Start Making Sense with Jon Wiener

Gina Hinojosa’s election as governor of Texas was not only the most unexpected victory oof the midterms but also the one with the most far-reaching significance for American politics. Steve Phillips explains. Also: how socialism can work in the real world: Bhaskar Sunkara, president of The Nation, explains the centrality of worker control in a market economy. His new co-authored book is The Bluepr...

What we won this week, starting with Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and James Talarico in Texas – John Nichols comments on the candidates and the issues. He’s The Nation’s Executive Editor. Also: Why victories in the South are especially historic and transformational – Harold Meyerson explains. He’s editor at large of The American Prospect. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy &...

Trump's efforts to interfere with voting, and with certification of the results, have not been successful. Rick Hasen of the UCLA Law School says “We're doing well on election protection”: the courts have been strong, the blue states have been a bulwark, and—most important—early voting has been big. Rick is also director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project and editor of the Election Law...

Republicans are spending hundreds of millions on the midterms, but their money hasn’t been able to counter the crisis of affordability, the disgust with Trump’s corruption, and the quality of many of the Democratic candidates. Harold Meyerson comments – he’s editor at large of The American Prospect. Also: Katha Pollit argues that the gang rape at a Cornell fraternity party could have been stopped-...

Most political reporting has been about Democrats’ chances of taking control of Congress, but the Governors’ races hold the key to election protection in the 2028 presidential vote. Harold Meyerson explains, and examines the contest now underway in Nevada. Harold is Editor-at-Large of The American Prospect. Also: John Berger, author of the classic “Ways of Seeing,” was more than a Marxist art crit...

The real threat of AI is not the destruction of humanity, but rather replacing human labor with machines—that’s what Garrison Lovely argues. He’s the author of Obsolete: The AI Industry’s Trillion Dollar Race to Replace Us—and How to Stop It. Also: Our right to peaceful protest is under assault. To save it, we need to “respect it, defend it, and more than anything – use it.” that’s what Annie Leon...

Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of Indivisible, answers the question, “What’s the Plan -- for the next No Kings Nationwide Day of Action?” This one shifts from mass protest in the streets to organizing for early voting – and preparing for whatever Trump does to disrupt or undermine the vote, the count, and the certification. Also: The Supreme Court last Friday issued an order allowing states...

The primary force behind the settlement that will allow Trump’s allies at Paramount to take over Warners-Discovery and CNN was Gavin Newsom, who pressured California Attorney General Rob Bonta to end the anti-trust fight defending media independence. Norm Eisen explains – he’s co-founder and executive chair of the Democracy Defenders Fund and Democracy Defenders Action, and, the New York Times rep...

Only two Justices backed Trump in the Court’s ruling blocking his efforts to enlist the postal service in restricting voting by mail in the midterms. David Cole explains why this is a huge victory, but far from the end of Trump’s effforts to undermine Democratic voting. Also: The blue state attorneys general have succeeded in blocking the efforts of Trump’s allies at Paramount-Skydance from taking...

Is the resistance to data centers a new kind of mass politics? David Wallace-Wells explains why the answer is “yes.” He’s a writer for The New York Times Opinion pages and author of the unforgettable book “The Uninhabitable Earth.” Also: How to be a dissident in an age of fear – Ami Fields-Meyer has thought a lot about that. For starters: don’t start from scratch; don’t try to do it alone. Ami is...

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that Trump could proceed with construction of his ballroom—they explicitly did not rule on the merits of the case, but on the issue of standing for the plaintiff. Robert Weismann has our analysis – he’s co-president of Public Citizen. Also: The Democrats are now favored to win not only the House but also the Senate in November – they need to flip four seats, and t...

The Supreme Court is not a Trump court – at least not on several issues - but where do they stand on voting rights? And what exactly did the court say on Monday about the postal service cooperating with Trump in his effort to restrict voting by mail? David Cole explains - he’s the former National Legal Director of the ACLU, and The Nation's legal affairs correspondent. Also: Colson Whitehead w...

