Jane Mayer on the Reclusive Billionaire Who Made Trump President:
Start Making Sense 3/23

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The hedge-fund magnate Robert Mercer was probably the most important backer of Trump for president. Jane Mayer of The New Yorker has the first in-depth report on this little-known figure and former Breitbart News funder.

Also: Is Trump like Nixon? Both won by exploiting the resentments of the white working class; both covered up crimes committed by their campaigns against the Democrats. But Rick Perlstein, author of the classic book Nixonland, says the answer is no: Trump is not like Nixon.

Plus: Tom Hayden finished a book on the antiwar movement of the 1960s before he died in October: Hell No: The Forgotten Power of the Vietnam Peace Movement. It’s out now from Yale University Press. Steve Wasserman, Tom’s editor and publisher, comments.

Democrats Need to Understand Why the Rust Belt’s White Workers Still Support Trump: Start Making Sense 3/16

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Why do many white workers who voted for Trump still support him? The Nation sent D.D. Guttenplan to Ohio to find out—he’s returned now with his report.

Also: should the feminist movement welcome people who are anti-abortion? Wouldn’t that make the resistance to Trump stronger? Katha Pollitt doesn’t think so.

And: Ari Berman reports on a big victory for voting rights in Texas, where a federal court ruled that the state intentionally discriminated against black and Latino voters with its redistricting maps.

LA County’s Progressive Alternative to Trump: Trump Watch 3/15

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Sheila Kuehl talks about all the ways Los Angeles county has taken a stand against Trump. LA County is bigger than 44 states; Sheila is one of five elected members of the Board of Supervisors.

Also: The endless war in Afghanistan: now it’s Trump’s. Andrew Bacevich comments on America’s longest war — 14 years long and no end in sight.

Plus: Harold Meyerson talks about Trump’s bad week: a budget facing lots of opposition, a health care “plan” facing lots of opposition, and a second Muslim travel ban that’s been blocked by the courts.

How Women Are Changing the World: a Q&A with Rebecca Solnit–TheNation.com, 3/10

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JW: We want to talk about the big picture. A revitalized feminist movement is changing things, despite what we see in the White House. How would you describe it?

Rebecca Solnit: There was an extraordinary set of years, 2012, 2013, 2014, where the rules really changed….finally women were in a position to say, “We’re not going to take this anymore. You can’t pretend it’s not happening.” And then to make some changes.

A Day Without Trump: I Know I Need One–TheNation.com, 3/10

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It’s going to be a long four years….for our own well-being over the long haul, I think we could all use a day without Trump, every week: one day on which we don’t read about him, watch him on TV, listen to him on the radio, or talk about him with friends; one day on which we don’t even think about that man. . . .

The first Dreamer goes to Court; TrumpCare goes to the House: Trump Watch 3/12

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Congressman Ted Lieu of Los Angeles talks about TrumpCare, the new Muslim Travel Ban, and the call to investigate wiretapping of Trump Tower.

Also: “High Noon” was the 1952 Western where Gary Cooper has to face the bad guys alone, because the local townspeople are all cowards. Glenn Frankel, the Pulitzer-prize winning author, says it’s an allegory about the Hollywood Blacklist – and he thinks there are parallels to today.  His new book is High Noon.

And Mark Rosenbaum is the attorney at Public Counsel who’s been on the front lines of the fight against Trump’s Muslim ban.  Yesterday he argued the first case of a Dreamer they’re trying to deport, in Seattle, and he represents the Afghan family that was detained for more than 40 hours at LAX last week despite the fact that they had visas and had been vetted for entry into the country.

 This Is the Resistance: More Than 5,000 Grassroots Groups Have Sprung Up
Start Making Sense 3/12

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Joshua Holland surveys the new grassroots resistance groups that have sprung up since the election—he found more than 75, and that number is likely growing.

Indivisible is the biggest of these groups, with more than 5,000 local groups, at least two in every Congressional district. Jeremy Haile explains—he’s one of the authors of the Indivisible Guide.

March 8 was International Women’s Day, and Rebecca Solnit talks about about the exciting shape feminist activism has taken over the last few years—she calls it “fearless,” “unapologetic” and “gorgeously transformative.” Rebecca’s new book is The Mother of All Questions.

 How the Democrats Can Beat Trump on Tax Reform: 3/1

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Harold Meyerson says it’s time for the Democrats to move beyond simply saying “no” to Trump and challenge him with alternative tax proposals that would really help working-class people. Meyerson is executive editor of The American Prospect.

Plus: The New York Times has published two articles suggesting that Ivanka will save us from her father. Needless to say, Amy Wilentz doesn’t agree.

Also: This week we are celebrating the 90th birthday of Harry Belafonte—he’s been a central figure behind the scenes of the civil-rights movement since the 1950s, and he did some amazing things on TV in the crucial year of 1968. Joan Walsh explains.

Will Ivanka Save Us? Amy Wilentz on Trump Watch

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Amy Wilentz reviews recent reports that Ivanka has checked her father’s worst impulses, especially on LGBTQ rights, and maybe on the National Endowments of the Arts and Humanities. Amy’s cover story about Ivanka appeared in The Nation last week.

And John Nichols reviews Trump’s first month — and answers the question, ‘What is Trump’s biggest achievement thus far?’  His answer: creating the biggest opposition movement in 100 years.

 Jane Mayer: Dark Money and Donald Trump: Start Making Sense 2/21

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The Koch brothers, the GOP’s biggest donors, didn’t support Trump for president—but he’s supporting their pro-business and anti-environmental agenda now. Jane Mayer of The New Yorker explains; her book Dark Money is out now in paperback.

Plus: What Trump has actually done that matters, not just what he’s tweeted, during his first month: George Zornick reports.

Also: Who’s the political figure in our history most different from Donald Trump? The answer is easy: Eleanor Roosevelt. Blanche Wiesen Cook comments—the third and final volume of her biography of Eleanor is out now.