A conversation with Annelise Orleck about her book, “Storming Caesars Palace: How Black Mothers Fought Their Own War on Poverty” In January 1971, the state of Nevada—following an experiment launched by California governor Ronald Reagan—had slashed welfare benefits, catapulting single mothers and their families from poverty to near-starvation. Women who were minimum wage workers in … More Why Now? Episode 22: Hit Them In The Pocketbook

Talking with with socialist feminist Nancy Fraser about her recent book, “Cannibal Capitalism: How our System Is Devouring Democracy, Care, and the Planet – and What We Can Do About It” This episode begins with an exchange between Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders CNN’s Anderson Cooper during the Democratic Presidential candidates’ debate in Las Vegas, NV, … More Why Now? Episode 21: A World To Win

A conversation with historian Matthew Dallek about his new book, Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right (Basic Books, 2023) In the late 1950s, the John Birch Society may have been on the fringe of the Republican Party. Still, it was not an insignificant force in American politics. Gathering the remnants of … More Why Now? Episode 20: Extremism in Defense of Liberty Is No Vice

The Former Guy put out a call for his supporters to protest his indictment: this is who showed up There are views in this episode that, while sincerely held by those who expressed them, aren’t exactly true: please see the fact check at my newsletter. And listeners—there are interactions and language that aren’t exactly appropriate … More Why Now? Episode 19: The People of New York vs. Donald J. Trump

A conversation with Julia Schleck about her recent book, “Dirty Knowledge: Academic Freedom in the Age of Neoliberalism.” Politicians are trying to legislate what is taught in American public colleges and universities—and they want to enforce their own ideological preferences by firing faculty who disagree. It’s time to take the defense of academic freedom seriously. … More Why Now? Episode 18: No Ivory Tower

Feminist journalist Katha Pollitt explains why we should treat ending a pregnancy as normal If you enjoy this podcast, you may want to read Katha Pollitt’s book, Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights (Picador, 2014). “Abortion saves lives,” “You’re sacrificing the mothers for the children:” The battle over women’s bodies has always been given to rhetorical extremes. Think about … More Abortion On Demand

A conversation with historian Matthew Pratt Guterl about his new book, “Skinfolk: A Memoir” On a flight from Vietnam in April 1975 were three siblings, two boys and a girl, all fathered by different African American soldiers. Their mother, Mae, rightly believed that her children would not only be discriminated against because they were racially … More “Why Now?” Episode 16: The Sunlit Path of Racial Justice

A conversation with historian Christopher Elias about his book, “Gossip Men: J. Edgar Hoover, Joe McCarthy, Roy Cohn, and the Politics of Insinuation” An important theme of this episode is gossip about powerful men having erotic relationships with other men. I want to be clear that there is no new evidence that proves or disproves … More “Why Now?” Episode 15: Rumor Has It