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 14th Amendment. Next: Republicans continue to work to limit teaching about Black Americans’ place in our history. Meanwhile, the 1619 Project, the book offering what the authors call “a...
Feb 02, 2023•58 min
Every Republican voted against the clean energy tax credits that made up the bulk of the Inflation Reduction Act. Yet, the clean energy projects, for solar, wind and battery technology – are going to Republican states. Why? Harold Meyerson comments. Plus: 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 chan...
Jan 26, 2023•58 min
Senator Bernie Sanders gave a major speech on Tuesday about the lives of working Americans – Harold Meyerson comments. Also: the coming primary for Diane Feinstein's senate seat. Plus: the UC TA strike: just when you thought you were out, they pull you back in – with "attestation" forms to dock back pay. Nelson Lichtenstein explains. Also: Abortion remains a potent force mobilizing liberal and progressive voters in the upcoming 2023 state legislative races – John Nichols has our analysis. And Jo...
Jan 19, 2023•58 min
After a 30-year campaign, Yale finally recognized UNITE-HERE as the union representing TAs. Harold Meyerson reports - and also on the Teamsters as they prepare to strike against UPS in August. Plus: 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 Persona...
Jan 12, 2023•58 min
Harold Meyerson analyzes the Republican failure to elect a Speaker of the House - and what it tells us about the future of the new Congress. 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...
Jan 05, 2023•57 min
For our end-of year show we are featuring some of our favorite book segments from 2022, starting with Elie Mystal, The Nation’s Justice Correspondent, who says our constitution is not good. His new book is “Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution.” Plus: “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 ...
Dec 29, 2022•59 min
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 grad student employees at the University of California announced a settlement offer by the university, and members are voting this week. Nelson Lichtenstein has our analysis. Also: For our holiday show, we want to talk about the Christmas Truce of World War I -- it’s a unique event in the history of mode...
Dec 22, 2022•59 min
The new mayor in LA, Karen Bass, the former community organizer and former head of the Congressional Black caucus, LA’s first woman mayor, was sworn in on Sunday, and her first act was to declare a state of emergency to address homelessness. Harold Meyerson comments. plus: In the biggest strike in the nation this year, the strike by University of California graduate student employees, one group of strikers—the postdocs--settled, and another agreed to go into mediation—the Teaching Assistan...
Dec 15, 2022•56 min
National Politics after the Raphael Warnock victory in Georgia - Harold Meyerson comments. Also, the UAW after the UC strike. Plus: historian Nelson Lichtenstein on the divide-and-conquer strategy of the University of California administration in facing grad student employees on strike. And Joan Walsh on how Warnock won - she's National Affairs correspondent for The Nation.
Dec 08, 2022•54 min
Hundreds of thousands of young immigrants brought here by their undocumented parents since 2007 are not eligible for DACA. But now they are eligible for jobs–at the University of California. UCLA law professor Ahilan Arulanantham explains. Also: The left has hated J. Edgar Hoover for a hundred years ever since the Palmer Raids of 1919, the attacks on radicals that began his career. Now there’s a terrific new biography of Hoover, called “G-Man” - the author is Beverly Gage. Also: the fight agains...
Dec 01, 2022•59 min
48,000 Grad student employees at the University of California are on strike in the largest strike in the history of higher education and the largest strike anywhere in the US this year. But how come the auto workers' union represents teaching assistants and research assistants? Harold Meyerson explains. Plus: For Thanksgiving we chat with Father Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries, a beacon of hope for young men in LA coming out of gangs and prison. (originally broadcast in January, 2018)....
Nov 23, 2022•41 min
How the best Democratic candidates won - Harold Meyerson comments. Also, the inevitable announcement from Donald Trump. Plus: LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano on the defeat of sheriff Alex Villaneuva, Rick Caruso's campaign for Latino votes, and red-baiting in Orange County. Also: Joan Walsh of The Nation says Herschel Walker looks like a loser in the Georgia senate runoff.
Nov 17, 2022•57 min
Barack Obama lost 63 seats in his first midterm. Trump lost 40. Biden will lose 6 or 8. How did the Dems do it? Harold Meyerson has been thinking about that. Also, The Nation ‘s top political writers analyze the good, the bad, and the ugly of the midterm elections, and find keys to building a winning coalition for 2024: D.D. Guttenplan, Elie Mystal, Joan Walsh, John Nichols, and Chris Lehmann.
Nov 10, 2022•57 min
In the key swing states of Arizona, Pennsylvania and Nevada, the union UNITE-HERE has the biggest ground game of any organization - Harold Meyerson explains what they do, how they do it, and why they are so good at it. Also: 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 ...
