I’m off to Russia for a series of interviews looking at the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (I’ll be sure to ask people what they think of our controversies over socialism and czars!) but first, a few quick notes about upcoming features and some changes at TheNation.com:

•Our cover story for our next issue is a good one: Naomi Klein’s interview with Michael Moore. We’ll have a Q & A and a podcast of the whole interview–check back Thursday for their conversation about Moore’s new film (Capitalism: A Love Story) and about the current political landscape. If people are mad as hell, why aren’t they mad at Wall Street?

•This video was a great segment from Laura Flanders’ GRIT TV last week: Max Blumenthal, Janeane Garafolo and Kai Wright on Laura’s weekly media roundtable. It’s a fantastic (but scary) look at the last week in media and the news: tea-baggers, Jimmy Carter, crazy right-wingers, threats, hate mail, and most importantly how racism is impacting coverage of the healthcare debate. Watch the whole thing:

Max’s new book, Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered a Party, has snuck up to15th on the New York Times bestseller list. It chronicles the sordidness and extremism at the heart of the Republican Party, and ties them together into a fascinating exploration of the right-wing today; I encourage everyone to give it a read. We’ll have aone-on-one VideoNation interview with Max next week.

• Over at WBUR/NPR’s On Point, you can listen to my week in review conversation with The Atlantic‘s Jack Beatty and The Washington Post’s Michael Gerson. We discussed the President’s decision on missile defense shields; the Baucus healthcare plan; and Jimmy Carter’s comments about race.

Finally, a welcome to our new Web Editor, Emily Douglas. Emily comes tous from RHRealityCheck.org, one of the best sources around for commentary, news and analysis about reproductive rights, women’s health and politics. Emily is also a former Nation intern, and she’ll be leading TheNation.com into a new era of hard-hitting analysis, reporting and breaking news. She’ll also be leading efforts to expand the site’s multimedia and community offerings, two projects we’re very excited about. A hearty welcome to Emily.

As always, thanks for reading. Leave suggested questions for Gorbachev in the comments.