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Why have American feminist groups been slow to condemn rapes of Israeli women and girls by Hamas? That’s the question posed by Katha Pollitt, The Nation’s award-winning columnist.
Also: They call it “the parents’ rights movement.” We call it a culture war against public education. It failed as a Republican election strategy in 2023, but what about 2024? Randi Weingarten has our analysis – she’s president of the AFT.
Transcript HERE 12-21-2023
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Harold Meyerson comments on the Colorado supreme court’s ruling that the constitution prohibits Trump from serving as president because he participated in an insurrection. Also – class struggle in 2023 – the year in review.
Plus: Why have some feminists been reluctant even to acknowledge that Hamas members raped Israeli women and girls on Oct. 7? Katha Pollitt comments.
Also: “parents rights” failed as a Republican political tactic in the 2023 elections – but what about 2024? Randi Weingarten has our analysis – she’s president of the AFT.
And from the archives: Arthur Danto on art in Las Vegas. This segment was recorded in 2000. 12-21-2023
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Joe Biden has historic achievements as president, but polls show him to be the candidate least able to defeat Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Democrats need someone else to run and an open primary. Harold Meyerson is editor-at-large of The American Prospect, and he joins the show to make the case for Biden to not run again.
Also on this episode: What conditions are needed for an end to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank? David Myers – professor of Jewish history at UCLA and contributor to the LA Times, the Forward, and the Atlantic – is on the podcast to comment on what it would take to get to Palestinian self-determination.
Transcript HERE 12-14-2023
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The War against Gaza: How we got here, where we need to go: David Myers comments. Also: The left in Israel today.
Also: Joe Biden has historic achievements as president, but polls show him to be the candidate least able to defeat Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Democrats need someone else to run and an open primary. Harold Meyerson will argue that Biden must not run again.
Plus: the story of an immigrant sweatshop worker who became one of the most charismatic radical leaders of the early 20th century. Rose Pastor Stokes has been forgotten, but Adam Hochschild tells her amazing story: his book about her is titled “Rebel Cinderella.” 12-14-2023
Jon Wiener: The Netanyahu government has no plan for what happens after its war in Gaza. We know we need a genuine political solution to what Edward Said called “the Question of Palestine.”
David Myers: The existing paradigms seem to be two states or one state, both of which have been widely discredited. This is a time when we have to push towards greater political imagination in thinking about what exists between two and one…
… continued at The Nation, HERE 12-14-2023
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Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT, spent Thanksgiving weekend in Israel; she reports on meetings with shared society groups and peace movement leaders, and on the role of the US in bringing not just peace but equality and justice to Palestinians.
Also: Who was Bayard Rustin before the 1963 March on Washington? Gary Younge comments on the remarkable life of a gay Black pacifist and former communist, the subject of a new biopic on Netflix, ‘Rustin.’ Gary wrote “The Speech: The Story Behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream.”
Transcript HERE 12-7-2023
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Striking hotel workers have occupied Century Blvd., the approach to LAX, and are planning a posada, reenacting Mary and Joseph’s search for lodging in Bethlehem, on Friday evening–Harold Meyerson comments.
Also: Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT, spent Thanksgiving weekend in Israel. She will report on meetings with shared society groups and peace movement leaders. She’ll also discuss the role of the US in moving toward not only peace but also toward equality and justice for Palestinians.
Plus: Who was Bayard Rustin before the 1963 March on Washington? Gary Younge will comment on the remarkable life of a gay Black pacifist, former communist, and subject of a new Netflix biopic, Rustin. Gary is the author of The Speech: The Story Behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream. 12-7-2023
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People with very different visions of what a just peace between Israel and the Palestinians might look like must work together to stop the war: That’s what D.D. Guttenplan argues. He’s Editor of The Nation.
Also: Also: “Slow Horses,” the British spy series based on the books by Mick Herron, is starting its season 3 this week. John Powers has our review.
Transcript HERE 11-30-2023
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Trump doesn’t have a platform, he has an enemies list; but the Heritage Foundation has 922 pages on its to-do list if Trump should return to the White House in 2025. Harold Meyerson explains.
Also: People with very different visions of what a just peace between Israel and the Palestinians might look like must work together to stop the war: That’s what D.D. Guttenplan argues. He’s Editor of The Nation.
plus: “Slow Horses,” the British spy series based on the books by Mick Herron, is starting its season 3 this week. John Powers has our review. 11-30-2023
Listen HERE
What comes after Israel’s war on Hamas? The Israeli government seems incapable of thinking about that. Now, the ideas of Israel’s left-wing, pro-peace camp are needed more than ever. Dahlia Scheindlin, a political scientist based in Tel Aviv, is on the podcast to explain.
Also on this episode of Start Making Sense: “California has always been a place to write home about.” David Kipen reads letters and diary entries from Charles Mingus, Vita Sackville-West, Marilyn Monroe, Susan Sontag, Thomas Pynchon, and Mike Davis – David’s new book is Dear California: The Golden State in Letters and Diaries.
Transcript HERE 11-22-2023
Talking about politics, thinking about the Left.
The podcast “Living in the USA” is the online version of “Living in the USA” at KPFK radio, hosted by Jon Wiener and broadcast live Thursdays at 4pm at 90.7FM in LA, also streaming live at www.kpfk.org
New episodes posted every Thursday afternoon, at livingintheusapod.com
