Background Briefing (5am)

John Nichols / Jonathan Zimmerman / Nader Hashemi

A Growing Grassroots Opposition Movement to Catch up to the Damage Musk and Trump Are Doing

We begin with a grassroots opposition movement forming as Senator Bernie Sanders travels the country with overflowing town halls in an effort to catch up to the damage being done by Musk and Trump in the absence of a Democratic Party, whose leadership is increasingly out of step with the party’s alarmed and energized base. Joining us is John Nichols, who is The Nation magazine’s national affairs correspondent. His books include The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party: The Enduring Legacy of Henry Wallace’s Anti-Fascist, Anti-Racist Politics and Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers: Accountability for Those Who Caused the Crisis. His latest book, co-written with Senator Bernie Sanders, is the New York Times bestseller titled It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism.

Musk’s Gutting of the Department of Education Before Trump Abolishes it

Then we look into the damage being done to American education that was lagging before Trump’s Secretary of Education Linda McMahon gutted the Department ahead of abolishing it. Joining us is Jonathan Zimmerman, a Professor of the History of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. A former Peace Corps volunteer and high school teacher, Zimmerman is the author of a number of books, including  Whose America? Culture Wars in the Public Schools and, most recently, Free Speech: And Why You Should Give a Damn.

The Bombing of the Houthis as a Prelude to a “Peace” Deal With Iran Meant to Deliver Trump a Nobel Prize

Then finally, we assess whether the bombing of the Houthis is an effort by the Trump Administration to force Iran to the negotiating table so that Trump can pull off a “peace” deal that delivers him a Nobel Peace Prize, putting Obama’s P5+1 deal to shame. Joining us is Nader Hashemi, the Director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and a Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. A Non-Resident Fellow at Democracy for the Arab World Now, he is the author of The People Reloaded: The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran’s Future and Sectarianization: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle East.