Living in the USA

Gary Younge traveled from Maine to Mississippi interviewing Trump’s white working-class supporters. He found anxiety, pain, and a loss of hope. For many, he concludes, “Whiteness is all they’ve got.” Plus, Amy Wilentz talks about Ivana Trump’s new memoir, 'Raising Trump'—stories about Don Jr., Ivanka, and little Eric, and their mom and dad. It’s like a reality show about “Real Housewives of Trump Tower.”

For our year-in-review show, we turn to John Nichols, The Nation magazine's National Affairs Correspondent, who highlights the Resistance in 2017. His Progressive Honor Roll for the year appears at TheNation.com.

Two ways to interview a Nazi: on the one hand, The New York Times recently did a profile of “the Nazi next door,” portraying him as an ordinary guy; on the other, Gary Younge confronted Richard Spencer, America’s leading white supremacist, on video. With Gary’s help, we compare and contrast the two approaches.

Jane Mayer of The New Yorker reports on Mike Pence's family, his life, and his lifelong ambition to be president.

"Raising Trump" is Ivana's new book about Don Jr., Ivanka, Jared and little Eric—Amy Wilentz says it's not your typical child-raising advice book. Plus: The GOP tax bill in the Senate: Harold Meyerson brings us the bad news. And historian Linda Gordon on the arrest of Fred Trump (Donald Trump's Father) at a KKK rally in 1927, and, her new book: "The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition”

The legendary journalist Howell Raines reports from Alabama on the continuing Republican support for Roy Moore, the Senate candidate accused of molesting a 14-year-old and sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl. Meanwhile, his Democratic opponent, the heroic civil-rights attorney Doug Jones, is running “the most vigorous Democratic campaign that’s been waged in Alabama in at least 30 years.” Also, Trump and the bomb: We’re hoping the generals keep him from doing anything crazy, like starting a nuclear war with North Korea—but the system is set up to give the president control over nuclear weapons, rather than the military. Adam Shatz explains--he wrote about Trump and the bomb for the London Review of Books.

Trump Year One: the Resistance & the ACLU, David Cole reports--voting rights, the travel ban, and more. Plus: The GOP tax bill just got worse, Harold Meyerson explains what happened in the House; plus Your Minnesota Moment: Al Franken apologizes. Also: Steve Ross talks about his new book "Hitler in LA: How Jews foiled Nazi Plots Against Hollywood and America".

The Democratic triumph in Tuesday's Virginia election and its implications for 2018--Harold Meyerson comments, also: what the Democrats should do on tax policy. Plus: Katha Pollitt on anger management, one year after Trump was elected; And: New York City--it's Trump's home, and it's also the antithesis of Trump. Comment from Mike Wallace--he won the Pulitzer Prize in History in 1999 for "Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898" and has authored a follow up, it's called "Greater Gotham: A History of NYC 1898-1919".

Amy Wilentz joins us live in-studio to talk about the Trump family troubles around the indictments; Plus, John Nichols talks about what's in the House tax bill.

America After Trump: E.J. Dionne argues that Trump has mobilized progressive political forces that can transform America—and he reminds us that Trump never had a majority of voters, and is the most unpopular presidents in our history. E.J. is co-author of "One Nation After Trump: A Guide to the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet-Deported." Also: Why are Trump voters so angry? Historian Steve Hahn examines explanations of white working class rage, starting with the monster bestseller “Hillbilly Elegy” by J.D. Vance, which has spent more than a year on the best-seller list. Also: “White Rage” by Carol Anderson, and Justin Gest’s book “The New Minority: White Working Class Politics in an Age of immigration and Inequality.”