Surveillance Capitalism: Judith Coburn; John Nichols on the Florida Primary & Gary Younge on How Dems Can Win

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After 40 years as a war correspondent in Indochina and then an investigative journalist, Judith Coburn became a private investigator, working mostly with death penalty defense cases. We talk with her about Surveillance Capitalism in the Age of Trump.
Next, Florida’s general election for governor will feature two candidates who could not be more different: Andrew Gillum, a black progressive, and Ron DeSantis, “a fully ‘Trumpacized'” conservative — John Nichols reports.
Plus: We might have reached peak-Trump, but Gary Younge says, “if Dems want to win, they’ve got to motivate their base.”  Gary of course is a columnist for The Nation and a fellow at The Nation Institute as well as an award-winning writer for The Guardian. 8/29/18

The Democratic Establishment Has No Message of Its Own:
Q&A with Gary Younge

Jon Wiener: Return with us now to March 2016. Ten people are running for the Republican nomination, and Donald Trump is in the lead. The evangelical candidate on the far right is Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. Trump takes an unprecedented step in modern American politics and goes after Cruz’s wife Heidi with an insulting tweet. You wrote recently that this incident still has significance for our politics today, more than two years later—but not because of the tweet itself.
Gary Younge: That’s right. Deborah Wasserman Schultz, head of the Democratic National Committee, sees this horror show unfolding, and says, “I want Donald Trump to talk every single day for the rest of this election.” Hillary Clinton has her own version, taken from The West Wing: “let Donald be Donald.”  Because he’s his own worst enemy.  So let the man talk. Well, he did, and he won.
… continued at TheNation.com, HERE  8/27/18

Trump in Trouble: Harold Meyerson; plus Katha Pollitt on Motherhood, and Farah Griffin on Aretha

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Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen pled guilty on Tuesday to many crimes of bank fraud and tax fraud, but there were two really significant ones: payments of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels (real name, Stephanie Clifford) and Playboy model Karen McDougal–on orders of the president. Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect comments.
Also: Around the world, mothers and pregnant women are undervalued, discriminated against, and punished.  We talk with Katha Pollitt about how most of it has nothing to do with Donald Trump — indeed Bill Clinton and the Pope bear more responsibility.
Plus: Farah Griffin of Columbia University comments on Aretha and Angela, and Aretha and Obama. 8/23/18

Centrism Is Not the Answer! Gary Younge; plus Todd Gitlin on 1968 and Farah Griffin on Aretha

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Centrism lost for the Democrats in 2016, and it will lose again in 2018, Gary Younge argues: the party needs not just to oppose Trump, but also to put forward an alternative vision that can earn the support of working-class Americans. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has shown how to do it, running on a program of tuition-free higher education, Medicare for all, and a federal jobs guarantee.
Plus: Trump’s 1968 – and ours. In August 1968, 50 years ago this week, young antiwar demonstrators fought the police outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, while the whole world was watching. It was the culmination of an overwhelming year for the anti-war movement. But where was young Donald Trump? Todd Gitlin explains–he’s an activist, a sociologist, and author of “The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage.”
Also: Aretha Franklin, who died last week, was a musical genius who seems unique; but she came out of a specific place and time: Detroit in the 1950s and 1960s. Farah Griffin, Professor of Professor of English and Comparative Literature and African American Studies at Columbia University, comments—and explains the central role Aretha played in Angela Davis’s fight for freedom after facing capital charges in California in 1970. Also: Aretha and Obama—at the beginning of his presidency, at his inauguration, and at the Kennedy Center concert at the end.

