. He’s 100 per cent wrong about that. David Cay Johnston explains why the IRS Director is required to hand over the returns—or face 5 years in jail—and also what we’re likely to find in Trump’s tax returns—about his tax cheating and his money laundering for Russian oligarchs. David is a Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative reporter who is founder and editor of DCReport.org. Also: Plastics and pollution: the problem isn’t just all the plastic in the oceans; it’s the manufacturing of plastics, a toxic petro-chemical. The Nation’s Zoe Carpenter reports from the Texas and Louisana gulf coasts. Plus: In Trump’s latest blowup over immigration, Stephen Miller has played the central role — goading him to close the border, warning him of the dangers of looking weak, and encouraging his sudden purge of his homeland security team. But who is this Stephen Miller? He grew up in liberal Santa Monica-- what happened? What went wrong? Laurie Winer will report—she wrote about Stephen Miller for LA Magazine.
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Kirsten Gillibrand’s Journey to the Left: Joan Walsh, plus Eric Foner on Reconstruction and Amy Wilentz on Jared Kushner Apr 10, 2019

Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, and Elizabeth Warren are the women in the Senate who have announced campaigns for the Democratic nomination—and Gillibrand is running on Medicare for All and a Green New Deal. She started out in Congress as more of a centrist Democrat—how authentic has her transformation been? Joan Walsh reports. Also: ‘Reconstruction: America After The Civil War’—that’s the new show premiering on TV this week. It’s a four-hour PBS documentary produced and hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., exploring the years after the Civil War, when the defeated South faced revolutionary social change—the world’s first interracial democracy. Eric Foner comments – he was chief historical advisor on the documentary. Plus: we’re still waiting for the text of the report of the special counsel Robert Muller, but in the meantime we’ve been told he did not recommend bringing charges against Jared Kushner in connection with Russian interference in the 2016 election. But that does not mean Jared is innocent of everything. Amy Wilentz explains.
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Stacey Abrams: How We Fight for the Right to Vote; plus Harold Meyerson on the Trouble with Beto Apr 03, 2019

* When Stacey Abrams ran for governor of Georgia last November as the first African-American and the first woman candidate, she got more votes than any Democrat in Georgia history, including Obama and Hillary Clinton. She tripled Latino turnout; she increased the youth turnout by 139 per cent and black turnout by 40 per cent. But because of Republican vote suppression she was not elected. In 2020 she could run for the Senate, or even for president. In our interview, she talks about her campaign strategy and the centrality of the fight for the right to vote. Her new book is "Leading from Outside." Also: The Trouble with Beto--he’s got a huge following, but what exactly does he stand for? And what does his narrow defeat in the Texas senate race last year tell us about what kind of campaign he would run if he won the Democratic nomination for president? Harold Meyerson comments—he’s executive editor of The American Prospect.
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Don’t Trust Barr on the Mueller Report: John Nichols; Plus Greg Grandin on Trump’s Wall and Adam Hochschild on Woodrow Wilson Mar 27, 2019

Nobody should be satisfied with Attorney General William Barr’s account of the Mueller report, says John Nichols. We had assumed that the independent counsel’s investigation into obstruction of justice would conclude one way or the other. Instead we have Barr making exactly the kind of political decision by a Trump appointee that the independent counsel’s office was created to prevent. There’s no substitute for seeing the full Mueller report, Nichols concludes. Also: In the wake of the Barr letter, Trump is calling his opponents “treasonous.” He’s vowing to pursue and punish those responsible for the Russia investigation. What would it be like if he got his way, if there were no way to restrain him? Historian Adam Hochschild says it would be like the three-year period of censorship, mass imprisonment, and deportations during World War I, under Woodrow Wilson. His new book is “Lessons from a Dark Time.” Plus: Trump’s Wall has become a powerful symbol of a radically new idea about what America stands for—replacing the myth of the frontier as a place of possibility, rebirth, and freedom. Historian Greg Grandin talks about the wall, the border, and the frontier--his new book is “The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America.”
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College Admissions Scams, from Jared Kushner to the Present: Amy Wilentz, plus Medicaid in Arkansas and Abortion in Mississippi Mar 20, 2019

50 people in six states were accused by the Justice Department last week of taking part in a major college admission scandal. They include Hollywood stars and business leaders, who paid bribes to elite college coaches. But that’s not the way Jared Kushner got in to Harvard—his father paid the university directly. Amy Wilentz comments on the legal, and the illegal, ways wealthy people get their unqualified children into elite schools. Also: In 2017, the Trump administration announced that, for the first time in history, states could impose a work requirement on the low-income people who rely on Medicaid for health nsurance. Arkansas was the first state to implement one, staring last June. A number of other states, including Arizona, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin, are chomping at the bit to follow suit. Bryce Covert reports on the impact of the work requirement in Arkansas. Plus: Mississippi has only one place you can get an abortion--it’s in Jackson, and the state also has a wonderful organization based there called the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund. Rebecca Grant reports on the remarkable woman who founded and leads that organization.
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How to Beat Trump in 2020: John Nichols on Strategy, Michael Kazin on Southern Democrats, and Katha Pollitt on Women Mar 13, 2019

The Democrats’ picking Milwaukee for their convention in 2020 indicates how that Wisconsin is a key battleground the party must win in order to recapture the White House. John Nichols talks about what it going to take for the Democrats to carry Wisconsin—and Michigan and Pennsylvania—and about the far-reaching tasks that face the party after four years of Trump. Also: southern Democrats were an all-white party before the voting rights act of 1965; and then, as LBJ predicted, its members all became Republicans. And yet throughout the 20th century Southern Democrats in Congress supported Progressive legislation—as long as it didn’t help black people. Historian Michael Kazin comments—and talks about the party in the South now, where Stacey Abrams and Betto O’Rourke are building something new. Plus: Halfway through Trump’s term, and the week after International Women’s Day, it’s a good time to look at the big picture of where women stand in the US and in the world—where the US ranks in terms of women’s political representation, legal equality, and recent reports of discrimination and violence. Katha Pollitt surveys the good news, and the bad news.
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Bill McKibben: From Coal and Gas to Wind and Sun; plus Maia Szalavitz on the Opioid Epidemic and Sean Wilentz on Impeachment Mar 06, 2019

To replace coal and oil, do we need nuclear power? Is switching from coal powered electric plants to natural gas a step in the right direction? And what lessons can we draw from the recent victories—and setbacks--for the climate movement in California? Bill McKibben comments--and talks how to get to a Green New Deal. Bill’s new book, “Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?”, will be published on April 16. Plus: The House Judiciary Committee is moving toward impeachment proceedings, and asking what kind of precedents—and what kind of lessons--can be found in the Republican effort to impeach Bill Clinton 20 years ago. Sean Wilentz comments--he’s an award-winning historian who teaches at Princeton. He writes for the New York Times, the New Republic, Rolling Stone, and the New York Review, where he wrote recently about the Clinton impeachment. Also: what can we do to reduce the death toll in the current epidemic of opioid overdoses? Maia Szalavitz suggests our focus should be on harm reduction, and especially on the creation of safe injection sites—Philadelphia may be the first US city to follow the example of Vancouver and many West European cities.
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Michelle Goldberg: The Time is Right for a Green New Deal; plus George Zornick on Elizabeth Warren and Michael Walzer on Movement Politics Feb 27, 2019

Trump’s presidency is not the end of Democracy, as some of our friends have suggested. Instead we are seeing the end of a political cycle, the one that began in 1980 with Reagan. And now, it’s time for something new—and that could be a Green New Deal. New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg comments. Also: For years Elizabeth Warren has been talking about how the political system is rigged by the rich and powerful. But suddenly her position seems almost mainstream among Democrats--almost every contender for the Democratic nomination is rejecting corporate PAC money. George Zornick has our report. And we’ll talk about movement politics with Michael Walzer--about strategies and tactics and issues and candidates. His new book is “Political Action: A Practical Guide to Movement Politics.”
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Naomi Klein: To Fight Climate Change, We Have to Radically Rethink What Is Possible; plus Dahlia Lithwick on Trump’s ‘Emergency’ and Manuel Pastor on Calif. vs. Trump Feb 20, 2019

Naomi Klein says the Green New Deal needs to follow the example of the New Deal of the 1930s, when nothing would have happened without “massive pressure from social movements” that “changed the calculus of what was possible.” Naomi is a contributing editor at The Nation and author of several number one bestsellers, including “This Changes Everything.” Plus Dahlia Lithwick talks about the national challenge to Trump’s “national emergency”—the constitutional issues, the political issues, and the dangers of treating as normal his rambling, fact-free, egomaniacal performance in the Rose Garden announcing his “emergency.” Dahlia writes about the courts and the law for Slate and hosts the podcast ‘Amicus.’ And we’ll also look at California’s resistance to Donald Trump: Manuel Pastor will explain the past, the present, and the future of the fights over climate justice and immigration between the biggest state and the worst president. Manuel’s new book is “State of Resistance.”
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Child Care for All belongs on the Progressive Agenda Katha Pollitt, plus David Klion on Bernie’s foreign policy and Antony Loewenstein on Afghanistan Feb 13, 2019

Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, free college tuition, a $15 minimum wage – and how about adding Child care for all to the Progressive agenda? That’s Katha Pollitt’s proposal—she argues it will help huge numbers of people. Also: Bernie’s foreign policy: in 2016 he ran on domestic issues almost exclusively. This time around, if he runs—and it looks like he will--he’s going to say more about foreign policy—a lot more. David Klion explains; he’s profiled Bernie’s foreign policy advisor, Matt Duss. Plus: Peace in Afghanistan? Trump says it’s close – and Antony Loewenstein says it will bring massive corruption around mining the minerals of that country—and do nothing to help local communities.
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The State of the Union is Not Good: John Nichols on Trump, plus Sasha Abramsky on TPS and Elizabeth Kolbert on climate change Feb 06, 2019

John Nichols says Trump’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night was "cynical and crude." Also: Temporary Protected Status – “TPS” - has allowed immigrants and refugees from half a dozen countries with terrible problems to stay in the US for decades – but now Trump is trying to get rid of all of them. Sasha Abramsky reports on the human toll of this cruel policy. Plus: Elizabeth Kolbert of The New Yorker on Trump, climate change and species extinction – she says “we need courage, not hope.” Her book “The Sixth Extinction” won the Pulitzer Prize.
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Trump’s Wall—and the Walls of the Future: Atossa Araxia Abrahamian on Borders, Joan Walsh on Pramila Jayapal, and Harold Meyerson on Politics after the Shutdown Jan 30, 2019

The battle between Democrats and Trump over a border wall was a disagreement about symbolism, not policy, Atossa Araxia Abrahamian argues; the borders of the future won’t be as easy to spot as the wall that Trump is proposing. And the new borders going up around us—digital ones—are already taking away our freedom. Also: how the progressives in the House will fight Trump: Joan Walsh reports on the Congressional Progressive Caucus and its co-chair Pramila Jayapal—and their plans for a Green New Deal and Medicare for All. Also: the strange case of the 12 Democrats who joined both the Progressive Caucus and the “centrist” New Democrat Coalition. Trump’s throwing in the towel on the shutdown after the closure of LaGuardia airport opens a new era of challenge to the president, and also “evened the score” for the air traffic controllers, Harold Meyerson says. That came almost 40 years after Reagan fired striking air traffic controllers, which began a devastating wave of attacks on unions. This time they beat a Republican president—and progressive Democrats are eager to expand the fight. Harold is executive editor of The American Prospect. Subscribe to Start Making Sense wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes every Wednesday.
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2019 Will Be the Worst Year of Trump’s Life: John Nichols on politics, Sarah Jaffe on the LA teachers strike, and Sean Wilentz on slavery and the constitution Jan 23, 2019

What will 2019 be like for Trump? Will it be like Nixon in 1974—the Watergate year, which ended with his resignation? Or more like Clinton in 1998—the Monica year, which culminated with an impeachment trial in the Senate in 1999? He won that vote easily and came out more popular than before. John Nichols looks at the investigations coming up in the House, leading us to conclude that 2019 will be the worst year of Donald Trump’s life. Also: The LA teachers’ strike is, among other things, a battle over the future of the Democratic party: will it embrace austerity and the steady erosion of social services, or will it fund the progressive agenda? Sarah Jaffe reports. And Americans have always struggled over the place of black people in America, starting at the beginning, with the Constitution. Was the Constitution a pro-slavery document? Or, as Lincoln argued, did it point toward abolition? We ask Sean Wilentz—his new book is No Property in Man. Subscribe to Start Making Sense wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes every Wednesday.
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The anti-immigrant temptation on the left: David Adler on politics, Pedro Noguera on the LA teachers strike, and Kate Aronoff on the battle of ideas Jan 16, 2019

A political movement combining a left-wing economic program with anti-immigrant initiatives: it’s developing right now in Germany and France – could it happen here? David Adler explains: he’s the Policy Coordinator for the European Spring — Europe’s first transnational party, led by Yanis Varoufakis. He writing has appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, The Guardian, and Jacobin—and now he has the cover story in the new issue of The Nation. Also: 31,000 teachers are on strike right now in Los Angeles--it’s the biggest strike in a long time in the second biggest school district in the country, with 600,000 students. And it’s not just about salaries and benefits; the teachers say they want smaller classes, which means more teachers. Pedro Noguera reports. Plus: Like everybody else on the left, we’re excited about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her proposal for a Green New Deal –but “the Left needs more than good ideas”--that’s what Kate Aronoff says. We need to change the economic and political consensus shaped by the right and build a political and intellectual infrastructure that can match theirs.
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The Issues Republicans Are Afraid to Touch: Harold Meyerson on Politics, plus Aaron Maté on Russiagate and Alex Press on Amazon workers Jan 09, 2019

Now that the Democrats are in charge in the House of Representatives, Harold Meyerson says, we can learn a lot about progressive political opportunities by studying “the Republican dogs that didn’t bark in the night” – the political issues Republicans didn’t attack in the recent elections--because they have widespread public support. Harold is executive editor of The American Prospect and a regular contributor to the LA Times op-ed page. Also: Aaron Maté says new studies show that Russian social-media involvement in US politics in the recent election was small, amateurish, and mostly unrelated to the candidates—and that pundits have exaggerated the effects of Russian trolls posting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Plus: now that the holidays are over, it’s time to talk about the hundreds of thousands of workers who were Christmas temporaries at Amazon warehouses – Amazon calls them “seasonal associates” and describes the places they work as “fullfillment centers.” Alex Press explains—she’s an assistant editor at Jacobin.
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The Best of 2018: Seymour Hersh on Trump, Barbara Ehrenreich on ‘Wellness,’ and Amos Oz Remembered Jan 02, 2019

Our most popular interviews of the year, starting with Seymour Hersh, one of our heroes; he says “don’t underestimate Trump.” He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1970 for his expose of the My Lai massacre—he was a 33-year-old freelancer at the time. Since then, he’s won pretty much every other journalism award. He’s worked as a staff writer for The New York Times and The New Yorker. He’s also written a dozen books, most recently ‘Reporter: A Memoir.’ Also: Barbara Ehrenreich is another hero of ours-- the author of more than a dozen books, including the unforgettable “Nickel and Dimed.” Now she has a new book out, a bestseller, and it’s terrific: it’s called “Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainly of Dying, and killing ourselves to live longer.” Finally, Amos Oz died on Dec 28 --He was an Israeli novelist and unyielding critic of the occupation of the West Bank and a campaigner for a two state solution. His novels were translated into dozens of languages, and he also wrote for The Nation. Here we revisit an interview we did with him in 2004, about mideast politics.
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The Facts of Russiagate have been Obvious for a Long Time: David Klion on Putin and Trump, plus Amy Wilentz on Trump’s Mental Status and Bill McKibben on Climate Change Dec 26, 2018

