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Senate Dems Stand Up to Trump—Finally; Plus, Trump and Tylenol

On Start Making Sense: Harold Meyerson discusses the budget battle and government shutdown, and Gregg Gonsalves analyzes Trump’s surprise attack on pregnant people’s Tylenol use.

Jon Wiener

October 1, 2025

The sun sets on the Capitol, the day of a White House meeting meant to avert a looming government shutdown, September 29, 2025, Washington, DC.(Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images)

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Senate Dems Stand Up to Trump-Finally; plus Trump and Tylenol | Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

For the Senate Democrats this is a big week for defiance. At last they are making popular demands as part of a deal to pass a budget and avoid a government shutdown. But Trump still holds a lot of cards. Harold Meyerson will comment.

Also: None of us were prepared for the double whammy of last week's White House press conference, where Trump made false claims not only about vaccines, but also about Tylenol causing autism. We’ll have analysis from Gregg Gonsalves. He teaches at the Yale School of Public Health; he's been an AIDS activist for 30 years; and he's also a MacArthur Fellow — class of 2018. And he's The Nation's public health correspondent. 

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For Senate Democrats this is a big week for defiance. At last they are making popular demands as part of a deal to pass a budget and avoid a government shutdown. But Trump still holds a lot of cards. Harold Meyerson will comment.

Also: None of us were prepared for the double whammy of last week’s White House press conference, where Trump made false claims not only about vaccines but also about Tylenol causing autism. We’ll have analysis from Gregg Gonsalves. He teaches at the Yale School of Public Health; he’s been an AIDS activist for 30 years; and he’s also a MacArthur Fellow—class of 2018. And he’s The Nation’s public health correspondent. 

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.

Massive GOP Spending Hasn’t Slowed the Coming Blue Wave; plus The Cornell Rape Case / Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

Republicans are spending hundreds of millions on the midterms, but their money hasn’t been able to counter the crisis of affordability, the disgust with Trump’s corruption, and the quality of many of the Democratic candidates. Harold Meyerson comments – he’s editor at large of The American Prospect.

Also: Katha Pollit argues that the gang rape at a Cornell fraternity party could have been stopped–if someone had bothered to intervene. But no one did. “Where were the good guys?” She asks.

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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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