Chris Hayes on the Fight for Our Attention

In this interview, the MSNBC host discusses Trump’s mastery of our age of attention, and his new book, The Sirens’ Call. 

Chris Hayes was The Nation’s Washington editor from 2007 to 2011. He started out writing for the Chicago Reader, then In These Times. He went from The Nation to MSNBC, and became host of All In with Chris Hayes, which won an Emmy. His new book is The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource. This interview has been edited and condensed—read the full transcript here.

Jon Wiener: I have a friend who refuses to watch Trump on TV. Why not? “Because,” he says, “Your attention is the most valuable thing you have.” In your new book you describe your own struggle to pay attention to what is most valuable—especially in the morning, when you sit on the couch…

Chris Hayes: “In the morning, I sit on the couch with my precious younger daughter. She’s six years old, and her sweet soft breath is on my cheek as she cuddles up with a book asking me to read to her before we walk to school. Her attention is uncorrupted and pure…

… continued at The Nation, HERE 1-3-2025

 

Chris Hayes: How Trump Wins the Battle for Attention

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Our attention is limited. That makes it valuable, Chis Hayes says– not just to us, but to those who’d like to exploit it. Chris’s new book is The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource; before he became host of “All in with Chris Hayes” on MSNBC, he was The Nation’s Washington Correspondent.

Also: Your Minnesota Moment: officials in sanctuary cities and counties in Minnesota face threats from the Trump administration. Host Jon Wiener explains the threats to undocumented residents from Stephen Miller, and the response from Minnesota’s Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Transcript HERE   1-31-2025

Triumph over Trump: John Nichols; Paying Attention: Chris Hayes; Sanctuary in Minnesota

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This week’s popular outrage over Trump’s stopping funding of all social programs forced him to throw in the towel after just a few hours – demonstrating how weak he is, and how powerful the opposition can be. John Nichols comments.

Also: The battle to get us to pay attention: Chris Hayes explains–His new book is “The Siren’s Call.”

Plus: Your Minnesota Moment – Trump attacks small town sanctuaries for undocumented residents.  1-31-2025

How We Got Here, plus Thanking the Undocumented

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How Trump ‘won’: In 2024, 244 million Americans were eligible to vote. 31.5% voted for Trump, 30.6 % voted for Harris, 38% did not vote. Trump won the same share of the eligible voters as he did four years ago (32%), But Harris’s share of eligible voters fell by 3.5 points compared to Biden. Why did 7 million Democratic voters stay home? Harold Meyerson has our analysis—he’s editor-at-large of The American Prospect.

Also: now that Trump is preparing to round up and deport undocumented residents, we want to thank them for everything they’ve done to make America good. It’s a sentiment they don’t hear nearly enough—especially the “unaccompanied minors,” who have “shown more bravery in their young lives than anyone in Trump’s administration could ever dream of.” Gustavo Arellano will explain—he’s a columnist for the LA Times whose father came to the US in the 1960s in the trunk of a Chevy.  Transcript HERE   1-22-2025

How We Got Here: Harold Meyerson; The Undocumented: Gustavo Arellano; J. Edgar: Beverely Gage

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How did we get here, with Trump returning to the White House?  Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect comments on the 93 million people who could have voted – but didn’t –and on Trump’s Day One executive orders.

Also: Now that Trump is preparing to round up and deport undocumented residents, we want to thank them for everything they’ve done to make America good. Gustavo Arellano will explain – he’s a columnist for the LA Times whose father came to the US in the 1960s in the trunk of a Chevy.

Plus: Twenty Minutes without Trump. Today:  J. Edgar Hoover: We know a lot about the bad things he did, but it turns out there’s a lot we didn’t know. Historian Beverly Gage will explain. Her award-winning book is “G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover & the Making of the American Century.” (originally broadcast in December, 2022.)  1-24-2025

DNC v. Trump, plus Solidarity v. Trump

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As we prepare for Trump to take office next week, we’re getting ready to challenge him and his people in the upcoming elections later this year. But before that, we have an important election in the next few weeks: the Democratic National Committee will elect a new chair on February 1 to prepare for the battles and the campaigns to come. For our analysis we turn to John Nichols.