Indivisible’s 2,500 local volunteer-led groups are preparing for a rapid response to any threats to free and fair voting around election day, starting with plans to promote early voting, and including preparations to mobilize large-scale protests if there are attempts to undermine the results. Leah Greenberg, co-founder and co-executive director, explains. Also: Vanita Gupta reviews the massive le...

The ACLU is organizing thousands of volunteers, preparing to respond to 25 different ways Trump could try to subvert or sabotage the midterms. Deirdre Schifeling explains—she’s the ACLU’s Chief Political and Advocacy Officer. More info at https://www.aclu.org/campaigns-initiatives/people-power . Also: Howard Zinn’s book A People’s History of the US has sold four million copies—and now we have a bi...

The Michigan Democratic senate primary provided a test of the power of AIPAC and big money, and the political talents of Abdul El-Sayed. John Nichols has our analysis. Also: a rehearsal for the election protection groups: the California sherriff who seized 650,000 ballots from November’s referendum, claiming he needed to recount them. Zach Roth of Democracy Docket will explain how the Chad Bianco...

An impressive alliance of groups have been preparing for months to counter Trump’s threats to Democrats in the midterms. Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward and a member of The Senate Democrats’ Election Protection Tast Force, explains why “we are going to have free and fair elections” in November.  Also: Elon Musk calls Christopher Nolan’s film “The Odyssey” “part of a left-wing...

How are we going to defeat Trump and the Republicans and win control of Congress in the midterms? How are we going to win the White House in two years? Ben Wikler has a plan – he’s published a book with the title This is the Plan . Ben was chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin for six years, ending in 2025, where he shaped what became the most powerful and effective state political party in t...

It’s been another bad week for Donald Trump – from the Strait or Homuz to the streets where ICE has killed more people, to the scheduled Senate hearings on Todd Blanche. Harold Meyerson comments. Also: Trump believes the teaching of history really matters—that’s why on July 4 he issued a 162-page attack on the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Yale historian Beverly Gage comments...

Jamie Raskin, Democrat from Maryland, talks about Congress reforming the Supreme Court, and the House challenging Trump’s corruption. His article in the current issue of The Nation magazine is “We Must Restore Congress as the Predominant Branch of Government.” Also: John Nichols assesses the Democrats’ Senate candidates in the wake of the replacement of Graham Platner in Maine. Advertising Inquiri...

Trump biggest losses in the Supreme Court rulings announced this week were on birthright citizenship—widely anticipated—and the voting rights case where the majority ruled states could count ballots mailed but not received by election day. His biggest win was abolishing independent agencies except for the Federal Reserve. David Cole has our analysis—he’s the former legal director of the ACLU. Also...

Election protection: defending Ohio’s biggest voter registration group, and blocking Trump’s attacks on voting by mail: Norm Eisen, co-counsel on the first Trump impeachment, comments. Also: how protest pushed ICE to abandon most of its warehouse detention center plans, and pressured Georgia Republicans to abandon their redistricting plans – John Nichols explains. Advertising Inquiries: https://re...

In his campaign against elite universities as centers of resistance, Trump hasn’t been able to force Harvard to submit. And it seems less likely now that they will settle. Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy has our analysis. Also: the essential workers at our supermarkets: Ann Larson talks about poverty wages and worker solidarity. Her new book is Cleanup on Aisle Five: Essential Work, Poverty...

Democratic strength, and Democratic divisions, in primaries from L.A. to Maine—Harold Meyerson has our analysis of the week’s political developments. Also: Can AI write poetry? Good poetry? Katha Pollitt decided to find out. She’s an award-winning poet herself, and a columnist for The Nation Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

California’s jungle primary on Tuesday set the stage for the next Democratic governor of the state, and primaries in Iowa, New Jersey and elsewhere tested the strength of progressives in the party. John Nichols has our analysis. Also: from the archives: Elmore Leonard, who died in 2013 at age 87, was unpretentious about his massive accomplishments: 45 novels, more than a dozen turned into movies,...

Trump’s Billion Dollar Ballroom is a familiar kind of corruption, but his slush fund to pay the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name is an unprecedented attack on democracy. Rob Weissman of Public Citizen explains, and also talks about the immense, and immnsely unpopular, proposed Arc d’Trump. Also: Bill Gates was once the country’s youngest billionaire and the...