A candle is placed during a vigil in Place de la République following the series of deadly attacks in Paris, November 15, 2015. (Reuters / Benoit Tessier)
In the first episode, Laila Lalami on Islamic extremism, Amy Wilentz on bad Bernie Sanders coverage, Charles Blow on growing up poor and black, and Terry Gross on Hillary Clinton.
The world is a complicated place, and media outlets obsessed with quick takes and beating their competition sometimes do more harm than good. That’s why today we’re launching Start Making Sense, a new podcast from The Nation hosted by longtime contributor Jon Wiener. We’ll be taking a step back from the daily media maelstrom to provide you with some much-needed, well-thought-out perspective on the news of the week. Subscribe on iTunes and check in each Thursday for timely, in-depth interviews with some of the most fascinating progressive voices of our time. We’ll have writers, artists, politicians, activists, and more on the show to talk about the week’s most pressing issues.
Start Making Sense is hosted by Jon Wiener and co-produced by the Los Angeles Review of Books.
In our first episode, Laila Lalami talks about the origins of ISIS, and what to do about it now. Laila grew up in Morocco; her novel The Moor’s Account was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
Also: The New York Times’s coverage of Bernie Sanders has been condescending, and terrible; journalist Amy Wilentz comments on the recent page-one story “Bernie Sanders Won’t Kiss Your Baby.”
Plus: Charles Blow, op-ed columnist for The New York Times, talks about growing up poor and black in rural Louisiana; his book Fire Shut Up in My Bones, is out now in paperback.
And Terry Gross explains the difference between interviewing Hillary and interviewing Bill. It’s her 40th anniversary hosting Fresh Air.
Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher and SoundCloud for new episodes each Thursday.
Start Making SenseTwitterStart 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.
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.