Living in the USA

On Monday, the Postal Service announced that it would follow Trump's executive order, which attempts to block voting by mail in states that do not provide its voter rolls for scrutiny by the Trump administration. As of today, Friday – 67 days away from the midterm elections: November 3, 2026 – the Postal Service is prohibited from following Trump's unconstitutional order. Next: Tariffs on Canada, the Iran war and the reflecting pool – Harold Meyerson comments.Also: The Supreme Court is not a Trump court – at least not on several issues – but where do they stand on voting rights? And what exactly did the court say on Monday about the postal service cooperating with Trump in his effort to restrict voting by mail? David Cole explains – he’s the former National Legal Director of the ACLU, and The Nation's legal affairs correspondent.Plus: From the archives: Viet Nguyen talks about his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Sympathizer" – it opens in Saigon on the last day of the Vietnam war and follows a nameless spy who has infiltrated the South Vietnamese army and then flees with its remnants to America​ (originally recorded April 2016)​.

News from Wisconsin, one of the most gerrymandered states and a key to the national Democratic strategy; and from my home state of Minnesota, where Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan triumphed over opponent in the primary for state senate, Angie Craig, who out-spent her by 4 to 1 – Harold Meyerson comments.Also: The ACLU is organizing thousands of volunteers, preparing to respond to 25 different ways Trump could try to subvert or sabotage the midterms. Deirdre Schifeling explains—she’s the ACLU’s Chief Political and Advocacy Officer. More info at https://www.aclu.org/campaigns-initiatives/people-power.Plus: Howard Zinn’s book A People’s History of the US has sold four million copies—and now we have a biography of the author, written by Dave Zirin, The Nation’s longtime sports editor - his new book is The People’s Historian: The Outsized Life of Howard Zinn.

Trump's trouble this week is getting the Senate committee to advance his nomination of Todd Blanche as Attorney General. Two key Republican senators are refusing to vote for Blanche unless Trump gives up on his deal that gives him immunity from tax audits – Harold Meyerson comments.Also: An impressive alliance of groups have been preparing for months to counter Trump’s threats to Democrats in the midterms. Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward and a member of The Senate Democrats’ Election Protection Task Force, explains why “we are going to have free and fair elections” in November.Plus: Elon Musk calls Christopher Nolan’s film “The Odyssey” “part of a left-wing plan” to “destroy Western Civilization.” John Powers has a different view – he’s critic-at-large on NPR’s “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross.