Podcast / The Time of Monsters / Feb 11, 2024

The Democrats Embrace the Right on Immigration

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, a discussion with Adam Johnson on the Democrats’ failed border policy.

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The Democrats Embrace The Right on Immigration | The Time of Monsters
byThe Nation Magazine

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, a discussion with Adam Johnson on the Democrats' failed border policy.

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks at a news conference after a weekly policy luncheon with Senate Democrats at the U.S. Capitol Building on February 06, 2024.

(Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)

With the collapse of the so-called border deal in the Senate, the Democrats have a new line: We gave the Republicans what they wanted, and the GOP still rejected it. Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz said, “I’ve never seen anything like it. [Senate Republicans] literally demanded specific policy, got it, and then killed it.” The lesson to be drawn is that the GOP is irresponsible and doesn’t really want a border solution.

That accusation is true, but it leaves a question about the Democrats. What does it say that the Democrats, who for years have rightly accused the GOP of pushing draconian and inhumane immigration policies, have now decided to support those very same policies?

Adam Johnson, cohost of the podcast Citations Needed, wrote an eloquent critique of the Democrats handling of immigration for The Nation.

The Nation Podcasts
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.

Matthew Yglesias and the Problems of Popularism | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
byThe Nation Magazine

Matthew Yglesias, a very influential journalist and proprietor of the Slow Boring substack, has emerged as a divisive figure within the Democratic party. To admirers, he’s a compelling advocate of popularism, the view the Democratic party needing to moderate its message to win over undecided voters. To critics, he’s a glib attention seeker who has achieved prominence by coming up with clever ways to justify the status quo. 

For this episode of the podcast, I talked to David Klion, frequent guest of the show and Nation contributor, about Yglesias, the centrist view of the 2024 election, the role of progressives and leftists in the Democratic party coalition, and the class formation of technocratic pundits, among other connected matters. 

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Jeet Heer

Jeet Heer is a national affairs correspondent for The Nation and host of the weekly Nation podcast, The Time of Monsters. He also pens the monthly column “Morbid Symptoms.” The author of In Love with Art: Francoise Mouly’s Adventures in Comics with Art Spiegelman (2013) and Sweet Lechery: Reviews, Essays and Profiles (2014), Heer has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, The American Prospect, The Guardian, The New Republic, and The Boston Globe.

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