New for Next Left listeners, the latest podcast from The Nation, featuring conversations about guaranteed income, deservedness, and the country American can and should be, hosted by writer and activist Mia Birdsong. We hope you’ll subscribe on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/more-than-enough/id1494165763) , Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/6DupG4tOpQAyPzbhvksXLs) , Google Podcasts...

The roots of the Next Left podcast go back almost exactly a year—energized by the wave of progressive activism sweeping the country, we wanted to take a deep dive into the new politics of this moment. The idea was to talk politics with the people who were upending primaries and general elections across the country... by challenging incumbents, taking on party establishments and, above all, bringing fresh ideas to the campaign trail and to governance. Over the past six months, we’ve gone to...

Next Left has this year highlighted political newcomers, rising stars, and challengers to the status quo. But as we spoke with first-time candidates and members of city councils, legislatures, and the Congress, something stood out. All of these new political leaders had political inspirations—groundbreaking candidates and elected officials who came before them. At or near the top of the list of inspiring figures, especially for new members of Congress, was California Democrat Barbara Lee. So...

Jessica Cisneros is having a moment. She's 26-year-old lawyer from Laredo, Texas, is making her first bid for office in a district that stretches along the Mexican border and up toward San Antonio. That's a long way from Washington. But everyone is talking about this political newcomer. Elizabeth Warren calls her "a Democrat that will be on the side of working people; not the side of big money and obstructionist Republicans." Emily's List is backing her, as is the Justice Democrats movement....

When Kshama Sawant was elected to the Seattle City Council in 2013, her local victory made international news. An immigrant from India and an academic who taught economics, hers was an interesting story—especially because she campaigned in favor of bold proposals such as a $15-an-hour minimum wage. But what everyone was taking about was the fact that she was a socialist. At that point, before Bernie Sanders had entered the 2016 presidential race and long before the election of Alexandria...

Chesa Boudin is part of something: a national movement to change the way that district attorneys operate within the criminal justice system. He wants to make the change in San Francisco, as that city's new DA. Boudin is running in a competitive election on November 5, and he has attracted the support of change agents from across the country: Chicago District Attorney Kim Foxx, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, and Queens DA candidate Tiffany Caban, to name a few. Having worked for...

Manuel Natal Albelo is, at age 33, one of the most dynamic and popular political figures in Puerto Rico. He is breaking the old boundaries of politics on the island, sitting as an independent in the Puerto Rican House of Representatives and forging a movement that seeks to end corruption, overturn austerity and move beyond historic stalemates. A lawyer who is in his sixth year as a legislator, Natal has deep roots in the politics of Puerto Rico. Yet, he refuses to be bound by the past. He...

South Fulton, Georgia Councilman khalid kamau prefers to be introduced simply as "Councilman khalid." He wants to dispense with the formalities, and with all the barriers that are erected between elected officials and the people they serve. The veteran activist, who is in his second year as a young councilman, thinks a lot about how to change our politics and our governance. He examines and reexamines issues and social relations at every level, starting with his lower-case name, which comes...

Most members of Congress don't begin as members of Congress. They start in their hometowns, with campaigns for the city council or a county post or the school board. House Democratic Caucus vice chair Katherine Clark came up that way, beginning with a bid for the Melrose, Massachusetts, School Committee in 2001. Her service on the committee continues to guide her activism on behalf of education, just as her service as a state legislator in Massachusetts informs her fierce commitment to...

Jackson, Mississippi Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba has a vision that distinguishes him from most elected officials in the United States, even from most progressive elected officials. He is not afraid of the world radical, in fact he relishes discussions about what it means to go to the root of challenging issues, to identify the sources of injustice, and to address them. Mayor Lumumba comes from an activist family, his father, Chokwe Lumumba, was a legendary figure in Jackson and nationally, a...

The records of the State Historical Society of North Dakota contain a bland notation of an infrastructure project from almost seventy years ago. They tell us that the Garrison Dam was built by the US government to control flooding, and for continuity of downstream barge traffic. They also mention that strong opposition to this dam came from those who lived on the banks of the Missouri River, primarily American Indians, who were forced to abandon their homes and livelihoods when the waters...

The US Congress has historically been defined by a seniority system that has too frequently rewarded members for the length of their tenures rather than the strength of their ideas. But that’s changing, as young progressives are getting elected to the House and demanding to be heard. The change is occurring at least in part because progressives like Mark Pocan and Pramila Jayapal have joined new members in forcing it. They have made the Congressional Progressive Caucus a force for opening up...

Tiffany Cabán started 2019 as a 31-year-old public defender in her native New York City. She knew that the criminal justice system wasn’t working for her clients or for the city. Something had to change, and she decided that she would be the change agent. With encouragement from a small circle of friends and fellow reformers, she entered the race for District Attorney in Queens. There were other candidates running in the Democratic primary, better known candidates with more money and more...

The smarter politics that is emerging in America recognizes that every elected position has the potential to serve as a platform for transformational change, and that is especially true of city council posts. City councillors govern from the intersection of grassroots engagement and policy. If they do it right, they can remake local, state, and national debates. Few city councilmembers know this better than Austin’s Greg Casar. Casar came to Austin as an activist, he recognized quickly the...

Donald Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths to diminish, disempower and smear Rashida Tlaib. The President has been ranting and raving about the Democratic congresswoman from Michigan since she took office earlier this year. He has lied about her. He has misconstrued and mischaracterized her statements and actions. And, now, the president has intervened to prevent Tlaib--along with Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar-- from making an official visit to Israel and the West Bank. Under...

You may have seen Philadelphia City Council Member Helen Gym rallying recently with Senator Bernie Sanders to save Philadelphia’s Hahnemann Hospital from closure. That fight earned national headlines. But it was typical of how Gym serves. Gym is always rallying and marching, picketing and petitioning. She’s an activist and an organizer who sees her service as part of a movement politics that is rooted in her community but that forges networks that are global in scope and character. Gym...

Congresswoman Deb Haaland has some ideas about what it means when President Trump tells newly-elected congresswomen to go back where they came from. Haaland is, herself, a newly-elected member of Congress from New Mexico, where her long history of activism includes stints as chair of the New Mexico Democratic Party and a bid for statewide office. A lawyer with great organizing skills, she has hit the ground running in the House, as a key member of the Armed Services and Natural Resources...

This week on Next Left, the congressmember who knows a thing or two about shutting down racist policies.

Anna Eskamani was devastated by the Pulse nightclub shooting—but she took that anger and used it to fuel her successful run for office.

This week on Next Left, meet a judge who believes our incarceration complex is "not a defensible system."

The California Congressman joins Next Left to talk technology, economic justice, and reining in our endless wars.

This week on Next Left, the Pennsylvania state legislator “fighting the right fights” for working class people. What draws people into politics? What makes them willing to take on the entrenched status quo? What leads them to open up about their own stories of struggle and hardship? How does this openness break down barriers and get voters talking about fundamental issues? We’re speaking with Sara Innamorato because she’s got a lot of the answers. Sara’s a newly elected member of the...