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Trump’s Really Bad Week in Court—Plus, the New Film by China’s Top Director

On this episode of Start Making Sense, Erwin Chemerinsky on Trump losing four big cases, and John Powers on Caught by the Tides.

Jon Wiener

September 10, 2025

A pedestrian wears a “Make America Great Again” hat outside the US Supreme Court Building in Washington, DC.(Allison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Trump’s Really Bad Week in Court—Plus, the New Film by China’s Top Director | Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

Trump had four major court decisions against him in a single week last week: on tariffs, defunding Harvard, sending troops to LA, and deporting Venezuelans, different courts and appellate panels said he was violating the law. Erwin Chemerinsky comments – he’s Dean of the Law School at Berkeley.

Also: The new film “Caught by the Tides” by Jia Zhangke, considered worldwide to be the most important director in China: Over the last 30 years, his great project has been to tell stories that show the radical transformation of Chinese life by capitalism and the state. John Powers explains – he’s critic at large on Fresh Air with Terry Gross. The film is streaming now on the Criterion Channel

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Trump had four major court decisions against him in a single week last week: on tariffs, defunding Harvard, sending troops to Los Angeles, and deporting Venezuelans, different courts and appellate panels said he was violating the law. Erwin Chemerinsky comments—he’s dean of the Law School at Berkeley.

Also: The new film Caught by the Tides, by Jia Zhangke, considered worldwide to be the most important director in China: over the last 30 years. His great project has been to tell stories that show the radical transformation of Chinese life by capitalism and the state. John Powers explains—he’s critic at large on Fresh Air with Terry Gross. The film is streaming now on the Criterion Channel.

Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

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.

Trump’s Renewed War, More ICE Killings, and Teaching American History / Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

It’s been another bad week for Donald Trump – from the Strait or Homuz to the streets where ICE has killed more people, to the scheduled Senate hearings on Todd Blanche. Harold Meyerson comments.

Also: Trump believes the teaching of history really matters—that’s why on July 4 he issued a 162-page attack on the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Yale historian Beverly Gage comments – her new book is This Land is Your Land: A Road Trip through US History.

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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.


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