Republican states have been changing their laws to make it harder to vote – now activists are challenging those laws, and yesterday Attorney General Eric Holder finally suggested he might enforce the laws the prohibit discrimation in voting, especially when they target minority voters – ARI BERMAN of The Nation will report.

Plus: blacks and guns in America.  ADAM WINKLER looks at the twisted history of guns and gun control in the US.  Today it’s the left that wants gun control, but for most of American history gun control was the program of conservative whites who wanted to keep guns out of the hands of black people. Adam is professor of constitutional law at UCLA; his new book is GUNFIGHT: The Battle of the Right to Bear Arms in America.

LISTEN ONLINE TO THIS SHOW– SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST
Manufacturing in America: 54,000 American factories have closed in the past decade.  What would it take to bring some of them back from China?  HAROLD MEYERSON reports on differing strategies – match Chinese wages; or beat the Chinese with productivity; or provide government support for manufacturing.  Harold writes an op-ed column for the Washington Post op-ed page and works as editor-at-large of The American Prospect, which features his report, “Back from China?”

Also: Protest in China: the year in review.  JEFF WASSERSTROM talks about strikes and economic actions; environmental protests about a toxic chemical plant: and widespread anger over the cover-up of a high speed rail crash–all of which make for anxious times for the CCP.  Jeff is chair of the history department at UC Irvine; recently he compared the Pepper Spray Cop meme with the Chinese Tank Man.  His latest book is China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know.

Plus: The United States of Fear: TOM ENGELHARDT argues that, since 9-11, our leaders in Washington have sent the US down the “Soviet path,” pouring American treasure into the military, war, and national security – and driving our country towards the cliff.  Tom edits the indispensable Tom Dispatch; his new book is The United States of Fear.

LISTEN ONLINE TO THIS SHOW– SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST
Occupy LA: 1,400 LAPD cops cleared the encampment at City Hall park in the middle of the night last night, arresting  almost 300 people.   ALAN MINSKY was there, reporting for KPFK — we’ll talk with him about the night, the Occupy movement, and of course the future.

Also: the Democratic Promise of Occupy Wall Street — William Greider of The Nation says that, while politics in Washington “now resembles an ecological dead zone,” the Occupy Wall Street movement is — “exhilerating.  ”   We are “witnessing a rare event—the birth of a social movement.”

plus: Live from Cairo: MARK LeVINE reports on the elections, and election violence, in the Middle East’s most important city.  Mark teaches Middle Eastern history at UC Irvine and is a columnist for Al Jazeera English

LISTEN ONLINE TO THIS SHOW– SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST
The OccupyUSA live-blog at TheNation.com tracks the movement across the country and the world with updates often every 5 minutes: it’s the work of GREG MITCHELL – he has a new book out, 40 Days That Shook the World: From Occupy Wall Street to Occupy Everywhere.

Also: REBECCA SOLNIT says “If you ever doubted whether you were powerful or you mattered, just look at the reaction to people like you (or your children) camped out in parks from Oakland to Portland, Tucson to Manhattan”—the militarized police attacks on Occupyers from Manhattan to UC Davis. Rebecca wrote for TomDispatch.com.

Plus: Newt Gingrich’s cruelest campaign: replace school janitors with child labor.  JOHN NICHOLS talks about the current Republican front-runner – he’s Washington correspondent for The Nation and blogs for TheNation.com.