For our year-in-review show, we open with a Russiagate update with David Klion – he says it’s basically a corruption scandal whose basic facts have been obvious for a long time—and one that should bring down Trump’s presidency. In a lot of ways, Trump himself was the biggest story in 2018--we ask Amy Wilentz the key question: “is Trump crazy?” She discusses the mental and emotional status of the president, as analyzed by 27 psychiatrists in ‘The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump,’ a book edited by Bandy X. Lee. The book was number four on the New York Times bestseller list. And the biggest story of the year, for all of humanity, has been catastrophic climate change --Bill McKibben says “it’s not just an environmental issue.”
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2018: A Big Year for Progressives—John Nichols on Politics, plus Erwin Chemerinsky on Obamacare and Atossa Araxia Abrahamian on Left Internationalism Dec 19, 2018

John Nichols presents the highlights of The Nation’s annual Progressive Honor Roll—our heroes in Congress, in state politics, and in leading protests at the border. Also: is Obamacare unconstitutional? A federal judge ruled last week that all of Obamacare violates the constitution if he’s upheld by the Supreme Court, 20 million people will lose their insurance coverage. The case has the potent name “Texas versus the United States.” Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at UC Berkeley, explains why that ruling is likely to be rejected at the Supreme Court—by vote of 9-0. Plus: right-wing authoritarians have been coordinating political campaigns and disrupting elections across national boundaries – a project masterminded by Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon. It’s time now for the left, especially the American left, to go on the offensive and reclaim its tradition of internationalism. Atossa Araxia Abrahamian reports on the project of Yanis Varoufakis—and Bernie Sanders—to organize a Progressive International.
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William Barr: Another Jeff Sessions? David Cole, plus Dave Lindorff on Pentagon Accounting Fraud and Marc Cooper on the Revolution in Armenia Dec 12, 2018

Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, William Barr, is more qualified to do the job than Matt Whitaker--but so are thousands of others. His record, however, show’s he as bad as Jeff Sessions—if not worse. David Cole, National Legal Director of the ACLU and The Nation’s legal affairs correspondent, explains. Also: a report on The Nation’s investigation of Massive Accounting Fraud at the Pentagon – Dave Lindorff found that $21 million cannot be accounted for. For decades, he says, the Pentagon has been “deliberately cooking the books to mislead Congress.” Plus: the Armenian Revolution: “a small light of hope and progressive democratic change in a Europe increasingly shadowed by authoritarian and dictatorial forces, especially in most of the former soviet-bloc states of Eastern Europe.” That’s what Marc Cooper says—he’s spent months in Yerevan, where elections on Sunday confirmed the victory of the revolutionaries.
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George H.W. Bush Gave Us Today's Republican Party: Harold Meyerson, plus Katha Pollitt on White Women and Trump and Eric Foner on Frederick Douglass Dec 05, 2018

George H. W. Bush paved the way for today’s Republican party with his racist Willy Horton campaign, nominated Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, and pardoned the Iran-Contra conspirator whose trial would have exposed his own abuse of power. Harold Meyerson explains -- he’s executive editor of the American Prospect. Also: Katha Pollitt finds lessons from the midterms about white women who support Trump – she argues that they are unlikely to change their minds, and that we’d do better following the example of Stacey Abrams and mobilizing the nonvoters. Plus: Frederick Douglass, the black abolitionist, was the most famous black American of the 19th century. Historian Eric Foner says Douglass’s political ideas can help us in our struggles today.
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Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’: Where Are the Politics? Amy Wilentz, plus Kai Wright on Midterm Victories and Tom Athanasiou on Climate Nov 28, 2018

Michelle Obama declares in her new memoir, "I am not a political person, so I'm not going to attempt to offer an analysis" of Trump’s victory. That’s her stance in the rest of the book as well. It seems strange for the person the New York Times called "The most outspoken first lady in modern history." What’s going on here? Amy Wilentz comments. Plus: The Democrats won the midterms by the largest popular vote margin for either party in the history of midterm elections -- larger than the Watergate midterm after Nixon resigned in 1974, 44 years ago. But there was a deeper and more significant victory hidden behind those numbers, Kai Wright argues: the political mobilization of millions of people of color in the South. Also: Last week the White House – that is, the Trump White House – released a major scientific report on climate change, with the darkest warnings to date about the consequences of rising temperatures for the United States. Tom Athanasiou explains.
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How Democrats Won in the White-Hot Heart of the Republican Right: Gustavo Arellano on Orange County, plus L.A. Kauffman on Protest and Andrew Delbanco on Fugivitive Slaves Nov 21, 2018

Orange County, California, was the political starting point for Nixon, for the Barry Goldwater presidential campaign, and for Reagan—as Republican as any place in America. But starting in January, not a single Republican will represent Orange County in the House. It’s solid blue. Gustavo Arellano will explain how it happened – he’s a weekly columnist for the LA Times, and wrote the legendary column “Ask a Mexican.” Also: mass demonstrations in America, from the 1963 March on Washington to the 2017 Women’s March: what protests do when they work, and why: L.A. Kauffman explains. Her new book is "How to Read a Protest: The Art of Organizing and Resistance." Plus: cities providing sanctuary for people the federal government is trying to arrest and return to the oppression they had escaped-- today’s battles over Trump’s attacks on undocumented immigrants have some striking parallels with the battles over fugitive slaves in the decade before the Civil War. Andrew Delbanco comments--his new book is "The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America’s Soul, from the Revolution to the Civil War."
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“Chasing an Elusive Centrism is Ridiculous”: Frank Rich on politics, plus Erwin Chemerinsky on Matt Whitaker and Laura Carlsen on the Caravan Nov 14, 2018

Frank Rich finds lessons for Democrats in the midterms: seeking “the political center,” as recommended by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff, running on “clean-government themes and promises of incremental improvement to the health care system rather than transformational social change,” is “ridiculous.” Frank writes about politics for New York Magazine and is executive producer of VEEP on HBO. Also: Trump’s appointment of a new acting attorney general, Matt Whitaker: is it legal? He hasn’t been confirmed by the Senate – or even nominated. Erwin Chemerinsky comments—he’s dean of the law school at UC Berkeley, and his new book is “We the People: A Progressive Reading of the Constitution for the 21st Century.” Plus: a report on that caravan from Central America headed across Mexico toward Tijuana, from Laura Carlsen, who has has been with the caravan. Trump has stopped talking about it, now that the midterms are over and his fear-mongering failed to win key House seats.
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A Blue Wave for Progressives and Women—With Some Heartbreakers: John Nichols and Joan Walsh on the Midterms, plus Andy Robinson on Brazil Nov 07, 2018

Tuesday night was a good night for progressive Democrats, John Nichols argues—and Democratic control of the House will bring an epic change to Washington politics—starting with a return to Constitutional principles and an insistence that the president is subject to the rule of law. Also: women won unprecedented victories in the midterms. Joan Walsh analyzes the feminist insurgency that will bring almost a hundred women to the House of Representatives in January—including the first two Muslim women (Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar); the first Native American women (New Mexico’s Deb Haaland and Kansas’s Sharice Davids), Texas’s first two Latina congresswomen (Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia); plus three young black women (Massachusetts’s Ayanna Pressley, Connecticut’s Jahana Hayes, and Illinois’s Lauren Underwood). Plus: Brazil last week elected Jair Bolsonaro. Our man in Rio, Andy Robinson, says he is “worse than Donald Trump,” and “as close to fascism as you will get in the world today, despite a growing number of contenders.”
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Women Voters and the Midterms: Katrina vanden Heuvel, Joan Walsh, and Cecile Richards; plus Ari Berman on vote suppression and Gary Younge on the Midwest Oct 31, 2018

Women voters—and candidates—are mobilized as never before for next week’s midterms: Joan Walsh and Cecile Richards report from across the country at a Nation event introduced by publisher and editor Katrina vanden Heuvel. Joan is the magazine’s National Affairs Correspondent and Cecile recently stepped down as head of Planned Parenthood after leading the organization since 2006\. Also: the Democrats are focusing now on voter mobilization and turnout, while the Republicans are at work on voter suppression. How significant will the Republican effort be in this election--and where is it likely to have the biggest impact? Ari Berman reports—he wrote about vote suppression for the New York Times opinion pages. Plus Gary Younge, The Nation columnist, talks about politics in the midwest, the heartland, the rust belt – he’s covering the midterms from Racine, Wisconsin, an old Democratic factory town on Lake Michigan. After so many defeats in the state, Democrats there told him they “can’t afford the luxury of hope.”
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We Have a Problem With White Men: They Support Trump—Kai Wright, plus Jill Lepore on Trump and History and Michael Kazin on Hubert Humphrey Oct 24, 2018

62 per cent of white men voted for Trump, 31 per cent for Clinton. Kai Wright has our analysis--he’s host of WNYC’s podcast The United States of Anxiety, and he’s also a columnist for The Nation. It’s easy to get confused by the crosscurrents of misogyny and racism and xenophobia, he argues; they are not discrete issues, but rather “the interlocking tools of white men’s minority rule.” Also: Trump’s place in American history: Jill Lepore of the Harvard history department and the New Yorker talks about her new book These Truths which starts in 1492 with Christopher Columbus, and ends in 2016 with Donald Trump. And we’ll recall the 1968 presidential election, when Richard Nixon won, and many of our current problems began. The man who almost defeated Nixon was Hubert Humphrey, the onetime Minnesota senator who had become LBJ’s vice president. Anti-war activists hated Hubert Humphrey in 1968--Michael Kazin will explain.
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Can Progressive Momentum Transform The Democratic Party? Jeff Cohen, plus Sasha Abramsky on Arizona and Joan Walsh on Georgia Oct 17, 2018

What lessons have the Democrats learned from the disaster of 2016? Jeff Cohen talks about the progressives’ fight to win the party away from dependence on corporate contributions—and instead to mobilize the grassroots. Jeff is one of the co-authors of “Democratic Autopsy—One Year Later” at TheNation.com. Also: Arizona is a red state, ground zero for Trump’s anti-immigrant politics, but it’s changing. Sasha Abramsky has returned from Tucson, with a report on how and why the Democrats seem likely to flip a key House seat there. Plus: A historic challenges to the Republicans is underway in Georgia, where Stacey Abrams is campaigning to become the state’s first black governor, and first female governor. The polls have her tied with her opponent, a far-right figure endorsed by Trump. Joan Walsh just got back from Georgia with a report.
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Women’s Anger—and Kavanaugh’s Rage: Rebecca Traister, plus David Cay Johnston on Trump’s tax crimes and John Nichols on impeaching Kavanaugh Oct 10, 2018

Rebecca Traister sees in the Kavanaugh hearings a typical case where women’s anger was marginalized or made to sound hysterical or infantile or threatening—but men’s anger was taken to be valid and righteous. But that is changing, she argues: women’s anger increasingly is “in the beating heart of many political and social movements.” Her new book is Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger. Also: David Cay Johnston talks about the “Mountain of Tax Cheating” by Donald Trump, as exposed in the massive New York Times report on where Trump’s money came from, and the violations of tax laws in his past. David is a Pulitzer-prize winning reporter who has written for the New York Times and the L.A. Times and is now editor of DCReport.org. Plus: what the Democrats can do about newly-confirmed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when they win the House in November and take control of the Judiciary Committee in January: John Nichols talks about investigations that could lead to the filing of articles of impeachment.
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Yes We Have an Activist Community Fighting Kavanaugh: Joan Walsh, plus D.D. Guttenplan on a new radical majority and Michelle Chen on the Fight for $15 Oct 03, 2018

Joan Walsh explains why we lack confidence in the re-opened FBI background check into Kavanaugh’s past, and talks about the activists who are fighting the nomination, and the senators who need to be told “do not vote for this man.” Plus: D.D. Guttenplan talks about some alternatives to those old white Republican men who shouted and pouted at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week–his new book is “The Next Republic: the Rise of a New Radical Majority.” And while the eyes of the nation search for news on the FBI investigation of Brett Kavanaugh, the hard work of fighting for social change goes on--for example in St. Paul, where a campaign for a $15 minimum wage is being fought right now. Michelle Chen reports.
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The Kavanaugh Hearings Have Been an Outrage From the Beginning: John Nichols on the hearings, plus Sasha Abramsky on Voting Rights in Florida and Bryce Covert on Universal Basic Income Sep 26, 2018

The Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh have been an outrage, even before the recent “allegations of sexual misconduct.” John Nichols comments. Also: Florida will vote in November on restoring voting rights for felons, and polls show the measure is likely to pass. Sasha Abramsky reports on the campaign and its significance. Plus: universal basic income—government payments to help keep people out of poverty: is that a better idea than a government job guarantee? Bryce Covert explains the current debate on the left. Support for this week’s episode of Start Making Sense is provided by Audible, visit [audible.com/sense](audible.com/sense) to get your first audiobook free.
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Michael Moore: From Obama to Trump: "Fahrenheit 11/9" Sep 21, 2018

Michael Moore talks about his new documentary, "Fahrenheit 11/9," opens Friday May 21 across America--It's a passionate argument about how the Democrats helped pave the way to Trump's election, and a call to arms to change our politics and vote on Nov. 9.
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The Case Against Kavanaugh: Katha Pollitt; plus Harold Meyerson on the Financial Crisis and Mouin Rabbani on Oslo Sep 19, 2018

Katha Pollitt considers the arguments made by Brett Kavanaugh’s defenders in response to the charges that he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old when he was 17, and the evidence supporting Christine Blasey Ford, his accuser. Also: On the 10th anniversary of the financial crisis, Harold Meyerson argues that the recovery was a disaster all over again—and that we are still suffering from its political consequences. Harold is Executive Editor of The American Prospect. Plus: 25 years ago, President Bill Clinton presided over a handshake on the White House grounds between PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, agreeing to the Oslo Accords, which, we were told, laid the foundation for peace between Israel and a Palestinian state. Mouin Rabbani comments—he’s a fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies and a contributor to the London Review of Books and The Nation.
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Fighting Climate Change—and Donald Trump: Bill McKibben plus Steve Phillips on moderate Republicans and Atossa Araxia Abrahamian on the inequality industry Sep 12, 2018

As world leaders (except for Trump) gather in San Francisco this week for the Global Climate Action Summit, Bill McKibben comments on California’s new law mandating 100 per cent clean electricity by 2045—and on the next task: keep oil and gas in the ground. Also: Should Democratic strategy focus on winning the votes of moderate Republicans? Steve Phillips points to one key factor: there aren’t that many of them. Steve is the author of the New York Times best seller, 'Brown Is the New White: How a Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority.' Plus: the inequality industry: Atossa Abrahamian examines the new focus on inequality at the IMF, the Ford Foundation, and other elite institutions, and argues that there’s a big political difference between seeking to reduce inequality, and fighting for a world of equality.
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We’re at a “Which Side Are You On” Moment: Randi Weingarten, plus Mark Hertsgaard on climate politics and David Cole on Kavanaugh Sep 05, 2018

