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Hotel and restaurant workers in Los Angeles won a $30 minimum wage last week; Disneyland workers are going to get $233 million in back pay; and Wisconsin public employees regained collective bargaining rights. Harold Meyerson reports on some victories in the class struggle in America.
Also: a special feature: Novelist Rachel Kushner reports on the world of Nostalgia Drag Racing, where people make machines—with their hands. One of them is her teenage son. 12-20-2024
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Disney unions won the biggest ever back pay settlement, and Amazon drivers in the Southland are going on strike this week – Harold Meyerson reports on the class struggle in Southern California.
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 the official historian at BobDylan.com, and he also teaches history at Princeton. (Originally recorded in January, 2005.) 12-20-2024
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Kamala Harris lost not because Democratic voters switched to Trump, Steve Phillips shows, but because of a massive failure of the Democrats to turn out their base.
Also: In a new episode of “The Children’s Hour,” Amy Wilentz reports on “Lives of the In-Laws” – Ivanka’s and Tiffany’s – and comments also on the rise of Eric’s wife Lara, and about the latest schemes of Ivanka’s husband Jared Kushner.
Transcript HERE 12-11-2024
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Workers in Los Angeles and Wisconsin made major gains this week, while the NLRB is falling into Trump’s hands, thanks to Joe Manchin & Kyrsten Sinema — Harold Meyerson reports.
Also: a new episode of “The Children’s Hour,” Amy Wilentz reports on “Lives of the In-Laws”—Ivanka’s father-in-law, and Tiffany’s — and comments also on the rise of Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara, the wife of Eric. 12-13-2024
Last time, the courts were an essential checking force on the Trump administration. This time around, they may again provide a check—if we push.
We shouldn’t underestimate the threats that Trump poses, but we shouldn’t underestimate the headwinds he’s likely to face if people oppose his initiatives. Remember, autocracy takes time. It’s hard work. Trump is not good at that. Let’s be realistic about our goal: We can probably limit the damage; we can prepare the ground for future victories. But how much can we limit the damage? Really, nobody knows, and the only way to find out is to try. We do know the writers of the Constitution did a lot to try to prevent one-man rule—by creating the famous checks and balances, including the courts as a check on the president.
But most of our friends think this Supreme Court will not stop Trump. To discuss, we are joined by David Cole, legal affairs correspondent for The Nation. Cole recently stepped down as national legal director of the ACLU to return to teaching law at Georgetown. He writes for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The New York Review of Books.
… continued at The Nation, HERE 12-10-2024
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“Our worst enemy right now is not Trump himself, but fatalism about our ability to stop him.” That’s what David Cole says – he recently stepped down as National Legal Director of the ACLU, after 8 years and hundreds of lawsuits against the first Trump administration.
Also: Project 2025,the Heritage Foundation’s famous 900 page book, is partly “”too dumb to accomplish anything at all”–that’s what Rick Perlstein says. The rest, he says, can be read as a useful catalog of how we should focus our resistance.
Transcript HERE 12-6-2024
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The GOP majority in the House will be 217-to 215 Dems – for months, until special elections in April bring it up to 220. What are the odds odds that House Republicans will be 100% united when Trump sends them his key legislation? Harold Meyerson comments.
Also: “Our worst enemy right now is not Trump himself, but fatalism about our ability to stop him.” That’s what David Cole says – he recently stepped down as National Legal Director of the ACLU, after 8 years and hundreds of lawsuits against the first Trump administration. 12-6-2024
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Matt Gaetz dropping out as Attorney General nominee was a major setback for Trump, which exposes his vulnerabilities and weaknesses. Harold Meyerson reports on the divide in the Senate, and then between the MAGA movement and Republicans on Wall Street and in the corporations.
Also on this episode of Start Making Sense: Trump’s plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants is terrible, but the idea of expelling people considered undesirable is not unprecedented in the American past. Eric Foner reviews that history, from the Native American “Trail of Tears” to the pre-Civil War proposals to free the slaves and send them to Africa. Lewis: A Life.” Transcript HERE 11-27-2024
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A lot of people who voted for abortion rights referenda this year also voted for Trump. What were they thinking? How do they understand politics? Amy Littlefield spent election day in Amarillo, Texas, trying to find out.
Also: John Lewis, who died in 2020, challenged injustice from the sit-ins of 1960 to the Age of Trump. Historian David Greenberg talks about what we can learn from his example. Greenberg’s new book is “John Lewis: A Life.” Transcript HERE 11-21-2024
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Trump’s terrible cabinet picks – what if the Democrats use these remaining two months to hold their own confirmation hirings? Also, are Democrats out of touch with the American people? Harold Meyerson comments.
Also: A lot of people who voted for abortion rights referenda this year also voted for Trump. What were they thinking? How do they understand politics? Amy Littlefield spent election day in Amarillo, Texas, trying to find out.
Plus: From the archives: Bob Dylan in 1964, when he was 23; Sean Wilentz, historian and author of a Grammy-nominated essay about Bob Dylan, comments (originally recorded in January, 2005).
“Start Making Sense” is The Nation magazine’s weekly podcast, hosted by Jon Wiener. It’s political talk without the boring parts.
New episodes posted every Wednesday morning. More info at https://www.thenation.com/content/start-making-sense/.
