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As the Supreme Court begins its new term, Trump lost six different cases in district courts just last week, ranging from bans on deploying the National Guard, to defending freedom of speech for noncitizens, to yet another court rejecting his executive order abolishing birthright citizenship. At the same time, Trump is claiming an illegitimate legal basis for ordering the murder of civilians he claims are trafficing in drugs. David Cole will comment—he’s former national legal director of the ACLU.

Also, There’s a wonderful new history of New York City from the Depression thru WWII, out now – It’s called “Gotham at War,” written by Mike Wallace. He won the Pulitzer Prize in History for the first volume in his “Gotham” series. To talk about ‘Gotham at War,’ we’ll turn to Brenda Wineapple, who writes for the New York Review and the New York Times Book Review; her most recent book is the Scopes trial–it’s called ‘Keeping the Faith.’

Transcript HERE  10-8-2025

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For the Senate Democrats this is a big week for defiance. At last they are making popular demands as part of a deal to pass a budget and avoid a government shutdown. But Trump still holds a lot of cards. Harold Meyerson will comment.

Also: None of us were prepared for the double whammy of last week’s White House press conference, where Trump made false claims not only about vaccines, but also about Tylenol causing autism. We’ll have analysis from Gregg Gonsalves. He teaches at the Yale School of Public Health; he’s been an AIDS activist for 30 years; and he’s also a MacArthur Fellow — class of 2018. And he’s The Nation’s public health correspondent.

Transcript HERE  10-2-2025

Trump is trying to stop speech that criticizes him and his administration. Last week began with JD Vance complaining about an article in The Nation that criticized the ideas of Charlie Kirk. Two days after that, ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel. And a few days after that, a protest movement forced ABC to put him back on the air. Bhaskar Sunkara comments on the fight over freedom of speech—he’s president of The Nation magazine.

Also: Attacking Harvard is not unique to Trump. For decades, indeed for centuries, American politicians have made hay by going after Harvard. Historian Beverely Gage talks about what’s familiar, and what’s new, in Trump’s efforts—based on a reconsideration of Richard Hofstadter’s classic 1963 book, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life.
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In suburban DC, southern Pennsylvania and Iowa, Democrats have won special elections by significant margins – and the polls for this year’s upcoming elections for mayor in New York City, governor in Virginia, and redistricting in California show Democrats well ahead. Also: J.D. Vance attacks The Nation. John Nichols comments.
Also: Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT and one of our leading progressives, explains “Why Fascists Fear Teachers” – the title of her new book.

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Trump had four major court decisions against him in a single week last week: on tariffs, defunding Harvard, sending troops to LA, and deporting Venezuelans, different courts and appellate panels said he was violating the law. Erwin Chemerinsky comments – he’s Dean of the Law School at Berkeley.

Also: The new film “Caught by the Tides” by Jia Zhangke, considered worldwide to be the most important director in China: Over the last 30 years, his great project has been to tell stories that show the radical transformation of Chinese life by capitalism and the state. John Powers explains – he’s critic at large on Fresh Air with Terry Gross. The film is streaming now on the Criterion Channel.  Transcript HERE  9-10-2025

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At a time when almost everything seems to be going wrong, Bill McKibben sees one thing that is suddenly going right – a really big thing: solar power, and wind, which now provide cheaper electricity than fossil fuels. Bill’s new book has the wonderful title “Here Comes the Sun” – he says solar is “A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for civilization.”

Also: historian Eric Foner provides some historical perspective on what seems like the unique threat Trump poses to our freedoms. His new book, a collection of almost 60 essays, is titled “Our Fragile Freedoms.”

Transcript HERE  9-3-2025