The world is a complicated place, and media outlets obsessed with quick takes and beating their competition sometimes do more harm than good. That’s why today we’re launching Start Making Sense, a new podcast from The Nation hosted by longtime contributor Jon Wiener. We’ll be taking a step back from the daily media maelstrom to provide you with some much-needed, well-thought-out perspective on the news of the week. Subscribe on iTunes and check in each Thursday for timely, in-depth interviews with some of the most fascinating progressive voices of our time. We’ll have writers, artists, politicians, activists, and more on the show to talk about the week’s most pressing issues. Ad Policy Start Making Sense is hosted by Jon Wiener and co-produced by the Los Angeles Review of Books.



In our first episode, Laila Lalami talks about the origins of ISIS, and what to do about it now. Laila grew up in Morocco; her novel The Moor’s Account was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

Also: The New York Times’s coverage of Bernie Sanders has been condescending, and terrible; journalist Amy Wilentz comments on the recent page-one story “Bernie Sanders Won’t Kiss Your Baby.”

Plus: Charles Blow, op-ed columnist for The New York Times, talks about growing up poor and black in rural Louisiana; his book Fire Shut Up in My Bones, is out now in paperback.

And Terry Gross explains the difference between interviewing Hillary and interviewing Bill. It’s her 40th anniversary hosting Fresh Air.

Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher and SoundCloud for new episodes each Thursday.