Avital and Nimrod: Sexual Harassment and “Campy Communications” at NYU

It’s not often that a literary theorist lands on page one of the New York Times. The August 13 story about Avital Ronell, who the Times described as “one of the very few philosopher-stars of this world,” was shocking: NYU was suspending her without pay for a year after finding her responsible for sexual harassment of a male grad student, Nimrod Reitman. He complained that for three years she had sent him unwanted emails referring to him as “my most adored one,” “Sweet cuddly Baby,” “cock-er spaniel,” and “my astounding and beautiful Nimrod” — and insisted that he reply in kind.
. . . continued at the LA Review of Books, HERE   8-20-18

Is Trump Crazy? Would Pence Be Worse? Amy Wilentz & Jane Mayer; plus E.J. Dionne: America After Trump

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Amy Wilentz comments on the mental and emotional status of the president, as analyzed by 27 psychiatrists in ‘The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump,’ a book edited by Bandy X. Lee. The book was number four on the New York Times bestseller list.
Also: Would Pence be worse? Jane Mayer of The New Yorker reports—she interviewed more than 60 people in search of answers, including Pence’s mother. Several say he’s wanted to be president at least since high school.
Plus: America After Trump: E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post argues that Trump has mobilized progressive political forces that can transform America—and he reminds us that Trump never had a majority of voters, and is the most unpopular presidents in our history. E.J. is co-author of ‘One Nation After Trump: A Guide to the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet-Deported’–it’s out now in paperback.  8-16-18

A Golden Age for News Media under Trump? John Nichols; plus Harold Meyerson on Kavanaugh and Nomi Prins on Trump and Economic Entropy

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The Age of Trump, despite the opportunities it brings to investigative journalism, is hardly a “golden age”, John Nichols argues: cutbacks and layoffs have crippled the nation’s news media—not just in covering the White House, but state and local government as well.  The New York Daily News provides a vivid example of the crisis.
Also: The Democrats need to retake control of the Senate if they are to have a chance of preventing Trump from transforming the Supreme Court into a right-wing bulwark.  Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect analyzes the political battles in key states—and the factors that may weaken Brett Kavanaugh in his confirmation hearings.
Plus: Trump has done something genuinely new as president: he specializes in creating uncertainty.  Nomi Prins explains the economic consequences for us, and for our future. 8-8-18

Left Politics Can Win Everywhere in November: Mike Lux; plus Katha Pollitt: Is Trumpism Fascism?

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Left politics can win all over the country, not just in New York City and Chicago and LA – that’s what Mike Lux says, he’s a longtime strategist for the progressive movement and Democratic candidates, and his new book is “How to Democrat in the Age of Trump.”
Katha Pollitt is not happy with leftists calling Trump a “fascist” – maybe there’s a better term for his attacks on democracy, which have a lot in common with authoritarian leaders in Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Hungary, Poland, and other places. The foundation for all of them: austerity, pushed by the big banks and right-wing parties, which creates the economic anxiety that fuels racism and anti-immigrant sentiment. 8-8-18

Is Trumpism Fascism? Katha Pollitt; plus Mike Lux on Political Strategy and Harold Meyerson on Jonathan Gold

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Katha Pollitt is not happy with leftists calling Trump a “fascist” – maybe there’s a better term for his attacks on democracy, which have a lot in common with authoritarian leaders in Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Hungary, Poland, and other places.  The foundation for all of them: austerity, pushed by the big banks and right-wing parties, which creates the economic anxiety that fuels racism and anti-immigrant sentiment.
Plus: left politics can win all over the country, not just in New York City and Chicago and LA – that’s what Mike Lux says, he’s a longtime strategist for the progressive movement and Democratic candidates.
Also: Jonathan Gold, who died on July 21, was the first food writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for criticism.  He wrote, not about high-end restaurants, but about mom-and-pop places in immigrant neighborhoods of Los Angeles.  Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect talks about the significance of Gold’s writing about immigrants and their food in the Age of Trump.  8/2/18

Donald Trump’s 1968–and Ours: Todd Gitlin; plus John Nichols on the News Media in the Age of Trump

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August 1968, 50 years ago: fighting the police outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, while the whole world was watching: it was the culmination of an overwhelming year for the anti-war movement. But where was young Donald Trump? Todd Gitlin, activist, sociologist and author of “The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage,” comments on politics then — and now.
Plus, John Nichols says the Trump era is NOT a golden age for American journalism — cutbacks and mass layoffs have crippled our news media, just when we need them the most. 8/2/18