On December 10, progressive radio and TV talk show host Thom Hartmann invited The Nation’s editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel to join him for an extended two-part interview on his show’s "Conversations With Great Minds" segment. 

A day earlier, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) had given an eight-and-a-half-hour speech on the Senate floor arguing against President Obama’s tax cut deal with Republicans. Although Sanders did not officially stage a one-man filibuster, vanden Heuvel commends Sanders for standing up for the marginalized voices in the tax debate. 

“If politics is about anything, it should be improving the quality of people’s lives,” says vanden Heuvel. “Sanders…is a man who’s bringing to the Senate floor letters from citizens from around the country speaking about their lives.” Vanden Heuvel says that part of what progressive journalists and progressive politicians do is "expose injustice and try to bring some justice to those who are marginalized in our country and in our world. That’s what gets me up many mornings." 

Go here to view the second installment of Hartmann’s conversation with vanden Heuvel.

—Joanna Chiu