As the Supreme Court begins its new term, Trump lost six different cases in district courts just last week, ranging from bans on deploying the National Guard, to defending freedom of speech for noncitizens, to yet another court rejecting his executive order abolishing birthright citizenship. At the same time, Trump is claiming an illegitimate legal basis for ordering the murder of civilians he claims are trafficing in drugs. David Cole will comment—he’s former national legal director of the ACLU.

Also, There’s a wonderful new history of New York City from the Depression thru WWII, out now - It’s called “Gotham at War,” written by Mike Wallace. He won the Pulitzer Prize in History for the first volume in his “Gotham” series. To talk about ‘Gotham at War,’ we’ll turn to Brenda Wineapple, who writes for the New York Review and the New York Times Book Review; her most recent book is the Scopes trial--it's called ‘Keeping the Faith.’

Donald Trump has plunged the nation into another government shutdown. I spoke with my Nation colleague Chris Lehmann about the larger political stakes. We take up Trump’s shifting rhetoric, which has started with false and racist claims about undocumented immigrants receiving benefits and now seems to be about gloating over austerity. We also discuss the Democratic Party’s response, and the way the base of the party has forced the leadership to take a stronger stance. Chris’s article on the shutdown can be found here.

This is when people-powered movements matter most.

In this episode of A People’s Climate, host Shilpi Chhotray sits down with Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, artist, abolitionist, and author. They explore the deep connections between racial justice, environmental justice, and the fight for a more just and caring world.

From her childhood experiences in Los Angeles to organizing around police brutality, climate justice, and cultural work, Patrisse shares why her vision is rooted in care, creativity, and nonviolent action.

Together, they unpack what it means to build coalitions across movements, resist systemic violence, and imagine a future beyond just survival.

Learn more at apeoplesclimate.org

Resources:

- Patrisse Cullors DEI Manifesto

- Patrisse Cullors Website

- Dignity and Power Now

- Learn more about Cop City in the Shilpi Chhotray hosted “People over Plastic” podcast episode: The Hot Seat.

- Learn more about Cancer Alley in the Shilpi Chhotray hosted “People over Plastic” podcast episode: Secret Sauce

Presented by Counterstream Media and The Nation

Powered by Wildseeds Fund

Subscribe now to skip the ads and get more content.

Don’t forget to vote for AP in the 2025 Signal Awards!

Danny is back on American soil and joins Derek to bring you the news. This week: Trump circulates a Gaza ceasefire proposal with Hamas’ response pending (2:39), Israel issues its final evacuation notice for Gaza City (9:30), and the Samud flotilla is intercepted (11:04); Trump forces Netanyahu to apologize to Qatar while also giving Doha a NATO-style defense pledge (14:06); the UN reimposes sanctions on Iran (16:55); Trump pushes to retake Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan as the country briefly loses internet access (20:49); starvation worsens in Sudan’s al-Fashir (27:02); “Gen Z protests” erupt in Madagascar and Morocco (29:56); Trump declares Ukraine can retake all lost territory (33:13) while the EU eyes frozen Russian assets (37:04); Argentina’s Milei seeks a U.S. bailout (39:51); Washington considers strikes inside Venezuela (42:51); and Pete Hegseth’s generals’ rally falls flat as Trump muses about using the military in U.S. cities (44:01).

Paris Marx is joined by Tina Nguyen to discuss the divisions within the American far-right between the Trump administration, the wider MAGA movement, and the tech executives trying to show they’re on their side.

Tina Nguyen is a senior reporter at The Verge and author of The MAGA Diaries: My Surreal Adventures Inside the Right-Wing (And How I Got Out).

For the Senate Democrats this is a big week for defiance. At last they are making popular demands as part of a deal to pass a budget and avoid a government shutdown. But Trump still holds a lot of cards. Harold Meyerson will comment.

Also: None of us were prepared for the double whammy of last week's White House press conference, where Trump made false claims not only about vaccines, but also about Tylenol causing autism. We’ll have analysis from Gregg Gonsalves. He teaches at the Yale School of Public Health; he's been an AIDS activist for 30 years; and he's also a MacArthur Fellow -- class of 2018. And he's The Nation's public health correspondent.

Don't forget to ⁠vote for American Prestige ⁠in the Signal Awards!

Danny welcomes to the show journalist and historian Garrett Graff, host of the podcast Long Shadow. They talk about the show’s latest season on the internet, tracing how its promise of democratization and liberation devolved into an engine of polarization and conspiracies. Topics include: Facebook’s cynical algorithmic choices, Watergate’s enduring influence on American political culture, the economic wreckage of deindustrialization and deregulation, the rise of Trumpism as a “burn it down” vote, and the coming AI disruption that threatens white-collar work.

For over 50 years, Bob Woodward has had an uncanny ability to get sources talking—and to sell books. From Watergate to Trump, no political era has gone by without at least one Woodward tome promising to peel back the curtain on how Washington really works. Now, Woodward is out with his latest, the bluntly titled “War.” It’s billed as a look at the end of the Joe Biden presidency and beginning of the second Trump era. But what it really shows is what happens when a reporter evolves from a muckraker into a reputation-launderer for the establishment.

Joining us on the podcast today is Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy and former foreign policy adviser to Bernie Sanders. Duss’s review of War is in the October books issue of the Nation.