The Nation Podcasts

In response to Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7, Adam Shatz says Israel’s disregard for Palestinian life has never been more callous or more flagrant. But Israel can’t extinguish Palestinian resistance by violence any more than the Palestinians can win an Algerian-style liberation war.  The only thing that can save the people of Israel and Palestine is a political solution that recognizes both as equal ci...

This week on the Edge of Sports podcast, we speak to Jean Jacques Taylor, author of the new book, Coach Prime . With near total access to Deion Sanders, Taylor explains what makes Deion Deion. Also on this episode, we speak to best selling author Adam Mansbach about his incredible book, The Golem of Brooklyn . We have some Choice Words for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the NAIA. Advertising In...

Last month, the Canadian parliament embarrassed itself during an official visit by Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelensky when the entire legislative body gave a standing ovation to a veteran of the Waffen SS, the paramilitary wing of the Nazi movement. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later apologized for incident.  To understand what happened, it’s important to realize that Canada, like other...

Israel and Gaza, Hamas and the Palestinians, war crimes and mideast history: On this episode of the Start Making Sense podcast, we have comment and analysis from Amy Wilentz, Nation contributor and former Jerusalem correspondent of The New Yorker . Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The Hamas massacres that started last Saturday and the ensuing retaliation by the Israel government deserve both a moral witness and policy analysis. On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Spencer Ackerman, Nation contributor who wrote about the events here, provides both. In a searing and informed conversation, he places front and center the human worth of all the innocent victims. He also plac...

The UAW won a historic victory in their strike against GM—an agreement that EV workers will be covered by the union contract. Harold Meyerson explains, and also comments on Israel’s war against Hamas. Also: Elon Musk has been a leader in the transition to renewable energy, and has made Twitter into a threat to democracy. He has become the face of 21st-century capitalism. David Nasaw has our analys...

This week on the Edge of Sports podcast, we welcome back Arya Shirazi to discuss another basketball butterfly effect: what if the NBA had handled the death of Len bias differently? How is that of affected that generation of 1980s players? Dave Zirin – How DeSantis Is Using Sports to Hijack a Florida College: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/new-college-sarasota-florida-desantis/ Advertisi...

A government shutdown has been temporarily avoided, but congress remains a mess. Kevin McCarthy has been ousted from his position as House Speaker. The hand-shake deal he made over Ukraine funding is now in doubt and the prospect of another shutdown drama looms, bringing with it the real danger of a prolonged government closure. Chris Lehmann, D.C. Bureau Chief for The Nation joins the program to...

Voters in Maine will decide next month whether to turn the state’s private utilities public. If that happens, it would be a huge step toward dealing with the climate crisis, and a model for other states. Bill McKibben explains -- of course he’s an author and environmentalist and co-founder of 350.org, currently working with the new environmental group Third Act, for people over 60. Also: Our polit...

In the early 90s,  Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf  had a promising career ahead of him in the NBA as an up-and-coming star. That all changed in 1996 when he refused to stand for the US National Anthem and called the US flag a symbol of oppression. The NBA retaliated by suspending him, and Abdul-Rauf spent the next two decades playing exclusively for international leagues.  On this episode of  Edge of Sports ,...

The United Auto Workers union has launched an innovative strike against all three major automakers, a major disruption that is upturning American politics, as both major parties are divided on it.  On the Republican side, Donald Trump is disingenuously posing as a populist by going to the picket line. But rivals like Nikki Haley and Tim Scott show that the GOP commitment to union-bashing is still...

The right-wing supermajority on the Supreme Court has returned to a case about racial gerrymandering in Alabama, where Republicans have defied the Court’s order. Dahlia Lithwick will comment about that, and about her book “Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America”—it’s out now in paperback. Also: Two girls grew up in the 1980s and ’90s in a small town in Arkansas. One made it o...

