Start Making Sense

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It’s getting late to take action about the climate emergency, but it’s not too late: that’s what Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua say in their new book, “Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility.”

Also: abortion rights will be a key issue for Democrats in the 2024 election, especially after Republican judges have tried to ban medication abortions. John Nichols comments.  4-20-2023

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The question with Donald Trump and his 34 felonies: Can he really be brought to justice for paying off Stormy Daniels? On this week’s Start Making Sense, we feature highlights of The Nation’s roundtable discussion with justice correspondent Elie Mystal, national affairs correspondent Joan Walsh, and D.C. Bureau Chief Chris Lehmann.
Also this week, we have a discussion of Afghan girls who escaped from the Taliban. It’s the story of a boarding school that evacuated its students from Kabul during the chaotic withdrawal of the Americans. SOLA, the School of Leadership Afghanistan is the place where Afghan girls study to become members of the generation that will one day lead a peaceful and united Afghanistan. The founder, Shabana Basij-Rasikh, explains.  4/12/2023

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The landslide victory of the progressive candidate in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race, Janet Protasiewicz, ten times bigger than Biden’s, shows how abortion wins elections. And in Chicago, progressive candidate Brandon Johnson won the race for mayor. John Nichols joins the show to discuss these victories.

Also on this episode: Will Trump’s indictment on 34 felonies change anything in the 2024 election? Or had everybody already decided what they think about Donald Trump? The Nation’s DC Bureau Chief, Chris Lehmann reports.  4-5-2023

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In Los Angeles last week, a three-day strike by 30,000 public school custodians, food service workers, bus drivers and teacher’s aides ended with a 30% pay increase. Harold Meyerson, the editor-at-large of The American Prospect, joins the podcast to discuss.

Also: For a century, thousands of young baseball players have lived with low wages, overcrowded housing, and all-night rides in uncomfortable buses in order to play in baseball’s minor leagues, hoping to eventually make it to the majors. Now, their lives are changing because they organized a union. Kelly Candaele and Peter Dreier have more on that story.  3-30-2023

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American women in 2023: the news is bad, but it’s not all bad. Katha Pollitt is on the Start Making Sense podcast to explain.

Also: the largest anti-war demonstrations in American history were the protests in the fall of 1969–with more than two million people in the streets demanding “End the War in Vietnam.” But did those demonstrations help end the war? Historian Chris Appy comments on the new documentary, “The Movement and the ‘Madman,’” out on PBS American Experience March 28.  3-23-2023

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Since the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last week, we need to understand how and why medium-sized banks have been allowed to avoid strict supervision from federal banking authorities and avoid safety requirements. John Nichols comments.

Also: Do masks work to help stop the spread of COVID-19? A New York Times columnist recently said that they don’t, and cited an authoritative review of research as his source. But it turns he was wrong about that study. Gregg Gonsalves is on the show to explain.  3-16-2023

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Ron DeSantis has written a political autobiography, “The Courage to be Free.” The Nation’s DC Bureau Chief, Chris Lehmann calls it “a paranoid rant disguised as campaign memoir.” Chris joins us on this episode of Start Making Sense to discuss it.

Also: Sunday is Oscar night in America and, as usual, we have a lot of complaints about the nominations. So does John Powers, Critic at Large on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross. We talk about this year’s films we didn’t like – and some we thought were wonderful.  3-9-2023

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Israel’s new far-right government, headed, again, by Benjamin Netanyahu, is working to undermine democracy for Israelis and advance Israel’s annexation of Palestinian land. Provocations by Israel in the West Bank have been followed by settler pogroms against Palestinian villages. Saree Makdisi provides comment and analysis of how Israel is “destroying the fantasies of liberal Zionism.” https://www.thenation.com/article/world/israel-liberal-zionism/

Also: the worst thing that happened to Black History during Black History Month was not Ron DeSantis banning critical concepts and approaches – it was the College Board revising its new African American Studies curriculum to meet all of his demands. But now scholars in Black History, Black Studies and related fields are fighting back. Kimberlé Crenshaw will explain. She founded the African American Policy Forum.  3-2-2023

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The most important election of 2023 is in Wisconsin next month, where voters can change the state’s supreme court and end domination by conservatives. They’ve banned abortion and enforced the worst gerrymandering in the nation. John Nichols joins the show to talk about the results of Tuesday’s primary, which look good for Democrats.

Also on this week’s episode: COVID remains the number 3 cause of death in the US, after heart disease and cancer, with almost 3,000 deaths every week. However, Biden and the Democrats are ending the federal COVID emergency. Is that really a good idea? The Nation’s public health correspondent and Yale professor of epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves comes on to comment.  2-24-2023

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Black history, banned in Florida—and excluded from the College Board’s recommended AP Black Studies course. UCLA professor Robin Kelley will comment on that – he’s one of the historians whose work has been targeted. Also: “The 1619 Project” on Hulu.

Also: the Royal Family and “The Crown”– you know, Queen Elizabeth and Charles and Diana, and the Netflix series about them. Gary Younge explains why he loathes the monarchy in Britain, but loved “The Crown” on Netflix.  2-16-2023