In Oklahoma and West Virgina and Missouri, teachers have led amazingly successful battles against Republican budget-cutting and tax breaks for the wealthy. Although the Supreme Court’s Janus decision sought to cripple the ability of public sector unions to engage in politics, recent polls show that unions are more popular than ever. Randi Weingarten comments on the big picture of unions and politics – she’s president of the American Federation of Teachers, with 1.7 million members in more than 3,000 local affiliates nationwide. Also, At the California Global Climate Action Summit, in San Francisco next week, all the world’s major nations will be represented--except for our own government. Mark Hertsgaard reports on how California, under Governor Jerry Brown, has taken the lead in fighting climate change -- and how climate activists have organized at the upcoming summit to demand that the governor end new oil and gas drilling. Mark wrote the cover story for The Nation’s special issue on climate politics. Plus: Some questions for Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, from David Cole. The legal director of the ACLU and legal affairs correspondent for The Nation says some questions—about current cases—are inappropriate for Democrats to ask in the current confirmation hearings; but there are other questions—on Kavanaugh’s legal philosophy, and on his past statements and decisions—that he should be required to answer.
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Melania Trump: Hero of the People? Amy Wilentz, plus Katha Pollitt on the Politics of Motherhood and Lee Saunders on Unions after Janus Aug 29, 2018

Amy Wilentz takes up the vital question, is Melania Trump a hero of the resistance—or an accomplice of evil? Is she edging “ever closer to open contempt for him,” as New York Times columnist Frank Bruni argues, and finding “increasingly clever ways to show it”? Or is she sticking with her role as wife to a racist tyrant with a clear history of infidelity, and lots of cash? Also: how mothers and pregnant women are discriminated against and punished – here at home, and around the world. Katha Pollitt talks about how that has happened—and why. And as Labor Day approaches, we talk labor unions and politics with Lee Saunders, president of AFSCME. His union was the target of that decision by the Supreme Court in June, when it ruled, 5-4, that government workers who choose NOT to join unions may NOT be required to help pay for collective bargaining. Saunders explains what unions are doing to fight back – in the November election, and in the long run.
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Centrism Is Not the Answer! Gary Younge; plus Todd Gitlin on 1968 and Farah Griffin on Aretha Aug 22, 2018

Centrism lost for the Democrats in 2016, and it will lose again in 2018, Gary Younge argues: the party needs not just to oppose Trump, but also to put forward an alternative vision that can earn the support of working-class Americans. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has shown how to do it, running on a program of tuition-free higher education, Medicare for all, and a federal jobs guarantee. Plus: Trump’s 1968 – and ours. In August 1968, 50 years ago this week, young antiwar demonstrators fought the police outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, while the whole world was watching. It was the culmination of an overwhelming year for the anti-war movement. But where was young Donald Trump? Todd Gitlin explains–he’s an activist, a sociologist, and author of "The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage." Also: Aretha Franklin, who died last week, was a musical genius who seems unique; but she came out of a specific place and time: Detroit in the 1950s and 1960s. Farah Griffin, Professor of Professor of English and Comparative Literature and African American Studies at Columbia University, comments—and explains the central role Aretha played in Angela Davis’s fight for freedom after facing capital charges in California in 1970\. Also: Aretha and Obama—at the beginning of his presidency, at his inauguration, and at the Kennedy Center concert at the end.
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Refugees, Immigrants, and Donald Trump: Viet Thanh Nguyen; plus Anna Deavere Smith on the school-to-prison pipeline and Rachel Kushner on women in prison Aug 15, 2018

One of the defining features of Trump’s politics has been the way he’s appealed to hatred and fear of refugees and immigrants. Viet Thanh Nguyen talks about refugee lives, and refugee writers. He’s the author of the novel The Sympathizer—it won the Pulitzer prize—and editor of the new book The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives. He’s also the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant—and he’s a refugee himself, arriving from Vietnam with his family in 1975, when he was 4 years old. Also: Anna Deavere Smith talks about the the school-to-prison pipeline—that’s the subject of her one-woman show, called ‘Notes from the Field,’ which dramatizes the real-life accounts of students, parents, & teachers caught in a system where young people of color who live in poverty get pushed out of the classroom and into the criminal justice system. It’s streaming online now, at HBO.com and HBO GO. Plus: There are 219,000 women in prison in the United States—Rachel Kushner’s new novel, The Mars Room, is a story about of one of them. We talk about the way she mixed facts and imagination in writing the novel. These segments previously aired on the Start Making Sense podcast.
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A Golden Age for News Media under Trump? John Nichols; plus Harold Meyerson on Politics around Kavanaugh and Nomi Prins on Trump and Economic Entropy Aug 08, 2018

The Age of Trump, despite the opportunities it brings to investigative journalism, is hardly a “golden age”, John Nichols argues: cutbacks and layoffs have crippled the nation’s news media—not just in covering the White House, but state and local government as well. The New York Daily News provides a vivid example of the crisis. Also: The Democrats need to retake control of the Senate if they are to have a chance of preventing Trump from transforming the Supreme Court into a right-wing bulwark. Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect analyzes the political battles in key states—and the factors that may weaken Brett Kavanaugh in his confirmation hearings. Plus: Trump has done something genuinely new as president: he specializes in creating uncertainty. Nomi Prins will talk about the economic consequences for us, and for our future.
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Is Trumpism Fascism? Katha Pollitt; plus Mike Lux on Political Strategy and Harold Meyerson on Jonathan Gold Aug 01, 2018

Katha Pollitt is not happy with leftists calling Trump a “fascist” – maybe there’s a better term for his attacks on democracy, which have a lot in common with authoritarian leaders in Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Hungary, Poland, and other places. The foundation for all of them: austerity, pushed by the big banks and right-wing parties, which creates the economic anxiety that fuels racism and anti-immigrant sentiment. Plus: left politics can win all over the country, not just in New York City and Chicago and LA – that’s what Mike Lux says , he’s a longtime strategist for the progressive movement and Democratic candidates. Also: Jonathan Gold, who died on July 21, was the first food writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for criticism. He wrote, not about high-end restaurants, but about mom-and-pop places in immigrant neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect talks about the significance of Gold’s writing about immigrants and their food in the Age of Trump.
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After Trump’s Worst Week: Joan Walsh; plus David Cole on Brett Cavanaugh and Michael Kazin on Jimmy Carter Jul 25, 2018

A week ago Trump returned from his disastrous press conference with Putin in Helsinki to face a firestorm of criticism. Joan Walsh reviews the political landscape this week, when a significant minority of Republicans disagree with Trump on Putin – but nevertheless “approve” of his presidency. On the Democratic side, he tumultuous week has further energized candidates and voters for the fall elections. Also: Some questions for Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s Supreme Court nominee: David Cole, legal director of the ACLU and legal affairs correspondent for The Nation, says there are questions that Kavanaugh should be required to answer. Plus: Jimmy Carter is widely regarded as a failed president, despite the fact that he promoted human rights around the world, granted amnesty to Vietnam era draft resisters, and was a dedicated opponent of racism who enforced the Voting Rights Act. Historian Michael Kazin analyzes what went wrong with Carter’s presidency.
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Trump and Putin: Separating the Surreal From the Sensible—Katrina vanden Heuvel; plus John Nichols on Kavanaugh and Adam Winkler on Corporate ‘Rights’ Jul 18, 2018

Katrina vanden Heuvel argues that Trump’s meeting with Putin in Helsinki on Monday might have brought progress on nuclear arms control and conflict reduction in Syria; but when Trump argued that the US and Russia were “both . . . responsible” for Russian interference in the 2016 election, he squandered the opportunity—outlined in the “Common Ground” open letter published in The Nation, and signed by two dozen prominent figures including Gloria Steinem, Noam Chomsky, John Dean, Governor Bill Richardson, Walter Mosley, Michael Moore, and Valerie Plame. Plus: John Nichols examines the record of Trump’ Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and assesses the progress of the effort to block his confirmation by the Senate. Also: UCLA Law Professor Adam Winkler explores the long and terrible history of how corporations were given rights by the Supreme Court–all the same rights that people have. Adam’s book is ‘We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights.’
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Is Trump Crazy? Would Pence Be Worse? Amy Wilentz on Trump, Jane Mayer on Pence, and E.J. Dionne on America After Trump Jul 11, 2018

Amy Wilentz comments on the mental and emotional status of the president, as analyzed by 27 psychiatrists in The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, a book edited by Bandy X. Lee. The book was number four on the New York Times bestseller list. Also: Would Pence be worse? Jane Mayer of The New Yorker reports—she interviewed more than 60 people in search of answers, including Pence’s mother. Several say he’s wanted to be president at least since high school. Plus: America After Trump: E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post argues that Trump has mobilized progressive political forces that can transform America—and he reminds us that Trump never had a majority of voters, and is the most unpopular presidents in our history. E.J. is co-author of One Nation After Trump: A Guide to the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet-Deported. These segments previously aired on the Start Making Sense podcast.
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How We Can Block Trump’s Supreme Court Pick: John Nichols; plus Thomas Frank on Trump’s Supporters and David Graeber on Bullshit Jobs Jul 04, 2018

The most important political task of the year is blocking Trump’s supreme court pick. It can be done, John Nichols argues—with the right political strategy: organizing in the states with the swing votes: Maine and Alaska. It’s not New York and LA, but rather Portland and Anchorage where the fight will be won. Also: Just eight years ago Democrats held not only the presidency but both houses of Congress. How did they lose so much in such a short time? Thomas Frank explains the disaster, and how, for millions of people, the recession of 2008 has never ended. His new book is 'Rendezvous with Oblivion: Reports from a Sinking Society.' Plus: “Does your job make a meaningful contribution to the world?” David Graeber posted that question on the internet – and a million people clicked on it. A lot of them posted answers. Now his book about those answers is out – it’s called 'Bullshit Jobs,' and it casts dramatic light on our economy and politics.
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Cruelty and Confusion in Trump’s Treatment of Migrant Children: Zoë Carpenter; plus Eyal Press on Drone Warriors and Amy Wilentz on Haiti Jun 27, 2018

What’s happening to migrant children separated from their parents by the Border Patrol? Zoë Carpenter reports on the confusion and uncertainty around Trump’s ever-changing and ever-cruel “policy”—and on her recent visit inside a Border Patrol “processing facility” in McAllen, Texas, where migrants are taken after being apprehended, and where children were being held separately from their parents. Also: Drones have become the centerpiece of America’s war on terror. We are told that drones have turned warfare into a costless and bloodless exercise for Americans, something resembling a video game for the people at the computer screens. Eyal Press reports that the costs of our drone war include not only the casualties on the ground, including civilians, but also the drone warriors themselves—who suffer, not from PTSD, but from something else—“moral injury.” Plus: Haiti: for Trump, it’s a “shithole country”; for us, it’s the country with the first and only successful slave revolution of the modern era—1791-1804—for which the French exacted a heavy price from the Haitians. Amy Wilentz has just returned from Haiti with a report—on earthquake reconstruction (not much), street demonstrations for a higher minimum wage (now $4.50/day)—and World Cup fever (high).
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Catastrophic Climate Change is Not an “Environmental” Issue: Bill McKibben; plus Andrew Bacevich on Endless War and Robert Edelman on the World Cup Jun 20, 2018

It’s the most crucial security question that humans have ever faced: catastrophic climate change. Bill McKibben says it’s too late to halt global warming, but we still have a chance to curb it, “short of civilizational destruction.” Also: Donald Trump, the Trump supporters, and wars without end: Andrew Bacevich notes that Trump alone among presidents since 9-11 has said our 17 years of war have resulted in “nothing except death and destruction” – a statement that’s “more true than false.” Plus: the World Cup is a political event not only in Russia but many other countries as well, where issues of nationalism, immigration, and race have surfaced in many different ways. Sports historian Robert Edelman explains
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In Trump’s ‘Madness,’ A Chance for Peace in Korea: Bruce Cumings; plus Ahilan Arulanantham on Trump’s family separation policy, and Harold Meyerson on the Democrats Jun 13, 2018

“In Trump’s madness, he brings innocent eyes” to the Korean conflict, says University of Chicago historian Bruce Cumings—which frees Trump from Washington establishment thinking, and create a real possibility of peace in Korea. Plus: The Trump administration’s policy of separating children from their parents seeking asylum at the border is unusually cruel—and also unconstitutional. Ahilan Arulanantham, legal director of the ACLU of Southern California, explains the organization’s recent legal victory—and the need for citizen activism on the issue. Also: Now that some of the key primaries are over, the Democrats’ chances of retaking the House, and maybe the Senate, have come into sharper focus. Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect is optimistic.
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Trump Is ‘Crazy Like a Fox’: Seymour Hersh—Plus Bryce Covert on homelessness and Viet Thanh Nguyen on refugees Jun 06, 2018

Seymour Hersh has won dozens of awards for his reporting on My Lai, Abu Ghraib, CIA surveillance of the anti-war movement in the Nixon years, and the crimes of Kissinger and the CIA in Chile and other places. He worked as a staff writer for the New York Times and The New Yorker, where he wrote during the Iraq war. He’s also written a dozen books—the new one is Reporter: A Memoir. In this interview he talks about his career, and the president and the media, today. Also: Nearly half of all renters in America today can’t afford rent, and over half a million Americans are homeless on any given night. The problem is simple: a severe shortage of affordable housing. How did we get here? Bryce Covert reports. Plus: One of the defining features of Trump’s politics has been the way he’s appealed to hatred and fear of refugees and immigrants. Viet Thanh Nguyen talks about refugee lives, and refugee writers. He’s the author of the novel The Sympathizer—it won the Pulitzer prize—and editor of the new book The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives. He’s also the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant—and he’s a refugee himself, arriving from Vietnam with his family in 1975, when he was 4 years old.
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How Abortion Rights Triumphed in Ireland: Katha Pollitt; plus Wendy Pearlman on Syrian Refugees and Tom Engelhardt on ‘America’s Empire of Nothing’ May 30, 2018

Everyone said the Irish vote on abortion would be close – but 66 per cent voted “yes” last Friday, including a majority of men, and a majority of every age group except those over 65\. Katha Pollitt was there – she reports on the campaign, and the victory celebrations. Also: the American military is the most massive, the most technologically advanced, and the best-funded fighting force in the world -- but in the last fifteen years of constant war it has won nothing. Tom Engelhardt comments; he’s the legendary editor who created and runs the TomDispatch website, and his new book is “A Nation Unmade by War.” Plus: Trump and Syrian refugees: During Obama’s last year, about 10,000 were admitted to the US; so far this year, the number is eleven. Wendy Pearlman explains – she interviewed hundreds of Syrian refugees across the Middle East and Europe. Her new book is “We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria.”
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Progressive Dems Win Big in Primaries: John Nichols; plus Yanis Varoufakis on Trump and Europe, and Arthur Goldhammer on Paris in May '68 May 23, 2018

