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.”

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We take a trip back back to the darkest days in 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 will explain—his new book is American Prophet: The Life and Work of Carey McWilliams.'

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Should the House Democrats begin impeachment proceedings?  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.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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: "Eric Hobsbawm: A Life in History."

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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 on the current plastics boom, a byproduct of fracking.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

‘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.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy