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The Courts vs. Trump—Plus, Gotham at War

On this episode of Start Making Sense: David Cole on Trump’s recent defeats in federal courts, and Brenda Wineapple on Mike Wallace’s history of New York City during World War II.

Jon Wiener

October 8, 2025

Pedestrians walk beneath the marquee of a Trans-Lux Theatre in Times Square circa 1943.(FPG / Archive Photos / Getty Images)

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The Courts vs. Trump—Plus, “Gotham at War” | Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

As the Supreme Court begins its new term, Trump lost six different cases in district courts just last week, ranging from bans on deploying the National Guard, to defending freedom of speech for noncitizens, to yet another court rejecting his executive order abolishing birthright citizenship. At the same time, Trump is claiming an illegitimate legal basis for ordering the murder of civilians he claims are trafficing in drugs. David Cole will comment—he’s former national legal director of the ACLU.

Also, There’s a wonderful new history of New York City from the Depression thru WWII, out now – It’s called “Gotham at War,” written by Mike Wallace. He won the Pulitzer Prize in History for the first volume in his “Gotham” series. To talk about ‘Gotham at War,’ we’ll turn to Brenda Wineapple, who writes for the New York Review and the New York Times Book Review; her most recent book is the Scopes trial–it's called ‘Keeping the Faith.’

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As the Supreme Court begins its new term, Trump lost six different cases in district courts just last week, ranging from bans on deploying the National Guard to defending freedom of speech for noncitizens, to yet another court rejecting his executive order abolishing birthright citizenship. At the same time, Trump is claiming an illegitimate legal basis for ordering the murder of civilians he claims are trafficing in drugs. David Cole will comment—he’s a former national legal director of the ACLU and The Nation’s legal affairs correspondent.

Also, there’s a wonderful new history of New York City from the Depression through World War II out now. It’s called Gotham at War. Author Mike Wallace won the Pulitzer Prize in History for the first volume in his Gotham series. To talk about Gotham at War, we’ll turn to Brenda Wineapple, who writes for The New York Review of Books and The New York Times. Her most recent book, on the Scopes trial, is called Keeping the Faith.

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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.

Election Protection in the Midterms, plus Racists and Neo-Nazis in the 1940s and 50s / Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

Trump’s efforts to block Democratic voting in the midterms, or overturn the results, is not going to work—Ian Bassin explains the widespread preparations underway for defending the election in November. Ian is co-founder of the organization Protect Democracy and winner of a MacArthur genius grant.

Also: In the aftermath of WWII, racists and antisemites organized to reverse the changes brought by the New Deal and the war, but their organizations were infiltrated and undermined by activists from the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and the Non-­Sectarian Anti­-Nazi League. Steven J. Ross has that history – his new book is The Secret War Against Hate. 

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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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