Progressive and populist Democrats had some impressive victories in primaries last week in Pennsylvania, and also in Nebraska and Idaho—defeating centrist, establishment rivals, and showing a new path to victory in November for the party. John Nichols explains. Also: Trump versus Europe. He’s threatening European banks and industries with sanctions: if they don’t cut off trade with Iran, they would be barred from American markets and transactions with American banks. We asked Yanis Varoufakis for his analysis—he’s the former finance minister of Greece who led the resistance to European Bankers demanding austerity—now he has co-founded an international grassroots movement that is campaign for the revival of democracy in Europe. Plus: Fifty years ago this month, in May ’68, students in Paris took to the streets calling for a new kind of revolution. Over the next year or two, there were student uprisings and revolts around the world in many places. But Paris in May 1968 was the best one, the only one to move beyond the campus, with a general strike involving ten million workers threatening the political system. Arthur Goldhammer, the translator and writer, comments.
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From Gaza to Jerusalem: Amy Wilentz; Plus Rachel Kushner on 'The Mars Room' and Patricia Williams on lynching May 16, 2018

Every day Trump makes the world less safe; Monday was a big one. Amy Wilentz comments on Ivanka and Jared—and Sheldon Adelson—dedicating the new American embassy in Jerusalem, while the Israeli military killed 60 Palestinians in a mass nonviolent protest at the Gaza border. Amy was Jerusalem correspondent for The New Yorker and wrote the novel Martyrs' Crossing about Palestinians and Israelis. Also: There are 219,000 women in prison in the United States—Rachel Kushner’s new novel, The Mars Room, is a story about of one of them. She explains the mix of fact and imagination that went into the book. Plus: More than 4,400 African Americans were murdered by white mobs between 1877 and 1950—that’s the conclusion of the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit legal center. The new National Memorial for Peace and Justice, in Montgomery, Alabama, is dedicated to the victims—it opened last month. Patricia Williams comments; she’s a longtime columnist for The Nation.
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Trump has No Plan B on Iran—Except War: Michael Klare, plus D.D. Guttenplan on Texas and Eric Foner on Columbia ‘68 May 09, 2018

Trump’s plan on pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal is to pressure Iran to restart negotiations on terms more favorable to the US—but that’s never going to happen, says Michael Klare. And Trump has no Plan B – except for war—which could quickly involve Israel fighting in Lebanon against Iran’s ally Hezbollah, which has thousands of rockets aimed at Israeli cities. Also: the coming showdown in Texas between populist Democrats and establishment Democrats” D. D. Guttenplan has returned from the Lone Star State with a report on the political transformation underway there. Plus: It’s the 50th anniversary of the student uprising at Columbia University, against university complicity in the war—setting the path for that students at hundreds of other schools followed during the next few years. Historian Eric Foner explains how it happened, and finds lessons for today’s movements for social justice.
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Trump’s Financial Crimes Are More Likely to Bring Him Down than Russiagate: David Cay Johnston on Trump, plus Bruce Cumings on Korea and Elizabeth Drew on Comey May 02, 2018

Trump’s greatest vulnerability may not be Russiagate, but rather his financial and tax crimes. David Cay Johnston has been investigating and reporting on Trump’s finances for nearly 30 years. He won a Pulitzer Prize at The New York Times, and now he’s editor-in-chief of DCReport.org. Plus: The amazing news from Korea about the prospects for peace and de-nuclearization: historian Bruce Cumings of the University of Chicago comments, warning that the Washington consensus opposes a treaty. His books include “The Korean War: A History” and “North Korea: Another Country.” Also: James Comey has tried to justify his announcement 11 days before Election Day about re-opening his investigation of Hillary’s emails– but what the fired FBI Director said on his book tour is different from what’s in his book “A Higher Loyalty.” Elizabeth Drew, the legendary Washinton journalist, comments--she's the author of "Washington Journal: Reporting Watergate and Richard Nixon's Downfall."
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James Comey’s Self-Justification Is Just ‘Not Good Enough’—Jonathan Freedland, plus Lawrence Wright on Trump and Texas and Margaret Atwood on ‘The Handmaid’s Tale' Apr 25, 2018

James Comey’s monster best-seller, A Higher Loyalty, is “a plea for exculpation,” says Jonathan Friedland, but its self-justifications are “not good enough.” Jonathan is a columnist for The Guardian and a best-selling author. Also: How long will Texas remain a red state? Lawrence Wright says demographic and political change is underway, and that Betto O’Rourke’s campaign for the senate, challenging Ted Cruz, is a crucial one. Wright’s new book is God Bless Texas. Plus: The Handmaid’s Tale, that feminist dystopian novel, is beginning its second season as a TV series on Hulu this week. Margaret Atwood talks about the significance of The Handmaid’s Tale in the Age of Trump (recorded a year ago, just before the first season’s premiere).
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The Trump Reelection Scenario: Thomas Frank; plus Adam Hochschild on Guns and Gary Younge’s Return to Muncie Apr 18, 2018

Trump is the most unpopular president in history—but could he be reelected in 2020? Thomas Frank says it wouldn’t be hard—if the economy continues to boom and wages go up, even a little. But the Democrats can stop him—if they change their ways. Also: Adam Hochschild on guns in Trump’s America after the Parkland shootings. He talks about armed militias, about the law in Iowa that permits the carrying of loaded guns in public by people who are blind, and about why the Koch Brothers are major funders of the NRA—even though they are not especially enthusiastic about guns. Also: Gary Younge returns to Muncie, Indiana, to talk to Trump supporters—and opponents—a year after Trump took office. He found supporters still enthusiastic, and opponents mobilized as never before. Gary spent the month leading up to the 2016 election in that rust belt city.
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Barbara Ehrenreich: What’s Wrong with ‘Wellness’; plus David Cole on Trump and Mueller, and Katha Pollitt on Stormy and Melania Apr 11, 2018

Barbara Ehrenreich talks about the pressure to remain fit, slim, and in control of one's body, even as the end of life approaches—and about the epidemic of unecessary testing pushed by our for-profit medical profession. Barbara’s new book is 'Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer.' Plus: David Cole explains why the FBI raid on the offices and residences of Michael Cohen was not, as Trump said, “an attack on our country,” but rather an example of the rule of law. David is National Legal Director of the ACLU and Legal Correspondent for The Nation. And Katha Pollitt comments on the recent developments in the legal battle over the payoff to Stormy Daniels by Trump’s attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, and she explains why she likes Stormy, and why she’s sympathetic to Melania. Katha is a columnist for The Nation.
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A Russia Strategy for Progressives: Katrina vanden Heuvel; plus Mark Hertsgaard on cellphone safety, and Stephanie Schriock on Emily’s List Apr 04, 2018

How progressives should think about Russia: Katrina vanden Heuvel talks about Putin and his history, the democratic opposition inside Russia, and assuring American election integrity in the face of threats from both Russians and Republicans. Plus: How big wireless muddied the waters on cell phone safety research: Mark Hertsgaard reports on a special investigation by The Nation—and warns about the lack of testing of G5 technology. Also: How women will turn the House from red to blue: 34,000 women contacted Emily’s List about running for office in the wake of Trump’s election. Stephanie Schriock, the organization’s president, explains the organization’s training and endorsement procedures, and the project of Democrats retaking the House this November.
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How Trump Radicalized the Parkland Kids in Their Fight Against Guns: George Zornick, plus Micah Sifrey on Facebook and Sue Halpern on Trump vs. Libraries Mar 29, 2018

Last Sunday’s Rally for Our Lives shows that having Trump in the White House has made the demands of those wonderful Parkland kids more radical. **George Zornick** comments on the ways the Parkland students have transformed the fight for gun control. Also: It’s time to break up Facebook: that’s what **Micah Sifrey** says, as the Cambridge Analytica scandal has exposed Facebook’s business model—selling users’ data to advertisers, including political campaigns—and raised the problem of monopoly power on the internet. Plus: Why does Trump want to defund libraries? **Sue Halpern** explains; her new novel is “Summer Hours at the Robber’s Library.”
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Hey, Democrats Are Actually Running to Win! Joan Walsh on the Democrats’ new strategy, Amy Wilentz on Ivanka, and Anna Deavere Smith on the school-to-prison pipeline. Mar 21, 2018

After years of getting beaten in state legislative races, the Democrats have a new energy and a new wave of candidates—especially after last year’s stunning victories in Virginia. Joan Walsh reports. Plus: Should Ivanka be indicted? She’s been part of some of the Trump administration's conspiracies to obstruct justice, including the decision to fire James Comey as FBI director. Amy Wilentz reviews the evidence and considers the arguments. Also: Anna Deveare Smith talks about the school-to-prison pipeline—that’s the subject of her one-woman show, called Notes from the Field, which dramatizes the real-life accounts of students, parents, teachers and administrators caught in a system where young people of color who live in poverty get pushed out of the classroom and into the criminal justice system. It’s playing on HBO through the end of March.
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Robert Reich: Trump vs. the Common Good—plus Katha Pollitt on Russiagate Skeptics, and Remembering the My Lai Massacre Mar 14, 2018

Robert Reich says it’s time to turn away from the unbridled greed and selfishness of the Age of Trump and restore the idea of the common good. Reich was Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Labor; his new book is The Common Good. Also: Katha Pollitt takes up the central arguments of those on the left who are Russiagate skeptics, who say that focusing on Russian interference in the election means neglecting more important things, and that, so far, nothing proves that Trump and Putin colluded in the election campaign. Plus: March 16 is the 50th anniversary of the My Lai massacre. We have an interview with the man who stopped the My Lai massacre, American helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson.
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Chris Hayes: What Trump Means When He Says He’s “Strong on Crime” plus Gary Younge on Kids and Guns and Michael Walzer on Foreign Policy for the Left Mar 07, 2018

“For Donald Trump, crime is not a problem to be solved; it is a weapon to be wielded”—against people of color and immigrants: Chris Hayes talks about how Trump has transformed this long-standing weapon of the right. His book A Colony in a Nation is out now in paperback, with a new afterword. Chris is an editor-at-large of The Nation. Plus: Gary Younge explains how the Parkland kids are changing the fight for gun control. He knows a lot about kids and guns—he wrote the award-winning book Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives. Gary is a columnist for The Nation. And Michael Walzer argues that a foreign policy for the left has to begin with internationalism, and with the choice of comrades abroad. His new book is A Foreign Policy for the Left. Michael edited Dissent for three decades and is the author of many books, including Just and Unjust Wars. He wrote about “A Solidarity of Leftists” for The Nation.
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How the Parkland Kids Are Beating the Gun Industry: George Zornick, plus Jane McAlevey on Unions and Amy Wilentz on Ivanka, Jared, and Don Jr . Feb 28, 2018

The mass shooting at that high school in Parkland, Florida, two weeks ago, where 17 kids were killed, is still in the news, because of the brilliant political work being done by the students who survived. George Zornick analyzes the big picture: the decline of the gun industry, the growth in popular support for an assault weapons ban, and campaigns to shame companies that support the NRA and haven't divested from gun manufacturers. Plus: This week the supreme court heard a case that could cripple public-sector unions, some of the last strong unions in America. Jane McAlevey talks about Janus v. AFSCME and what the unions need to do to recover the ground they have lost. And we have another episode of The Children’s Hour: stories from Amy Wilentz—this week, about Ivanka in Korea, Don Junior in India, and Jared in trouble—over his security clearance.
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It's Time to Break Up Amazon—Stacy Mitchell; plus Bryce Covert on low wage workers and Bob Dreyfuss on the Russiagate indictments Feb 21, 2018

Amazon is a radically new kind of monopoly that seeks to control all of online commerce. Stacy Mitchell says it’s time for anti-trust action to separate the Amazon Marketplace from Amazon’s own retail operations. Also: Why have wages stagnated since the seventies? Bryce Covert says one reason is the mandatory noncompete and no-poaching agreements that prevent low-wage workers from taking better-paying jobs. California, Oklahoma and North Dakota have made them unenforceable; the rest of the states should do the same. Plus: Our Russiagate reporter Bob Dreyfuss explains the indictments of 13 Russians for crimes that involved supporting Trump for president—and talks about the next steps Special Counsel Robert Mueller might take—following the trail left by the Russian hacker group “Cozy Bear.”
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Elizabeth Warren on Monopoly Power: George Zornick reports; plus David Dayen on Warren Buffett and Katha Pollitt on Trump and women Feb 14, 2018

Senator Elizabeth Warren wants to make the fight against monopoly power in America a key part of the Democrats’ agenda; George Zornick reports on his interview with her for the magazine’s special issue on the topic. Also, Warren Buffett’s secret: “The sage of Omaha” is America’s favorite tycoon. He supported Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for president; even Bernie Sanders has praised his unselfishness. But David Dayen says Warren Buffett’s wealth has actually been built on monopoly power—and the unfair advantages it provides. Plus: Trump and that white working class woman who voted for him. Is she “stupid,” “gullible,” and “turned on by Trump’s bigotry”? Katha Pollitt comments on Renee Elliott, the laid-off worker at that Carrier plant in Indiana—her recent speech at a labor-group press conference made her the face of the white working class Trump voter.
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Is it ‘Treason’ Not to Clap for the President? Joan Walsh, plus Nomi Prins on Financial Deregulation and Ann Jones on Norwegians Feb 07, 2018

In a speech in Ohio on Monday, Trump said it was “treason” for the Democrats not to applaud him during his State of the Union speech. Tuesday, his spokesperson said he was just kidding. Joan Walsh says it’s not treason—and he wasn’t kidding. Maybe he was just diverting attention from another issue: what happens if Trump refuses to meet with special prosecutor Robert Mueller? Also, here comes the next financial crisis: maybe not this week, but eventually—and Republican deregulation, undermining the institutions designed to protect us, will make it much worse. Nomi Prins explains. Plus: Remember when Trump said we should get fewer immigrants from “shithole countries,” and more from places like Norway? Ann Jones lived in Norway for four years; she explains what Norwegians might bring to the US if they did come: a commitment to equality in health care, education, and a dozen other necessities.
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The Trouble with Teleprompter Trump's State of the Union: Harold Meyerson; plus Meehan Crist and Tim Requarth on Phony Forensics Jan 31, 2018

Trump’s Teleprompter reading of his State of the Union speech was reprehensible in so many ways—why bother listening at all? Don’t we already know enough about him? Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect comments on the lies, and the inadvertent truths, in the president’s speech. Plus, injustice in America: It’s not just the police, it’s also the prosecutors—and their reliance on “forensics”—who create much of the injustice in the American justice system. Despite the portrayal on TV of forensic analysts on the show “CSI” as crime-solving seekers of truth, prominent scientists and criminal justice experts have questioned whether suspects can really be identified by forensic techniques like matching bite marks, hairs, shoeprints, tire tracks, or even fingerprints. According to the Innocence Project, faulty forensic science is a factor in nearly 50 percent of wrongful convictions. Meehan Crist and Tim Requarth explain in their Nation article, “The Crisis of American Forensics.”
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Women Show How to Run—And Win—Against Trump’s GOP: John Nichols, plus Alfred McCoy on Fortress America and the Rev. William Barber on White Nationalism Jan 24, 2018

Trump’s not on the ballot this year, but that’s not stopping Democratic women from running against him in races across the country. John Nichols reports on recent Democratic victories where female candidates in special elections in state races flipped formerly Republican seats—they show how to do it in the mid-term elections in November. Also: Fortress America is crumbling—the rise of China started long before Trump, but he’s alienated allies and abandoned alliances in a way that may now make the process irreversible. Alfred McCoy explains. And the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber talks about white nationalism, patriotism, and Donald Trump—he’s the architect of the Forward Together Moral Monday Movement, president of the North Carolina NAACP and pastor of the Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina.
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How Trump Brought Feminism Back With a Vengeance: Katha Pollitt; plus Bob Dreyfuss on Russiagate and David Bromwich on Trump’s Ruling Passions Jan 17, 2018

