Talking Social Security Talking Social Security
It's time to get serious about sustaining social security.
Oct 1, 2010 / Katrina vanden Heuvel
A Grand Compromise? A Grand Compromise?
The key to revitalizing the economy is freeing up still-frozen credit markets.
Sep 30, 2010 / Katrina vanden Heuvel
Eat, Pray—and Vote Eat, Pray—and Vote
Though progressives have ample reason to be disappointed, they should resist the temptation to sit out the November elections.
Sep 27, 2010 / Katrina vanden Heuvel
This Week at TheNation.com: One Nation Working Together. Plus, Our Election 2010 Plans and Two New Videos. This Week at TheNation.com: One Nation Working Together. Plus, Our Election 2010 Plans and Two New Videos.
By now you may have seen Peter Dreier's feature for The Nation, "The Fifty Most Influential Progressives of the Twentieth Century." We'll be taking your suggestions in the weeks to come, featuring your lists and ideas at TheNation.com and in the magazine. Dreier's list is the beginning of the conversation. Click here to contribute your ideas and tell us who we missed. Also this week ... EVENT: The Nation and One Nation Working Together For all the buzz around the dueling Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert rallies, progressives have a major event coming up even sooner - next Saturday. October 2nd is the big "One Nation Working Together" rally in Washington, D.C., a march organized by the AFL-CIO and the NAACP, and uniting labor and racial justice with environmental, women's, peace and anti-poverty advocates. Organizers have laid out a set of concrete policy goals from the march; you can find out all the details here. The Nation will have coverage online starting next Friday and throughout the weekend, then the week after we'll present slideshows, interviews on The Nation on GRIT TV and more. UPCOMING: Our Election Coverage The Nation is covering both the issues and the key races in election 2010 over the weeks to come. This week we're featuring the Russ Feingold race and profiling Florida Rep. Alan Grayson ("The Counter-Puncher") and we've been running field dispatches online and in print from all over the country. Next week is a special package: is this the year of the (conservative) woman, with essays from Betsy Reed, Jessica Valenti and Rebecca Traister. Starting next month we're rolling out a comprehensive map that charts all our election coverage, and through a variety of slideshows, GRIT TV commentaries and articles we're working to present the voices and views of Election 2010. The best way to track coverage is to bookmark our homepage, and to follow us on Twitter. INTERVIEW: Kumi Naidoo Comes to The Nation Kumi Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace International and author of Boiling Point: Can Citizen Action Save the World?, paid a visit to The Nation’s offices on September 23. After telling us that reading The Nation helped him “keep his sanity” during a few years living in the US, he talked to us about Greenpeace’s work, his new book and the global environmental movement, and answered questions from Nation staffers and from Christian Parenti, a frequent contributor to The Nation on environmental issues. An edited version of his remarks and the Q&A session can be found here; we'll have video next week. VIDEO: Jeremy Scahill on Blackwater's Secret Relationships with Big Business In his recent piece for The Nation, "Blackwater's Black Ops," Jeremy Scahill reveals how private security firm Blackwater (now known as Xe) has provided security and intelligence services to a range of powerful multinational corporations over the past several years. Blackwater has also provided intelligence and training to foreign governments, including those of Jordan, Canada and the Netherlands. In this conversation with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!, Scahill explains that the documents he has obtained link Blackwater to the shady intelligence services of corporations such as Chevron and Monsanto. But Scahill's research may be just the tip of the iceberg. "This needs to be investigated," says Scahill, "I'm hoping that other journalists can follow up on what Blackwater was doing...for these powerful multinational corporations." Watch the video here. PODCAST: The Breakdown with Chris Hayes - Does the DREAM Act Have a Future? This Tuesday Senate Republicans successfully filibustered a defense authorization bill to which Democrats had attempted to attach the DREAM Act, leaving immigrant rights activists to question the future of the now-stalled legislation. Standing for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors, the DREAM Act would allow some undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children to earn legal status by completing two years of college or military service. On this week's episode of The Breakdown, DC Editor Chris Hayes and immigration expert Angela Maria Kelley explore the future of the DREAM Act and possible ways forward for politicians, voters and activists working for humane immigration reform. Listen here or subscribe in I-tunes. VIDEO: Dean Baker on Elizabeth Warren and Solutions to Poverty "Poverty is a one-day event, we get a report released and we're going to talk about poverty. But every day we hear what the stock market does," says Nation contributor Dean Baker. The problem with that kind of coverage, Baker says, is that "many more people will experience poverty than will strike it rich in the stock market." Millions of Americans experience poverty not as a one-day affair, but as a constant, grinding force in their lives. Baker joined The Nation on Grittv via Skype to talk about Elizabeth Warren's sort-of-appointment, the whinging of the rich over tax increases and Bill Clinton's comments about the recession's end. Watch here. Coming up next week on The Nation on GRIT TV: Betsy Reed and Rebecca Traister on conservative women and the "mama grizzlies" (posting Monday) and Eric Foner on his new book about Abraham Lincoln (posting Wednesday. See full episodes at www.grittv.org. - - - - - Finally this week: Editor's Cut may be quiet next week as we set sail for the Annual Nation cruise. The seminar cruise is both a fundraiser for the magazine and a remarkable week of discussion and debate. This year Nation regulars like Calvin Trillin, John Nichols, Jeremy Scahill, Chris Hayes, Richard Kim and Melissa Harris-Lacewell are joined by progressive voices like Amy Goodman and Jim Hightower; you can see highlights of the 2009 cruise here. We'll all be tweeting from the boat as best we can, and we'll bring you video and audio of the sessions here at TheNation.com in the weeks to come. As always thanks for reading. I'm on Twitter - @KatrinaNation - and I welcome your comments below.
