Start Making Sense

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Trump’s attack on Venezuela is likely to weaken his political support even further, because it does nothing about affordability or health care. And it’s not at all clear the big oil companies want to spend billions restoring Venezuelan production. John Nichols comments.

Also: the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered the VA to provide housing for disabled vets on its land in Los Angeles, something they have refused to do for more than a decade. The ruling should end homelessness among disabled vets everywhere – Mark Rosenbaum of Public Counsel, who won the case, explains.

Transcript HERE  1-7-2026

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The year in politics: Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect comments on Trump’s collapsing support in 2025, and the rise of the resistance—in both the unprecendented national mobilizations culminating in the second No Kings Day, and the Democratic triumph in virtually all elections in 2025.

Also: the year in court: David Cole, who stepped down this year as national legal director of the ACLU, reviews the 149 rulings against Trump in federal courts this past year, and the 21 times the Supreme Court has supported his attacks on democracy.

Transcript HERE  12-31-2025

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In June, Trump sent more than 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to occupy Los Angeles and terrorize the immigrant population. But by the end of July, almost all the Guard and the Marines were gone. Bill Gallegos explains how that happened and what other cities can learn from it.

Also: Bob Dylan fans have been puzzled and troubled by his Christmas album ever since he released it in 2009. To help figure out what Dylan was doing, we turn to Sean Wilentz. He’s author of Bob Dylan in America, and he also teaches history at Princeton. (Originally recorded in January, 2005.)​  12-24-2025

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This coming Friday is the deadline for the Justice Department to turn over the Epstein files to Congress. But we already know the key fact about Epstein’s famous friends–they didn’t care that he had hired a 14-year-old girl for sex—and gone to jail for it. But why was that? Katha Pollitt comments.

Also: the hidden politics of the New York Times crossword puzzle: Natan Last explains; his new book is Across the Universe: the Past, Present, and Future of the Crossword Puzzle.

Transcript HERE  12-17-2025

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Republicans are about to end Obamacare subsidies, driving up premiums for 20 million people during the year of the midterm elections. How have they managed to end up after all these years with no health insurance plan of their own? John Nichols comments.

Also: Bob Dylan’s earliest recordings have just been released—the first is from 1956 when he was 15 years old—on the 8-CD set ‘Through the Open Window: The Bootleg Series vol. 18” – which ends in 1963, with his historic performance at Carnegie Hall. Sean Wilentz explains – he wrote the 120 page book that accompanies the release.

Transcript HERE  12-10-2025

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Zohran Mamdani takes office in four weeks as the first socialist mayor of New York City. How should we understand the constraints he faces, without accepting those constraints? Bhaskar Sunkara has our analysis; he’s president of The Nation and author of ‘The Socialist Manifesto.’

Plus: Sports Talk on The Nation podcast! Of course Thanksgiving was a big weekend for football on TV – a weekend where millions of viewers got to see a festival of brain injuries — concussions after receiving blows to the head. Dave Zirin will comment – he’s the long-time sports editor of The Nation and host of the Edge of Sports podcast.

Transcript HERE  12-3-2025

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Last Friday Marjorie Taylor Greene announced she was quitting after Trump excommunicated her from MAGA, while the same day Trump welcomed Zohran Mamdani to the White House with open arms and high praise. What’s going on with Trump? Harold Meyerson comments – he’s editor at large of The American Prospect.

Also: Alice Waters, the legendary founder of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, winner of the National Humanities Medal, awarded by Obama, talks about how to make school lunch delicious, affordable, organic, and beautiful – and locally sourced from regenerative farmers. Her new book is A School Lunch Revolution.  11-26-2025

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After almost a year of Trump stonewalling about the Epstein files, Republicans in the House finally took a stand against him. More than a hundred Republican members were prepared to vote for releasing the files. Facing a dramatic defeat, on Sunday night Trump caved, and Tuesday the vote in the House was nearly unanimous. John Nichols has our analysis.

Also: The Americans who fought in World War II have been called “the greatest generation,” but historian David Nasaw argues that it’s more appropriate to regard them as “the wounded generation.” That’s the title of his new book about vets coming home after WWII.

Transcript HERE  11-19-2025

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As mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani will be the first socialist in American history to hold significant power. It’s a huge opportunity, and a huge responsibility. Bhaskar Sunkara, president of The Nation and author of “The Socialist Manifesto,” will comment.

Also: How a band of visionaries and a million dollars upended America – in the 1920s, which had some remarkable similarities to our own era. Award winning historian John Fabian Witt will explain; his new book is ‘The Radical Fund.’

Transcript HERE  11-14-2025

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Democratic candidates won everywhere they ran on Tuesday – Abagail Spanberger and a Democratic state legislature in Virginia, Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey, Gavin Newsom’s redistricting proposition in California, and of course Zohran Mamdani in New York City. Trump didn’t even campaign against any them. John Nichols has our analysis.

Also: Greil Marcus comments on the new film about Bruce Springsteen writing the songs for his 1982 album “Nebraska”, starring starring Jeremy Allen White of ‘The Bear.” The movie misses the context: working class decline in Reagan’s America. Greil Marcus is the author of two dozen books, including “Mystery Train,” which has just been reissued in a special 50th anniversary edition.

Transcript HERE  11-5-2025