Luke Burgis — The One and the Ninety-Nine: Forging Identity in the Age of Social Contagion - with Anne Snyder

Crystal Simone Smith — Common Sense (1776), Addressed to Today's Citizens of America: An Erasure -with Gloria Browne-Marshall

A revolutionary work of erasure poetry that exposes the contradictions in Thomas Paine’s Common Sense—calling for a new definition of citizenship that embraces all Americans In his famous cry for inhabitants of the thirteen colonies to seek independence from Britain, Thomas Paine claims to call for total freedom and equality, yet his arguments are directed only at white men, excluding women and people of color. Crystal Simone Smith, known for writing poetry about the human condition and social change, offers a new poetic work that calls out the contradictions in one of the foundational texts of American democracy. Britain’s oppressive rule, while strongly criticized throughout Paine's text, was subsequently repeated by the founding fathers who, when forming our nation, established laws that oppressed racial groups and women. Smith uses the power of redaction to revise Pain’s approach, inviting readers to critically engage with the text and reimagine it anew. Retaining the original text as a translucent background, Smith highlights specific words and phrases to reveal new meanings that reflect not only the totality of America’s founding, but the ensuing fragile, if not failing, democracy of our present times. Perfect for students and US history buffs alike, this highly interactive collection functions as a textual reveal of historical biases and makes a case for a new, inclusive definition of citizenship that recognizes all Americans. Crystal Simone Smith is the author of three poetry chapbooks. In 2019, she won the North Carolina Poetry Society Bloodroot Haiku Award. Her work has appeared in numerous journals including Prairie Schooner, POETRY Magazine, Crab Orchard Review, Frogpond, and Modern Haiku. Her latest book, RUNAGATE: SONGS OF FREEDOM BOUND, a collection of Japanese forms of poetry written in response to slave artifacts including ads for runaway slaves, will be published by Duke University Press in Spring 2025. Crystal Simone Smith is in conversation with Gloria Browne-Marshall, an EMMY Award-winning writer, a professor of constitutional law at John Jay College (CUNY), playwright, legal commentator, and author of five books. Her previous works include She Took Justice: The Black Woman, Law, and Power and The Voting Rights War as well as essays and short stories. She was an Institute of Politics Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. Browne-Marshall has received numerous accolades, including the 2024 American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9780807023389?ic_referral=qrmn2Qz1glVUhV--2zCQwsWbBSP8GyUvEF2xkQ9bO5cwM3xeewinpJ0_Uac7eJcPEBJNW4RwjyKBNBnQBMzPWdVAw9EITG4tyWVXHGbBZ4isSaEsuCdY8ZiGf5PVxIdHkZ4Qu40

Thomas Levenson — A Pox on Fools: The True Believers, Grifters, and Cynics Who Convinced Us to Reject Vaccines - with Jennifer Ouellette

Since the advent of smallpox inoculation in the eighteenth century, the idea that a disease introduced to the body in some lesser, weakened form might prevent full-blown infection has been one of the greatest public health insights of the modern era, inspiring the invention of numerous vaccines and saving countless human lives. But, just as humanity acquired the god-like power to stop infectious disease in its tracks, some feared we had gone too far, leading to the skepticism that has hijacked public health discourse today. In three sweeping essays written for our current moment of scientific mistrust, Thomas Levenson searches for the origins of the most common arguments against vaccines: that they are unnatural; that they are more dangerous than the illnesses they claim to prevent; and that they are an affront to freedom. Each arose from the earliest development of particular vaccines and the campaigns to distribute them. Even as the pattern repeats, Levenson reveals how innocent that skepticism initially was and, in each case, how very human fears and questions ultimately turned into something darker, where no truth would be enough to overcome the doubt. Searing but ultimately empathetic, A Pox on Fools [https://politics-prose.com/book/9798217155002] explores the human impulse to question and wonder—sometimes past the point at which the very act of questioning turns deadly. Thomas Levenson is a professor of science writing at MIT. He is the author of several books, including So Very Small, Money for Nothing, The Hunt for Vulcan, Einstein in Berlin, and Newton and the Counterfeiter: The Unknown Detective Career of the World's Greatest Scientist. He has also made ten feature-length documentaries (including a two-hour Nova program on Einstein) for which he has won numerous awards. Levenson is joined in conversation with Jennifer Ouellette, a senior writer covering science and culture at Ars Technica. She has been writing professionally about physics and related topics for more than two decades, and was the founding director of the National Academy of Sciences’ Science and Entertainment Exchange from 2008-2010. Her work has appeared in Discover, Slate, Smithsonian, Nature, Physics World, and Quanta, among other publications. She previously worked as science editor for Gizmodo, and is the author of four popular science books, most recently The Calculus Diaries (2010) and Me, Myself And Why (2014). PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9798217155002?ic_referral=6B7Cl7b6BKx0NOohnUDV37ABUTlhTnseKJ-9HbdsT4YwM2t4Cg81EliLouTPbgdr1OlVt_t_jKYw_BjsntCeWpvMDrIDq3en0mJozcoX5s0knRyGA4ayMJL1cZrYjfvxeVpJ6fk

