KCRW's Left, Right & Center

KCRW
KCRW's Left, Right & Center

Left, Right & Center is KCRW’s weekly civilized yet provocative confrontation over politics, policy and pop culture.

  1. APR 11

    Market Madness: Do the best-laid plans sometimes get reversed?

    March Madness may have ended, but Market Madness went into effect shortly after Trump announced “reciprocal tariffs” — some over 100% — on imported goods from dozens of countries. Stocks plummeted. Republican figureheads like Ted Cruz spoke out against the sweeping plan. According to Trump, his move became a success once global leaders started offering new trade deals. Then, just hours after the tariffs went into effect, Trump declared a 90-day pause on most of them, excluding China. While the market is still on shaky ground, Trump says it bounced back due to his “master negotiations.” Is the everyday American feeling the relief he claims?  Meanwhile, prices are still rising. Voters yearn for the days when households could survive on a single income and eggs didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Even with an unfavorable economy, Trump framed his initial tariff plan as a path back to the old American Dream. Is that still possible? Or are we blinded by nostalgia?  However, it makes sense for voters to cling to the past when facing the political and economic uncertainty of the future. But how should we go about it? America’s got a complicated past. According to the culture wars, the right believes the “greatness” of the past focuses on economic prosperity, and the left says the “greatness” of the past came at the cost of certain minority groups. Do we need to resolve a definition of American greatness?

    51 min
  2. MAR 28

    That awkward moment when your war plans leave the group chat

    Earlier this week, The Atlantic Editor-In-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg revealed that top-level White House officials accidentally added him to a group chat about upcoming war plans. While some administration staffers initially denied the existence of the group chat, Trump and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pivoted to denouncing Goldberg and his publication instead. Is this blunder big enough to send the administration into crisis? Or will Trump’s high favorability polling shield the controversy?  America’s neighbor to the north also faces political leadership shakeups. It’s election season in Canada, and the race for the next prime minister seems to hinge on how the potential PM would engage with U.S. President Donald Trump. This year’s Canadian election partially mirrors last year’s American election: a conservative populist candidate versus a liberal who came in after the previous leader stepped down. Conservative candidate Pierre Poilevre had initially polled well, but recent Canadian polls show a strong aversion to Trump and Trump-lite policies. Is this enough to change the tides of the Canadian election? The Canadian-American conflict continues with Trump’s intensive tariff plans. Trump previously asserted that strict tariffs against Canada would snuff the fentanyl trade. Is there even enough fentanyl coming from Canada to back that up? While the White House sees tariffs as a method to increase U.S. manufacturing, economists say these moves might hurt American consumers instead. How effective are Trump’s promises to revive the American economy?

    51 min
  3. MAR 21

    Trump’s White House fights over flights

    The Trump administration caught some judiciary backlash last weekend after sending two deportation flights of Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador. While the administration defends the flights under the “Alien Enemies Act,” federal Judge James Boasberg ruled them as unconstitutional. The flights took off anyway, leading to major questions about whether the Trump administration defied court orders to deport immigrants. What precedent does that set if true? Since then, President Trump has called for the impeachment of Judge Boasberg. Will the president impeach judges who rule against him? Similar leadership struggles are plaguing Congress, with many Democratic lawmakers questioning the fitness of Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Last week, Schumer sent a GOP-backed spending bill to a vote instead of blocking it like he’d originally promised. The bill slashes billions in non-defense spending, and according to some Democrats, gives Trump major discretionary powers over the budget. Still, Schumer defends the decision as the only choice to avoid a government shutdown. With party infighting and historically low favorability polling, can the Democrats unite to fight effectively against Trump’s agenda? President Trump’s discretionary powers also seem to have spread to the arts. Earlier this week, he made his first visit to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since their recent changes to the board. Trump had previously named himself chairman of The Kennedy Center after ousting a historically bipartisan board of trustees. During his visit, he likened the state of the Kennedy Center to “open borders and men playing in women’s sports” and promised to change its “radical left” programming. Is Trump spending too much time on the culture wars?

    51 min
3.9
out of 5
4,758 Ratings

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Left, Right & Center is KCRW’s weekly civilized yet provocative confrontation over politics, policy and pop culture.

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