The UAW strike against Detroit’s Big Three is rapidly becoming a major political battle as Donald Trump speaks to auto workers in Detroit, challenging Biden’s massive initiatives for America’s transition to electric vehicles. Nelson Lichtenstein provides historical perspective on what’s at stake. Also: We face two kinds of insecurity in our lives today, Astra Taylor argues: existential insecurity,...

Officially, hazing is illegal and unwelcome just about everywhere you turn—but it continues as an open secret in far too many fraternities, sports teams, and other institutions. The latest revelations from Northwestern University's football team are a stark reminder that we have a long way to go to uproot the culture of hazing for good. Anti-gender violence activist and documentarian Byron Hur...

Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique (1963) and one of the founders of the National Organization for Women (NOW), was a hero of feminism, but a complicated and difficult hero. Her book and activism were pivotal for igniting second-wave feminism in the 1960s. But as head of NOW, her leadership was irascible and nettlesome, marred especially by her homophobic hostility towards lesbian acti...

Gary Younge, the award-winning former columnist for The Guardian , talks about Black writing and Black writers—and his own writing about Mandela, Obama, Travon Martin, and Claudette Colvin. Also on this episode of Start Making Sense, the news from Haiti, where the UN, with US support, is authorizing a new security force. Made up of mostly Kenyan troops, it's supposed to restore “law and order”...

Chamique Holdsclaw's legendary status was apparent from the moment she entered professional sports. After helping the US National Team win the Gold Medal in the 1998 Berlin Olympics, Holdsclaw was named Rookie of the Year in her first WNBA season. Her talent on the court and success in the WNBA projected an image of stability, but away from the cameras, Holdsclaw struggled with her mental heal...

On this episode of the Time of Monsters podcast, Laura Marsh discusses Noami Klein's new book, Doppleganger, about Noami Wolf. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Every night, more than a million people read Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletter about the day’s political events. Now she has a new book out, “ Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America .” It’s about the history of Americans’ fight for equality—about which she remains optimistic, despite Trump’s current polling. Also on this episode of Start Making Sense : September 11th is the 50 th  an...

This week on the Edge of Sports Podcast, part three of our discussion with basketball savant Arya Shirazi about basketball butterfly effects. This time we're talking what would have happened if Michael Jordan, on draft night in 1984, had not been drafted by the Chicago Bulls and had instead been selected by the Portland Trail Blazers. Also we have words about the controversy surrounding Michae...

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is the rarest of things: a summer blockbuster that is super-smart and repays close analysis. Two weeks ago, this podcast teamed up with Jewish Currents writers and editors Mari Cohen, David Klion, and Raphael Magarik to talk about the way the film portrays the 20 th century left. But there is more to be said about the movie. Frequent Time of Monsters contributor, Do...

Our hot labor summer continues. Harold Meyerson, editor at large of  The American Prospect , comes on the  Start Making Sense  podcast to discuss the coming auto strike, the continuing Hollywood strikes, the Teamsters’ big victory, and a historic action by the NLRB which will make union organizing possible again.  Also on this episode: Melania and Ivanka Trump have been mostly absent from the form...

The GOP held their first presidential debate for the 2024 election cycle and the crowded stage was notable for a significant absence. Former president Donald Trump was nowhere to be seen. Enjoying a commanding lead in the polls, Trump rightly felt that it was beneath his dignity to share a stage with a crew of also-rans. So the evening became a contest to see who could imitate Trump best. But Trum...

Drew Faust grew up in Virginia in the ’50’s, in the segregated south, in a family that was part of the white elite—and went on to make “necessary trouble” as a college student and activist in the ’60’s. The first woman to serve as president of Harvard University, Faust comes on the  Start Making Sense  podcast to talk about her memoir, “ Necessary Trouble: Growing up at Midcentury. ” Also on this...

This is the eighth and final episode of Contempt of Court, our podcast series about reforming the Supreme Court. On this episode, we’re going to talk about the court’s only true form of power: legitimacy. To discuss potential paths toward delegitimizing the Court, my first guest on this episode is Harvard Law School professor, Nikolas Bowie. He makes a compelling case that the people, through thei...