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Republicans forced Wisconsin to go ahead with an election on Tuesday, despite the coronavirus, after rejecting the proposals to extend voting by mail. John Nichols reports — he says it’s a frightening example of what they will try to do in November to reduce the Democratic vote.
Also: The Cold War was fought in many ways: it was a traditional political and military confrontation, but it was also a cultural contest, on a global scale –
and one of the most important arenas in the cultural contest was sports. historian Robert Edelman explains: he’s co-editor of the new book The Whole World Was Watching: Sport in the Cold War.”
Plus: Nation columnist Laila Lalami talks about her novel “The Other Americans.” it’s about the suspicious death of a Moroccan immigrant in a small town in California. It’s a family saga, a murder mystery, and a love story. And it’s out now in paperback.  4-10-2020

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Harold Meyerson reports that Republicans in the Senate voted against expanded unemployment benefits almost unanimously. And the bailout support for big banks and corporations has many fewer restrictions than the small business funding support. But moments of crisis are also moments of opportunity, and number one on the Dem’s list should be Medicare for All.
Also: E. J. Dionne, the Washington Post columnist, talks about what it’s going to take to beat Trump in the Age of the Coronavirus – his new book is called “Code Red: How Progressives and Moderates Can Unite to Save Our Country.”
Also, Katha Pollitt has some advice about how to spend all those hours at home – watching movies on TV — and reading the classics.
And finally, the great Gail Collins of the New York Times op-ed page talks about the adventures of older women. Her book, “No Stopping us Now,” is out in paperback. 4/2/20

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David Dayen of The American Prospect analyzes all the ways the economic stimulus bill passed by the Senate rewards the big corporations and doesn’t do enough, or won’t work well enough, for the unemployed, small businesses, and everybody hoping to receive a direct payment. David writes “Unsanitized” daily at Prospect.org.
Also: Paul Krugman, the New York Times columnist and Nobel-prize winning economist, says that we don’t have an easy way of responding to the economic threats posed by the corona-virus, and that Trump’s preoccupation with the stock market is a big mistake.
And we have 20 minutes without Trump: a conversation with Rebecca Solnit about how she became a writer and a feminist, growing up in San Francisco in the eighties. her new book, a memoir, is called “Recollections of my Nonexistence.”  3/26/20

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Melina Abdullah, a founder of Black Lives Matter in Los Angeles (she’s also Professor of Pan-African Studies at Cal State LA), talks about how the coronavirus raises new issues for Black Lives Matter–while the old ones remain vital–and how it also changes the forms for organizing protest. Also: the campaign to defeat Jackie Lacey as District Attorney in LA.   3-19-2020

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Trump’s Oval Office TV address on the coronavirus was followed by the biggest losses in the stock market since 2008. Meanwhile, the House Democrats have proposed a bill that includes paid sick leave, food assistance, and other measures to help wage workers through this pandemic. Will the Republicans pass it? Harold Meyerson comments.
Next up: Can Joe Biden recruit Bernie’s young voters? Also, we need congress to fund a universal vote-by-mail system now: what might the Republican party do about that? Jeet Heer of the Nation magazine comments.
Plus: Fifteen minutes without Trump: Historian Adam Hochschild on his new biography, “Rebel Cinderella: From Rags to Riches to Radical, the Epic Journey of Rose Pastor Stokes”. 3-16-2020