A rough week: Harold Meyerson; Jews against Zionism: Adam Hochschild; Historians vs. Tennessee

A rough week: Harold Meyerson; Jews against Zionism: Adam Hochschild; Historians vs. Tennessee

May 15, 2026 · 48 min

About this episode

The episode discusses recent political challenges for Democrats, the history of Eastern European Jews opposing Zionism, and Tennessee's educational curriculum.

Last week was one of the roughest for Democrats since Trump won the election in 2024: The Supreme Court ended Black congressional representation in most of the South and opened the door to the creation of several more Republican House seats, and then the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the state’s initiative that created four more Democratic House seats was invalid. Nevertheless, Trump is so unpopular that Democrats remain strong favorites to retake the House in November. Harold Meyerson comments. Also: During the first part of the 20th century, 100,000 Eastern European Jews joined a socialist organization that opposed Zionism. Their organization we call the Bund, and they believed that Jews should fight for full rights wherever they were, not for a new homeland somewhere else. Their motto was “Here, where we live, is our country”—that’s the title of a new book about them by Molly Crabapple. Adam Hochschild comments. Plus: Historians on the March: Tennessee's anti-communist curriculum.

People in this episode

Host: Living in the USA

Guests: Harold Meyerson, Adam Hochschild

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Bund

Books & works: Here, where we live, is our country

Places: Virginia, Tennessee

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