Also: Trump promises to deport millions of undocumented residents, while Republicans in Congress threaten a nationwide abortion ban. Meanwhile parts of the mainstream media are caving in to Trump. How can individuals help at this point? Katha Pollit has some suggestions about groups that deserve support.

Transcript HERE  1-15-2025

Getting Ready to Fight Trump, & to Help Trump’s Victims: John Nichols & Katha Pollitt; plus Hidden Wealth: Atossa Araxia Abrahamian

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As we prepare for Trump to take office next week, we’re getting ready to challenge him and his people in the upcoming elections later this year. But before that, we have an important election in the next few weeks: the Democratic National Committee will elect a new chair on February 1 to prepare for the battles and the campaigns to come – John Nichols comments.

Also: Trump promises to deport millions of undocumented residents, while Republicans in Congress threaten a nationwide abortion ban. Meanwhile parts of the mainstream media are caving in to Trump. How can individuals help at this point? Katha Pollit has some suggestions about groups that deserve support.

Plus: Not everything is about Donald Trump. The Geneva Freeport, for example – where it doesn’t matter who is president of the US. The Freeport is a place where the world’s richest people hide art, jewelry, and other wealth from tax officials, creditors, and sometimes spouses. Atossa Araxia Abrahamian discusses her new book: “The Hidden Globe: How Wealth Hacks the World.”  1-17-2025

Defending the Undocumented, plus Uncovering Hidden Wealth

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On this episode of Start Making Sense: Trump’s ‘dictatorship on day one’ will feature executive orders to deport undocumented residents. Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the Center for Immigration Law & Policy at UCLA Law School, will explain the legal strategy to be deployed by the sanctuary states and cities,

Also: Not everything is about Donald Trump. The Geneva Freeport, for example – where it doesn’t matter who is president of the US. The Freeport is a place where the world’s richest people hide art, jewelry, and other wealth from tax officials, creditors, and sometimes spouses. Atossa Araxia Abrahamian has our analysis–her new book is “The Hidden Globe: How Wealth Hacks the World.”

Transcript HERE  1-10-2025

Trump’s Big Budget Bill: Harold Meyerson; Sanctuary Strategies: Ahilan A.; Trump and Golf: Bob Lipsyte

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Trump has come out in favor of combining many of his biggest priorities into one big budget reconciliation bill – because the budget reconciliation impacts the economy, this bill is not subject to filibuster by the Democrats; so, it could pass the Senate with 50 Republican votes. But some Republicans are likely to resist – Harold Meyerson comments.

Also: Trump’s “dictatorship on day one” will feature executive orders to deport undocumented residents. Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the Center for Immigration Law & Policy at UCLA Law School, explains the legal strategy to be deployed by the sanctuary states and cities to challenge Trump’s orders.

Plus: Trump & Golf: The Saudi-backed LIV golf league will return to Trump’s Doral Resort in April 2025 – the clearest sign yet that Trump family business deals using Saudi government financing will continue into the new presidency. The legendary sportswriter Robert Lipsyte comments on Trump and golf. (broadcast originally in August 2017)   1-10-2025

MAGA vs. DOGE: Harold Meyerson; Project 2025: Rick Perlstein; The Bob Dylan Movie: John Powers

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A fight has broken out between Elon Musk and the MAGA activists and base about immigration – specifically, over H-1B visas. But what exactly IS an H-1B visa; and why is there so much heat around the issue? Harold Meyerson comments.

Also: Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s famous 900 page book, is partly “too dumb to accomplish anything at all”– the rest, can be read as a useful catalog of how we should focus our resistance – Rick Perlstein explains.

Plus: The ever-elusive Bob Dylan seems an unlikely candidate for a Hollywood biopic. John Powers, a critic-at-large on NPR’s Fresh Air, talks about how the new movie “A Complete Unknown” captures a defining moment in his career and in American culture.  1-3-2025