A new president with authoritarian tendencies packs the nation’s highest court, which then outlaws abortion – sparking not just a backlash, but a new coalition for democracy and the rule of the law. Rachel Maddow and Isaac-Davy Aronson explore how events abroad in just the last few years might help us understand what is happening now in the United States.

Featuring:

Anne Applebaum, staff writer for The Atlantic and author of Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism

Marta Lempart, founder of Polish Women’s Strike

Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights

This episode was originally published on July 10, 2023.

Republicans claim the election was stolen. They use those claims to justify suppressing people’s right to vote. All of it happening amid a national reckoning on race. Rachel Maddow and Isaac-Davy Aronson tell the story of a time uncannily similar to our own – in the early 1960s. And how it’s both a parallel to our present moment and the origin of conflicts playing out today.

Featuring Guests:

Rick Perlstein, historian, author of Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus

Sherrilyn Ifill, Vernon Jordan Endowed Chair in Civil Rights at Howard University and former President and Director-Counsel of LDF.

Jim Brosnahan, lawyer and author of Justice At Trial: Courtroom Battles and Groundbreaking Cases

This episode was originally published on June 26, 2023.

Long before Governor Ron DeSantis declared a new war on wokeness, Florida lawmakers in the 1950s and 60s tried going after the NAACP, suspected communists and gay people in Florida schools and universities. The lawmakers upended life for countless numbers of their fellow Floridians before being upended themselves by their own zeal for the cause. Now that DeSantis is bringing this playbook to a presidential campaign, Rachel Maddow and Isaac-Davy Aronson ask what we can learn from the last time Florida went down this path.

Featuring guests:

Stacy Braukman, author of Communists and Perverts Under the Palms: The Johns Committee in Florida, 1956-1965

Shevrin Jones, Florida State Senator

Robert Buccellatto, historian and co-host of the Florida History Podcast

This episode was originally published on June 19, 2023.

A violent right-wing mob interrupts lawmakers formalizing the transfer of power to a new leader. But this isn’t Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, but rather Paris on February 6, 1934. Rachel Maddow and Isaac-Davy Aronson explore that earlier event, the way it reverberates to this day and how it could help us understand what January 6 will mean for the U.S.

Featuring guests:
Jonathan Katz, author of Gangsters of Capitalism
Alice Kaplan, Sterling Professor of French at Yale University, author of The Collaborator: The Trial and Execution of Robert Brasillach

Find out more at msnbc.com/dejanews

This episode was originally published on June 12, 2023.

In 1973, in the throes of the Watergate scandal, three young federal prosecutors uncovered a separate criminal scheme being run inside the White House — the sitting vice president, Spiro Agnew, was taking envelopes stuffed with cash in exchange for official acts as an elected official. If Nixon left office, Agnew would be the next President. And so, what would happen if the President was charged with a federal crime? Worse yet, what if he was convicted? Now that Donald Trump has been charged with 37 federal crimes – as he runs again for president — Rachel Maddow and Bag Man executive producer Mike Yarvitz talk with the three Spiro Agnew prosecutors who have the only experience in our nation’s history with a situation like this.

This episode was originally published on July 3, 2023.

Disgraced Vice President Spiro T. Agnew officially becomes a private citizen and addresses the nation one last time... as a convicted criminal. Agnew continues his attacks on the press and the prosecutors right to the end. But his sudden resignation leaves questions-- unanswered-- that echo 45 years later. Can a President or Vice President actually be criminally indicted while in office? And if not, what sort of pressure can be brought to bear... to force them out?

This episode was originally published on December 3, 2018.

A secret murder plot directed by the President? A fear of political assassination by the CIA. Facing the prospect of becoming the first Vice President in American history to resign in disgrace... Spiro T. Agnew tries to set the stage for his own exit from office. With wild claims of death threats that forced him out. Surprise revelations of what Agnew was doing with all of his money. And a suspense-filled final day that leaves the sitting Vice President... a convicted felon.

This episode was originally published on November 26, 2018.

With his own Justice Department on the verge of indicting him, Vice President Spiro Agnew attempts a last-ditch effort to survive. A Constitutional crisis-inducing argument that even if prosecutors have evidence of his crimes, he can't be indicted anyway... the power of the White House protects him. With President Nixon himself about to go down in Watergate, it's now on one man's shoulders-- the Attorney General-- to come up with a way to remove a criminal Vice President... before he ascends to the Presidency.

This episode was originally published on November 22, 2018.

After learning that his own Justice Department is investigating his crimes, Vice President Spiro Agnew embarks on a secret, behind-the-scenes effort... to obstruct justice. To use his power inside the White House to interfere with the investigation and shut it down. It’s a scheme that involves President Nixon himself, members of Nixon's inner circle, and it has never been known to the prosecutors investigating the case... even now, 45 years later.

This episode was originally published on November 12, 2018.

With the criminal investigation of him now public, Vice President Spiro Agnew launches a bold counter-attack to survive. An unprecedented assault... on his own Justice Department that's investigating him. And the reporters now covering his case. And Agnew gets back-up in that effort from his legion of hardcore supporters across the country and in Congress.

This episode was originally published on November 5, 2018.