Neal Allen and Anne Lamott — Good Writing 36 Ways to Improve Your Sentences

Laura Zigman — The Author Weekend - with Nora Krug

The Devil Wears Prada meets The White Lotus in a story of colliding egos and shocking betrayal, as intoxicatingly ice cold as the pink prosecco that flows all weekend. Everything needs to be just right for bestselling mystery writer Faye Wader's first-ever fan weekend. Her sales might be slipping--only a little --but her readers still love her enough to pony up for three days and two nights on Great Misery Island. The retreat is precisely planned, from the small-batch artisanal doughnuts to the perimenopausal Mermaid Meditation, by Faye and her beleaguered assistant, Jade--an aspiring author who can't seem to finish her own novel. Faye's longtime agent and editor will be there, as well as Faye's number one fan, Peggy Mercer, who has been first in line at every one of Faye's events. When news comes that the weekend will be crashed by glamorous, charismatic rival novelist Abby Schuss, Faye thinks things can't get worse ... until one of the attendees is found dead in her room, setting off an unexpectedly murderous chain of events that makes prepub anxiety seem like a day at the beach. How far is Faye willing to go to get exactly what she wants from her Author Weekend? The Author Weekend [https://politics-prose.com/book/9798228330412] is a thrilling and hilarious dive into the dark heart of envy, and a glorious exploration of a woman of a certain age desperate to survive the dog-eat-dog world of publishing and control her own narrative. Laura Zigman is the author of Small World (a New York Times Group Text pick and Editor's Choice), Separation Anxiety, Animal Husbandry (which was made into the movie "Someone Like You," starring Hugh Jackman and Ashley Judd), Dating Big Bird, Her, and Piece of Work. She has collaborated on several works of non-fiction--including Eddie Izzard's New York Times bestseller, Believe Me--and has been a contributor to the New York Times and other publications. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Zigman is in conversation Nora Krug, a writer and editor based in Washington, DC. For nearly two decades she worked at The Washington Post, primarily as an editor in Book World. Prior to that she was an editor at The New York Times, Architectural Digest and Little, Brown.  PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9798228330412?ic_referral=Tj6AQlm6_2Vb20sykRAlDkXuYgCbSlOaNYHeIslra9gwMzivd3CWiAH4HJx0QF61p1Gcx5V-FkH6qcqBj_REtCIK2ZuCTTJ2Dbz-3ePccBghSRXZHQK1-lJJUOYcf2VPpj6UlBk

Steven W. Thrasher, PhD — The Overseer Class: A Manifesto - with Victor Ray

The author of the critically acclaimed The Viral Underclass (one of Kirkus Reviews best books of 2022) is back with The Overseer Class [https://politics-prose.com/book/9780063399419], which explores what happens when members of historically minoritized groups are selected for high-visibility positions of power within existing institutions—but under the conditions of a kind of Faustian bargain. Our society places so much weight and attention on those who become the first or only of their identifying group that we miss one of the inherent issues in that model. This book is about the kinds of compromises made by a small but influential group of people from minoritized groups in the United States as they have entered segregated institutions in highly visible positions. People in the overseer class wield enormous institutional power, even necropolitical power over who lives and who dies; it’s just that their power is predicated upon repressing other people who look (or speak/have sex/come from places) like them. The most obvious contemporary overseer is the Black police officer. The Overseer Class begins with this quote from James Baldwin from 1967: “The poor, of whatever color, do not trust the law and certainly have no reason to, and God knows we didn't. ‘If you must call a cop,’ we said in those days, ‘for God's sake, make sure it's a white one.’ We did not feel that the cops were protecting us, for we knew too much about the reasons for the kinds of crimes committed in the ghetto; but we feared black cops even more than white cops, because the black cop had to work so much harder--on your head--to prove to himself and his colleagues that he was not like all the other n******.” But this dynamic does not only exist within law enforcement, it exists in many different spheres and The Overseer Class explores what it looks like in mass media, universities, corporate America, the military, and government. The Overseer Class aims not only to educate us and start this discussion but to provide a framework for challenging that dynamic. It is a weighty topic but one that Dr. Thrasher is well-equipped to handle. Steven W. Thrasher, PhD is the author of the award-winning book The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide, which was a New York Times's Paperback Row Editors' Pick, named one of the Best Nonfiction Books of 2022 by Kirkus Reviews, was longlisted for both the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction and the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction Literature, and won the 2023 POZ Award for Best in Literature. He is also the inaugural Daniel Renberg Chair for Social Justice in Reporting at the Medill School of Journalism and a faculty member of Northwestern University's Institute of Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing. An internationally renowned scholar on race, gender, and infectious disease, Dr. Thrasher's writing has been published by the Guardian, Atlantic, New York Times, Scientific American, Literary Hub, and in many academic journals.  Thrasher is in conversation with Victor Ray, the F. Wendell Miller Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology and at the University of Iowa and Vice President of the American Sociological Association. His research applies critical race theory to classic sociological questions, including social notions of progress and organizational theory. His work has won multiple awards, including the early career award from the American Sociological Association’s Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities and the Southern Sociological Society’s Junior Scholar Award.  PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9780063399419?ic_referral=7MV_S95eHf4h4YjDPrUZlI8bYovvKoanMVbeHv88P2QwM3zEX-zkUHkOH5Z6xHhDdi0oPl9AjCTSQCe83oiVNGRLlAaomlCLlZFt7girMVwB6-yT1mhoK6bV4FJqcc7WE6MUVfc