Since Trump took office a year ago, Katha Pollitt says, women have been unleashing decades of pent-up anger: starting with the Women’s March, then in some amazing political victories, and in the #MeToo movement. But Trump has also shown how terrible the loss of the White House has been. Also: David Bronwich says there are no surprises with Trump: he’s been the same for decades, a “wounded monster” with a history of racism and a contempt for people he considers “losers.” But defeating him requires more than an issue—it has to be a cause. And Bob Dreyfuss explains the secrets behind the creation of the Trump-Russia dossier assembled by Christopher Steele and Fusion GPS—as revealed in Congressional testimony released last week by Diane Feinstein, against the wishes of the Republicans.
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Oprah for President? John Nichols; plus Harold Meyerson on Trump vs. California and Father Greg Boyle on Working with Ex-Gang Members Jan 10, 2018

John Nichols points out the problems with running a celebrity like Oprah for president; plus Harold Meyerson comments on how Trump is attacking California, the biggest blue state, and how California is resisting. Also: Father Greg Boyle of LA's Homeboy Industries talks about his work with ex-gang members.
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Fred Trump and the KKK of the 1920s: Linda Gordon, plus Nancy MacLean on the Roots of the Radical Right Jan 03, 2018

The KKK of the 1920s had millions of members outside the South. It targeted Catholics and Jews as well as blacks, and had impressive success at electing governors and congressmen. It passed anti-immigrant restrictions that remained in effect until 1965. And Fred Trump, the president’s father, was arrested as a young man at a Klan march in New York City. Historian Linda Gordon explains—her new book is The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan and the American Political Tradition. Plus: Nancy MacLean uncovered the deep history of the radical right’s stealth plan for America: the historic connection between the Koch Brothers' anti-government politics, the white South's massive resistance to desegregation, and a Nobel Prize-winning Virginia economist. Nancy is an award-winning historian and the William H. Chafe Professor of history and public policy at Duke University. Her Democracy in Chains was named "most valuable book" of 2017 by John Nichols on The Nation's Progressive Honor Roll.
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From Bill O’Reilly to Al Franken: Katha Pollitt on #MeToo in 2017; plus John Nichols on The Resistance in 2017 and Howell Raines on Alabama's Amazing Year Dec 27, 2017

Plus, John Nichols on The Resistance in 2017 and Howell Raines on Alabama’s amazing year.
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“Whiteness Is All They’ve Got”: Gary Younge on Trump’s Working Class Supporters; Plus D.D. Guttenplan on Jackson, Miss., and Amy Wilentz on Ivana Dec 20, 2017

Gary Younge interviews Trump’s white working class supporters; D. D. Guttenplan spends a week reporting on Jackson, Mississippi; Amy Wilentz talks about Ivana.
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Victory in Alabama: How Doug Jones Won—Howell Raines. Plus Joan Walsh on #MeToo after Al Franken and John Nichols on Net Neutrality Dec 13, 2017

Alabama voters defeated Roy Moore and elected civil rights hero Doug Jones to the Senate—to take the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions. Howell Raines, the legendary Alabama journalist, explains what happened—and what it means for the future. Plus: What should happen with the “Me Too” campaign to expose sexual harassment, now that Al Franken has said he will leave the Senate? Joan Walsh says Franken’s departure should be “a beginning, not an end.” Also, net neutrality: the FCC is planning to bring it to an end on Thursday. John Nichols thinks that’s a terrible idea.
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How the Democrats Can Defeat Roy Moore in Alabama: Howell Raines on Doug Jones, plus Bob Dreyfuss on Russigate and Gary Young on American Nazis Dec 06, 2017

From the Alabama hill country to the state’s Black Belt, Roy Moore, the Republican senate candidate accused of sexual assault of a 14-year-old, seems to be losing ground to his Democratic opponent Doug Jones. Howell Raines, the legendary Alabama newsman, reports on the final days of the election campaign. Also: It’s been a big week for Russiagate special counsel Robert Mueller. Bob Dreyfuss discusses the guilty plea by Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, and the subpoena for Trump’s records at Deutsche Bank, notorious for money laundering—two developments with ominous implications for the president. Plus: Two ways to interview a Nazi: on the one hand, The New York Times recently did a profile of “the Nazi next door,” portraying him as an ordinary guy; on the other, Gary Younge confronted Richard Spencer, America’s leading white supremacist, on video. With Gary’s help, we compare and contrast the two approaches.
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What Will It Take for the GOP to Pass its Terrible Tax Bill? George Zornick on Senate politics, plus Joan Walsh on sexual harassment in Washington and Rick Perlstein on Republicans against Trump Nov 29, 2017

What will it take for Republicans to pass “the biggest tax scam in history” (Paul Krugman’s phrase)? George Zornick reports on the obstacles the GOP is facing in the Senate, and the pressure its members are feeling from donors. Still to come, if the bill passes the Senate: problems in the House, where the Tea Party Republicans may be more serious about the deficit and the debt. Plus: Sexual harassment in Washington—we’ve learned a lot about that in the last week, and about the way Congress deals with complaints against its members. The procedures have been called “flawed.” Joan Walsh comments, starting with the different cases of John Conyers and Al Franken. Also: Republicans who have stood up to Trump—like Jeff Flake and John McCain—seem like truth-telling heroes to a lot of liberals; but not to Rick Perlstein. The author of the classic political history Nixonland talks about the trouble with anti-Trump Republicans.
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The Resistance to Trump, Year One: David Cole; plus Lawrence O’Donnell on 1968 and Steven Hahn on ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Nov 21, 2017

David Cole on stopping Trump, Lawrence O’Donnell on 1968, and Steven Hahn on “Hillbilly Elegy.”
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Can the Democrats Beat Roy Moore in Alabama? Howell Raines; plus Adam Shatz on Trump and the Bomb, and Corey Robin on Trump's Reactionary Mind Nov 15, 2017

The legendary journalist Howell Raines reports from Alabama on the continuing Republican support for Roy Moore; Adam Shatz talks about Trump's place in the system to control nuclear weapons; and Corey Robin talks about Trump's place in the tradition of reactionary political thought.
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Katrina vanden Heuvel: Russia, Trump, and the Democrats; plus George Zornick on the GOP Tax Bill and Danny Meyer on the Trouble with Tipping Nov 08, 2017

Katrina vanden Heuvel reports on Russia's monument to victims of the Gulag and comments on Robert Mueller's investigations and the lessons of Trump's victory. Plus George Zornick discusses the obstacles facing the GOP's tax bill in Congress, and legendary restauranteur Danny Meyer explains why he's against tipping.
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Michelle Goldberg: Republicans and Trump, After the Indictments; plus Bob Dreyfuss on Mueller at Work, and Tony Schwartz on Trump Nov 01, 2017

Michelle Goldberg talks about Republicans and Trump, after the indictments. Bob Dreyfuss says the indictments of Paul Manafort are only the beginning of the results of the work of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. And Tony Schwartz, who wrote Trump's monster best-seller, "The Art of the Deal," talks about Trump's personality—and the ominous implications for all of us.
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Is Trump Crazy? Would Pence be Worse? Jane Mayer on Pence, and Amy Wilentz on Trump; plus Raj Patel on Cheap Food Oct 25, 2017

Would Pence be worse? Jane Mayer of The New Yorker reports—she interviewed more than 60 people in search of answers, including Pence’s mother. Several say he’s wanted to be president at least since high school. Also: Amy Wilentz on Trump; plus Raj Patel on Cheap Food.
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How Much Time Could Women Reclaim If They Didn't Have to Deal With Men’s Bullshit? Joan Walsh on Harvey Weinstein—plus John Nichols on Trump's Generals and Zoë Carpenter on the Future of Food Oct 18, 2017

In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein revelations of sexual harassment and assault, Joan Walsh talks about the torrent of #metoo stories, which reveal just how much time women spend dealing with male abuse. Plus John Nichols on Trump's Generals and Zoë Carpenter on the Future of Food.
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Ai Weiwei on Refugees: They Are Part of Us—plus David Dayen on JPMorgan Chase and Amy Wilentz on Ivanka, Jared, and Don Jr. Oct 11, 2017

“Human Flow” is Ai Weiwei’s amazing documentary on the global refugee crisis. He’s our greatest political artist—here he talks about his first feature film, shot in 23 countries and dozens of refugee camps.
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Say It Again: Donald Trump Did Not Win the Popular Vote—E.J. Dionne; plus Ari Berman on Gerrymandering and Joan Walsh with Hillary Oct 04, 2017

E.J. Dionne argues that Trump has mobilized progressive political forces that can transform America. Plus Ari Berman reports on the argument about gerrymandering at the Supreme Court, and Joan Walsh sits down with Hillary Clinton for a conversation about what happened in the campaign.
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Trump Is Inviting America Into the Torture Chamber—Sasha Abramsky; Plus, Katha Pollitt and D.D. Guttenplan on Hillary’s Memoir. Sep 27, 2017

Sasha Abramsky on Trump and fear, plus Katha Pollitt and D.D. Guttenplan on Hillary’s memoir.
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Trump’s Campaign Chief Paul Manafort Faces Indictment—plus Hillary’s Book and Ken Burns’s Vietnam Doc Sep 20, 2017

Bob Dreyfuss reports the big news in the Russiagate scandal, plus Sarah Leonard on Hillary’s Book and Todd Gitlin on Ken Burns’s Vietnam documentary on PBS.
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Hurricane politics and climate change in the Age of Trump: Mark Hertsgaard and John Nichols; plus Alfred McCoy on Cyberwar with China Sep 13, 2017

Scott Pruitt, who Trump appointed to head the EPA, says we should be helping victims of the hurricanes in Florida and Texas, and not debating climate change. Mark Hertsgaard has a different view--and John Nichols explains why Scott Pruitt is a disaster. Also, Alfred McCoy talks about the Pentagon's plans for war with China, and why we might lose.
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Behind Trump’s Heartless Attack on the Dreamers: John Nichols, plus Elizabeth Holtzman on Robert Mueller and Joan Walsh on Mike Pence Sep 06, 2017

Why Trump sent Jeff Sessions to announce they were targeting the Dreamers for deportation—John Nichols explains. Plus Elizabeth Holtzman, veteran of the Watergate investigations, on Robert Mueller’s brilliant move against Trump, and Joan Walsh answers the question, would Pence be worse?
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Houston vs Climate Change: Roane Carey; plus Erwin Chemerinsky on Trump & Arpaio, and Bob Dreyfuss on Seth Rich Aug 31, 2017

Roane Carey, plus Erwin Chemerinsky on Trump’s pardon of Joe Arpaio and Bob Dreyfuss on Seth Rich.
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Bannon’s Exit: All Power to Jared? Amy Wilentz & John Nichols; plus Joshua Holland on Russia & Democracy Aug 24, 2017

Amy Wilentz on the boy wonder, John Nichols on Trump after Bannon, and Joshua Holland on Russia and democracy.
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White Nationalists in Charlottesville & DC: Eric Foner; plus Bob Dreyfuss on Manafort and Robert Lipsyte on Trump and Golf Aug 17, 2017

Plus Bob Dreyfuss on Paul Manafort, and Robert Lipsyte on Trump and golf
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How the Trump Presidency Ends: Frank Rich Compares the President’s Situation to Watergate Aug 10, 2017

Plus Joshua Holland on Trump voters and David Cole on the resistance.
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Surviving the Trump Years: Katha Pollitt’s Guide for the Anxious and the Depressed Aug 03, 2017

Plus John Nichols on Medicare-for-All and Rosa Brooks on the generals.
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Is Trump Desperate Enough to Pardon Himself? Plus Healthcare in the Senate and Happiness in Denmark Jul 26, 2017

David Cole, legal director of the ACLU and The Nation’s legal affairs correspondent, argues that Trump would only be talking about pardoning himself if he was desperate—because he knows what the Special Counsel is likely to find—and thus willing to pay a tremendous political price to avoid impeachment. Plus: The Senate GOP healthcare bill is confusing—that’s the way they want it, says George Zornick: it’s their only chance of repealing Obamacare. And Joshua Holland explains why Danes are so much happier than Americans: it’s not just because Donald Trump is NOT their president.
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Trump's Attorney & Russian Bankers: Bob Dreyfuss, plus Amy Wilentz on Don Jr. and Suzanne Gordon on the VA Jul 19, 2017

Bob Dreyfuss reports on the lawyers on both sides of the Russia investigations, starting with Mark Kasowicz, Trump’s longtime personal attorney, who is also working for Russian bankers connected to the meeting with Don Jr. at Trump Tower. Also: the deep challenges facing Trump's legal team. Plus: Amy Wilentz with The Children's Hour: news about Don Jr., Jared, Ivanka, and Eric—boy, are those kids in trouble this week! One big question: Why were Jared and Ivanka partying with Chuck Schumer in the Hamptons last week? And Suzanne Gordon argues, in the wake of the Republicans' failure to repeal or replace Obamacare, that the VA provides a strong example of healthcare for America—better in many ways than Medicare for all.
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Al Franken Versus the De-Humorizer—Plus Ari Berman on Voting & Joan Walsh on Trump Jr. Jul 12, 2017

Al Franken talks about the dangers of humor in politics, about the voters who supported Trump, the “deep hole” Attorney General Jeff Sessions has dug for himself, and the need for a public option in health care in America. His new book is Al Franken: Giant of the Senate. Also: Joan Walsh comments on Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russian government representative promising dirt on Hillary: it may make him a criminal, and it certainly made him a liar. And Ari Berman explains what the Russians did to hack voting, and what it would take to make our systems less vulnerable—and why Trump’s commission on “electoral integrity” should be disbanded.
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Naomi Klein: We’re All in Trump’s Reality Show Now—Plus Amy Wilentz on Jared; and Al Franken Jul 05, 2017

Trump’s presidential reality show is non-stop, Naomi Klein says in Part 2 of our interview—and, as a result, people really die. Naomi’s new book, No Is Not Enough, debuted at number two on the New York Times bestseller list. Also: The Jared Report: Amy Wilentz talks about the most trusted man in the Trump White House—his real estate holdings, his efforts to bring peace to the Middle East, and his first speech as a public official—sad! And we revisit our 2003 interview with Al Franken about his number one bestseller, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. Now he has a new number one bestseller: Al Franken, Giant of the Senate.
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Naomi Klein: Kill the Trump Within—Plus, Health-Care in the Senate and Trump's Travel Ban Jun 28, 2017

It's not enough to say 'no' to Trump, Naomi Klein argues; we need to transform ourselves and our movement to bring about the change we need. Also: Senate Republicans postponed voting on their "health-care" bill, after the CBO revealed its terrible consequences; Zoë Carpenter comments. And, David Cole, National Legal Director of the ACLU, explains the Supreme Court's decision to hear arguments in October about Trump's travel ban.
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Trumpcare Is the Most Unpopular Legislation in History—Plus, Socialism and Thoreau Jun 21, 2017

Only 17 percent of Americans approve of Republican efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare; George Zornick says maybe that explains the secrecy of Senate Republicans in drafting their bill. Also: Why are young people voting for old socialists? Sarah Leonard comments on the support for Bernie Sanders, Jeremy Corbyn and similar candidates across Europe. And Jedediah Purdy responds to critics of Henry David Thoreau and Walden, outlining the radicalism of his politics and his writing.
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The Case for Impeaching Trump—Plus, Trump’s Tweets and Corbyn’s Triumph Jun 14, 2017

