Living in the USA

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Harold Meyerson comments on the LA Mayoral race, where the police union is spending millions to defeat Karen Bass.
Also: the coming end of constitutional protection for abortion gives us a lot of work to do – Katha Pollitt explains.
And Lynn Garafola talks about “an Amazon of the Avant-Garde,” the ballet dancer who went from revolutionary Russia to Kiev to Hollywood in the 1930s – “La Nijinska,” sister of the legendary Nijinsky.  6-2-2022

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Reproductive rights initiatives and referendums on the ballot in November will boost Democratic turnout in swing states including Arizona and Michigan–Harold Meyerson reports.
Also: Haiti is back on the front page–at least in the New York Times–and it’s not because of what’s happening there right now. The Times has published the results of a deep investigation into the history of Haiti’s forced payments to France, starting more than 200 years ago–an immense amount of money, Amy Wilentz comments.
Plus: Peter Richardson discusses Hunter S. Thompson, the writer credited for inventing “Gonzo Journalism.” Thompson wrote a classic book about Richard Nixon,’ Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, ‘72.’ Richardson, author of Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson, explains how he did it.  5-26-2022

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Republicans in this week’s primaries: it’s sort like news from another planet. Harold Meyerson reports on Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Ohio, on opportunities and challenges now that the Republicans have chosen their candidates.
Also: John Nichols on Progressive Democrats in Tuesday’ primaries – and the deluge of money from the Israel lobby paying for ads attacking them—especially in Pittsburgh and in North Carolina.
Plus: Chesa Boudin, the elected district attorney of San Francisco, on progressive prosecutors and their opponents. Progressive prosecutors have been pushing for criminal justice reform for a while now, seeking to end mass incarceration and deal with police misconduct. Of course the defeated law and order forces have been pushing back. In San Francisco, opponents have collected enough signatures to force a recall vote on Boudin on June 7.  5-19-2022

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Repealing Roe v. Wade will be a disaster for women, but a gift to Democrats in the upcoming midterms–an opportunity to win close races in swing states. Harold Meyerson runs down the key races where Dems should be able to win.
Also: It’s all up to the states now, where grassroots groups are preparing an enormous logistics operation to move people across entire regions of the country that are about to go dark on abortion access. Amy Littlefield, The Nation’s abortion access correspondent, weighs in.
Plus: Why did we stop believing that people can change? Don’t we want people who did bad things to understand the damage they caused? Don’t we want them to acknowledge it and make reparations? Bestselling author, Rebecca Solnit explains.  5-12-2022

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The Democrats’ chances in the midterms depend on turnout, on door-to-door, face-to-face organizing—and “Democracy Summer” is their plan to join with allies in organizing that kind of effort in the swing states. Harold Meyerson explains.
Also: the disgraceful policy of America toward refugees from Ukraine – historian David Nasaw comments.
And the wonderful writer Margo Jefferson talks about her new memoir about growing up in a middle-class Black family in Chicago – it’s called “Constructing a Nervous System.”  5-5-2022

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Progressive Democrats will be challenging incumbent moderate Democrats across America this spring and summer—starting in Ohio as Nina Turner has a rematch with Shontel Brown for Ohio’s 11th District on May 3rd, 2022—Alan Minsky comments.
Next: The Amazon workers on Staten Island have won a historic victory—but now they must prepare to strike, and to win support for their strike from the community power structure. The Nation’s Strikes Correspondent, Jane McAlevey explains why, and how.
Plus: Why are Danes so much happier than Americans? Joshua Holland says there’s more to it than that; we revisit an interview about his short film about Denmark from 2017.  4-28-2022

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What the Democrats have done wrong, and what they’ve done right: Michael Kazin on the party’s history, and its future. His new book is “What It Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party.”
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson won’t be seated on the Supreme Court until late June, but we’re still thinking about the significance of her confirmation as America’s first Black female supreme court justice and of that horrible confirmation hearing she endured. We have UC Irvine Law professor and Nation contributor, Michele Goodwin, on the show to reflect.
Also: Many proposals to reform the police were made after the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, the largest protest movement in American history. But the problem, Erwin Chemerinsky argues, is not just the police; the Supreme Court has empowered the police and subverted civil rights. Erwin is Dean of the law school at UC Berkeley, and author of many books— most recently “Presumed Guilty.”  4-21-2022

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Inflation is a world-wide phenomenon right now- what can Biden do about prices in America? Harold Meyerson comments. Also: the French elections.
Plus: The sheriff of LA County: he’s got 10,000 deputies, in America’s biggest county, with 10 million people – and he’s become LA’s biggest political problem as he faces reelection. LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano comments.
Also: How could the war in Ukraine end? Anatol Lieven says Russia could gain control of the entire Donbass region and then declare a cease-fire—but if we want Russia to withdraw, we’ve got to give it incentives to do so.  4-14-2022

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It’s been a week since workers at the Amazon fulfillment center on Staten Island voted to form a union – what’s the next step for the first union ever at the second biggest employer in America, and for the rest of the labor movement? Harold Meyerson has our analysis.
Also: What if everybody voted? What if voting was a duty, not just a right; an obligation, something like jury duty? E.J. Dionne and Miles Rapoport will explain; their new book is “100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting.”
Also: KPFK Sports! It’s opening day for Major League Baseball, and Peter Dreier will talk about baseball oligarchs and baseball rebels–and about Bernie Sanders’ blistering attack on the owners. Peter has two new books out: “Baseball Rebels” and “Major League Rebels.”  4-7-2022

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Build Back Better never made it through congress. So, what’s in Biden’s new budget proposal? Harold Meyerson of The Prospect comments.
Plus: Monday April 4 is the Day Of Action to Abolish Student Debt, when thousands of young people will gather in Washington D.C. to say “Pick Up the Pen, Joe” — and abolish student debt via executive action. Astra Taylor will explain; she’s co-founder of the Debt Collective.
Also, the dangers (and the benefits) of antidepressants: P.E. Moskowitz talks about the science, and about personal experiences. Their report, “Breaking Off My Chemical Romance,” is featured in the magazine’s special issue on drugs.  3-31-2022