Sep 25, 2010 / Katrina vanden Heuvel
Gordon Gekko’s Wall Street Meets Elizabeth Warren Gordon Gekko’s Wall Street Meets Elizabeth Warren
Just as the sequel to Oliver Stone's 1987 classic hits theaters, Obama appointee Elizabeth Warren will take on a new generation of Wall Street swindlers.
Sep 20, 2010 / Katrina vanden Heuvel
This Week at TheNation.com: An Essential Guide to Our Civic History. Plus: Two New Videos. This Week at TheNation.com: An Essential Guide to Our Civic History. Plus: Two New Videos.
By now you may have seen Peter Dreier's feature for The Nation, "The Top Fifty Progressives of the Twentieth Century." As Peter writes in his introduction, "The radical ideas of one generation are often the common sense of the next. When that happens, give credit to the activists and movements that fought to take those ideas from the margins to the mainstream. We all stand on the shoulders of earlier generations of radicals and reformers who challenged the status quo of their day." In this moment where the word "progressive" is often used as a slur, we thought it valuable to remind readers of the great and inspiring contributions progressives have made to this country. The list isn't perfect and there are plenty of worthy progressives left out. That's why we're counting on you, starting Monday, to weigh in with your own nominations - both for progressives that should have made the list, and for the most influential progressives of the 21st Century. As we head back to school and into an increasingly challenging landscape for the teaching of our civic history, I hope you'll tweet, email, pass along and share this essential guide. Also this week ... VIDEO: GOP Women and Abortion The "mama grizzly" phenomenon may be real, but what does it mean for women's right? On Rachel Maddow last night, our Melissa Harris-Lacewell looked at the Republican women running for office this year, and where they stand on choice and reproductive rights. Watch the video here. PODCAST: The Breakdown with Chris Hayes In April, President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the New START Treaty, the biggest nuclear arms pact in a generation. The treaty, the first of its kind in almost ten years, would diminish both countries’ nuclear arsenals and allow for greater transparency in nuclear policy. Although the treaty has been met with strong objections from some members of the Republican Party, the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee has recently approved the treaty. New START now faces the Senate floor for a full vote. But what exactly is the New START Treaty, and what would happen if it did not pass? On this week's edition of The Breakdown, DC Editor Chris Hayes and non-proliferation expert Joe Cirincione try to answer these questions and the long term implications for the New START Treaty. Listen here. NEWS FROM IRAN: Hiker released You likely saw that Sarah Shourd, one of the three American hikers held in Iranian prison since last July, was released this week. We have followed this story closely, reporting in June that the circumstances of their arrest differs from what Iran originally reported. Shane Bauer, a Nation contributor, and Joshua Fattal remain in custody; we will continue to follow this story and hope for their swift release - and that Shourd can shed some light on the situation. Read more from The Nation Institute's Esther Kaplan here. ENDORSEMENTS: Schneiderman wins! Last week I wrote enthusiastically in support of Eric Schneiderman for New York State Attorney General. On Tuesday Schneiderman narrowly defeated his opponents, securing the Democratic nomination. The Nation's endorsement - and progressive support for Schneiderman - is already part of the story; the Times yesterday mentioned our support in a profile of the race. This will be a tough general election campaign; I encourage all New Yorkers to get involved if they can. VIDEO: A Conversation with Naomi Klein Columnist Naomi Klein was in New York last weekend for the Brooklyn Book Festival, and sat down Monday with Laura Flanders for a segment on The Nation on GRIT TV. The topic was the future of the left: how a vibrant, independent left is possible. It's an important segment - I hope you'll watch and share. Coming up next week on The Nation on GRIT TV: Nation Books author Roberta Gratz about her new book on Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses, "The Battle for Gotham." - - - - - Finally, out this week is a new book from Nation Contributing Editor (and my husband!) Stephen Cohen, "The Victims Return: Survivors of the Gulag After Stalin." During Stalin's reign of terror in the Soviet Union many millions died in his gulag of torture prisons and forced-labor camps; but millions of others survived to be freed after his death in 1953. For over 30 years Steve has been researching the lives of those victims who were released; "The Victim's Return" is the first book that chronicles the remarkable stories of their return to society. It is also a book about the role Stalin and Stalinism continue to play in Russia's politics and society. For Steve (and for me) this is a deeply personal book, tracing the stories of people who are victims but also friends, and a living reminder of an often ignored part of history. I hope you'll read the book; we will also be doing a discussion at Barnes and Noble on 82nd & Broadway in New York on October 6th, followed by a series of event in D.C. and the West Coast. As always, thanks for reading. I'm on Twitter - @KatrinaNation - and welcome your comments below.