John Nichols argues that Trump should be charged by the House with obstruction of justice and abuse of power and put on trial in the Senate. Plus: Amy Wilentz talks about the trouble with Trump's tweets, which the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals cited Monday in their ruling rejecting his travel ban. And: Paul Mason analyzes last week’s elections in Britain, and finds lessons for the American left in the historic campaign led by Labour's Jeremy Corbyn. This episode of Start Making Sense is brought to you by The Dig, a podcast from Jacobin magazine. Check out The Dig on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jacobin-radio/id791564318?mt=2
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Norman Lear: Donald Trump Is the Middle Finger of the American Right Hand Jun 07, 2017

Norman Lear, who created "All in the Family," reflects on why it succeeded in the Age of Nixon—and on what is different about political satire in the Age of Trump. Plus: The Nation's Zoë Carpenter reports on Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, who has taken the lead in fighting for an alternative to the GOP's repeal and replacement of Obamacare. And: Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post discusses what happened when Paul Ryan's hometown lost its GM plant. Her new book is Janesville.
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Sasha Abramsky: Trump Is Like a Cornered Animal. Plus: David Cole and Paul Mason May 31, 2017

The "new normal" of daily disasters for the White House make Trump more dangerous and irrational, Sasha Abramsky says, and more likely to adopt fascistic tactics. Plus: conservatives argue that the courts have gone too far in rejecting Trump's travel ban as an unconstitutional attack on Muslims—David Cole of the ACLU responds. And Paul Mason analyzes the British elections in the wake of Trump's troubled trip to Europe.
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Donald Trump's Cruel and Unusual Budget—Plus the Supreme Court on Voting and Trump in Saudi Arabia May 24, 2017

All budgets are political statements—Trump’s, submitted to the House on Tuesday, represents a cruel attack on the weakest and most vulnerable, in order to slash taxes for the wealthiest. And the assumptions behind the claim that it is “balanced” could generously be called “unusual.” George Zornick comments. Plus: The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that two of North Carolina’s congressional districts had been gerrymandered to weaken the black vote in the state. Ari Berman explains. Also: Trump’s weekend visit to Saudi Arabia was an embarrassment in many ways, and sinister in others. Joshua Holland has the details.
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Will Trump Even Make It Through One Term? Plus: Montana’s Special Election, and Ivanka's New Book May 17, 2017

Could the Democrats remove Trump from office? Harold Meyerson comments on the politics of impeachment, and the lessons of the Democrats’ successful effort to remove Nixon, and the Republicans’ failed effort to remove Clinton. Also: D.D. Guttenplan reports on the Democrats’ efforts to flip a Republican House seat in the special election in Montana on May 25, where Democrat Rob Quist, a musician, is running against a multi-millionaire. And Amy Wilentz comments on Ivanka’s new book 'Women Who Work'. She calls it “a collated collection of bogus ideas and self-help puffery and platitude.”
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Rick Perlstein: What We Didn’t Understand about Trump May 10, 2017

The leading histories of the conservative movement don’t account for the Klan enthusiasts and the “tribunes of white rage” that Trump mobilized and that he represents—that’s what Rick Perlstein argues in a mea culpa on behalf of historians of American politics. Also: The rock-star appeal of Modern Monetary Theory for the Sanders generation. Atossa Araxia Abrahamian says that, if money is understood correctly, “debt is not the end.” And Heather Ann Thompson talks about the Attica prison uprising of 1971 and its legacy—her book Blood in the Water won The Nation Institute’s Ridenhour award.
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Laura Poitras: The Many Contradictions of Julian Assange May 03, 2017

Risk is the new film by Laura Poitras, about Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. Poitras, who won the Oscar for best documentary for her film about Edward Snowden, Citizenfour, calls Assange “admirable, brilliant, and flawed.” Also: Stephen Cohen says a new cold war is threatening world peace, and a new McCarthyism is undermining American politics. And Eric Foner says it might be possible to impeach Donald Trump—but having Mike Pence as president would probably be worse.
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Margaret Atwood: ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ in the Age of Trump Apr 26, 2017

The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel about the US after a right-wing coup has installed a theocratic regime, is now a ten-part series on Hulu. The TV version is shocking, scary, and surprisingly relevant in Trump’s America. In this interview, she recalls how and why she wrote the book—in 1984—and what in the TV version seems most resonant today. Also: Katha Pollit says “It’s not ‘McCarthyism’ to demand answers on Trump, Russia, and the election.” And, for our Ivanka Watch segment, Amy Wilentz comments on Ivanka’s debut on the world stage with her first official foreign trip—to the W20 in Germany, where she was booed.
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Bill McKibben: This Is Our Last Chance to Save the Planet Apr 19, 2017

“We’ll either save, or doom, the planet, during the Trump administration.” That’s what Bill McKibben says—he’s an organizer of the Climate March in Washington on Sunday, April 29. Also: 81 percent of white Evangelicals voted for Trump, despite his obvious failings as a Christian. Frances Fitzgerald examines Evangelicals’ earlier history in politics, including their support for a Democrat—the “born-again” Jimmy Carter. Her new book is The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America. Plus: Andrew Bacevich looks at America’s longest war. Our fight in Afghanistan, which began 15 years ago, shows no sign of ending, despite the recent dropping of “the mother of all bombs.”
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Tom Frank: Would Bernie Have Been Able to Beat Trump? Hell Yes! Apr 12, 2017

In the rust belt, "they hated Hillary" -- that's what Tom Frank found on his recent book tour for the paperback of "Listen, Liberal: Or Whatever Happened to the Party of the People?" Also: Is Ivanka Trump responsible for her father's attack on Syria? Amy Wilentz comments on the president's reliance on his daughter and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Plus: Now that Neil Gorsuch has been sworn in as a Supreme Court justice, Ari Berman reviews the big picture of the battle for voting rights.
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Chris Hayes: Donald Trump Is a Law-and-Order President In the Worst Possible Way Apr 05, 2017

How we got from the events in Ferguson to the election of you-know-who: Chris Hayes talks about race, incarceration, and politics in his new book A Colony In a Nation—Salon called it “a dark book for a dark time.” Plus: Although Trump was the least Christian of all the Republican candidates, white Evangelicals voted for him overwhelmingly, despite the work of some prominent Evangelical leaders. Sarah Posner of The Nation Institute analyzes the political deal that Evangelicals made—she wrote about the issue last month for The New Republic. And Gary Younge explains what it’s been like talking about kids killed by guns—on call-in shows on talk-radio. His book Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives recently won the Anthony J. Lukas Prize.
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Chris Hayes: Trump ‘Knew Literally—And I Mean Literally—Nothing About’ His Health-Care Bill Mar 29, 2017

Chris Hayes assesses the damage to Trump and to the Republicans caused by the failure of their effort to end Obamacare—and the opportunities the major defeat now opens up for progressives. Plus: The deepening crisis facing Trump over questions about his campaign’s collusion with the Russians. Joan Walsh comments. And Amy Wilentz argues that all the publicity about Ivanka and her children is part of a Trump media campaign to distract the public and delight tabloid readers.
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Jane Mayer on the Reclusive Billionaire Who Made Trump President Mar 22, 2017

You may not have heard of the hedge-fund magnate Robert Mercer, but he was probably the most important backer of Trump for president. Jane Mayer of The New Yorker has the first in-depth report on this little-known figure and former Breitbart News funder. Also: Is Trump like Nixon? Both won by exploiting the resentments of the white working class; both covered up crimes committed by their campaigns against the Democrats. But Rick Perlstein, author of the classic book Nixonland, says the answer is no: Trump is not like Nixon. Plus: Tom Hayden finished a book on the antiwar movement of the sixties before he died in October: Hell No: The Forgotten Power of the Vietnam Peace Movement. It’s out now from Yale University Press. Steve Wasserman, Tom’s editor and publisher, comments.
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Democrats Need to Understand Why the Rust Belt’s White Workers Still Support Trump Mar 15, 2017

Why do many white workers who voted for Trump still support him? The Nation sent D.D. Guttenplan to Ohio to find out—he’s returned now with his report. Also: should the feminist movement welcome people who are anti-abortion? Wouldn’t that make the resistance to Trump stronger? Katha Pollitt doesn't think so. And: Ari Berman reports on a big victory for voting rights in Texas, where a federal court ruled that the state intentionally discriminated against black and Latino voters with its redistricting maps.
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This Is the Resistance: More Than 5,000 Grassroots Groups Have Sprung Up Since Trump Was Elected Mar 08, 2017

Joshua Holland surveys the new grassroots resistance groups that have sprung up since the election—he found more than 75, and that number is likely be growing. Indivisible is the biggest of these groups, with more than 5,000 local groups, at least two in every Congressional district. Jeremy Haile explains—he’s one of the authors of the Indivisible Guide. March 8 was International Women’s Day, and Rebecca Solnit was on strike during it. She talks about about the exciting shape feminist activism has taken over the last few year—she calls it “fearless,” “unapologetic” and “gorgeously transformative.” Rebecca’s new book is The Mother of all Questions.
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How the Democrats Can Beat Trump on Tax Reform Mar 01, 2017

Harold Meyerson says it’s time for the Democrats to move beyond simply saying “no” to Trump and challenge him with alternative tax proposals that would really help working class people. Harold is executive editor of The American Prospect. Plus: The New York Times has published two articles suggesting that Ivanka will save us from her father. Needless to say, Amy Wilentz doesn’t agree. Also: This week we are celebrating the 90th birthday of Harry Belafonte—he’s been a central figure behind the scenes of the civil rights movement since the 1950s, and he did some amazing things on TV in the crucial year of 1968. Joan Walsh explains.
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Jane Mayer: Dark Money and Donald Trump Feb 22, 2017

The Koch brothers, the GOP’s biggest donors, didn’t support Trump for president—but he’s supporting their pro-business and anti-environmental agenda now. Jane Mayer of the New Yorker explains; her book Dark Money is out now in paperback. Plus: What Trump has actually done that matters, not just what he’s tweeted, during his first month: George Zornick reports. Also: Who’s the political figure in our history most different from Donald Trump? The answer is easy: Eleanor Roosevelt. Blanche Wiesen Cook comments—the third and final volume of her biography of Eleanor is out now.
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The West Coast Is Leading the Resistance Against Trump Feb 15, 2017

California, Oregon and Washington are leading what could become the largest resistance movement to federal policy in more than a century. Sasha Abramsky reports. Also: Are Evangelical Christians hypocrites for supporting Trump? Katha Pollitt says they understand how politics works: now it’s payback time for the president. Plus: Almost two dozen lawsuits have been filed against Trump’s Muslim travel ban—is that too many? David Cole, National Legal Director of the ACLU, says that lots of judges ruling against the president is a good thing.
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Keith Ellison: How the Democrats Can Win Feb 08, 2017

The Democrats need to “champion working families and give voters a reason to show up at the polls in 2018 and beyond”—that’s what Representative Keith Ellison says. The Nation has endorsed him for chair of the Democratic National Committee. Also: What can Ivanka possibly do for women who work? Amy Wilentz examines the website of our de facto first lady to find some answers. And historian Eric Foner talks about another time in our past when the federal government was as vicious as Trump wants it to be: the 1850s, when the Fugitive Slave Act was the law of the land.
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How Far Outside the Legal Mainstream Is Neil Gorsuch? Feb 01, 2017

David Cole, the national legal director of the ACLU, discusses Trump’s nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, and its implications for constitutional rights and liberties in the Trump era and beyond. Cole also says that last weekend’s demonstrations against Trump’s Muslim ban were crucial to the court victories the ACLU has won so far against the executive order. Also, Zoë Carpenter reports on what Trump has actually done in his first days in office, as opposed to what he has tweeted. Plus, John Nichols takes the long view, explaining the significance of recent victories against gerrymandering in Wisconsin.
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Our ‘Insane Clown President’—and the Women Who Marched Against Him Jan 25, 2017

Matt Taibbi says “Trump made idiots of us all.” He covered the campaign for Rolling Stone—and his new book is Insane Clown President. Also: The Women’s March last Saturday was glorious—what’s the next step? Joan Walsh comments—and responds to David Brooks’s argument that the marchers focused on the “wrong issues”: reproductive rights, equal pay, affordable health care, action on climate change—which, he said, are only “for upper-middle-class voters in university towns and coastal cities.” And Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the Law School at UC Irvine, is suing Donald Trump—for violating the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits officials from taking money or gifts from foreign governments. To determine whether and how much he has received from foreign governments, the plaintiffs are seeking Trump’s tax returns.
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We Can’t Just Protest Trump. We Must Defy Him. Jan 18, 2017

Frances Fox Piven argues that social movements need to “make trouble” to effectively challenge Trump—starting with sanctuary movements that will enlist large numbers of people in resisting his deportation efforts. Plus, David Cole says defending First Amendment freedoms to criticize the president will be a major task in the coming year. And Katha Pollitt talks about the Women’s March on Washington this Saturday, and about the danger of underestimating Trump.
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Trump: Vicious, But Vulnerable Jan 11, 2017

Gary Younge says Trump’s victory shows the weakness of the Republican Party, not its strength—and argues that progressives must avoid despair and channel their anger into an effective resistance. Plus: Obamacare has changed America, and that makes it hard for the Republicans to simply repeal it. David Dayen explains. And Joy Reid of MSNBC talks about Obama’s rhetoric on race and what it suggests for the coming fight against Trump and white nationalism. Her new book is 'We Are The Change We Seek: The Speeches of Barack Obama.'
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Obama Didn’t Talk Much About Race. Did that Open the Door to Trump? Jan 04, 2017

Obamacare saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of black people, but Obama never mentioned that fact—his rhetoric throughout his presidency was always more “race-neutral” than not. And the Obama years also saw the resurgence of white supremacy. Kai Wright asks whether there’s a connection. Plus: Amy Wilentz comments on Michelle Obama’s White House years—her passion and eloquence in the face of Donald Trump, and also how big food and agribusiness defeated her campaign against childhood obesity. And Harold Meyerson examines what Democratic control of California has achieved this year, and explains the forces that have made Republicans powerless in state politics.
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Best of the Left in 2016 Dec 23, 2016

John Nichols says 2016 wasn’t all bad. With this year’s Progressive Honor Roll, we remember some of the people who fought the good fight, and sometimes even won; activists who pointed the way in the resistance to come. Also: David Cole looks back on Obama’s achievements in civil rights, and his mixed record in civil liberties, over the last eight years.
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Robert Reich: Why Republicans Are Wrong about Taxes Dec 21, 2016

Could Republicans be right when they say taxes on business hurt the economy, and low wages help? Robert Reich says there’s an easy way to find out: compare economic growth in high-tax, high-wage California, with Texas. Also: Legendary attorney Marty Garbus argues that Obama should grant clemency to Leonard Peltier, the Native American activist who’s been in prison for 41 years. And, as the horrible year of 2016 comes to an end, Amy Wilentz talks about some of the year’s worst moments—and some of the best.
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Chris Hayes: How We Got from Obama to Trump Dec 14, 2016

