On this episode of Start Making Sense, John Nichols on the military in the cities, and Adam Hochschild on Mark Twain.
Members of the National Guard from multiple states patrol the National Mall, Washington, DC, on August 25, 2025. (Dominic Gwinn / Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
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What is Trump’s strategy in deploying the National Guard to L.A., then D.C., and now probably Chicago and New York? Does he want the military in the street of blue cities for the midterms next year? They will still elect Democrats to the House. John Nichols comments.
Also: ‘Huckleberry Finn’ is America's great anti-slavery novel, but there's a secret behind it: Mark Twain, the author, wasn't always anti-slavery and anti-racist; in fact he fought, briefly, for the Confederacy. Adam Hochschild explains how Twain changed his mind. (Adam reviewed Ron Chernow’s new bio of Twain in the latest issue of The Nation magazine.)
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What is Trump’s strategy in deploying the National Guard to LA, then DC, and now probably Chicago and New York? Does he want the military in the streets of blue cities for the midterms next year? They will still elect Democrats to the House. John Nichols comments.
Also: Huckleberry Finn is America’s great anti-slavery novel, but there’s a secret behind it: Mark Twain, the author, wasn’t always anti-slavery and anti-racist; in fact he fought, briefly, for the Confederacy. Adam Hochschild explains how Twain changed his mind. (Adam reviewed Ron Chernow’s new bio of Twain in the latest issue of The Nation.)
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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.
Zorhan Mamdani takes office in four weeks as the first socialist mayor of New York City. How should we understand the constraints he faces, without accepting those constraints? Bhaskar Sunkara has our analysis; he’s president of The Nation and author of ‘The Socialist Manifesto.’
Plus: Sports Talk on The Nation podcast! Of course Thanksgiving was a big weekend for football on TV – a weekend where millions of viewers got to see a festival of brain injuries — concussions after receiving blows to the head. Dave Zirin will comment – he's the long-time sports editor of The Nation and host of the Edge of Sports podcast.
Our Sponsors:* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com
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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.