Nov 03, 2022•1 hr
Election day is less than two weeks away. What should the Democrats' closing message be? Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect comments. 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. Plus: The Trump years are not the only time American democracy has been threatened – the World War...
Oct 27, 2022•52 min
Latino voters hold the keys to Democratic victories in the swing states of Arizona and Nevada, Harold Meyerson argues. New polling data highlights the possibilities - and the problems. plus: 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” in 1962 to “Murder Most Foul” in 2020. Greil has a new book out, it’s called “Folk Music: A Bob Dylan Biography in 7 Songs....
Oct 21, 2022•55 min
LA's political scandal is about the racism of some Latino politicians. Harold Meyerson has the big picture: Ethnic succession is the history of urban politics in the US. In America today, progressives need ethnic and racial alliances, and the participants in this taped conversation have to go. Also: 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. Bryce Covert reports a key front ...
Oct 13, 2022•57 min
Should Bernie Sanders run in the Democratic primaries in 2024? Bhaskar Sunkara, President of The Nation, says “yes” IF Biden doesn’t. Sanders transformed American politics and, Bhaskar argues, he remains a uniquely important figure for Democrats and the left. Plus: 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: ...
Oct 07, 2022•51 min
To increase young voters' turnout, we need to appeal not only to abortion rights but also to economic issues, Harold Meyerson concludes after reading the polls. Also: Ken Burns’ new documentary on PBS, “The US and the Holocaust,” searches for heroes and happy endings - but there aren't any, Historian David Nasaw argues. Plus: "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...
Sep 30, 2022•58 min
We’re still thinking about LA County Sheriff Alex Villaneuva ordering a raid on the home of Sheila Kuehl last Wednesday--she’s one of the county supervisors who has called for his resignation. He says she’s the target of an investigation of corruption in the award of contracts by the supervisors - but he says all kinds of things, many of which are lies. Gustavo Arellano reports - he's a columnist for the LA Times. Plus: Dirty work—and the people who do it: the low-income workers who do our most ...
Sep 23, 2022•59 min
Republican moves on abortion continue to strengthen Democratic candidates, says Harold Meyerson--especially in Michigan. Also: Amazon workers organize in the Inland Empire, and nurses are on strike in Minnesota. Plus: 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...
Sep 16, 2022•57 min
The president and the governor of Calif arguing about who is more pro-labor - that's something new: Harold Meyerson comments. Also: the organizing that won that huge abortion rights victory in Kansas: Amy Littlefield reports. And we remember Barbara Ehrenreich, who died last week - we did this interview with her in 2002, when "Nickel and Dimed" had just been published.
Sep 08, 2022•58 min
Harold Meyerson on the labor breakthrough in California: a statewide panel to set standards for wages and working conditions for the 550,000 fast food workers in the state. Also: 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. Plus: Patrick Leahy of Vermont has been a senator for almost 50 years. He describes how, on January 6, when se...
Sep 02, 2022•57 min
The fight for abortion rights and against a resurgent Donald Trump are mobilizing Democrats for the midterms; student debt cancellation helps. Harold Meyerson reports. Also: 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 State...
Aug 25, 2022•54 min
Liz Cheney's big loss in Wyoming marks the end of the traditional GOP, says Harold Meyerson; also: Amazon workers on strike in the Inland Empire. Plus: Some surprising abortion rights victories in red states: Katha Pollitt reports. And what is to be done about the gangs in Port-au-Prince - send in the marines? Amy Wilentz comments.
Aug 19, 2022•59 min
Harold Meyerson explains Biden's big achievement--it's mainly a climate change bill with a side helping of health reform and some additional taxation of corporations. Also: 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.” And Peter Richardson talks about the life of the legendary historia...
Aug 11, 2022•54 min
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...
Aug 05, 2022•32 min
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 has some comments about that. 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 yea...
Jul 29, 2022•34 min
Biden's clean energy plan was our best chance for addressing the climate emergency for the next several years; but Joe Manchin killed it, he says, because he's concerned about inflation. Harold Meyerson comments. Also: Addressing Climate Despair: how taking action is an act of hope. Thelma Young Lutunatabua and Rebecca Solnit talk about their new project @NotTooLate_Hope https://www.nottoolateclimate.com Plus: Ivana Trump, mother of Don Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump, has died. She was 73. In 2017, ...
Jul 22, 2022•58 min
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.” Harold Meyerson has our analysis. Also: the people who say “America is a Christian Nation” had some big victories at the Supreme Court this term: on school prayer, and on taxpayer funding of religious schools. Sarah Posner comments on the endgame of t...
Jul 15, 2022•57 min
