Harold Meyerson and John Nichols on the primaries, plus Chesa Boudin on Progressive DAs

05/20/22 • 62 min

Republicans in this week’s primaries: it’s sort like news from another planet. Harold Meyerson reports on Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Ohio, on opportunities and challenges now that the Republicans have chosen their candidates. Also: John Nichols on Progressive Democrats in Tuesday’ primaries – and the deluge of money from the Israel lobby paying for ads attacking them—especially in Pittsburgh and in North Carolina. Plus: Chesa Boudin, the elected district attorney of San Francisco, on progressive prosecutors and their opponents. Progressive prosecutors have been pushing for criminal justice reform for a while now, seeking to end mass incarceration and deal with police misconduct. Of course the defeated law and order forces have been pushing back. In San Francisco, opponents have collected enough signatures to force a recall vote on Boudin on June 7.

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Politics & Abortion Rights: Harold Meyerson & Amy Littlefield, plus Rebecca Solnit: People change

Repealing Roe v. Wade will be a disaster for women, but a gift to Democrats in the upcoming midterms--an opportunity to win close races in swing states. Harold Meyerson runs down the key races where Dems should be able to win. Also: It’s all up to the states now, where grassroots groups are preparing an enormous logistics operation to move people across entire regions of the country that are about to go dark on abortion access. Amy Littlefield, The Nation’s abortion access correspondent, weighs in. Plus: Why did we stop believing that people can change? Don’t we want people who did bad things to understand the damage they caused? Don't we want them to acknowledge it and make reparations? Bestselling author, Rebecca Solnit explains.

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Abortion in the midterms: Harold Meyerson; Haiti in the NYTimes: Amy Wilentz; plus Hunter S Thompson

Reproductive rights initiatives and referendums on the ballot in November will boost Democratic turnout in swing states including Arizona and Michigan--Harold Meyerson reports. Also: Haiti is back on the front page–at least in the New York Times--and it’s not because of what’s happening there right now. The Times has published the results of a deep investigation into the history of Haiti’s forced payments to France, starting more than 200 years ago–an immense amount of money, Amy Wilentz comments. Plus: Peter Richardson discusses Hunter S. Thompson, the writer credited for inventing “Gonzo Journalism.” Thompson wrote a classic book about Richard Nixon,' Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, ‘72.' Richardson, author of Savage Journey: Hunter S. Thompson, explains how he did it.