Sep 17, 2010 / Katrina vanden Heuvel
Time for a Real Economic Debate Time for a Real Economic Debate
Fifteen million Americans are unemployed. Poverty is up. One in four homes is under water. It's time for a serious debate on the nation's economic direction.
Sep 16, 2010 / Katrina vanden Heuvel
This Week at TheNation.com: 1000 Shares. Plus: Two new videos, and a new series starts Monday. This Week at TheNation.com: 1000 Shares. Plus: Two new videos, and a new series starts Monday.
It was back to work this week at The Nation and in D.C., with President Obama and the Democrats in Congress grappling with how critical jobs and the economy are to their chances in November. In my web column for The Washington Post this week, I challenged Wall Street over their recklessness in attacking President Obama's relatively mild efforts at reforming the financial system, after being made whole and profitable again by the bailouts. The reality is that Wall Street's unwillingness to lend or to accept reforms has put the economic recovery at risk. I made a similar argument in this video conversation with Laura Flanders from The Nation on GRIT TV: Class warfare is not, as John McCain would have you believe, overturning Bush's tax cuts for the rich. "Class warfare is when you have corporations sitting on $1.8 trillion." Watch the segment here. Also this week ... Video: The U.S., The U.N and The World The Nation's United Nation's Correspondent Barbara Crossette joined Laura for a conversation about the role of the U.S. in global human rights - specifically our relationship to the U.N. But as President Obama embraces reforms abroad, are we applying the same principles to economic justice at home? Its a thoughtful conversation; watch the video here. Podcast: The Breakdown With Chris Hayes How can the Fed help the economy? Chris Hayes explains the role of the Federal Reserve in the economic recovery, with Neil Irwin of The Washington Post. Listen here, or subscribe in I-tunes. 1000 Shares Contributing Writer Jon Weiner was prepping for a radio interview on KPFK with columnist Katha Pollitt (available here) when he noticed that her recent column, "It's Better Over There," had hit 1,001 "shares" on Facebook. The article is now at 1,045. It's been remarkable to watch the growth of social networking as a tool to spark discussion around Nation content; we always appreciate the shares and re-tweets, and sharing a Nation article is one of the most significant things you can do to help the magazine - and independent journalism. The State of the Race Next Monday we're starting a video series on Election 2010. Our Monday segments from "The Nation on GRIT TV" (posted here each Monday afternoon) will look at one facet of the midterm election, along with a dispatch from one of our reporters out in the field. This week, Melissa Harris-Lacewell and Laura will look at the impact that race is playing on the election: is the GOP race-baiting their way back to a House majority? And we'll hear (via skype) from reporter Dan Bischoff, who is covering the Rand Paul-Jack Conway Kentucky Senate race. Videos are at thenation.com; full episodes are at GRITTV.org. Election Day is Tuesday A reminder that in many states, Tuesday is Primary Election Day. Here in New York, the big race is for Attorney General. I encourage you to get out and vote, and give some thought to my endorsement of Eric Schneiderman before you go. - - - That's all for this week. As always you can keep up by following The Nation on Facebook here, or follow me on Twitter - I'm @KatrinaNation.
Sep 10, 2010 / Katrina vanden Heuvel
Wall Street Needs to Change, Not Obama Wall Street Needs to Change, Not Obama
While no one said that reforming Wall Street would be easy for President Obama, the big-money backlash against his proposals has been surprisingly swift and screechy.
Sep 9, 2010 / Katrina vanden Heuvel
Finding a Way Out of Afghanistan Finding a Way Out of Afghanistan
A report to be released tomorrow by the Afghanistan Study Group has the potential to change the direction of the war.
Sep 7, 2010 / Katrina vanden Heuvel