Harold Meyerson explains Democrats’ preparations for Trump’s threats to voting, and Marcus Rediker talks about Black America in the 1850s.
President Donald Trump gestures to members of the media after exiting Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport on February 13, 2026.(Nathan Howard / Getty Images)
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Trump’s efforts to block Democratic voting in the midterms, or overturn the results, is not going to work—Ian Bassin explains the widespread preparations underway for defending the election in November. Ian is co-founder of the organization Protect Democracy and winner of a MacArthur genius grant.
Also: In the aftermath of WWII, racists and antisemites organized to reverse the changes brought by the New Deal and the war, but their organizations were infiltrated and undermined by activists from the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League. Steven J. Ross has that history – his new book is The Secret War Against Hate.
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In this episode of Start Making Sense, Harold Meyerson explains Democrats’ preparations for Trump’s threats to voting, and Marcus Rediker talks about Black America in the 1850s.
Trump, facing the wave of popular opposition to pretty much everything he’s doing, is working to block Democrats from voting in the midterms, and “election protection” has become a key part of the preparations underway from blue-state attorneys general and from voting rights groups like the Brennan Center and the ACLU. Harold Meyerson explains.
Also: A large proportion of slaves who escaped from slavery in the South escaped not on foot but by boat. Marcus Rediker tells their story—his new book is Freedom Ship: The Uncharted History of Escaping Slavery by Sea.
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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.
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.
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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.