How did Obama’s presidency end with the election of Donald Trump? Chris Hayes comments—and talks about his trip to Kenosha, Wisconsin this week with Bernie Sanders to meet with Trump voters. Plus, Joan Walsh says Democrats shouldn’t focus exclusively on the worst of Trump’s cabinet nominees, starting with his Attorney General-designee Jeff Sessions; instead, they should fight ever last one of them. And Andrew Bacevich talks about how Trump’s appointments violate the principle of civilian control of the military—especially his choice for National Security advisor, retired General Michael Flynn, who is “something of a nutcase.”
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Naomi Klein, Rebecca Solnit, and Zack Exley: How Organizing Can Still Win Dec 07, 2016

Naomi Klein reports from Standing Rock on the victory there over the Dakota Pipeline—the lesson, she says, is that resistance and organizing can win. Plus, Rebecca Solnit, author of Hope in the Dark, says “when big dangers arise, you have to think big.” She finds grounds for hope in the Standing Rock story. And Zack Exley, who organized grassroots supporters in the Bernie campaign, talks about the campaign for a Brand New Congress in 2018.
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Is the Recount Assuring Electoral Integrity, or Wasting Money on a Distraction? Nov 30, 2016

Jill Stein has raised almost $7 million to pay for recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. John Nichols says it won’t make Hillary president, but it is a worthwhile electoral practice. Critics on the left say the real problem is vote suppression, voter disfranchisement, and the electoral college. Also: We’re still thinking about Fidel Castro, who died Saturday—Katrin Hansing, who has studied and written about Cuba for two decades, and served as a leader on The Nation’s Cuba trips, comments. And Walter Mosley, author of the Easy Rawlins mysteries, proposes a “shotgun marriage” between capitalism and socialism.
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How to Stop Trump Nov 23, 2016

In 2002, we had Bush and Cheney in the White House with Republican control of the House and the Senate and a Republican majority on the Supreme Court. Nevertheless virtually all of Bush’s most outrageous “national security” initiatives were reversed – because of citizen action and groups like the ACLU. David Cole says the lessons for us as Trump comes to power are clear. Also: We’re still trying to understand exactly how Trump won. Gary Younge spent a month in Muncie, a rust-belt city in the Indiana heartland; he reports that Trump won there not because of Republican enthusiasm for Trump—there wasn’t much of that—but because Democrats lacked enthusiasm for Clinton. And Michelle Chen talks about resettlement programs for Muslim refugees in Minneapolis and elsewhere—how they succeed, and what Trump might do to stop new refugees from entering.
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Mike Davis: The Real Revolution of 2016 Was Not Trump’s Nov 16, 2016

Trumpism is inherently chaotic, Mike Davis argues, and won’t last long, while the emergence of the Bernie Sanders movement has the potential to transform American politics. Plus Joan Walsh looks at how Hillary lost women voters she needed, and what comes next for feminist politics. Also, Kai Wright revisits Trump supporters on Long Island, and reconsiders the place of race in America since Obama’s 2008 Philadelphia speech on race. And Adam Shatz argues the vote in the Rust Belt shows Hillary never should have been the Democratic candidate; but Bernie Sanders couldn’t have beaten Trump either.
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Mourn, Resist, Organize: Our Tasks Now Nov 09, 2016

Katrina vanden Heuvel says there’s no denying the magnitude of our defeats. We need to mourn our losses—but then we have to resist, and organize. Plus John Nichols analyzes the changes we need in the Democratic Party. And Laila Lalami talks about the most vulnerable group in the Trump era: Muslims in America.
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Donald Trump: The View From the Rustbelt Nov 02, 2016

Gary Younge has spent the last several weeks in Muncie, Indiana, reporting on politics in the rust belt. Trump voters there, he says, know his faults, but want “something big” to change their world. Plus, Katha Pollitt asks whether Trump’s misogyny will spark a wave of women’s political action. Also, Tom Frank talks about email: he says the John Podesta emails—released by Wikileaks—tell us much more about how America is run than Hillary’s do. And Adam Shatz argues that Obama’s presidency provoked a white backlash—and rekindled a spirit of black resistance—both of which are prominent features of this year’s campaign.
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The Progressive Candidates Who Are Shaking Up This Election Oct 26, 2016

John Nichols talks about some of our favorite progressive candidates—for the Senate, the House, and state legislatures—who show what good politics look like these days—and who have been endorsed by “Our Revolution,” the Bernie Sanders political group. Also: Tom Hayden, who died on Sunday at 74, meant a lot to a lot of us, including Katrina vanden Heuvel—she comments on his amazing life as an activist and writer. Tom was a long-time member of the Editorial Board of The Nation and a frequent contributor to the magazine’s pages. Plus: The documentary filmmaker, Deia Schlosberg, who was arrested while reporting on a climate-change protest in North Dakota. She is now charged with three counts of felony conspiracy and faces a possible sentence of up to 45 years.
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Donald Trump’s ‘Horrifying’ Refusal to Accept the Election Results Oct 20, 2016

Maybe you heard the news: in the third debate, Donald Trump wouldn’t say he would accept the results of the election if he lost. Clinton called that “horrifying.” Joan Walsh comments—she’s The Nation’s National Affairs Correspondent. Plus: Kai Wright comments on the media that have shaped the world-view of Trump supporters—it explains a lot about their thinking. Kai is host and producer of the podcast “The United States of Anxiety.” And we’re still feeling good about Bob Dylan being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature last week—we’ll talk about it, and listen to some Bob Dylan songs, with Greil Marcus—he’s the author of the book “Bob Dylan by Greil Marcus, Writings 1968-2010”
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Greil Marcus: Maybe Bob Dylan Isn’t a Poet, but He Is One of America’s Greatest Artists Oct 19, 2016

In this special edition of our podcast, Greil Marcus talks about “Highway 61 Revisited,” “Masters of War,” and “Like a Rolling Stone”—and the way Dylan has changed those songs in live performances over the decades. Greil’s 30 years of writings about Dylan have been collected in the book Bob Dylan by Greil Marcus, 1968-2010.
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Donald Trump’s 'Great Respect for Women' Oct 12, 2016

Katha Pollitt has some words for Trump and his defenders after the groping tape and the second debate, where he argued that ISIS “chopping off heads” was worse than his statements about women who will “let you do it” if you are “a star.” Plus D.D. Guttenplan reports on the campaigns in Ohio—he found a distinct lack of enthusiasm for Clinton among Democrats there. And Nation columnist Gary Younge talks about children killed by gun violence in America—in his new book, Another Day in the Death of America, he profiles ten kids killed by guns on one typical day.
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A Journey into the Heart of Trump Country Oct 05, 2016

For her new book, sociologist Arlie Hochschild listened to Trump supporters explain their world in their own words. She spent five years in southwestern Louisiana searching for their “deep story,” which she recounts in Strangers in Their Own Land—it’s been longlisted for the National Book Award. Plus: The battle inside Trump’s campaign about whether to take the low road, or the high one. Amy Wilentz analyzes the role of the Trump children—who, we are told, are trying to get their father to campaign on actual political issues. And we’ll also hear a chilling disaster at a Titan II missile complex in Arkansas in September, 1980, where the most powerful nuclear warhead in our arsenal was almost detonated. That’s the subject of the new documentary Command and Control—director Robert Kenner and writer Eric Schlosser explain. The film rolls out this week across the nation.
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Katha Pollitt: It’s Time to Get Active for Hillary Sep 28, 2016

Feeling unenthusiastic about Hillary Clinton? Katha Pollitt says “If she loses, it’s your fault”—so it’s time to go to work on phone banks and canvassing. Also: Why does Trump appeal to so many voters? Kai Wright went deep into to Trump territory on Long Island to find out – he’s host and producer of The Nation’s new podcast, “The United States of Anxiety.” Plus: The Labour Left won a big victory in Britain with the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader. D.D. Guttenplan explains.
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Bernie Sanders Speaks: Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and Building a Revolution Sep 21, 2016

The Nation interview with Bernie: John Nichols, who with Katrina vanden Heuvel sat down with the senator, sets the scene and introduces our excerpts. Plus: Edward Snowden explains his motivation for revealing the extent of NSA surveillance, and says he’d be willing to go to jail if he could come home. Amy Wilentz explains Snowden’s appearance via live video from Moscow at a UC Irvine conference and introduces our excerpts. Also: Henry Kissinger, war criminal and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, has announced he will not endorse either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. Greg Grandin talks about Kissinger’s life and crimes—his book Kissinger’s Shadow is out now in paperback.
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Oliver Stone: Edward Snowden Has Done Something ‘Quite Amazing’ Sep 14, 2016

The film 'Snowden,' which opens this weekend, was turned down by all of the big Hollywood studios. Director Oliver Stone explains what it took to make his film about the NSA whistleblower—and why Snowden deserves a presidential pardon. Plus: Nation Sports Editor Dave Zirin says Colin Kaepernick’s protest against police violence is changing the NFL, which has been a bastion of support for our permanent state of war. And Margo Jefferson talks about what she calls 'Negroland'—the world of the black elite in the fifties, the world in which she grew up. She won the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism; her book Negroland: A Memoir won the National Book Critics Circle award –it’s out now in paperback.
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White Workers, Trump, and Clinton Sep 07, 2016

It’s the year of the white working class, and Joan Walsh reports on the Democrats’ efforts to win back the voters they have been losing since the sixties. Plus, the fight over the Clinton Foundation: Amy Wilentz says it’s time for Hillary, Bill, and Chelsea to step aside—immediately, and forever. Also: What is it like to be an abortion provider in an anti-choice state? Dr. Leah Torres describes her work as one of the only doctors providing abortions in Utah.
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The Green Party’s Jill Stein Wants a Green New Deal Aug 31, 2016

In this exclusive interview with Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for president responds to the most common criticisms she hears: Won’t a Green vote make Trump’s victory more likely? Didn’t Bernie show it was better for progressives to work inside the Democratic Party? She also lays out her plan for a “Green New Deal.” Plus: French officials banned the burkini from beaches on the grounds that it was “a symbol of the enslavement of women.” Katha Pollitt has a different view. And as Labor Day weekend approaches, Harold Meyerson analyzes some political victories for the working class, especially in California, where Democrats have complete control of state politics.
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Why Won’t Obama Grant Edward Snowden Amnesty? Aug 24, 2016

The power of independent journalism was demonstrated last week when the Obama Justice Department announced the end of incarceration of federal prisoners in private prisons. Seth Freed Wessler explains what it took to uncover dozens of questionable deaths in his yearlong investigation for The Nation. Also: Who is Jared Kushner, and why does Trump listen to his advice? Amy Wilentz tells the story of Ivanka’s husband—how his father was sent to prison by Chris Christie, how the 2007 crash nearly destroyed his family’s fortune, and how he’s advising the Republican candidate. Plus: Amnesty for Edward Snowden. ACLU Attorney Ben Wizener argues that Obama should do the right thing in view of Snowden’s contributions to freedom and democracy.
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The Woman Behind Trump Aug 17, 2016

The most powerful person in Donald Trump’s campaign is not a political professional but rather his own daughter, Ivanka. Amy Wilentz explains how Ivanka got there, and comments on her personal, and political, history. Also: Rosa Brooks talks about “how everything became war and the military became everything”—the title of her new book. She worked at the Pentagon; now she’s a law professor at Georgetown University. Plus: We’re still thinking about the sixties—and so is Calvin Trillin. He went to Mississippi in 1964 as a young journalist, and in the decades since, he’s written a lot about race in America. His new book is Jackson 1964.
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What Donald Trump Got Very Wrong About Sexual Harassment Aug 10, 2016

Katha Pollitt explains how women employees’ complaints of sexual harassment forced out Roger Ailes—and examines Donald Trump’s comments about it. Plus: Ari Berman analyses the effect of voting rights victories in court on Trump’s chances in North Carolina and other swing states. And David Zirin reports from the Olympics in Rio—the protests, the displaced people, and the real problem: not the Brazilian government, but the International Olympic Committee.
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An Hour Without Trump Aug 03, 2016

Trump is everywhere in the news this week, so we decided to do something different: 60 minutes of political talk that is Trump-free. Guaranteed. Instead: The fight to limit government surveillance tactics: Ben Wizner talks about what we have won—and what we need to do next. He’s director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project and the lawyer for Edward Snowden. Plus: Susan Faludi tells the story of transgender woman—her father, who transitioned when she was 75. Susan of course is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women. Now she has a new book out: it’s called "In the Darkroom." And Tom Lutz has been traveling a lot – he went to Lhasa to talk about Tibetan resistance to China; he went to Jordan to talk about Iran and America; and he went to Teheran to talk about the Kurds. His new book is "Drinking Mare’s Milk on the Roof of the World."
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Will Hillary’s Outreach to Bernie’s Supporters Work? Jul 29, 2016

John Nichols analyzes Hillary Clinton’s big speech and the place of Bernie Sanders supporters in Democrats’ plans to fight Donald Trump. Plus D.D. Guttenplan reports on Bernie and the Bernie people at the convention—the battles, the booing, and the work to keep the movement alive after November. And Amy Wilentz looks at gender in politics today: Donald Trump’s brand of masculinity, Ivanka Trump’s brand of femininity, and all those criticisms of Hillary Clinton’s voice, smile, and more.
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Can Trump Win? The Republicans After Cleveland Jul 22, 2016

Amy Wilentz and Jon Wiener debate Trump’s chances for victory in November: Jon says he won’t win; Amy says ‘don’t be so sure.’ Plus: John Nichols and D.D. Guttenplan analyze the candidate's speech and the aura of violence inside the convention hall, and George Zornick reports on the action in the streets and the conduct of the Cleveland police.
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Don’t Forget: Someone Loved Philando Castile, Someone Loved Alton Sterling Jul 13, 2016

The shooting of police officers in Dallas does not change anything about the shootings of black men in Baton Rouge or St. Paul, Kai Wright argues—he’s Features Editor of The Nation. Also: Donald Trump has changed the Republican Party in fundamental ways, says Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect, and it may never recover. And Clara Bingham talks about how the sixties changed America, starting with young Hillary and young Bernie. She interviewed 100 people for her new book Witness to the Revolution.
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Clinton's Email, the FBI, and the Voters Jul 06, 2016

Joan Walsh says the FBI director’s blunt criticism of Clinton’s handling of her email provides the presidential hopeful with an opportunity to acknowledge mistakes and make amends. Walsh is The Nation’s National Affairs correspondent. Plus: we found something else to worry about: Cyber attacks on the US paralyzing our electric grid and our water supply. The award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney has a new documentary about that, called Zero Days—it opens this Friday. Also: Ben Ehrenreich and Amy Wilentz talk about life for Palestinians on the West Bank. Wilentz is a contributing editor at The Nation, and Ehrenreich’s new book is “The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine.” And “A Prairie Home Companion” is ending its long run on public radio—Garrison Keillor explains that the secret of the show’s success was “no competition.”
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Brexit’s Unlikely Lessons for Hillary Clinton Jun 29, 2016

The victorious campaign in Britain to leave the European Union has many striking parallels to Donald Trump’s campaign to win the White House. D.D. Guttenplan says “that ought to keep Hillary supporters awake at night.” Also: the Supreme Court issued a sharp rebuke to Texas’s anti-choice laws on Monday in the most sweeping victory for abortion rights in 25 years. Zoë Carpenter comments. Plus: A test case of Republican vs. Democratic rule in two states. Minnesota and Wisconsin have taken opposite approaches to voting rights, and some other things too—and the results are now clear. Ari Berman explains.
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 Donald Trump Really Could Ban Muslims From Entering the Country Jun 22, 2016

