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Voters can take a stand against Trump’s candidates in next Tuesday’s elections in Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, and New York City—and move toward redistricting that favors Democrats. Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect explains.

Also: A new art exhibit in Los Angeles, called Monuments, displays 10 decommissioned Confederate monuments alongside the work of 19 artists responding or relating to them. It’s at MOCA, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and at the Brick, an arts nonprofit. Christopher Knight comments—he’s the art critic for the Los Angeles Times and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

Plus: From the archives, Rebecca Solnit talks about how “Men Explain Things To Me.” (originally broadcast in 2014).  10-31-2024

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From the biggest single day of protest in American history – 7 million people demonstrating against Trump – to his worst major poll since he took office in January – it hasn’t been a good week for Trump – unless you count the tearing down of the east wing of the White House. Harold Meyerson comments.

No Kings Day on Oct. 18 was the largest peaceful protest in American history. Rebecca Solnit comments, and refutes Republican statements about violence on the left. Her most recent book is “Orwell’s Roses.”

Also: the fight to control the LA police: a decades long effort that culminated in 1992, after the Rodney King riots, when longtime police chief Darryl Gates was forced out. Danny Goldberg comments – at the time he was board chair of the ACLU of Southern California Foundation, and his new book is “Liberals With Attitude.”  10-24-2025

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The Supreme Court vs. The Voting Rights Act: The conservative majority of SCOTUS plans to eliminate 12 Democratic seats in the House, currently held by Black representatives. What are the implications for the 2026 midterms; and, what can the Democrats do to counter this latest gerrymandering nightmare? Harold Meyerson comments.

Also: Saturday is the second No Kings Day – it should be the biggest single day of protest in American history, with more than 2,500 events planned. Leah Greenberg will explain the preparations – she’s co-founder of Indivisible, the group that called the first No Kings day, June 14 – five million people participated in that one, held the same day as Trump’s birthday parade – the one no one came to.

Plus: There’s “a forthrightly antifascist film” that critics call “wild and thrilling” — of course, that’s “One Battle After Another,” the Paul Thomas Anderson movie starring Leonardo di Caprio as a burnt out left wing bomber, targeted by an ICE captain played by Sean Penn. John Powers will comment—he’s critic at large on Fresh Air with Terry Gross.  10-17-2025

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Harold Meyerson comments on what remains to be done for genuine peace in Gaza; he also reviews the National Guard deployments to Portland and Chicago, the upcoming elections in California and elsewhere, and Trump’s latest attacks on universities.

Also: as the Supreme Court begins its new term, Trump lost six different cases in district courts just last week, ranging from bans on deploying the National Guard to defending freedom of speech for noncitizens, to yet another court rejecting his executive order abolishing birthright citizenship. At the same time, Trump is claiming an illegitimate legal basis for ordering the murder of civilians he claims are trafficking in drugs. David Cole will comment—he’s a former national legal director of the ACLU and The Nation’s legal affairs correspondent. 10-10-2025

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For Senate Democrats this is a big week for defiance. At last they are making popular demands as part of a deal to pass a budget and avoid a government shutdown. But Trump still holds a lot of cards. Harold Meyerson will comment.

Also: None of us were prepared for the double whammy of last week’s White House press conference, where Trump made false claims not only about vaccines but also about Tylenol causing autism. We’ll have analysis from Gregg Gonsalves. He teaches at the Yale School of Public Health; he’s been an AIDS activist for 30 years; and he’s also a MacArthur Fellow—class of 2018. And he’s The Nation’s public health correspondent.

And Steve Almond talks about the trouble with football – the thousands of concussions from “hits” that leave players with brain damage – for our entertainment. His book is “Against Football.” (originally broadcast in 2015).  10-3-2025