On this episode of Start Making Sense, John Nichols analyzes Tuesday’s elections, and Greil Marcus explains what’s missing in Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.
Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani votes at Frank Sinatra School of the Arts High School Tuesday, November 4, 2025, in Queens, New York.(Barry Williams / New York Daily News / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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Democratic candidates won everywhere they ran on Tuesday – Abagail Spanberger and a Democratic state legislature in Virginia, Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey, Gavin Newsom’s redistricting proposition in California, and of course Zohran Mamdani in New York City. Trump didn’t even campaign against any them. John Nichols has our analysis.
Also: Greil Marcus comments on the new film about Bruce Springsteen writing the songs for his 1982 album “Nebraska”, starring starring Jeremy Allen White of ‘The Bear.” The movie misses the context: working class decline in Reagan’s America. Greil Marcus is the author of two dozen books, including “Mystery Train,” which has just been reissued in a special 50th anniversary edition.
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Democratic candidates won everywhere they ran on Tuesday—Abagail Spanberger and a Democratic state legislature in Virginia, Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey, Gavin Newsom’s redistricting proposition in California, and of course Zohran Mamdani in New York City. Trump didn’t even campaign against any them. John Nichols has our analysis.
Also: Greil Marcus comments on the new film about Bruce Springsteen writing the songs for his 1982 album Nebraska, starring starring Jeremy Allen White of The Bear. The movie misses the context: working class decline in Reagan’s America. Greil Marcus is the author of two dozen books, including Mystery Train, which has just been reissued in a special 50th anniversary edition.
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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.
The primary force behind the settlement that will allow Trump’s allies at Paramount to take over Warners-Discovery and CNN was Gavin Newsom, who pressured California Attorney General Rob Bonta to end the anti-trust fight defending media independence. Norm Eisen explains – he’s co-founder and executive chair of the Democracy Defenders Fund and Democracy Defenders Action, and, the New York Times reported, “the leader of a coalition of entertainment and news industry professionals who opposed the deal.”
Also: After Trump banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House newsroom, the TV networks united in refusing coverage of his events – including Fox News. John Nichols has our analysis.
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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.