This Week In Politics, A Big-Picture Look at Where We Are Right Now | Explainer

Heather Cox Richardson October 29, 2025
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Heather Cox Richardson

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Heather Cox Richardson is a political historian who uses facts and history to make observations about contemporary American politics. She has written about the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, and the American West in award-winning books whose subjects stretch from the European settlement of the North American continent to the history of the Republican Party through the Trump administration. She is the author, most recently, of the best-selling Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America. Join the discussion over at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com, where we talk about history, politics, and the relationship between image and reality in America.

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From Politics Chat, October 28, 2025 Join us live on Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm Maine time. Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ Resources: https://redwine.blue/ https://www.commoncause.org/take-action/ https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member 00:00 – We’re in a “funny” place right now 00:44 – November 1st SNAP benefits will not go out 09:43 – At an unprecedented moment with this shutdown 13:21 – Trump is not okay 15:38 – Who’s calling the shots while Trump is away? 19:19 – Defense Department, strikes without evidence 23:08 – Pattern of Republicans messing with the upcoming vote next week 26:14 – How did we get from the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era? 29:10 – Where we are and what we can do 31:26 – Keep up national pressure on the Epstein files 34:29 – Register to vote, push back against misinformation, keep the joy

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