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Jon Wiener: From The Nation magazine, this is Start Making Sense. I’m Jon Wiener. Later in the show: Sports Talk on The Nation podcast! Of course Thanksgiving was a big weekend for football on TV – a weekend where millions of viewers got to see a festival of brain injuries — concussions after receiving blows to the head. Dave Zirin will comment; he’s the long-time sports editor of The Nation and host of the Edge of Sports podcast.But first: Zorhan Mam-DA-ni takes office in four weeks as the first socialist mayor of New York City.  How should we understand the…

Buddy and Josh in the spotlight in the 1997 Walt Disney movie, Air Bud. Walt Disney Pictures hide caption toggle caption Walt Disney Pictures When I first read about how Texas Republicans were preparing to engage in mid-decade redistricting, I sent a text message to a Republican aide in state government, jokingly wondering if Missouri would get in on the fun. It’s no secret that my interest in Missouri redistricting borders on obsession. Some of my love for the subject stems from its importance. The lines and where they are drawn can determine which party has a better shot at…

Economy / Books & the Arts / December 1, 2025 The economic force is often seen as a barometer for a nation’s mood and health. But have we misunderstood it all along? Ad Policy Donald Trump holds a big and a small box of Tic Tac to illustrate inflation outcome during a town hall event at Dream City Church in Phoenix, Arizona, on 2024. (Jim Watson / AFP) It was once natural to think that prices rise constantly, no matter how many new ways are found to make more crap more cheaply. Inflation was just a part of life in…

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room at the White House on Dec. 2. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The Trump administration is standing by its controversial campaign of targeting and killing the crews of small boats that are allegedly smuggling drugs from South America to the U.S. But in the face of charges that these strikes amount to execution without trial, the White House is sending a confusing message about who exactly gave each order to use deadly force. The details matter as some in Congress suggest the…

Politics / December 2, 2025 She violated every journalism ethics code. But her childhood set her up to fall for a string of incompetent daddy-figures too lame to protect her. Ad Policy Olivia Nuzzi at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, DC, in 2023, when she was Washington correspondent for New York magazine.(Jose Luis Magana / AP Photos) Olivia Nuzzi has always known how to spot a good story, especially when she can put herself in the middle of it. The now-infamous journalist, who lost a coveted post as Washington correspondent for New York magazine last year when…

A shopper pushes a cart toward the entrance of a Costco warehouse in Colorado. David Zalubowski/AP hide caption toggle caption David Zalubowski/AP Costco is now one of the largest companies to sue the Trump administration over tariffs, hoping to secure a refund if the Supreme Court declares the new import duties illegal. The Supreme Court is weighing the future of President Trump’s tariffs on nearly all imports. Justices seemed skeptical about the tariffs’ legality during last month’s oral arguments. Lower courts had previously found that Trump had improperly used emergency economic powers to set most of the new levies. Dozens…

Politics / December 2, 2025 With his approval number plummeting, Trump turns to a familiar strategy: launch a culture war against journalists. Ad Policy A screenshot of the White House media bias tracker. As President Donald Trump’s approval numbers continue to plummet—he’s now clocked his first-ever majority of male poll respondents giving a thumbs-down—he’s reached for the pet crusade of all right-wing demagogues losing public favor: a culture war against the press. Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the Trump White House debuted its media bias tracker—a laundry list of alleged press outrages committed against the righteous, truth-telling MAGAfied executive branch.…

Then-Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez gives an speech in San Salvador, El Salvador. Marlon Gomez/CON/LatinContent/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Marlon Gomez/CON/LatinContent/Getty Images Then-Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez gives an speech in San Salvador, El Salvador. Marlon Gomez/CON/LatinContent/Getty Images President Trump has officially pardoned former Honduran President, Juan Orlando Hernández, who US officials said was at the center of one of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking conspiracies in the world. A White House official not authorized to speak on the record confirmed the pardon was granted. Hernández, who served two terms as the leader of the Central American nation,…

I know that many important organizations are asking you to donate today, but this year especially, The Nation needs your support.  Over the course of 2025, the Trump administration has presided over a government designed to chill activism and dissent.  The Nation experienced its efforts to destroy press freedom firsthand in September, when Vice President JD Vance attacked our magazine. Vance was following Donald Trump’s lead—waging war on the media through a series of lawsuits against publications and broadcasters, all intended to intimidate those speaking truth to power.  The Nation will never yield to these menacing currents. We have survived…

This combination image shows Aftyn Behn, left, Nov. 13, 2025, Nashville, Tenn. and Matt Van Epps, Nov. 12, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. George Walker IV/AP hide caption toggle caption George Walker IV/AP A congressional special election in Tennessee has become the latest battleground for Democrats and Republicans seeking to craft a winning message ahead of the 2026 midterms. Historically, Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District is a fairly conservative district that gave President Trump roughly 60% of the vote last November. Former Rep. Mark Green, who resigned in July, won by a similar margin. But in more recent history, Democrats have overperformed…