Start Making Sense Clips

Drones have become the centerpiece of America’s war on terror.  We are told that drones have turned warfare into a costless and bloodless exercise for Americans, something resembling a video game for the people at the computer screens.  But Eyal Press reports that the costs of our drone war include not only the casualties on the ground, including civilians, but also the drone warriors themselves—w...

The World Cup is a political event not only in Russia but many other countries as well, where issues of right-wing populist nationalism, battles over immigration, and celebrations of diversity have surfaced in many different ways.  Sports historian Robert Edelman explains. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Andrew Bacevich notes that Donald Trump, alone among presidents since 9-11, has said our 17 years of war have resulted in “nothing except death and destruction” – a statement that’s “more true than false.”  But his actions--in Iran, Afghanistan and Korea--have been contradictory. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Now that some of the key primaries are over, the Democrats’ chances of retaking the House, and maybe even the Senate, have come into sharper focus.  Harold Meyerson of The American Prospect is optimistic. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The Trump administration’s policy of separating children from their parents seeking asylum at the border is unusually cruel – and also unconstitutional. Ahilan Arulanantham, legal director of the ACLU of Southern California, explains the organization’s recent legal victory—and the need for citizen activism on the issue. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https:/...

Nearly half of all renters in America today can’t afford rent, and over half a million Americans are homeless on any given night.  The problem is simple: a severe shortage of affordable housing.  How did we get here?  Bryce Covert reports. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

One of the defining features of Trump’s politics has been the way he’s appealed to hatred and fear of refugees and immigrants. Viet Thanh Nguyen talks about refugee lives, and refugee writers. He’s the author of the novel The Sympathizer—it won the Pulitzer prize—and editor of the new book The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives.  He’s also the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius”...

During Obama’s last year, about 10,000 Syrian refugees were admitted to the US; so far this year, the number is eleven.  Wendy Pearlman explains – she interviewed hundreds of Syrian refugees across the Middle East and Europe. Her new book is “We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria.” Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The American military is the most massive, the most technologically advanced, and the best-funded fighting force in the world -- but in the last fifteen years of constant war it has won nothing.  Tom Engelhardt comments; he’s the legendary editor who created and runs the TomDispatch website, and his new book is “A Nation Unmade by War.” Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy &...

Fifty years ago this month, in May ’68, students in Paris took to the streets calling for a new kind of revolution—over the next year or two, There were student uprisings and revolts around the world in many places. But Paris in May 1968 was the best one, the only one to move beyond the campus, with a general strike involving ten million workers threatening the political system. Arthur Goldhammer,...

Trump versus Europe: He’s threatening European banks and industries with sanctions: if they don’t cut off trade with Iran, they would be barred from American markets and transactions with American banks. We asked Yanis Varoufakis for his analysis—he’s the former finance minister of Greece who led the resistance to European Bankers demanding austerity—now he has co-founded an international grassroo...

More than 4,400 African Americans were murdered by white mobs between 1877 and 1950 – that’s the conclusion of the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit legal center.  The new National Memorial for Peace and Justice, in Montgomery, Alabama, is dedicated to the victims – it opened last month.  Patricia Williams comments; she’s a longtime columnist for The Nation. Advertising Inquiries: https://redc...

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.  She explains the mix of fact and imagination that went into the book, and describes her work with Justice Now, a human rights organization of prisoners. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It’s the 50th anniversary of the student uprising at Columbia University, against university complicity in the war—setting the path for that students at hundreds of other schools followed during the next few years.  Historian Eric Foner explains how it happened, and finds lessons for today’s movements for social justice. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https:...

The coming showdown in Texas between populist Democrats and establishment Democrats: D. D. Guttenplan has returned from the Lone Star State with a report on the political transformation underway there. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The amazing news from Korea about the prospects for peace and de-nuclearization: historian Bruce Cumings of the Univ. of Chicago comments, warning that the Washington consensus opposes a treaty.  Bruce's books include “The Korean War: A History” and “North Korea: Another Country.” Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

James Comey has tried to justify his announcement about investigating Hillary’s emails 11 days before Election Day – but what the fired FBI Director said on his book tour is different from what’s in his book “A Higher Loyalty.” Elizabeth Drew, the legendary Washington journalist, comments--she's the author of "Washington Journal: Reporting Watergate and Richard Nixon's Downfall." A...

'The Handmaid’s Tale,' that feminist dystopian novel, is beginning its second season as a TV series on Hulu this week.  Margaret Atwood talks about the significance of 'The Handmaid’s Tale' in the Age of Trump (recorded a year ago, just before the TV premiere). Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

How long will Texas remain a red state?  Lawrence Wright says demographic and political change is underway, and that Betto O’Rourke’s campaign for the senate, challenging Ted Cruz, is a crucial one.  Wright’s new book is 'God Bless Texas.' Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Adam Hochschild talks about guns in Trump’s America after the Parkland shootings—he talks about armed militia groups, about the law in Iowa that permits the carrying of loaded guns in public by people who are blind, and about why the Koch Brothers are major funders of the NRA—even though they are not especially enthusiastic about guns. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy &...

Nation columnist Gary Younge reports on his return to Muncie to talk to Trump supporters—and opponents—a year after Trump took office. He found supporters still enthusiastic and opponents mobilized as never before. Gary spent the month leading up to the 2016 election in that Indiana rust belt city. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Katha Pollitt comments on the recent developments in the legal battle over the payoff to Stormy Daniels by Trump’s attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, and she explains why she likes Stormy, and why she’s sympathetic to Melania. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

David Cole explains why the FBI raid on the offices and residences of Michael Cohen was not, as Trump said, “an attack on our country,” but rather an example of the rule of law.  David is National Legal Director of the ACLU and Legal Correspondent for The Nation. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

34,000 women contacted Emily’s List about running for office in the wake of Trump’s election.  Stephanie Schriock, the organization’s president, explains the organization’s training and endorsement procedures, and the project of Democrats retaking the House this November. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

How big wireless muddied the waters on cell phone safety research: Mark Hertsgaard reports on a special investigation by The Nation—and warns about the lack of testing of G5 technology. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy