“As the host of Start Making Sense, the weekly podcast of The Nation magazine, Jon Wiener ’66 promises “political talk without the boring parts,” and the show delivers, featuring interviews with a mix of Nation contributors and other leading journalists and experts. (Recent guests include author Naomi Klein, New Yorker staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert, and Princeton historian Sean Wilentz.). . . ” continued at the Princeton Alumni Weekly, 2-21-19, HERE
Journalism
2019 will be the worst year of Donald Trump’s life: LA Times op-ed
Some presidents have really bad years.
For Nixon, it was 1974 — the Watergate year, which ended with his resignation. For Clinton, it was 1998 — the Monica year, which culminated with an impeachment trial in the Senate in 1999. He won that vote easily and came out more popular than before.
It’s a good guess that Donald Trump’s really bad year will be 2019. . . . continued at LATimes, HERE 1/3/2019
William Barr: Worse than Jeff Sessions? A Q&A with David Cole
David Cole: Almost anybody will be an improvement on Matt Whitaker. I’m not sure that argument really addresses the real question: Whether this is the man we want to be the nation’s chief law-enforcement officer for the next two years.
. . . continued at TheNAtion.com, HERE
12/13/18
How George H.W. Bush Paved the Way for Trump Pardons: Harold Meyerson on the dark side of Reagan’s successor.
The second-worst thing Bush did was his last act as president: pardoning many of the Iran/Contra conspirators, in order to block investigation of his own breaking the law. That points the way for Donald Trump to follow his example — by pardoning the people who might testify against him.
(The worst thing? Nominating Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court.)
. . . continued at TheNation.com, HERE 12/5/18
Michelle Obama’s Carefully Scrubbed Memoir: Amy Wilentz on the missing politics in ‘Becoming’
In LA, Michelle’s event was not at a bookstore, but rather at the Forum in Inglewood, where the Lakers used to play. It has 17,000 seats and was sold out for her event. She has similar venues in other cities. It’s not your typical author appearance. . . We’re interested in what the book has to say about politics, because hers were maybe more complicated than she let on. . . .
continued at TheNation.com, Nov. 30, 2018, HERE
Donald Trump’s Debasement of American Democracy: Jill Lepore on Trump and history.
What Nixon did “does not match the Trump presidency in its malfeasance, and in the depth of his failure as president.”
continued at TheNation.com, HERE:
10/26/18
Donald Trump Is a Criminal Tax Cheat: David Cay Johnston
Q. How did Fred Trump transfer $413 million to his son Donald?
David Cay Johnston: “You do it by lying and cheating.”
…continued at TheNation.com, HERE
10/12/2018
Rebecca Traister: The Politics of Women’s Anger
Q: The New York Times page-one headline after Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony read, “A Nominee is Rescued By a Display of Rage.” I wonder if you have any comment on that?
Rebecca Traister: One of the things I write about in the book is the issue of whose rage is taken seriously as politically valid and politically consequential. . . .
Continued at TheNation.com, HERE 10/12/18
Michael Moore: How Democrats Paved the Way to Trump
Michael Moore: I live in that other world, where I watched The Apprentice. If we were able to ask everybody listening to this right now, “How many of you watched The Apprentice every week when Donald Trump was the host?” I’m guessing not many would say “I did.”
JW: I didn’t.
MM: Of course you didn’t. You don’t waste your time with crap like that. You went to college, and you’re an enlightened, educated person.
JW: Aw, shucks.
. . . continued at TheNation.com, HERE 9/21/18
Bill McKibben: Hurricane Florence Will Be Made Worse by ‘Stupid Political Decisions’
Q&A with Bill McKibben: “These days there’s always some new illustration of our folly. Florence is going to be a bloody and brutal affair, I’m afraid. It does remind us of just how much of a role stupid political decisions play. You may remember that it was the North Carolina state legislature six years ago that voted to ban the use of the latest science as it related to sea-level rise in coastal planning. That’s one of the reasons, I guess, that so many more structures there are in harm’s way now, as Florence approaches. ”
… continued at TheNation.com, HERE 9/13/18