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Progressive Democrats will be challenging incumbent moderate Democrats across America this spring and summer—starting in Ohio as Nina Turner has a rematch with Shontel Brown for Ohio’s 11th District on May 3rd, 2022—Alan Minsky comments.
Next: The Amazon workers on Staten Island have won a historic victory—but now they must prepare to strike, and to win support for their strike from the community power structure. The Nation’s Strikes Correspondent, Jane McAlevey explains why, and how.
Plus: Why are Danes so much happier than Americans? Joshua Holland says there’s more to it than that; we revisit an interview about his short film about Denmark from 2017. 4-28-2022
Jane McAlevey on Amazon Workers’ Next Big Battles and Margo Jefferson on “Constructing a Nervous System”
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The Amazon workers on Staten Island have won a historic victory—but now they must prepare to strike, and to win support for their strike from the community power structure. The Nation’s Strikes Correspondent, Jane McAlevey explains why, and how
Also on this week’s show, we have a conversation with Margo Jefferson about her new memoir, “Constructing a Nervous System.” Her earlier memoir, “Negroland,” won the National Book Critics Circle Award, and before that she won a Pulitzer Prize for criticism for her work as book and arts critic for the New York Times. She’s also written for The Nation. 4-21-2022
Democrats: Michael Kazin: Ketanji Brown Jackson: Michele Goodwin; Cops & courts: Erwin Chemerinsky
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What the Democrats have done wrong, and what they’ve done right: Michael Kazin on the party’s history, and its future. His new book is “What It Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party.”
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson won’t be seated on the Supreme Court until late June, but we’re still thinking about the significance of her confirmation as America’s first Black female supreme court justice and of that horrible confirmation hearing she endured. We have UC Irvine Law professor and Nation contributor, Michele Goodwin, on the show to reflect.
Also: Many proposals to reform the police were made after the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, the largest protest movement in American history. But the problem, Erwin Chemerinsky argues, is not just the police; the Supreme Court has empowered the police and subverted civil rights. Erwin is Dean of the law school at UC Berkeley, and author of many books— most recently “Presumed Guilty.” 4-21-2022
Gustavo Arellano on The Sheriff vs. Black L.A., and Michele Goodwin on Ketanji Brown Jackson
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The sheriff of Los Angeles County: he’s got 10,000 deputies, in America’s biggest county, with 10 million people – and he’s become LA’s biggest political problem as he faces reelection. LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano, recently interviewed the LA sheriff, Alex Villanueva, and is on the show to talk about the LAPD’s war on L.A.’s black community.
Also: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson won’t be seated on the Supreme Court until late June, but we’re still thinking about the significance of her confirmation as America’s first Black female supreme court justice and of that horrible confirmation hearing she endured. We have UC Irvine Law professor and Nation contributor, Michele Goodwin on the show to reflect. 4-14-2022
Inflation Blame: Harold Meyerson; The Sheriff: Gustavo Arellano; Ukraine: Anatol Lieven
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Inflation is a world-wide phenomenon right now- what can Biden do about prices in America? Harold Meyerson comments. Also: the French elections.
Plus: The sheriff of LA County: he’s got 10,000 deputies, in America’s biggest county, with 10 million people – and he’s become LA’s biggest political problem as he faces reelection. LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano comments.
Also: How could the war in Ukraine end? Anatol Lieven says Russia could gain control of the entire Donbass region and then declare a cease-fire—but if we want Russia to withdraw, we’ve got to give it incentives to do so. 4-14-2022
Russia’s War in Ukraine: How It Could End – A conversation with Anatol Lieven – TheNation.com
Jon Wiener: You wrote in November that we already had the outlines of a settlement in Ukraine. What was that proposal? Is any of it still relevant after 40 days of war?
Anatol Lieven: Minsk II was an agreement between Ukraine and Russia brokered by France and Germany, whereby the two separatist parts of the Donbas in Eastern Ukraine, which had rebelled against Ukraine with Russian support, would go back into Ukraine, but on the basis of full local autonomy.
… continued at TheNation.com, HERE 4-11-2022
How the Ukraine War Could End: Anatol Lieven; Plus E.J. Dionne & Miles Rapoport: 100% Voting
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How could the war in Ukraine end? Anatol Lieven says Russia could gain control of the entire Donbass region and then declare a cease-fire – but if we want Russia to withdraw, we’ve got to give it incentives to do so. Lieven is a senior fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and a contributor to The Nation.
Also: What if everybody voted? What if voting was a duty, not just a right, an obligation, something like jury duty? E.J. Dionne and Miles Rapoport explain; their new book is 100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting. 4-7-2022
Amazon workers: Harold Meyerson; EJ Dionne & Miles Rapaport: Voting; Peter Dreier: Baseball
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It’s been a week since workers at the Amazon fulfillment center on Staten Island voted to form a union – what’s the next step for the first union ever at the second biggest employer in America, and for the rest of the labor movement? Harold Meyerson has our analysis.
Also: What if everybody voted? What if voting was a duty, not just a right; an obligation, something like jury duty? E.J. Dionne and Miles Rapoport will explain; their new book is “100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting.”
Also: KPFK Sports! It’s opening day for Major League Baseball, and Peter Dreier will talk about baseball oligarchs and baseball rebels–and about Bernie Sanders’ blistering attack on the owners. Peter has two new books out: “Baseball Rebels” and “Major League Rebels.” 4-7-2022
Joan Walsh on Ginni Thomas, and Astra Taylor on Abolishing Student Debt
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Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, will be called to testify before the House Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection. Joan Walsh has our analysis of the text messages she sent supporting the riot, and of their significance for the court — as well as our politics.
Also: Monday April 4 is the Day Of Action to Abolish Student Debt, when thousands of young people will gather in Washington D.C. to say “Pick Up the Pen, Joe” — and abolish student debt via executive action. Astra Taylor will explain; she’s co-founder of the Debt Collective. 3-31-2022
Biden’s Budget w/out Build Back Better: Harold Meyerson; Student Debt: Astra Taylor
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Build Back Better never made it through congress. So, what’s in Biden’s new budget proposal? Harold Meyerson of The Prospect comments.
Plus: Monday April 4 is the Day Of Action to Abolish Student Debt, when thousands of young people will gather in Washington D.C. to say “Pick Up the Pen, Joe” — and abolish student debt via executive action. Astra Taylor will explain; she’s co-founder of the Debt Collective.
Also, the dangers (and the benefits) of antidepressants: P.E. Moskowitz talks about the science, and about personal experiences. Their report, “Breaking Off My Chemical Romance,” is featured in the magazine’s special issue on drugs. 3-31-2022