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State of the Union: Not Good—Plus, Jackie Robinson v. Paul Robeson

Trump’s State of the Union speech was predictable, but revealing of his state of mind. John Nichols has our analysis.

Jon Wiener

February 25, 2026

President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress.(Ricky Carioti / The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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State of the Union: Not Good; plus Jackie Robinson v. Paul Robeson / Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

Trump’s State of the Union speech was predictable, but nevertheless revealing of his state of mind. John Nichols has our analysis.

Also: In 1949 when Jackie Robinson appeared before HUAC, the House Un-American Activities Committee, to discredit Paul Robeson. Howard Bryant talks about why that happened, and what happened afterwards – to each of them. His new book is “Kings and Pawns.”

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Trump’s State of the Union speech was predictable, but nevertheless revealing of his state of mind. John Nichols has our analysis.

Also: In 1949, Jackie Robinson appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee to discredit Paul Robeson. Howard Bryant talks about why that happened, and what happened afterward—to each of them. His new book is Kings and Pawns.

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.

Rebecca Solnit on Long Term Strategy, plus Resisting ICE in Small Town America / Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

It’s been only a couple of weeks since the No Kings 3 protests, but we can see now how protest and resistance are changing in America: that one it wasn't just bigger than the previous No Kings. It was different: Deeper and more connected. Rebecca Solnit argues that to understand resistance and change today, we need a much longer perspective than a couple of years. Her new book is The Beginning Comes After the End.

Also: Minneapolis made history with its mobilization against ICE. But what about the rest of the state, where the immigrant population has been growing for a couple of decades? What kind of resistance has developed there? Emma Janssen went to small town Minnesota to find out. She’s a writing fellow at The American Prospect.  

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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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