obamacare insurance reaching a record high all-time. 14.5 million annually, beating the previous record by over 2 million. it's signs of how this has become a central policy in american life, at a time within the pandemic and a lot of work changes where people need health care. and a note, tomorrow here on "the beat," brian box from the hit show "succession." he's my special guest making his debut. we'll get into all of it, including the billionaire class. that does it for me. "the reidout" starts right now. hi, joy. >> okay, i want everybody, don't move too quickly. i have some dangerous items here on my desk. >> wow! >> we all know that books are extremely dangerous. >> you know, you might want to talk to people about banning them, i don't know, joy. >> i know, i know. i even have like this one. these books are terrifying. i'm a little nervous about this segment. keep me in prayer. i'm a little nervous. >> you got it. >> okay. have a good night. >> you, too.

>> all right, good evening, everyone. we begin "the reidout" tonight on the 77th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz. it's a day that honors the millions of victims of naziism and a day that comes as anti-semitic incidents rise during the pandemic. as memories of the atrocities fade, not just because of time, be because of the normalization of extremism, and the boost that the previous president gave to the far right. remember, the nazis who chanted "jews will not replace us" in charlottesville. and a deliberate national campaign of book banning, that's now succeeded in banning of a vital book about the holocaust from classrooms. that book is "maus."

a tennessee school board voted unanimously to remove it from the 8th grade curriculum, after officials objected to instances of curse words and an image of a nude woman. it's the first and to date the only graphic novel to win a pulitzer prize, and it's played and essential role in helping young people understand the holocaust through the lens of personal narrative. the story follows a jewish survivor of hitler's europe and his cartoonist son who tries to come to terms with his father's story and history itself. as you can see, jews are depicted as mice, and nazi germans who also had a history of banning and burning books, are depicted as cats. the vote to ban it, which the author of "maus" called orwellian was first reported by "the tennessee holler."

this isn't about so-called critical race theory, folks. this is about removing anything that makes white americans or europeans feel bad. or allow students to understand history in context. that's why pretty much everything is on the chopping block. in mississippi, a mayor threatening to withhold library funding until lbgtq books are purged. proposed legislation that sets a $10,000 bounty to be collected for every day a challenged book remains on library shelves. and in the st. louis area, the banning of one of the most crucial portraits on the nuances of racism, "the bluest eye." we make all these hand maids tale comparisons, when we warn of dystopia, as an american reality. this isn't some left wing

freakout, this is real and happening. not at some later time or in the hazy distant future, it's happening now. book purging, the scrubbing of history. like this teacher, who was fired for discussing white privilege. and now, the banning of "maus." it sets our kids up for failure, because it robs them of the ability to participate in critical thinking and empathy. then we got to wondering, maybe that's the point. joining me now is art spiegelman, and jerry craft, author of "new kid," a novel pulled by a texas school district after a parent complained that it promoted critical race theory and marxism. thank you for being here. mr. spiegelman, your book, and i have a copy of it here, is a

brilliant way to discuss and let young people confront and understand the holocaust in a format that is popular with young people. graphic novel format. what do you make of these criticisms of the banning of your book based on it depicting nudity. we're talking about nude mice. mice being nude. please tell us. >> i think the thing that's so confusing about this is that the school board is stupid, but i don't know that they're nazis. i just know that they're stupid, the people that banned this. the reason they were banning the mouse picture that was upsetting to them, is a small panel of my mother who had just committed suicide by slashing her wrists in the bathtub and so there's a -- when the guests at the shiva, when the people come by

for this thing to happen, the thoughts that are going through my head are, post menstrual depression, hitler did it, mommy with a picture of me very small in a concentration, cuddled up with her in bed as a little kid, and her cutting her wrists and the words "bitch" underneath. that was one of the seven words they chose. and it's also the titillating picture of a -- a totally -- i don't know how to describe it. it has nothing to do with what would conjure up a nude body any more than -- so, so, just to be accurate to what they're saying, and i think it's interesting. so they're upset that i wasn't respectful to my mother when she died. it wasn't an accidental word i threw in there, they're upset i used the word bitch, as well. it was me and the turmoil of the

moment after my mother killed herself, just trying to reach for some thought of what's just happened. the other thing that they're upset about is the end of the first volume, which is the one