Start Making Sense Clips

On the 10th anniversary of the financial crisis, Harold Meyerson argues that the recovery was a disaster all over again – and that we are still suffering from its political consequences.  Harold is Executive Editor of The American Prospect. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

25 years ago, President Bill Clinton presided over a handshake on the White House grounds between PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, agreeing to the Oslo Accords, which, we were told, laid the foundation for peace between Israel and a Palestinian state.  Mouin Rabbani comments—he’s a fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies and a contributor to the London Rev...

Should Democratic strategy focus on winning the votes of moderate Republicans? Steve Phillips points to one key factor: there aren’t that many of them.  Steve is the author of the New York Times best seller, 'Brown Is the New White: How a Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority.' Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com...

Atossa Araxia Abrahamian examines the new focus on inequality at the IMF, the Ford Foundation, and other elite institutions, and argues that there’s a big political difference between seeking to reduce inequality, and fighting for a world of equality. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

At the California Global Climate Action Summit, in San Francisco next week, all the world’s major nations will be represented, except for our own government.  Mark Hertsgaard reports on how California, under Governor Jerry Brown, has taken the lead in fighting climate change -- and how climate activists have organized at the upcoming summit to demand that the governor end new oil and gas drilling....

Some questions for Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, from David Cole. The legal director of the ACLU and legal affairs correspondent for The Nation says some questions—about current cases—are inappropriate for Democrats to ask in the current confirmation hearings; but there are other questions—on Kavanaugh’s legal philosophy, and on his past statements and decisions—that he should be...

As Labor Day approaches, we talk about labor unions and politics with Lee Saunders, president of AFSCME.  His union was the target of that decision by the Supreme Court in June, when it ruled, 5-4, that government workers who choose NOT to join unions may NOT be required to help pay for collective bargaining.  Saunders explains what unions are doing to fight back – in the November election, and in...

Mothers and pregnant women are discriminated against, devalued and punished – here at home, and around the world.  Nation columnist Katha Pollitt talks about how that has happened—and why. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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 charg...

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?  His inspiration was not Martin Luther King, but rather Hugh Hefner, Todd Gitlin explains–he’s an activist, a soci...

There are 219,000 women in prison in the United States—Rachel Kushner’s new novel, 'The Mars Room,' is a story about of one of them.  We talk about the way she mixed facts and imagination in writing the book. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Anna Deavere Smith talks about the the school-to-prison pipeline—that’s the subject of her one-woman show, called ‘Notes from the Field,’ which dramatizes the real-life accounts of students, parents, & teachers caught in a system where young people of color who live in poverty get pushed out of the classroom and into the criminal justice system. It’s streaming o now at HBO.com and HBO GO. Adve...

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. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: h...

Donald Trump has done something genuinely new as president: he specializes in creating uncertainty.  Nomi Prins talks about the economic consequences for us, and for our future: the danger of chaos, and entropy. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle...

Left politics can win all over the country, not just in New York City and Chicago and LA – Mike Lux explains how Democrats can do it.  He’s a longtime strategist for the progressive movement and Democratic candidates. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

David Cole, legal director of the ACLU and legal affairs correspondent for The Nation, says some questions--about current cases--are inappropriate for Democrats to ask in the upcoming confirmation hearings for Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh; but there are other questions—on Kavanaugh’s legal philosophy, and on his past statements and decisions--that he should be required to ans...

Jimmy Carter is widely regarded as a failed president, despite the fact that he promoted human rights around the world, granted amnesty to Vietnam era draft resisters, and was a dedicated opponent of racism who enforced the Voting Rights Act.  Only one woman sat on a federal court when Carter entered the White House, but by the time he left, he had appointed 40 more—including Ruth Bader Ginsburg. ...

UCLA Law Professor Adam Winkler explores the long and terrible history of how corporations were given rights by the Supreme Court–all the same rights that people have.  Adam’s book is ‘We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights.’ Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

John Nichols, The Nation's National Affairs Correspondent, examines the record of Trump’ Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and assesses the progress of the effort to block his confirmation by the Senate. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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.' Advertising Inquiries...

Jane Mayer of The New Yorker takes up the question, 'Would Pence be worse?'  In 2017 she interviewed more than 60 people in search of answers, including Pence’s mother and brother.  Several say he’s wanted to be president at least since high school. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Just eight years ago Democrats held not only the presidency but both houses of Congress.  How did they lose so much in such a short time?  Thomas Frank explains the disaster, and how, for millions of people, the recession of 2008 has never ended.  His new book is 'Rendezvous with Oblivion: Reports from a Sinking Society.' Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Ou...

“Does your job make a meaningful contribution to the world?”  David Graeber posted that question on the internet – and a million people clicked on it.  A lot of them posted answers.  Now his book about those answers is out – it’s called 'Bullshit Jobs,' and it casts dramatic light on our economy and politics. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://re...

Haiti: for Trump, it’s a “shithole country”; for us, it’s the country with the first and only successful slave revolution of the modern era –1791-1804—for which the French exacted a heavy price from the Haitians.  Amy Wilentz has just returned from Haiti with a report—on earthquake reconstruction (not much), ongoing street demonstrations for a higher minimum wage (now $4.50/day)—and World Cup feve...