Ben Rhodes — All We Say: The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches - with Susan Page

What does it mean to be American? Who gets to decide? This sweeping history of the United States told through fifteen speeches relives the battle over American identity, from a New York Times bestselling author and one of President Barack Obama’s former speechwriters. For 250 years, we have debated what it means to be American. This question shaped the compromises in our Constitution and the arguments we’ve been having ever since—spawning abolitionism, secession, and civil war; populism, mass migration, and global leadership; movements for reform and the backlashes to them. In All We Say [https://politics-prose.com/book/9780593595121], Ben Rhodes tells the story of fifteen speeches—some iconic, others long forgotten—which have both shaped and reflected the argument Americans have been having from our founding to the intense divisions of our time. Through riveting and beautifully rendered accounts of the people, movements, and moments that produced these speeches, Rhodes traces the history of our battle over identity. The result is a singular and revealing portrait of America itself: a nation divided between two stories—one of inheritance, power, and exclusion, the other of equality, striving, and belonging. Drawing on a decade writing for Barack Obama, Rhodes also shows us how words can redirect a nation, what makes a speech enduring, and why oratory is a unique form of persuasion in American democracy. From Benjamin Franklin’s call for compromise at the Constitutional Convention, to Alexander Stephens’ case for white supremacy as the cornerstone of the Confederacy; from Martin Luther King’s dream of true equality to Donald Trump’s rallying cry against democracy itself, these speeches remind us that history is a living argument. At a time when American identity—and truth—is contested, All We Say offers a fresh and powerful look at who we really are and who we could still become. Ben Rhodes is the author of the New York Times bestsellers After the Fall and The World as It Is; co-host of Pod Save the World; a contributor for NBC News and MSNBC; the co-chair of National Security Action; and an advisor to former president Barack Obama. Rhodes is joined in conversation with Susan Page, the award-winning Washington Bureau chief of USA TODAY. She is also the New York Times best-selling author of The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty (Twelve, 2019); Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power (Twelve, 2021), and The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters (Simon & Schuster, 2024). Her latest book is The Queen and Her Presidents: The Hidden Hand That Shaped History [https://politics-prose.com/susan-page-041626], being published by Harper in April 2026. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9780593595121?ic_referral=Yq6EfQGeR6CJfzHEsWjM8qrhLGPYzM_eNU3cJs2rtkUwM8bMoODge29eXfGm85hj-8y2U27LhIWOIVx6h_LNzCZj6gMgiRrr0xo3vnUXvl7YhC_fdHpb_34Nv_yaJ1aW8TmVXtQ

David Beckmann — Poverty Abolitionists: Faith, Activism, and Hope for Difficult Times - with Rev. Adam Russell Taylor

