Does the Evidence Support Joe Biden, or Tara Reade?

Does the Evidence Support Joe Biden, or Tara Reade?

Katha Pollitt on the presidential race and John Powers on TV during the pandemic.

Start Making Sense and Jon Wiener
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Did Joe Biden sexually assault Tara Reade in 1993? Katha Pollitt examines the evidence—and concludes that it supports Biden’s denial. Especially significant: the PBS NewsHour interviews with 74 former Biden staffers, of whom 62 were women; none said they had experienced sexual harassment, assault, or misconduct by Biden. All said they never heard any rumors or allegations of Biden engaging in sexual misconduct, until the recent assault allegation made by Tara Reade.

Also: What to watch, and read, while the stay-at-home orders are in effect: John Powers recommends The Sleepers, a Czech spy thriller, on HBO GO, and the 1950s Hollywood noir novels of the amazing Alfred Hayes, from New York Review Classics.  John is Critic at Large on Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR.

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Start Making Sense Start Making Sense is The Nation’s podcast, hosted by Jon Wiener and coproduced by the Los Angeles Review of Books. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes each Thursday.  


Jon Wiener Jon 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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