Pramila Jayapal on Going From Banker to Organizer, and Eric Foner on the Right to Vote

Pramila Jayapal on Going From Banker to Organizer, and Eric Foner on the Right to Vote

On this week’s episode of the Start Making Sense podcast, the representative and the historian join us to discuss politics and history.

Jon Wiener and Start Making Sense
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

Pramila Jayapal is head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and represents Seattle in the House. She will explain how, as a young immigrant from India, she went from being an investment banker to a lifelong organizer. Her book Use the Power You Have: A Brown Woman’s Guide to Politics and Political Change is out now.

Also on this week’s show, historian Eric Foner talks about about voting rights, voter suppression, who gets to be a citizen, the rights of undocumented immigrants, and about the roots of mass incarceration. They all relate to the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments: part of the country’s attempt to redefine citizenship after the end of slavery. His book The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution is out now in paperback.

Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

Support independent journalism that exposes oligarchs and profiteers


Donald Trump’s cruel and chaotic second term is just getting started. In his first month back in office, Trump and his lackey Elon Musk (or is it the other way around?) have proven that nothing is safe from sacrifice at the altar of unchecked power and riches.

Only robust independent journalism can cut through the noise and offer clear-eyed reporting and analysis based on principle and conscience. That’s what The Nation has done for 160 years and that’s what we’re doing now.

Our independent journalism doesn’t allow injustice to go unnoticed or unchallenged—nor will we abandon hope for a better world. Our writers, editors, and fact-checkers are working relentlessly to keep you informed and empowered when so much of the media fails to do so out of credulity, fear, or fealty.

The Nation has seen unprecedented times before. We draw strength and guidance from our history of principled progressive journalism in times of crisis, and we are committed to continuing this legacy today.

We’re aiming to raise $25,000 during our Spring Fundraising Campaign to ensure that we have the resources to expose the oligarchs and profiteers attempting to loot our republic. Stand for bold independent journalism and donate to support The Nation today.

Onward,

Katrina vanden Heuvel

Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

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.


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.  


x