Bernie & the Covid Relief Bill: Harold Meyerson; Black Lives Matter & the LAPD: Carol Sobel; “Rosa Luxemburg”: Ella Taylor

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Bernie Sanders and Biden’s $1.9 trillion covid relief bill: it’s the most important piece of social legislation at least since Medicare in 1966, 55 years ago. The bill that became law is nothing like Joe Biden’s politics over the last 30 years–nothing like the Democrats under Obama, or Clinton–and very much the culmination of Bernie’s politics over the same period.
Plus: Black Lives Matter versus the LAPD: a new official report in Los Angeles says the police in LA  violated the law by attacking and arresting BLM marchers  in last summer’s protests. Civil rights attorney Carol Sobel will explain.
And our TV critic Ella Taylor will talk about “Rosa Luxemburg,” the movie, directed by Margarethe von Trotta starring Barbara Sukowa, won won Best Actress for the role at Cannes in 1986.  3-18-21

Mike Davis: ‘Beware the light at the end of the covid tunnel’; plus Amy Wilentz on Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’

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It’s been almost exactly a year since the covid lockdown began – 220 million Americans have died of Covid-19, and now 90 million Americans have gotten at least one shot of the covid vaccine.  We could have herd immunity in July. But Mike Davis points to the proliferation of variants of the virus and says “beware the light at the end of the covid tunnel.”
Also:  Michelle Obama’s memoir is out now in paperback – It’s called “Becoming,” and it has sold more than 14 million copies worldwide in hardcover, and was named one of the best books of the year by the New York Times, NPR, and a dozen other places.  But the book avoids politics—which seems strange for the person the New York Times called “the most outspoken first lady in modern history.”  Amy Wilentz comments.  (originally broadcast in November 2018)   3-10-21

Biden’s Triumph: Harold Meyerson; Parents in Prison: Chesa Boudin; ‘Night of the Kings’: Ella Taylor

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Joe Biden’s 1.9 trillion dollar covid relief bill is about to become law, seven weeks into Biden’s presidency. It’s a huge achievement. Harold Meyerson comments.
Also, Chesa Boudin, the recently elected progressive district attorney of San Francisco, talks about prisoners as parents—he grew up with parents in prison (David Gilbert and Kathy Boudin).
And our TV critic Ella Taylor talks about “Night of the Kings,” a drama set inside a men’s prison in Ivory Coast –– it’s been shortlisted for the Oscar for best Foreign Feature.  3-11-21

Parents in Prison: Chesa Boudin; Protest in Haiti: Amy Wilentz

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Chesa Boudin, the recently elected district attorney of San Francisco, talks about prisoners as parents—he grew up with parents in prison (David Gilbert and Kathy Boudin), and wrote about it for The Nation.
Also: Amy Wilentz reports on the huge protests in Port-au-Prince last Sunday, the biggest in decades, and asks: Why is the Biden administration following Trump when it comes to US policies in Haiti?  3-5-21

Biden as Working Class Hero: Harold Meyerson; Trumpers & Us: Katha Pollitt; Will Smith’ “Amend” on Netflix: Eric Foner

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Joe Biden is becoming a working class hero, after the strongest statement in support of unions since FDR: Harold Meyerson talks about support for Amazon workers in Alabama.
Also: Katha Pollitt takes up the question, what can we do about the 74 million people who voted for Trump?
Plus: Eric Foner will talk about Will Smith’s new 6-part series on Netflix–it’s about the 14th Amendment, which established birthright citizenship, and guarantees equal protection to “all persons” in the United States – the show is called “Amend.”
And we have a new feature: “What Does Science Say?” today: the effect of Black Lives Matter protests on police killings. 3-5-21

Katha Pollitt: Trumpers Among Us; Eric Foner: Will Smith’s “Amend” on Netflix

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What are we going to do about the 74 million people who voted for Trump? Katha Pollitt has been thinking about that—and about proposals that we should try to find common ground with the 75 percent who have told pollsters they think Trump “definitely” or “probably” won the election.
Also: Historian Eric Foner talks about Will Smith’s 6-part series on Netflix on the 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War, which established birthright citizenship and guaranteed equal protection to all “persons”—the series, with a stellar cast, is called Amend. 2-24-2021

Biden’s Child Benefit proposal: Harold Meyerson; Trump’s future: Rick Perlstein; ‘Allen v. Farrow’: Ella Taylor

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Biden’s Pandemic Relief Bill should pass the House Friday–-it includes child benefit payments for every family with children. But in order for Biden’s plan to be included in the bill, it can only be for a year. Mitt Romney has proposed a permanent program – that’s what we really need.
Also: Rick Perlstein talks about the future of the Republicans with Trump defeated – how divided are leaders over Trump’s continued domination of the party? Rick’s new book is “Reaganland.”
And Ella Taylor critiques the tabloid documentary Allen v. Farrow – and recommends “It’s a Sin,” a British series on HBO Max about a group of gay men who share a London apartment as the AIDS epidemic hits.  2-25-2021

Republicans after Trump: Rick Perlstein; Biden and Economic Recovery: Alan Minsky

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The Republicans after the second impeachment: As Mitch McConnell takes the lead in trying to purge Trump from the party, how divided are they? And how much weaker as a result? Rick Perlstein comments—he’s the author of the new book Reaganland: America’s Right Turn, 1976-1980—widely regarded as the best political book of last year.
Also: Biden and the Democrats still have to succeed at changing things enough to win new supporters—and now that impeachment is finished, his $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill takes the center of the political stage, including the $15 minimum wage. Alan Minsky comments on that, and on the longer term problem of restoring American manufacturing—he’s Executive Director of Progressive Democrats of America.  2-18-21

Biden & the economy: Harold Meyerson; UCLA & the LAPD: Kelly Lytle Hernandez & Shannon Speed; ‘Judas & the Black Messiah’: Ella Taylor

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Biden’s economic recovery plan: Harold Meyerson comments, starting with the latest obstacles to keeping the $15 minimum wage in the Senate bill that goes to reconciliation – also, is aid to state governments a “blue-state bailout”?
Also: UCLA has gotten a multi-million dollar grant to establish an archive of the age of mass incarceration, starting with 177 boxes of LAPD records from the seventies through the 2000s –Kelly Lytle Hernandez and Shannon Speed explain the project and how they will be partnering with community groups.
Plus: our TV critic Ella Taylor reviews “Judas and the Black Messiah,” now on HBU Max, about the Chicago police assassinating Black Panther Fred Hampton in 1969, and also talks about “Nomadland,” the wonderful film starring Francis McDormand as a working class woman who has lost her husband, her job and her house and is living and working out of her van—it opens Friday on Hulu.  2-18-2021