Brad Ryan — Grandma Joy and Me: A Journey of Healing, One National Park at a Time - with Jennifer D. Roberts

A heartrending, transformative true story following Brad Ryan and his grandmother Joy Ryan as they embark on a seven-year journey to visit every US National Park. Raised in Appalachia, Grandma Joy lived a life shaped by constraints and hardships, while Brad grappled with the weight of family rifts and unresolved pain. Together, they embarked on a quest not only to witness the majesty of America’s wild landscapes but also to heal generations of struggles and misunderstandings. Over seven years, they sought to visit all sixty-three US National Parks. From the towering peaks of Denali to the otherworldly beauty of the Everglades, each park became a classroom, teaching them profound lessons about nature, resilience, and each other. Grandma Joy and Me [https://politics-prose.com/book/9781668099261] follows a seven-year adventure of intergenerational healing, wherein a grandmother and grandson find themselves released from the injustices—real and imagined—that had long held them hostage. An emotionally charged exploration of love, forgiveness, and resilience, this unique bond between a young man and his ninety-year-old grandmother—the oldest person to visit every US National Park—is more than just any travel tale; it is a testament to what makes us deeply human. Brad Ryan is a veterinarian, wildlife conservationist, social media influencer, mental health advocate, and writer from Southeastern Ohio. He earned his BA from Miami University, an MSc in mammalian biology from the University of Pretoria, and both a DVM and MPH from The Ohio State University, specializing in wildlife medicine and veterinary public health. Ryan is in conversation with Jennifer D. Roberts, a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. Her scholarship focuses on the impact of built, social and natural environments, including the institutional and structural inequities of these environments, on physical activity and public health outcomes of marginalized communities. She is also the Executive Founding Director of the Wekesa Earth Center, Co-Founder/Co-Director of NatureRx@UMD, and Chair of the Nature and Health Alliance. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781668099261?ic_referral=TAznzTJEx9w3vlrRjR-IU-Y4JeBtsQucr6Vud99aoh0wM81vBjm1PQGf5rXzgQTW7nH_euQ2FoL5rnPbfC7WNVoGuSrQh1INK8Yvux-I-4bEexXI-G6Uhb6TJ6UfDwkQtZuFSJQ

David McKean & M. Todd Bennett — The Flag Was Still There: A History of the American Experiment in Five Anniversaries - with A'Lelia Bundles