The People’s Summit brought organizers and activists to Chicago last weekend for three days of planning about where to go next with the Bernie movement—at the Democratic National Convention, and after. RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United, weighs in. Also, lessons for the left from the NRA in the wake of the Orlando shootings: David Cole, The Nation’s legal affairs correspondent, argues that gun control advocates can win if they focus on state laws rather than Supreme Court challenges. His new book is Engines of Liberty. Plus: Could Donald Trump really ban Muslims from entering the country if he were president? Sasha Abramsky says the answer is simple: yes.
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Life and Death in Gay Orlando Jun 15, 2016

Orlando was one of the most gay-friendly cities in the South—and still is, says Nadine Smith of Equality Florida. Also: Bernie won the war of ideas in the Democratic party—what does that mean for Hillary now? Harold Meyerson comments. And historian Adam Hochschild talks about the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, American leftists who fought the fascists in the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s.
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What Happened in California? Jun 09, 2016

Everything you need to know about the California primary—John Nichols explains it all to producer Alan Minsky. Also: Andrew Cockburn of Harper’s magazine explains how Obama’s drone “kill list” is approved—and what happens after. Because politics isn’t everything, we talked about the great Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar Wai with John Powers—he’s critic at large on “Fresh Air with Terry Gross.”
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Does Bernie’s Movement Have a Future? Jun 01, 2016

Bernie Sanders’s campaign rallies in California have brought out more than 100,000 people—many of whom think he can win the state’s primary next week. Nicky Woolf of Guardian US has been following the campaign; he thinks they may be right. Also: Elizabeth Warren seems to be Donald Trump’s most effective critic—and she seems to enjoy the work. Margaret Talbot of The New Yorker comments. Plus: Can the millions of Bernie supporters become a long-lasting force in American politics? D. D. Guttenplan examines four efforts to organize progressives for the years after November 2016.
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Can the Democratic Party Be United? May 25, 2016

Bernie Sanders has stopped his direct attacks on Hillary, and he’s been able to make some strong appointments to the platform committee for the Democratic National Convention. Is the unification of the party underway? Harold Meyerson explains. Plus: Most “independent” voters in fact have long-standing ties to one party or the other—very few swing from one party to the other between elections. Joshua Holland has the facts. And Tom Frank examines the “Hillary Doctrine,” her long-standing commitment to microfinance as the best way to help poor women around the world. It doesn’t work, he argues. Tom’s new book is Listen, Liberal!
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Donald Trump Knows the Age of Reagan Is Over. Does Hillary? May 18, 2016

Hillary will have to do something different to beat Donald Trump, Bruce Shapiro argues—because appealing to moderates, like the Clintons did in the nineties, is not going to work this year. Also: The #BreakFree climate protests have mobilized tens of thousands in direct actions against coal, oil, and gas companies around the world. Zoë Carpenter reports. Plus: Patrick Cockburn, who Seymour Hersh has called “the best Western journalist at work in Iraq today,” gives us an update on Iraq, Syria, Libya, and ISIS.
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 Hillary Clinton Is Donald Trump’s Dream Opponent May 11, 2016

Donald Trump’s ideal opponent is a member of the establishment, Steve Fraser argues—the kind that used to be called a “limousine liberal.” Hillary Clinton, he argues, fits the bill perfectly. Also: The only way Trump could win, says Ari Berman, is through suppressing the vote of Democrats in half a dozen swing states. A state-by-state survey suggests he’s unlikely to succeed. And historian Eric Foner takes up the question that has troubled Bernie Sanders’s supporters for months: How did he lose the African-American vote to Clinton?
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If Donald Trump Loses, Will There Be Violence? May 04, 2016

When Hillary Clinton defeats Donald Trump in November, his millions of supporters will be told that their American birthright has once again been stolen from them. Rick Perlstein talks about the potential for violence in the streets after election day. Plus: What really happened to Sandra Bland? To understand that, you have to begin way before she died in a Texas jail. Debbie Nathan reports.
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Could Donald Trump Actually Win Some of Bernie’s Supporters? Apr 27, 2016

Trump says he’ll fight for jobs against NAFTA-type trade deals, and he doesn’t take money from Wall Street. Is that enough to win some of Bernie Sanders’s supporters to his side? John Nichols weighs in on this week’s primary results. Plus: The Prince of Sex: Richard Kim explains why Prince is a gay icon today—despite the artist’s lack of support for the gay movement. Also: Challenging “Political Correctness” is a favorite theme of Donald Trump—but what exactly does that mean? Laila Lalami explains.
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Frank Rich: How Hillary Could Lose to Trump Apr 20, 2016

A Clinton vs. Trump campaign in the fall would be a battle of the negatives, Frank Rich says--and Hillary’s are dangerously high. Plus: Hillary and Haiti—a long relationship, and a revealing one. Amy Wilentz comments. And we speak with Viet Nguyen—his novel "The Sympathizer" just won the Pulitzer Prize. It begins in Saigon on the last day of the Vietnam war, and features a Viet Cong spy inside the Saigon army.
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Naomi Klein Says Climate Justice Requires Bernie’s Boldness Apr 13, 2016

Naomi Klein argues that the problem with Hillary Clinton’s climate policy is not her corporate contributions; it’s her corporate ideology. The climate justice movement, she says, "requires the kind of boldness Bernie Sanders represents." Also: Military historian Andrew Bacevich says America can never win its twenty-year war for the Middle East. Plus: Amy Goodman talks about how she got arrested at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul in 2008—and other highlights from the 20-year history of the show Democracy Now!
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 Bernie Sanders Has Momentum on His Side Apr 06, 2016

John Nichols says that, after the Wisconsin primary, Bernie has momentum on his side. Also: David Cole argues that citizen activists are the real force behind changes in constitutional law—look at how the NRA changed the meaning of the Second Amendment; look at how the gay rights movement changed the meaning of “marriage.” His new book is Engines of Liberty. Plus, Obama’s legacy: Gary Younge contrasts the symbolic victory with the real defeats for the left, especially in the use of US military power in the Mideast.
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What Kind of President Would Donald Trump Be? Mar 30, 2016

Sasha Abramsky asks, if Donald Trump were president, would he be a familiar kind of New York deal-maker—or a deluded demagogue? Campaign contributions go mostly to TV ads that don’t work, and consultants who are even more useless, Andrew Cockburn reports—what counts is face-to-face canvassing to build voter turnout. Obama is a “folk hero” in black America, says Erin Aubrey Kaplan—her new book is "I Heart Obama.” And, for opening day of major league baseball, our Dave Zirin talks about the game with Noam Chomsky—who recalls growing up with the hapless Philadelphia Athletics, and going to Little League games with his grandson today.
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Bernie Is Bringing the Reagan Era to an End Mar 23, 2016

Bernie Sanders is the leading edge of the historical forces bringing the 40-year Reagan era to an end, says Richard Parker of Harvard’s Kennedy School. Plus: Obama’s legacy for black America is mostly symbolic, Gary Younge argues—the wealth gap between black and white Americans has grown over the last eight years, along with black poverty. Gary writes for The Guardian and The Nation. Also: the real politics of hope—Rebecca Solnit talks about untold histories and wild possibilities—her new book is Hope in the Dark.
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Bernie Isn't Finished Mar 16, 2016

John Nichols answers the question, what’s left for Bernie Sanders after Tuesday’s primaries? Quite a bit, he says—he’s The Nation’s National Affairs correspondent. Plus: North Carolina’s new voter ID requirements, the most restrictive in the country, went into effect on Tuesday—Ari Berman explains the problem. He's the author of 'Give Us the Ballot.' And Thomas Frank asks the question, whatever happened to the party of the people? His new book is 'Listen, Liberal.'
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Bernie on the Move Mar 09, 2016

Harold Meyerson says Bernie’s victory in Michigan shows he'd be a stronger candidate than Hillary in big industrial states with diverse populations and big problems. Harold is executive editor of The American Prospect. Plus: Donald Trump: fascist, or clown? John Powers says there are clownish aspects to Trump’s performance at his rallies, but also an aura of violence against those who would challenge him. John is critic at large on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, where he has a listening audience of around four million. Also: A different kind of politics: the gay revolution. Lillian Faderman talks about the 50-year fight—the years of outrageous injustice, the early battles, the heart-breaking defeats, and the victories beyond the dreams of the gay rights pioneers. Her new book is The Gay Revolution.
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Donald Trump, Master of Hate Mar 02, 2016

Joan Walsh on panic in the GOP establishment over Trump's triumphs on Super Tuesday; Joan is The Nation’s national affairs correspondent. Plus: What Trump supporters really think. Sasha Abramsky interviewed a bunch of them; he reports regularly on politics for The Nation. Also: Trump says he reviles Muslims and reveres veterans—but some vets have been speaking out in defense of the Muslims they know and work with. Laila Lalami has that story—she’s The Nation’s newest columnist.
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Can Anything Stop Donald Trump? Feb 24, 2016

John Nichols says it’s hard to see how the Republican Party can stop Trump from winning the nomination—for starters, nobody is trying—and it’s not hard see how his appeal to working class white voters could make him president. Julianne Hing reports from Nevada on what it's like to go to a Trump rally and a Cruz rally—on the same day—and what voters who are not white are saying about the campaigns. And, for something completely different, A.O. Scott, film critic for The New York Times, talks about art, pleasure, beauty, and truth—topics in his new book, Better Living Through Criticism.
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Who Is Hillary Clinton? Feb 17, 2016

Katha Pollitt asks, “Is it wrong for women Democrats to want to vote for a woman Democrat?” In 2008 she voted for Obama rather than Hillary; today she’s a Clinton supporter. Gary Younge looks back on Hillary’s 30-plus years in American politics and argues that “It is easy to forget what a mould-breaking, bad-ass figure Hillary cut when she first appeared on the national stage in 1992.” Award-winning filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer talks about The Look of Silence, his Oscar-nominated documentary on genocide in Indonesia in 1965-66 and its aftermath today—in Indonesia, and in American politics.
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The Secret to Bernie’s Startling Success Feb 10, 2016

Republican disarray deepens after New Hampshire: Rick Perlstein explains the dilemma of the GOP establishment, as their chosen candidates continue to slide. Also: The startling success of Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire. It’s not just that he’s from the state next door, says D. D. Guttenplan. And Hillary’s problem is bigger than “the messaging.” And Jane Mayer of The New Yorker examines the secret efforts of the Koch Brothers and their billionaire friends to move the Republican Party to the right—the far, far right.
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How Bernie Sanders Went From Trailing by Double Digits to Tying in Iowa Feb 03, 2016

Gary Younge says Donald Trump is not a uniquely American phenomenon, but part of a broader Western European phenomenon of white, nativist responses to globalization, immigration and terrorism. Joan Walsh analyzes the Republicans after Trump’s second-place finish—as the party establishment has a chance to reassert itself, John Nichols explains how Bernie went from 50 points behind to tie Hillary in Iowa—and what she is doing to change course. And, as the Superbowl approaches, David Zirin has some unkind words about the NFL’s claims that its “Head Health Initiative” has reduced concussions.
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Frank Rich on Donald Trump; plus Bill McKibben and Anna Deavere Smith Jan 27, 2016

The GOP establishment is moving toward accepting Donald Trump as their candidate, says Frank Rich—they think he will make deals with them, while Ted Cruz won’t. Also: Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, the global climate movement: he says the fight to end the fossil fuel era is happening almost in secret, as local activists battle on thousands of fronts around the world. Plus: Anna Deavere Smith, the actor and playwright, talks about her new work on the school-to-prison pipeline, and performing in her home town of Baltimore after the police killed Freddie Gray.
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Katrina vanden Heuvel: Why We've Endorsed Bernie Sanders Jan 20, 2016

The Nation magazine has endorsed Bernie Sanders for president; editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel explains why. Also: Dave Zirin, sports editor of The Nation, talks with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar about black politics, Ferguson, John Lewis, Donald Trump, and also Gil Scott-Heron. Plus: The Big Short is probably the best movie Hollywood has ever made about an economic crisis—it’s fun, but it’s also serious. Kenneth Turan explains—he’s film critic for the LA Times.
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Should Feminists Vote for Clinton? Jan 13, 2016

Katha Pollitt says feminists should vote for Hillary Clinton, who will be good for women, and who is the only Democratic candidate who can win. But Liza Featherstone says feminists should not vote for Clinton—her record is full of attacks on poor women, starting with “welfare reform.” Also, Tavis Smiley talks about Martin Luther King’s last year—the year that began with his speech condemning the war in Vietnam, where he called the US “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.”
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Rick Perlstein: Rahm Emanuel Must Go Jan 06, 2016

Rick Perlstein on Chicago’s mayor; Adam Gopnik and Amy Wilentz on the Charlie Hebdo shooting, one year later; and Rebecca Solnit on climate change in the Himalayas.
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The Best of the Left in 2015 Dec 22, 2015

The most valuable activist, the biggest ideological comeback, the best newspaper front page, and more: John Nichols presents The Nation’s Progressive Honor Roll for 2015. Also: guns in America. What is to be done? Amy Wilentz weighs in. Plus: The great Gore Vidal: Jay Parini wrote a great biography.
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Barbara Ehrenreich Explains Why the White Working Class Is Dying—Literally Dec 16, 2015

On this week’s podcast, Barbara Ehrenreich talks about the alarming rise in the death rate of middle-aged white working class men, who are committing suicide and dying of drug overdoses and alcoholism. Also: Rebecca Solnit explains the achievements and limitations of the Paris climate agreement, and the tasks facing the environmental movement now. And John Powers reports on Canada’s popular new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who has already welcomed Syrian refugees—and defended the Alberta tar sands.
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ISIS and American Muslims; Republicans and American Guns Dec 09, 2015

Laila Lalami talks about what ISIS wants from American Muslims; Joan Walsh explains the real reason we don’t have gun control; and we remember Chernobyl—Amy Wilentz and Tom Lutz talk about writer Svetlana Alexievich, the new winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
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Naomi Klein: The Paris Climate Conference Protests Will Not Be Stopped Dec 02, 2015

Naomi Klein on the Shock Doctrine and the Paris climate protests, Katha Pollitt on Europe’s refugee crisis, Eric Foner on Woodrow Wilson’s racism, and Joan Walsh on the Republicans and the Planned Parenthood killings.
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Bernie Sanders’s Socialism; the Future of Football Nov 24, 2015

Eric Foner on how Bernie should talk about socialism, Dave Zirin on parents and football, Ari Berman on the battle for the vote, and Julianne Hing on Republicans and refugees.
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The Arab World and ISIS; The New York Times and Bernie Sanders Nov 18, 2015

Laila Lalami talks about the origins of ISIS, and what to do about it now. Laila grew up in Morocco; her novel 'The Moor's Account' was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Also: The New York Times coverage of Bernie Sanders has been condescending, and terrible: journalist Amy Wilentz comments on the recent page one story 'Bernie Sanders Won’t Kiss Your Baby.' Plus: Charles Blow, op-ed columnist for the New York Times, talks about growing up poor and black in rural Louisiana; his book 'Fire Shut Up in My Bones' is out now in paperback; And Terry Gross explains the difference between interviewing Hillary and interviewing Bill. It’s her 40th anniversary hosting 'Fresh Air.'
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