The KKK of the 1920s had millions of members outside the South. It targeted Catholics and Jews as well as blacks, and had impressive success at electing governors and congressmen. It passed anti-immigrant restrictions that remained in effect until 1965. And Fred Trump, the president’s father, was arrested as a young man at a Klan march in New York City. Historian Linda Gordon explains—her new book is ‘The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan and the American Political Tradition’.
Plus: Nancy MacLean uncovered the deep history of the radical right’s stealth plan for America: the historic connection between the Koch Brothers’ anti-government politics, the white South’s massive resistance to desegregation, and a Nobel Prize-winning Virginia economist. Nancy is an award-winning historian and the William H. Chafe Professor of history and public policy at Duke University. Her ‘Democracy in Chains’ was named “most valuable book” of 2017 by John Nichols on The Nation’s Progressive Honor Roll.
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Our year-in-review show opens with Katha Pollitt on #MeToo in 2017. The year began with the resignation of Bill O’Reilly and ended with the resignation of Al Franken. Along the way we had Harvey Weinstein and Roy Moore. But what about sexual harassment by men who aren’t in high profile media or politics positions?
Plus: 2017 was the year of The Resistance – beginning with the women’s march the day after Trump’s inauguration. John Nichols has our Progressive Honor Roll, honoring those who have led in fighting Trump and Trumpism.
And the most remarkable political year was Alabama’s: starting with the appointment of Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General and ending with Doug Jones winning the election for Sessions’s seat, the first Democrat to win an Alabama senate seat in 27 years. Legendary Alabama journalist Howell Raines reviews the many surprises along the way and assesses their significance.

Gary Younge traveled from Maine to Mississippi interviewing Trump’s white working class supporters. He found anxiety, pain, and a loss of hope. For many, he concludes, “Whiteness is all they’ve got.”
Plus: Amy Wilentz talks about Ivana Trump’s new memoir, ‘Raising Trump’: stories about Don Jr., Ivanka, and little Eric – and their mom and dad. It’s a kind of “Real Housewives of Trump Tower.”
Also: The poorest state of the union is Mississippi, but it’s capital city, Jackson, has a mayor, Chokwe Antar Lumumba, who says he wants to make Jackson “the most radical city on the planet.” D.D. Guttenplan spent a week there – he reports on what he learned.
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Alabama voters defeated Roy Moore on Tuesday and elected civil rights hero Doug Jones to the Senate—to take the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions. Howell Raines, the legendary Alabama journalist, explains what happened—and what it means for the future.
Plus: What should happen with the “Me Too” campaign to expose sexual harassment, now that Al Franken has said he will leave the Senate?  Joan Walsh says Franken’s departure should be “a beginning, not an end.”
Also, net neutrality: the FCC is planning to bring it to an end on Thursday. John Nichols thinks that’s a terrible idea.
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