Poverty is not inevitable. In fact, we have already made historic progress in reducing it-both globally and in the United States. In Poverty Abolitionists [https://politics-prose.com/book/9798216275893], economist, pastor, and activist David Beckmann shows that with collective will, effective strategy, and renewed moral vision, we can virtually eliminate poverty in our generation. Drawing on decades of leadership at the World Bank and as president of Bread for the World, Beckmann distills five essential insights and ten strategies to reinvigorate the fight against hunger and deprivation. He highlights data that proves poverty is solvable, confronts the big political setback that has reversed progress, and calls for a new poverty abolition movement-similar in scale and determination to the movement that ended enslavement. At the heart of this book is hope: hope grounded in evidence, history, and the countless efforts of communities and advocates who continue to push for justice. Beckmann insists that the movement to abolish poverty is not only political but also spiritual. He invites people of faith, seekers, and skeptics alike to deepen their solidarity with those in need and with a threatened planet. With a foreword by travel writer Rick Steves, Poverty Abolitionists offers both a practical roadmap and a stirring moral challenge--it is a clarion call to action for activists, policy makers, and ordinary citizens who care about the future of humanity and who seek to build a fairer, freer, and more just world. David Beckmann is an economist, pastor, and activist who has spent his life working to end poverty. A former World Bank economist, he served for 29 years as president of Bread for the World, where his leadership helped secure U.S. and global policy changes that reduced hunger worldwide. Awarded the World Food Prize, Beckmann now leads the Circle of Protection, a coalition of Christian leaders advocating for programs that serve low-income people, and teaches on religion, politics, and poverty reduction. Beckmann is in conversation with Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, president of Sojourners and author of A More Perfect Union: A New Vision for Building the Beloved Community [https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fsojo.net%2fmore-perfect-union&c=E,1,tDe_WpfJQ14qT-ILHu2tGw56UFCZ1hl7XKbeTcJ7z1-akV-iF2aWQL4YC51ETJq2xQrGyNSyV8YkxuK3ujkJiA_LYRY6Qq3gK_GeAvaXdRILKA,,&typo=1]. Taylor previously led the Faith Initiative at the World Bank Group and served as the vice president in charge of Advocacy at World Vision U.S. and the senior political director at Sojourners.Taylor is ordained in the American Baptist Church and the Progressive National Baptist Convention and serves in ministry at the Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Va. Follow him on Bluesky @revadamtaylor [https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fbsky.app%2fprofile%2frevadamtaylor.bsky.social&c=E,1,7CfkFD3MIj2DoACuzPYWovPGIFxPB5ZP6e4N1pWtP4xAsZsFWHjiD2rq0FPRfjDzYypjb0n9CG18h7S8x_vCorPMw3jpelIMh1cgzFMxz2-L&typo=1].  PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/david-beckmann-052626

Race In America Panel — With April Ryan, Keith Boykin, Mary Francis Berry & Michael Eric Dyson

Join April Ryan for another installment in an ongoing series of discussions focusing on the panelists' most recent books and current events. Ryan will examine recent and longstanding issues with the following panelists:  White House Correspondent April Ryan has a unique vantage point as the only Black female reporter covering urban issues from the White House - a position she has held for over 28 years, since the Clinton era.  She is now the longest-serving Black member of the press corps.  Her position as a White House Correspondent has afforded her unusual insight into the racial sensitivities, issues, and attendant political struggles of our nation's past presidents. April is the Washington D.C. Bureau Chief for Black Press USA and the host of The Tea with April Ryan on Substack. She has been featured in Essence, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and Elle Magazines to name a few.  April Ryan has served on the board of the prestigious White House Correspondents Association. She is also an esteemed member of the National Press Club and the Gridiron Club. In 2015, Ms. Ryan was nominated for an NAACP Image Award (Outstanding Literary Work-Debut Author) for her first book. In 2017 April was the Journalist of the Year for the National Association of Black Journalists. April Ryan is the author of the award-winning book, The Presidency in Black and White, and At Mama's Knee, where she looks at race relations through the lessons and wisdom that mothers have given their children. April is also the author of Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House. Her latest book, Black Women Will Save the World, celebrates Black women's resilience and unheralded strength, reflects on "The Year That Changed Everything" — 2020 — and discusses African-American women's unprecedented role in upholding democracy. Dr. Mary Frances Berry is the Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the former chairwoman of the US Commission on Civil Rights, a Distinguished Fellow of the American Society for Legal History, the author of 13 books, and the recipient of 37 honorary degrees. Dr. Berry has appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher, The Daily Show, Tavis Smiley, PBS NewsHour, CBS Evening News, Al Jazeera America News, and various MSNBC and CNN shows. Keith Boykin is a New York Times–bestselling author, TV and film producer, and former CNN political commentator. A graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, Keith served in the White House, cofounded the National Black Justice Coalition, cohosted the BET talk show My Two Cents, and taught at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University in New York. He’s a Lambda Literary Award–winning author and editor of seven books. He lives in Los Angeles. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson is a distinguished professor, gifted writer, and prominent media personality. He has taught at some of the nation’s most prestigious universities, including Princeton, Brown, and Georgetown, and is currently a Distinguished University Professor at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Dyson has authored over 25 books, including seven New York Times bestsellers. He has won numerous awards for his literary achievements, including the 2020 Langston Hughes Medal, the American Book Award, and two NAACP Image Awards. In addition to his academic and writing pursuits, Dr. Dyson is also a leading public intellectual, known for his thought-provoking insights on race, social justice, and contemporary culture. His books on figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Barack Obama have garnered widespread acclaim and sparked important conversations about race in America.