Toggle Menu

How We Got Here, and Thanking the Undocumented

On this episode of Start Making Sense, Harold Meyerson analyzes how Trump “won,” and Gustavo Arellano pays tribute to the immigrants Trump says he’ll deport.

Jon Wiener

January 22, 2025

Donald Trump points at a group of photographers and says, “Fake news” while posing with the National Border Patrol Council during a campaign rally on October 13, 2024, in Prescott Valley, Arizona.(Rebecca Noble / Getty Images)

The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

How We Got Here, plus Thanking the Undocumented | Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

How Trump ‘won’: In 2024, 244 million Americans were eligible to vote. 31.5% voted for Trump, 30.6 % voted for Harris, 38% did not vote. Trump won the same share of the eligible voters as he did four years ago (32%), But Harris’s share of eligible voters fell by 3.5 points compared to Biden. Why did 7 million Democratic voters stay home? Harold Meyerson has our analysis—he’s editor-at-large of The American Prospect.

Also: now that Trump is preparing to round up and deport undocumented residents, we want to thank them for everything they’ve done to make America good. It’s a sentiment they don’t hear nearly enough–especially the “unaccompanied minors,” who have “shown more bravery in their young lives than anyone in Trump’s administration could ever dream of.” Gustavo Arellano will explain – he’s a columnist for the LA Times whose father came to the US in the 1960s in the trunk of a Chevy.

Our Sponsors:* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of Start Making Sense, we go over how Trump “won”: In 2024, 244 million Americans were eligible to vote; 31.5 percent voted for Trump, 30.6 percent for Harris, and 38 percent did not vote. Trump won the same share of the eligible voters as he did four years ago (32 percent), But Harris’s share of eligible voters fell by 3.5 points compared to Biden’s. Why did so many potential voters stay home? Harold Meyerson has our analysis—he’s editor-at-large of The American Prospect.

Also on this episode: Now that Trump is preparing to round up and deport undocumented residents, we want to thank them for everything they’ve done to make America good. It’s a sentiment they don’t hear nearly enough–especially the “unaccompanied minors,” who have “shown more bravery in their young lives than anyone in Trump’s administration could ever dream of.” Gustavo Arellano will explain—he’s a columnist for the Los Angeles Times whose father came to the US in the 1960s in the trunk of a Chevy.

The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Mamdani’s Socialism—and Us; plus Football and Concussions | Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

Zorhan Mamdani takes office in four weeks as the first socialist mayor of New York City. How should we understand the constraints he faces, without accepting those constraints? Bhaskar Sunkara has our analysis; he’s president of The Nation and author of ‘The Socialist Manifesto.’

Plus: Sports Talk on The Nation podcast! Of course Thanksgiving was a big weekend for football on TV – a weekend where millions of viewers got to see a festival of brain injuries — concussions after receiving blows to the head. Dave Zirin will comment – he's the long-time sports editor of The Nation and host of the Edge of Sports podcast.

Our Sponsors:* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Subscribe to The Nation to Support all of our podcasts

Jon WienerTwitterJon Wiener is a contributing editor of The Nation and co-author (with Mike Davis) of Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties.


Latest from the nation