Start Making Sense

By The Nation Magazine

Society & Culture

What's Start Making Sense about?

Progressive news without the boring parts—featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the week in news. Hosted by Jon Wiener and presented by The Nation Magazine.

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What Does Joe Manchin Want?...

06.09.2021

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 ...

Start Making Sense episodes:

06.09.2021 What Does Joe Manchin Want? John Nichols on Filibuster Reform, plus Amy Wilentz on Israeli Politics 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 ...
06.02.2021 White Politics and Black History in Tulsa: David Perry on the Tulsa Race Massacre Commemoration, plus Katha Pollitt on Advice for Men 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. ...
05.26.2021 Democrats, Israel, and Palestine: John Nichols, plus Robin D.G. Kelley on "Exterminate All the Brutes" 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: ...
05.19.2021 Palestinians' "Second Front': Saree Makdisi, plus Eric Foner on "The Underground Railroad" 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 ...
05.12.2021 Palestinian Lives--and Deaths: Rachel Kushner on refugees and Adam Shatz on Edward Said 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 ...
05.05.2021 Rapists, Misogynists, Creeps, and their Books: Katha Pollitt on Blake Bailey, plus Louis Menand on Cold War Culture 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 ...
04.28.2021 Senator Mazie Hirono: Reform the Filibuster—and the Supreme Court; plus Tim Schwab on Bill Gates and Katha Pollitt on Dr. Seuss 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 ...
04.21.2021 The Chauvin Verdicts and the Movement That Made Them Possible: Jody Armour on Minneapolis, plus Mark Hertsgaard on Earth Day 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 ...
04.14.2021 Organizing at Amazon: What Went Wrong? Jane McAlevey, plus Amy Wilentz on Hunter Biden 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 ...
04.07.2021 The Fight Against Voter Suppression: Dale Ho on Georgia, plus Karen Greenberg on Ending our Forever Wars 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 ...
03.31.2021 How Kyrsten Sinema Sold Out: Aída Chávez; plus Joan Walsh: Should Breyer Retire? 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 ...
03.24.2021 The Covid Vaccines: Big Pharma Profits while the Global South Waits--Gregg Gonsalves on the Pandemic, plus John Nichols on Ron Johnson 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 ...
03.17.2021 How the Democrats can Win in Ohio: Steve Phillips; plus Carol Sobel on Black Lives Matter vs. the LAPD 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 ...
03.10.2021 Mike Davis: ‘Beware the light at the end of the covid tunnel’; plus Amy Wilentz on Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’ 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 ...
03.03.2021 Parents in Prison: Chesa Boudin, plus Amy Wilentz on Protest in Haiti 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 ...
02.24.2021 The Trumpers Among Us: Katha Pollitt; plus Eric Foner on Will Smith’s series on the 14th Amendment 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 ...
02.17.2021 Republicans After Trump: Rick Perlstein on the future of the GOP, plus Alan Minsky on what a true economic recovery should look like 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 ...
02.10.2021 How Trump Incited an Insurrection: John Nichols on impeachment, plus Steve Phillips on Turning Texas Blue 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 ...
02.03.2021 Prosecute the Insurrectionists—All of Them: Elie Mystal on Storming the Capitol, plus Gary Younge on Obama; and We Remember Rennie Davis 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 ...
01.27.2021 Joe Biden vs. Covid-19, Week One: Gregg Gonsalves on the Pandemic, plus John Nichols on Biden’s first week 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 ...
01.20.2021 Joe Biden and Us: Joan Walsh; plus Barbara Ransby on Biden and Black America and Gary Younge on Storming the Capitol 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 ...
01.13.2021 Trump’s Crime: Incitement of Insurrection—John Nichols on impeachment, plus Astra Taylor on debt and Robert Lipsyte on Trump and golf 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 ...
01.07.2021 The Trump Mob that Stormed the Capitol: Joan Walsh and Eric Foner 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 ...
12.30.2020 Vaccine Priorities: Politics and Ethics. Gregg Gonsalves on Covid-19, plus John Nichols on politics in 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 ...
12.23.2020 White Voters in 2020—and Everybody Else: Joan Walsh on Politics, plus Amy Wilentz on the Trump Kids 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 ...
12.16.2020 From Obama to Trump: Eric Foner; plus John Powers on John le Carré 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 ...
12.09.2020 Mike Davis: We Need a Commission to Investigate Trump’s Covid Response; plus Amy Wilentz on pardons for the Trump kids 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 ...
12.02.2020 How the Dems Can Win in Georgia: Joan Walsh on politics, plus David Cole on the Supreme Court and reapportionment 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 ...
11.25.2020 Stacey Abrams: The Fight for Georgia; plus Amy Wilentz on Ivanka, Don Jr., Eric—and Lara 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. ...
11.18.2020 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’ 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 ...
11.11.2020 Mike Davis: Biden's Big Mistake; plus Jody Armour: Electoral Victories of Black Lives Matter 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 ...
11.04.2020 Biden's Successes—and Trump’s: John Nichols and Joan Walsh 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, ...
10.28.2020 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 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 ...
10.21.2020 Mike Davis: Climate Change, Extreme Fires, and White Flight plus Rennie Davis on ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7' 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 ...
10.14.2020 Can ‘herd immunity’ lead to ‘re-opening America’? Gregg Gonsalves on Covid-19, plus Allissa Richardson on Black Cell-Phone Videos 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 ...
10.07.2020 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 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 ...
09.30.2020 That Terrible Debate: John Nichols, plus Katha Pollitt on Melania 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 ...
09.23.2020 Expand the Court! Elie Mystal on Court Packing, plus Sonia Shah on Climate Disasters 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 ...
09.16.2020 Trump Needs Wisconsin to Win, but Biden Is Ahead: John Nichols With Good News from a Swing State, plus David Nasaw on Refugees 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 ...
09.09.2020 Chris Hayes: The Catastrophe of Trump; plus Joan Walsh: Politics on TV in 1968 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.” ...
09.02.2020 Trump in Kenosha: John Nichols; Black Lives Matter in Europe: Gary Younge 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 ...
08.26.2020 Rick Perlstein: The Republicans from Reagan to Trump: plus Pramila Jayapal: From Investment Banker to Community Organizer 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 ...
08.19.2020 When the LAPD came looking for a BLM activist: Melina Abdullah, plus Katie Porter on Voting by Mail and Jody Armour on Unequal Justice 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 ...
08.12.2020 Fighting for Vote By Mail: Pramila Jayapal; plus Tom Frank on Trump, Biden, and ‘Populism’ 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 ...
08.05.2020 Trump's Dangerous Push for a Vaccine by October: Gregg Gonsalves, plus David Cole on the Police 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 ...
07.29.2020 This Is Disaster Relief Under Corporate Power: David Dayen, plus Amy Wilentz on Mary Trump 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: ...
07.22.2020 Naomi Klein: Pandemic Capitalism and the Black Lives Matter Protests; plus Zoe Carpenter on Portland and Ivy Meeropol on Roy Cohn 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 ...
07.15.2020 To Fight the Virus We Need a Massive Campaign of Disruption: Gregg Gonsalves, plus Meagan Day on the Eviction Crisis 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. ...
07.08.2020 Mike Davis: The Problem with Dr. Fauci; plus Amy Wilentz on Ivanka, and Debbie Nathan on Sandra Bland 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 ...
07.01.2020 Defund—and Disarm—the Police: Kelly Lytle Hernandez, D.D. Guttenplan, and Zoë Carpenter 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 ...

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