History was made last Friday in Chattanooga, when workers at Volkswagen’s factory there voted to join the United Auto Workers -- by an overwhelming margin, 73 to 27 percent. This was the first major union victory in the South in many decades, and it may mark the rebirth of a powerful union movement. Harold Meyerson comments; he’s editor-at-large of…

Opposition to Biden's unqualified military support for Netanyahu now includes the center of the Democratic party. That reminds some people of 1968 - Harold Meyerson comments. Also: Trump has had a very bad week - in court, in the polls, on the stock market. John Nichols explains. Plus:: TV right now is featuring several prestige historical dramas. …

The Arizona Supreme Court's action affirming a near-total ban on abortion is great news for Democrats, and not just in that state: Harold Meyerson comments. Also: Why did Hamas decide to provoke massive Israeli retaliation now? Hussein Ibish, who writes for The Atlantic, The New York Times, and The Daily Beast, says Hamas had a clear political goal…

Cities throughout America are Democratic, often raising minimum wages and strengthening rent control. However, in states where Republicans hold unchecked power, state governments are blocking cities from acting. Harold Meyerson reports on preemption and “pre-preemption.” Plus: Standing Together, Israel’s biggest Jewish-Palestinian grassroots moveme…

Minimum wage initiatives on the ballot in battleground states could mobilize potential Democratic voters who are unenthusiastic about Biden. Saru Jayaraman of One Fair Wage is on the podcast to explain the strategy, and reports on organizing in Arizona, Michigan, and Ohio. Also: 100 American cities and towns have formally called for a cease-fire in…

In the Ohio primary this week, Sherrod Brown got the opponent he wanted - a MAGA car salesman who's never won anything. Harold Meyerson comments. Plus: In the campaign to end American funding for Israel’s war in Gaza, a key front is the fight against AIPAC. This week, more than a hundred prominent American Jews have joined in a statement opposing A…

Thanks to a referendum passed by Long Beach voters, hotel workers there will now get the highest minimum wage in the nation – Harold Meyerson comments. Next: After gangs took over most of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s acting prime minister, Ariel Henry, agreed to step aside. Long-time Haiti observer Amy Wilentz analyzes the forces at work shaping the cou…

The presidential election began for real this week – and the Supreme Court is once again involved in presidential election politics – helping Trump – Harold Meyerson comments. Also: After Super Tuesday: John Nichols reports on the evidence of weaknesses of both Biden and Trump, as well as some signs of strength, in the wake of voting in primaries i…

An abortion rights amendment to Florida’s Constitution has gotten enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot. Now, it’s up to the state’s Supreme Court to decide whether people will get to vote on it, potentially transforming the electorate there in November. The Nation’s abortion access correspondent, Amy Littlefield, reports. Plus: Stor…

The Supreme Court has decided NOT to challenge rent control – a huge victory for the progressive renters' rights movements across the country. Also, the Supreme Court will leave in place the diversity-oriented admissions plan for Thomas Jefferson High School – Harold Meyerson comments. Next: A political battle is underway in Los Angeles, where land…

The special election this week on Long Island, to replace the disgraced fraud George Santos, resulted in a win for Democrat Tom Suozzi – in "one of the most Republican areas in the United States" – Harold Meyerson reports. Also, discussed: two centennials this week: one of immigration law and, one of "a landmark in the rise of the culture of urban …

Trump's immunity defense has been denied by the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals; the Republican-controlled House has failed to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas; and other GOP failures – Harold Meyerson comments. Also: The case for disqualifying Trump as a candidate, based on the 14th Amendment banning those who have engaged in i…

Trump's legal and financial crises are deepening, and Nikki Haley isn't quitting - his mental deterioration is becoming more evident, and she is making it a campaign issue. Harold Meyerson comments. Also: California moved one step closer to universal healthcare on January 1, when it expanded coverage to all low-income residents, regardless of immig…

In the New Hampshire Republican primary, the first in the nation, Trump got 54%, Nikki Haley got 43% – and, 42% of NH Republicans say that if Trump is convicted of a crime, they would not vote for him – Harold Meyerson comments. Also: John Nichols talks about Biden's big win in NH, and Trump's furious victory speech. Plus: Mazie Hirono, Senator fro…

John Nichols reports on Monday’s Republican caucuses in Iowa, and explains why Iowa is the state with the biggest shift from blue to red between Obama in 2008 and Trump in 2020. Also: The new film "American Fiction," starring Jeffrey Wright, takes up the question, do Black writers have to "write Black"? The film is based on the novel "Erasure" by P…

“Trump’s Lawyers Invite Biden to Assassinate Him.” That's the headline at Prospect.org -- Harold Meyerson explains. Plus: Only Joe Biden can stop the war in Gaza: Israel's war in Gaza has been going on now for three months, and the IDF said over the weekend they plan to keep the war going for another year. Amy Wilentz talks about Netanhayu’s use of…

For many,​ the upcoming presidential election ​is a source of dread and pessimism. Harold Meyerson talks about sources of hope in 202​4 – including Trump's upcoming trial for attempted insurrection and the promise of ongoing progressive political action by America's youth. ​Also: Hope is different from optimism – it’s an embrace of uncertainty, and…

Our holiday giving list: Katha Pollitt presents her list of groups that need—and deserve—our support: Gaza aid, abortion assistance, and organizing against Trump. Also: On Christmas Day, 1914, after five months of unparalleled industrial-scale slaughter, British and German soldiers stopped fighting and exchanged gifts, sang Christmas carols, and pl…

Harold Meyerson comments on the Colorado supreme court's ruling that the constitution prohibits Trump from serving as president because he participated in an insurrection. Also - class struggle in 2023 - the year in review. Plus: Why have some feminists been reluctant even to acknowledge that Hamas members raped Israeli women and girls on Oct. 7? K…

The War against Gaza: How we got here, where we need to go: David Myers comments. Also: The left in Israel today. Also: Joe Biden has historic achievements as president, but polls show him to be the candidate least able to defeat Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Democrats need someone else to run and an open primary. Harold Meyerson will argue th…

Striking hotel workers have occupied Century Blvd., the approach to LAX, and are planning a posada, reenacting Mary and Joseph's search for lodging in Bethlehem, on Friday evening--Harold Meyerson comments. Also: Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT, spent Thanksgiving weekend in Israel. She will report on meetings with shared society groups and …

Trump doesn't have a platform, he has an enemies list; but the Heritage Foundation has 922 pages on its to-do list if Trump should return to the White House in 2025. Harold Meyerson explains. Also: People with very different visions of what a just peace between Israel and the Palestinians might look like must work together to stop the war: That’s w…

Joe Biden faces a split in the Democrat electorate over Israel and Palestine--Harold Meyerson has some recommendations. also: Why we need the Israeli left now more than ever: Dahlia Scheindlin explains. plus--California is a place to write home about. David Kipen reads some examples - his new book is "Dear California: Letters and Diary Entries."…

Today we have two segments from the archives about Palestinians; neither is about the current war—and one about Trump and refugees. Rachel Kushner reports on her visit to a Palestinian refugee camp in 2016; Adam Shatz talks about Edward Said, the leading voice of Palestinians in the US before he died in 2003. And later in the show: One of the defin…

John Nichols has our analysis of Tuesday's election victories in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky. But those victories came right after a series of very bad polls for Biden - especially a new NYTimes Poll that shows Trump leading in 5 out of 6 swing states. Could Biden’s poll numbers really be that bad? Harold Meyerson comments. Later in t…