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. Nevert...
Nov 25, 2020•42 min
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 boom...
Nov 18, 2020•37 min
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 ...
Nov 11, 2020•36 min
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 ...
Nov 04, 2020•37 min
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. ...
Oct 28, 2020•49 min
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 Ren...
Oct 21, 2020•41 min
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,...
Oct 14, 2020•37 min
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 Supre...
Oct 07, 2020•33 min
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," Me...
Sep 30, 2020•35 min
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...
Sep 23, 2020•34 min
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 . Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe . Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out:...
Sep 16, 2020•36 min
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 S...
Sep 09, 2020•37 min
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 ...
Sep 02, 2020•37 min
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 fro...
Aug 26, 2020•38 min
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...
Aug 19, 2020•37 min
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...
Aug 12, 2020•34 min
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 ...
Aug 05, 2020•32 min
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: H...
Jul 29, 2020•39 min
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...
Jul 22, 2020•40 min
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 c...
Jul 15, 2020•37 min
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 anni...
Jul 08, 2020•43 min
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...
Jul 01, 2020•40 min
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 Nat...
Jun 24, 2020•35 min
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.” Subscribe to The Nation to support ...
Jun 17, 2020•36 min
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 Squar...
Jun 10, 2020•35 min
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 ...
Jun 03, 2020•32 min
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 hi...
May 27, 2020•37 min
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...
May 20, 2020•36 min
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 w...
May 13, 2020•38 min
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 ...
May 06, 2020•38 min
