Start Making Sense

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One in six voters, pollsters say, are “still unsure of their choice.” What do people mean when they say they are “undecided”? Rick Perlstein says political writers have failed to understand the undecideds—and what Kamala might do to win their votes.

Also: Pennsylvania is the state where this year’s election may well be decided—and where nearly two-thirds of voters don’t have college degrees. Eyal Press went to Pennsylvania to find out what working class people there are thinking about and talking about in this election.

Transcript HERE   10-17-2024

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The polls have had disastrous failures for decades, but people continue to focus on them; Rick Perlstein has a better idea: ‘don’t follow polls—organize.’

Also: Democrat Marie Gleusenkamp Perez won a House seat in a Trump district, pointing the way for others. Marc Cooper analyzes her current reelection campaign in southwestern Washington State, starting from the fact that she’s a working class woman in a rural area.

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John Nichols has been driving to places in middle America where Trump has gotten big majorities in the past: Iowa and Nebraska, central and Western Illinois, and southwestern Wisconsin, asking Democrats there about politics in their towns right now.

Also: Kamala’s campaign is challenging the Republican conception of “freedom” as freedom from government regulation, advancing instead a positive conception of the government’s ability to protect and expand freedom. Eric Foner explains the history, and significance, of this conflict.

Transcript HERE   10-4-2024

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Trump has cancelled his plans to visit Springfield, Ohio, but his lie about Haitian immigrants there eating cats and dogs continues to ricochet around the American political world. Amy Wilentz comments.

Plus: The presidential election is the main political battle in America today, but Trump’s followers have also been fighting, for years, to take over towns across the country. Sasha Abramsky reports on two exemplary battles. His new book is ‘Chaos Comes Calling.’

Transcript HERE   9-26-2024

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Trump has made it clear he won’t accept the results of the 2024 election if he loses, and Republicans are doing everything they can make it harder for Democrats to vote. But it will be harder for Trump to challenge this year’s election, because of changes in the law–that’s what Rick Hasen says. He’s professor of law at UCLA, and his writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Slate and The New York Times.

Also: Trump supporters in Appalachia: Arlie Hochschild has spent years talking with them about how they understand their lives, and how Donald Trump helps overcome their shame. Her new book is “Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right.”

Transcript HERE  9-19-2024

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Tuesday night’s debate showed what Kamala can do – and what Trump can’t. John Nichols has our analysis.

Also: homeless vets have been trying for years to get the VA to build housing for them in LA on land dedicated to that purpose. Now, a federal judge has finally ruled: the vets win, and the VA loses. Mark Rosenbaum, lead attorney in the vets’ class action suit, explain.

Transcript HERE  9-12-2024

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Donald Trump announced Friday that he would be voting against an abortion rights ballot measure in his home state of Florida. Amy Littlefield reports on the crucial battle in the state that had been the South’s last refuge for abortion access.

Plus: Rachel Kushner talks about the informant and provacateur who infiltrates an anarchist eco-commune in rural France – the central character in her new novel, “Creation Lake.” Transcript HERE  9-5-2024

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We’ve had a series of surprises in the last several weeks, but none have been more surprising than Kamala emerging as a great candidate. Harold Meyerson explains: it’s not so much that she has changed, it’s that the Democratic Party has changed.

Also: Democracy in America is being undermined by the Electoral College, the Senate filibuster, the gerrymandering of the House, and the corruption of the Supreme Court. It’s time to write, and ratify, a new constitution: that’s what Erwin Chemerinsky says. His new book is “No Democracy Lasts Forever: How the Constitution Threatens the United States.”

Transcript HERE  8-28-2024

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As the Democrats meet to celebrate Kamala, Trump seems disoriented and unsure what to do next. Nevertheless he’s holding on to 44% of the electorate. How come? Marc Cooper has our analysis.

Also: Kamala may be rising in the polls, but the Number One nonfiction bestseller in America is still “Hillbilly Elegy” by J.D. Vance. Luckily for us, Becca Rothfeld has read it, so we don’t have to. She’s nonfiction book critic for the Washington Post.

Transcript HERE  8-22-2024

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What is happening with the Trump campaign? He seems to be losing his grip, while Kamala gets big crowds and dominates the news. Harold Meyerson comments.

Also: Sherrod Brown is up for reelection to the Senate in Ohio, where Biden got only 45% four years ago. He explains is political philosophy, which has enabled him to win reelection twice before. (originally broadcast in 2020).

Transcript HERE  8-15-2024