America is the rare country that was founded on an idea, and it was a truly radical idea for its time: the belief that the people of a country could govern themselves. The Flag Was Still There [https://politics-prose.com/book/9781541704169] offers a unique new narrative of the American Experiment. By focusing on five remarkable years marked by both progress and backlash—1776, 1826, 1876, 1926, and 1976—and with an eye to America’s 250th birthday, David McKean and M. Todd Bennett explore how the United States has sustained its founding idea. The centennial saw a country still struggling to confront the Civil War’s legacy, culminating in the birth of the Jim Crow era. In 1926, virulent nativism was at a peak, and a reascendant Ku Klux Klan marched on Washington. The bicentennial was marked by economic turmoil, post-Watergate political malaise, and the still-fresh wounds of the Vietnam War.  America has yet to fully realize its founding principles. But as The Flag Was Still There reminds us, Americans have always striven to defend, renew, and extend the nation’s promise even in the face of staunch resistance—a determination that continues to this day. David McKean is the former US ambassador to Luxembourg and was director of policy planning in the Department of State. The author or coauthor of six previous books, he divides his time between Washington, DC, New Hampshire, and North Carolina.  M. Todd Bennett is a professor of history at East Carolina University. He was formerly a historian at the US Department of State. The author of two previous books, he lives in Washington, DC. McKean and Bennett are in conversation with A'Lelia Bundles, the author of Joy Goddess: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem RenaissanceandOn Her Own Ground,a New York TimesNotable Book about her entrepreneurial great-great-grandmother, Madam C. J. Walker.Aformer ABC News executiveandproducer, she serves onseveral nonprofit boardsthat reflect her interests in history, journalism and preservation. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781541704169?ic_referral=TkPi5A1ZX2cke77V5-tbokT6XyBYZvnecwjYLd0MFI8wMwzTOl1PGffOidoB9V1Qw3PlWcdEDT6-77_dYSCmAAObN9lWjIoalaOoKacDY3Cbz5fF8hFoIjjbcZhKf7lzpoS62J8

John A. Jenkins — Summer of '71: Five Months That Changed America - with David Meyers

From award-winning journalist and author John A. Jenkins comes a revolutionary exploration of the summer before Watergate—a parallel world of a half-century ago when America faced events and crises strikingly similar to those of today—told through the lives and words of those who lived it. Inflation rages. Crime is rising. Abortion rights take center stage at the Supreme Court. China poses an existential threat. Black lives are under attack. The president battles the press as he seeks to subvert not just the political order but the rule of law itself. This is the Summer of ’71 [https://politics-prose.com/book/9780806544465]—a pivotal, operatic season of hope and despair, missed opportunities and era-changing decisions. More than a half-century later, it’s difficult to overstate the importance of events that defined the American experience during that fateful five-month period spanning May to September 1971. On May Day, President Nixon orchestrates a massive police-military response to disrupt the biggest anti-war demonstration in history. Two days later, the Supreme Court announces that it will take up Roe v. Wade. In the weeks and months that follow, friction escalates between the police and the Black Panthers, Congress debates universal healthcare, Attica prisoners riot, and the New York Times publishes the Pentagon Papers—a turning point that ultimately dooms Nixon’s presidency and his legacy. Summer of ’71 brings it all to the page through first-person accounts that are only now becoming available: the papers, diaries, and oral histories of key players. Award‑winning journalist and author John A. Jenkins witnessed many of the events himself, and draws on a multitude of sources, including Nixon’s White House tapes, to tell the story of that time as no one else could. Here is both a fascinating, brilliantly researched read in its own right, and a critical lens through which to view today’s political discord. John A. Jenkins is a multi-award-winning journalist, author, publisher, and entrepreneur. With a specialty in partisans and power, he’s written hundreds of features for major magazines in the U.S. and abroad, including The New York Times Magazine, GQ, and The Washington Monthly. A 4-time recipient of the American Bar Association's Gavel Award Certificate of Merit, one of the highest awards in legal journalism, he is the founder of Law Street Media, the most widely visited and highly engaged law-and-policy site on the web. Prior to starting Law Street, Jenkins served for 15 years as President & Publisher of CQ Press, the leading political science textbook and reference publishers. Currently, he co-leads the predictive-AI start-up PoliScio Analytics, which he co-founded in 2022. He lives on the east coast and can be found online at JohnaJenkins.com. Jenkins is in conversation with David Meyers, long-time editor and newsroom leader focused on politics and democracy, David joined OpenSecrets in January 2025 to lead the media and communications operation. In 2019, he launched The Fulcrum, the first nonprofit media platform dedicated to covering democracy reform and the bridge building movement. He previously spent more than two decades in leadership positions across CQ Roll Call. David graduated from Tufts University in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in English and political science. He is a past president of the Washington Press Club Foundation and the Tufts University Alumni Association. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9780806544465?ic_referral=77Rn_QbmS1NdFopGFsqA10uFS8flGvRlSo7CHb-akYkwMwIMTY7CBvhN5Li8tIT7Kic6ibJChu06hLtJPd2a0JcIwNkSqxhsmgStyc0CrkwOlfyQbpgYSbpTYNtQEAYLgjBLfK4