My Arrest in Poland

The authorities hadn’t expected an American to be at this obscure performance

_____ “At the time the circumstances of my arrest in Poland seemed trivial. I hardly thought about them afterward. But now, when I consider the fall of 1989, and the fall of communism, my little run in with the Polish authorities seems highly suggestive of how things were then and what ...
Read More
My Arrest in Poland

‘There Was Nothing There’

Barr calls BS as the ground gives way under the Big Lie

_____ The big news this week was a series of interviews that former attorney general William Barr did with Jonathan D. Karl of The Atlantic: Barr emphasized that former president Donald Trump’s claims that he had won the 2020 election were “bullshit.”  What is interesting about this is not the idea that ...
Read More
‘There Was Nothing There’

Conservative Democrats are Telling Stories About Republicans that Republicans Keep Blowing Up

Will being made a fool change Joe Manchin’s mind? Probably

_____ The Democrats in the United States Senate will take up a procedural vote later today to debate of a handful of measures to overhaul the country’s voting laws. All eyes are on Joe Manchin, the conservative Democrat from West Virginia, who has offered his own voting proposal in addition to ...
Read More
Conservative Democrats are Telling Stories About Republicans that Republicans Keep Blowing Up

We Don’t Need a Commission to Study January 6

We need a functioning government. National commissions rarely solve the problems they are formed to address–and often, they create new ones

On Friday, May 9, the Senate failed to pass a bill establishing a bipartisan federal commission to investigate the January 6 attack on the Capitol, an insurrection intended to block Joe Biden from being inaugurated as president. The cloture vote was 54-35, six votes shy of the number needed to bring the ...
Read More
We Don’t Need a Commission to Study January 6

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Controversies

Past Present Podcast, Episode 272

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: Amid charges that he covered up Covid-related deaths among nursing home residents and sexually harassed multiple women, New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo is being asked to resign. Natalia referred to Rebecca Traister’s article at The Cut and Zephyr Teachout’s essay ...
Read More
Placeholder

Our Janus-Faced Political Culture

As the Biden administration moves into the future, conservatives are stuck in the past

_____ We’re in this weird eddy where Republicans are trying to cling to past politics to gain advantage and the Biden administration is trying to move forward into the future. On top of this struggle are stories about how the previous administration pushed the boundaries of our laws or, worse, broke ...
Read More
Our Janus-Faced Political Culture

Minimum Wage and the Fight for $15

Past Present Podcast, Episode 269

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: House Democrats have proposed a federally guaranteed fifteen-dollar an hour minimum wage as part of their coronavirus relief bill. Niki drew on this New York Times piece about the effective minimum wage, and Neil referenced this New Yorker article about ...
Read More
Placeholder

This Is What Government Looks Like

As the winter’s Covid-19 surge pushes deaths past 500,000, the Biden administration focuses on policy

This week the United States passed the heartbreaking marker of 500,000 official deaths from COVID-19. President Biden held a ceremony to remember those lost, saying "On this solemn occasion, we reflect on their loss and on their loved ones left behind. We, as a Nation, must remember them so we ...
Read More
This Is What Government Looks Like

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

Past Present Podcast, Episode 266

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has been stripped of her committee assignments due to her outspoken support of outlandish theories, from QAnon to school shootings to “space lasers” causing forest fires. Niki referred to Michelle Goldberg’s New York Times opinion ...
Read More
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene