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New York Magazine
National Correspondent for New York Magazine.
PROFILE
Gabriel Debenedetti
Guest
FROM Gabriel Debenedetti
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Are people feeling the 'Bern' for Bernie TV? Senator Bernie Sanders has been building a media empire, with hundreds of video clips, interviews and Facebook Live events in the last year. Millions of people tune into his talks about single payer health care, the depravity of the Trump team and corporate media.
To the Point
New blood v. old guard: The Democratic Party's way forward Hillary Clinton's stunning defeat left the Democratic Party out in the cold – not only in Washington -- but all around the country. Her new memoir , with its sharp words about Bernie Sanders, has re-ignited last year's Democratic primary feud, and raised new questions about who should lead the party in the future -- and the fight is not just about ideology. Here in California, Dianne Feinstein, at 86 is already the oldest member of the Senate, has just announced that she'll run for a fifth full term next year. The party's most prominent liberal faces – Sanders and Elizabeth Warren – are both eligible for Medicare. Is it time for a new generation of leadership on the left?
To the Point
Democrats look to the past, with shades of the future President Trump may or may not be giving the Democrats a boost on Capitol Hill this year. What they care about most are next year's Congressional elections… and the Presidential election in 2020. But this week, there were two blasts from the past. In New York, crowds lined up around the block this week for Hillary Clinton's first signing of her new book, What Happened . In Washington, a gaggle of potential presidential hopefuls lined up behind Bernie Sanders and his new proposal of Medicare for All . Has Sanders discovered "The Issue" for 2020? Does Clinton still have a role to play? Democrats don't want to re-live last year's primaries, but divisions between grass roots activists and Party regulars are still a threat to Party unity.
Recommended
To the Point
Rebecca Traister and the Power of Women’s Anger One of America’s leading feminist writers says women have changed history since Ancient Greece. And, she says, they’ll do it again. The backlash to President Trump was just the beginning. Record numbers of women are running for congress, state governorships and local offices. She tells Warren about her latest book,“Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger.”
The Mixer
Crossing borders, in mind and in the flesh The U.S. border with Mexico has become a linchpin in American politics under the administration of Donald Trump.
To the Point
Voter Suppression, Climate Change and the President As America prepares to vote again, a question remains from 2016: are the Russians still “meddling” with US elections? Meantime, are Republican election officials in Georgia and Kansas suppressing the vote to serve their own interests? Those updates and the latest on climate change: President Trump says, maybe it’s not a hoax after all.
KCRW Features
What you need to know about the Gas Tax Last year, California legislators increased California’s gas tax by 12 cents a gallon. The revenue raised from the increases, over $5 billion a year, is supposed to be spent on improving transportation in the state. But there’s been a backlash to the gas tax increase, resulting in Proposition 6 on the November ballot. If passed, it would roll back the tax and require all future fuel tax increases to get voter approval.