Journalism

I used several AI chatbots to trace an unattributed quote—and learned just how fallible our robot replacements are.

“Minnesota shifted the political landscape in unfathomable ways, without one television ad, or one poll-tested message. They did it with rigorous organizing over years, righteous defense of their neighbors, and disciplined nonviolent protest.”

I had saved that quote a couple of weeks ago but failed to note the source. So I asked Google Gemini, “Who said that?” (Gemini is the AI “assistant” that comes with Google search. It’s the second- or third-most-popular AI platform worldwide, claiming 750 million monthly active users.)

…continued at The Nation, HERE  4-7-2026

“The ‘Thernstrom Case’ at Harvard University has often been distorted by conservatives, including Henry D. Fetter, as an example of cancel culture (Letters, March 28). I interviewed three Black students who had spoken to Stephan Thernstrom after his lecture on the history of the Black family for my book Historians in Trouble . . . .”

… continued at TLS (behind paywall), HERE 4-24-2025

The Silicon Valley progressive talks about the short-term and long-term strategies for defeating Trump and Trumpism. 

Ro Khanna represents Silicon Valley in the House, where he’s a member of the Progressive Caucus. He’s a key strategist for the Democrats. We asked him about the immediate task of protecting democracy, and then the longer-term project of winning back working-class voters who have abandoned the Democratic Party and helped make Trump president.

This interview has been edited and condensed—you can listen to the full interview here.

The former national legal director of the ACLU analyzes recent efforts to block the president’s executive orders. 

Dozens of lawsuits have been filed to block Trump’s executive orders, and he has lost virtually every case thus far. Courts have enjoined his freezing of funds, enjoined his efforts to shut down USAID, enjoined his efforts to buy off government officials by paying them till September to do nothing, enjoined his orders barring transgender women from being put in women’s prisons for their safety, enjoined his effort to overturn birthright citizenship. Basically, the courts are doing their job—thus far. But what if he defies them? Or what if the Supreme Court reverses all the lower court actions? We asked David Cole, who recently stepped down as National Legal Director of the ACLU to return to teaching law at Georgetown. He writes for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The New York Review of Books, and he’s legal affairs correspondent for The Nation.

… continued at The Nation, HERE 2-18-2025

In this interview, the MSNBC host discusses Trump’s mastery of our age of attention, and his new book, The Sirens’ Call. 

Chris Hayes was The Nation’s Washington editor from 2007 to 2011. He started out writing for the Chicago Reader, then In These Times. He went from The Nation to MSNBC, and became host of All In with Chris Hayes, which won an Emmy. His new book is The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource. This interview has been edited and condensed—read the full transcript here.

… continued at The Nation, HERE 1-3-2025

Last time, the courts were an essential checking force on the Trump administration. This time around, they may again provide a check—if we push.

We shouldn’t underestimate the threats that Trump poses, but we shouldn’t underestimate the headwinds he’s likely to face if people oppose his initiatives. Remember, autocracy takes time. It’s hard work. Trump is not good at that. Let’s be realistic about our goal: We can probably limit the damage; we can prepare the ground for future victories. But how much can we limit the damage? Really, nobody knows, and the only way to find out is to try. We do know the writers of the Constitution did a lot to try to prevent one-man rule—by creating the famous checks and balances, including the courts as a check on the president.

But most of our friends think this Supreme Court will not stop Trump. To discuss, we are joined by David Cole, legal affairs correspondent for The Nation. Cole recently stepped down as national legal director of the ACLU to return to teaching law at Georgetown. He writes for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The New York Review of Books.

… continued at The Nation, HERE 12-10-2024

… continued at The Nation, HERE 4-29-2024

A conversation about the biggest Jewish-Palestinian grassroots group in Israel.

Sanding Together is an organization of Palestinians and Jews in Israel working not only for a cease-fire and the rebuilding of Gaza but also for equality and security and social justice for Palestinians and Israelis, and for the establishment of a Palestinian state. It’s the biggest Jewish Palestinian grassroots movement in Israel. Sally Abed is one of its leaders. She’s a Palestinian citizen of Israel, and was recently elected to the Haifa City Council.

… continued at The Nation, HERE 4-11-2024

The Oregon senator who tried to get into Gaza explains what he saw and learned.

Jon Wiener: Recently you went to the Rafah border crossing, between Gaza and Egypt—it’s one of the very few ways for anyone to get into or out of Gaza, and is the principal route for delivery of humanitarian aid. Why did you go, and what did you see?

… continued at The Nation, HERE 2-9-2024