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The UAW’s Historic Victory—Plus, Elon Musk and American Democracy

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The UAW won a historic victory in their strike against GM—an agreement that EV workers will be covered by the union contract. Harold Meyerson explains, and also comments on Israel’s war against Hamas.

Also: Elon Musk has been a leader in the transition to renewable energy, and has made Twitter into a threat to democracy. He has become the face of 21st-century capitalism. David Nasaw has our analysis.

Transcript HERE  10-12-2023

UAW victories at GM: Harold Meyerson; Public Power in Maine: Bill McKibben; “The Forgotten Girls”: Katha Pollitt

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The UAW won a historic victory when GM agreed that workers in EV and battery factories would be covered by the union contract.  Harold Meyerson comments on that, and on Israel’s war with Hamas.

Plus: Voters in Maine will decide next month whether to turn the state’s private utilities public. If that happens, it would be a huge step toward dealing with the climate crisis, and a model for other states. Bill McKibben will explain.

Also: Two girls grew up in the 1980s and ’90s in a small town in Arkansas. One made it out and became a successful journalist and writer; her best friend, who had been super smart as a kid, fell into drugs, getting pregnant too young, and petty crime. How did their lives turn out to be so different?  Katha Pollitt talks about the wonderful new memoir by Monica Potts, The Forgotten Girls.  10-12-2023

Bill McKibben: Power to the People in Maine, plus Clinton’s ‘Fabulous Failure’

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Voters in Maine will decide next month whether to turn the state’s private utilities public. If that happens, it would be a huge step toward dealing with the climate crisis, and a model for other states. Bill McKibben explains — of course he’s an author and environmentalist and co-founder of 350.org, currently working with the new environmental group Third Act, for people over 60.

Also: Our politics today is haunted by the failures of Bill Clinton—the “centrist” who “triangulated” with Republicans, lost on healthcare, and proclaimed that “The era of big government is over.”  Nelson Lichtenstein explains Clinton’s turn to the right, and the lessons for today’s Democrats – his new book on Clinton is “A Fabulous Failure.”  10-5-2023

Our Biggest Ever Healthcare Strike: Harold Meyerson; plus the ‘Fabulous Failure’ of Bill Clinton: Nelson Lichtenstein

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Kaiser Workers’ strike this week is the largest by healthcare workers in US history. Harold Meyerson comments. Also: ethnic politics in California.

Plus: Our politics today is haunted by the failures of Bill Clinton—the “centrist” who “triangulated” with Republicans, lost on healthcare, and proclaimed that “the era of big government is over.” Nelson Lichtenstein will explain Clinton’s turn to the right, and the lessons for today’s Democrats. His new book on Clinton has the wonderful title A Fabulous Failure.

Also: Your Minnesota Moment: a big new solar energy project is in the works.  10-5-2023

‘LA in the Sixties’: California Historical Society 

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854 people registered for a Zoom book talk on “LA in the Sixties,” hosted by the California Historical Society. The talk opened with a brief review of Mike Davis’s work, and then focused on politics in 1967 (the anti-war protest in Century City, where the police attacked 10,000 middle class white people), the 1968 election, and the rise–and fall–of the Peace and Freedom Party (presidential candidate Eldridge Cleaver was not allowed on the ballot – because he was too young to be president), and the 1969 Tom Bradley campaign for mayor.  9-29-2023

Dahlia Lithwick on Voting Rights, plus Katha Pollitt on ‘The Forgotten Girls”

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The right-wing super-majority on the Supreme Court has returned to a case about racial gerrymandering in Alabama, where Republicans have defied the Court’s order. Dahlia Lithwick will comment about that, and about her book “Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America”—it’s out now in paperback.

Also: Two girls grew up in the 1980s and ’90s in a small town in Arkansas. One made it out and became a successful journalist and writer; her best friend, who had been super smart as a kid, fell into drugs, getting pregnant too young, and petty crime. How did their lives turn out so different? Katha Pollitt talks about the new memoir by Monica Potts, “The Forgotten Girls.”

Transcript HERE  9-28-2023

Biden on the picket line: Harold Meyerson; plus Dahlia Lithwick on voting rights, and Adam Hochschild on guns

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Joe Biden joined a UAW picket line on Tuesday – the first president ever to do so. Harold Meyerson comments.

Plus: the right-wing supermajority on the Supreme Court has returned to a case about racial gerrymandering in Alabama, where Republicans have defied the Court’s order.  Dahlia Lithwick will comment about that, and about her book Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America—it’s out now in paperback.

Also: Adam Hochschild reports on visiting a gun show,  and explains why the Koch Brothers are major funders of the NRA—even though they are not especially enthusiastic about guns. (Broadcast originally in April, 2018).  9-28-2023

Trump and the Auto Strike, plus the Politics of Insecurity: Nelson Lichtenstein plus Astra Taylor

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Trump and the UAW strike, plus ‘manufactured insecurity’: Nelson Lichenstein plus Astra Taylor

The UAW strike against Detroit’s Big Three is rapidly becoming a major political battle as Donald Trump speaks to auto workers in Detroit, challenging Biden’s massive initiatives for America’s transition to electric vehicles. Nelson Lichtenstein provides historical perspective on what’s at stake.

Also: there are two kinds of insecurity in our lives today, Astra Taylor argues: existential insecurity, the unavoidable issues of life and death, and manufactured insecurity—intended to make workers more submissive to authority. Communal action can do a lot to reduce that. Her new book is “The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together As Things Fall Apart.”

Transcript HERE  9-21-2023

Is the UAW Asking for Too Much? Harold Meyerson; plus Astra Taylor on Insecurity and Amy Wilentz on Melania and Ivanka

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The UAW is being criticized by the corporate-Wall Street wing of the Democratic Party for seeking ‘too much’ in their current strike.  Harold Meyerson responds.

Plus: We face two kinds of insecurity in our lives today, Astra Taylor argues: existential insecurity, the unavoidable issues of life and death, and manufactured insecurity—intended to make workers more submissive to authority. Communal action can do a lot to reduce the second kind. Astra’s new book is “The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together As Things Fall Apart.”

Also: Melania and Ivanka Trump have been mostly absent from the former president’s side as he rages against the 91 felony charges brought against him in four different trials. Amy Wilentz comments on the news, the rumors, and the photos.  9-21-2023

Gary Younge: from Mandela to Black Lives Matter; plus Amy Wilentz on Haiti in September

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Gary Younge, the award-winning former columnist for The Guardian, talks about Black writing and Black writers—and his own writing about Mandela, Obama, Trayvon Martin, and Claudette Colvin.

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense, the news from Haiti, where the UN, with US support, is authorizing a new security force. Made up of mostly Kenyan troops, it’s supposed to restore “law and order” in Port-au-Prince. The Nation’s Amy Wilentz is on the podcast to report.

Transcript HERE  9-15-2023