Politics and Prose Presents

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

53 min · 8. juli 2026
episode Luke Burgis — The One and the Ninety-Nine: Forging Identity in the Age of Social Contagion - with Anne Snyder cover

Description

How to become yourself without losing everyone else. We’re living in a time when it’s harder than ever to become a whole person—and to stay in authentic community. Some people dissolve into their group identities and lose themselves entirely. Others withdraw into ephemeral, online collectives they can float into and out of without consequence. Both are symptoms of the same problem: a fragmented sense of self in an age of social contagion. This fragmentation is more than a personal crisis—it’s the soil in which hollow and often dangerous mass movements take root, offering counterfeit belonging to those desperate for meaning. The One and the Ninety-Nine [https://politics-prose.com/book/9781250373038?ic_referral=TZHrRlQmDUZTCxWWX0lkCQFGnG2fJD47FqSl8luITn8wM-5m8D4EpRfldbbA7x_0ns3Rs7MXflqOoz4vQfZwKt-wSkFeoUSKxCm4Zlvh2XLNcgGNDv0H-QrBfUNM2EPDchaqg0k] is a timely and inspiring exploration of what it means to forge a stable identity in the face of coercion, conformity, and the contagious desires of the crowd. Through compelling and original insights drawn from philosophy, psychology, and personal experience, author Luke Burgis examines how our lives are shaped by the groups we belong to—and how we, in turn, shape those groups. He offers a roadmap for engaging with modern society without losing our unique sense of personhood, and reveals the essential rites of passage and personal challenges that differentiate a life of meaning from one dictated by societal expectations. People who are able to find their solid self and thrive in the space between the one and the many—who can act with integrity while being part of a community—live freer and more comfortable lives and become models for others. The One and the Ninety-Nine is a call to reject passive conformity, rediscover the depth of personality, and choose a life that is both truly personal and deeply connected. Luke Burgis is the director of The Cluny Institute and a professor at The Catholic University of America, where he studies the invisible forces that shape human behavior. He is the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life. He lives in Washington, D.C., and Michigan with his wife, Claire, and their children. Burgis is in conversation with Anne Snyder, the editor-in-chief of Comment, a magazine of public theology for the common good that is becoming a vibrant ecosystem of conversation and community. Rooted in the Christian humanist tradition, Comment now encompasses a growing podcast network, gatherings that span grassroots to institutional settings across North America and the U.K., and a three-day festival at the Washington National Cathedral. Anne also hosts The Whole Person Revolution podcast and co-edited Breaking Ground: Charting Our Future in a Pandemic Year (2022). The author of The Fabric of Character (2019), she writes widely and delights in weaving worlds together—in print, around the table, and across different sectors and ways of knowing. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781250373038?ic_referral=4HQZcoItn8ZonVX8DFUVFYTRW9i1uwPdkJni0gOx6uQwM-rhSzje2tfUZOIaXearSkudWydtklZpYnHozShxhAtpdXZmNZGLXSV87MY0UhBW80iWoKX0bMUhpbtIgZGY7PW3xuA

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episode Donna Butts — Grandfamilies: Stories of Children and the Loving Relatives Who Raise Them - with Michelle Singletary artwork

Donna Butts — Grandfamilies: Stories of Children and the Loving Relatives Who Raise Them - with Michelle Singletary

A powerful firsthand look into the lives of grandparents and other relatives stepping in to raise children—and the people and policies that help them thrive.  Today in the US, more than 2.4 million children whose parents are unable to care for them live in grandfamilies, where they are raised by grandparents or other loved ones. Until recently, their experiences have been all but invisible. These relative caregivers do time in waiting rooms and court hearings, put themselves at financial risk, and sacrifice their own health, all with the dream of making a better life for the kids they love.  In Grandfamilies [https://politics-prose.com/book/9798896363286], Donna M. Butts, former longtime executive director of Generations United, sheds light on the ongoing fight for the recognition and resources these families deserve. Through heartfelt personal accounts, grandfamily members of all ages and backgrounds share their experiences, giving voice to the millions across this nation who have come together in the spirit of hope and resilience to imagine a better future for their loved ones. All book sale proceeds will go to Generations United to support their work with grandfamilies. Donna M. Butts is an award-winning nonprofit executive, author, and trusted voice frequently quoted in the national media. As Executive Director of Generations United, a role she served in for more than twenty-seven years, she was invited to testify before Congress, address the United Nations, and present in more than a dozen countries. As a fierce advocate for intergenerational solutions that benefit children, youth, older adults and families, she has helped pave the way for crucial legislation and support for grandfamilies. She lives in the Washington, DC, area. Butts is in conversation with Michelle Singletary, who writes the nationally syndicated personal finance column “The Color of Money,” which appears in The Washington Post on Wednesdays and Sundays. Her award-winning column is syndicated by The Washington Post News Service and Syndicate and is carried in dozens of newspapers nationwide. In 2021, she won the Gerald Loeb award for commentary. She has written four personal finance books, including, “What to Do With Your Money When Crisis Hits: A Survival Guide” and “The 21-Day Finan PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9798896363286?ic_referral=dwu3G6D-uw_xS84lsgjp87gKm_2qo1yYzJdAF3K8FWAwMyJyXDnjovW1tbQyuan1vukrJTu1alpXHlsKkutS_VEK_0O4DxsKBxe9-v1DsKTtVcuL_8ObOYOABIXAIXJm-9Vyfns

Yesterday1 h 3 min
episode Julia Angwin & Ami Fields-Meyer — On Courage: How to Be a Dissident in an Age of Fear - with Miles Taylor artwork

Julia Angwin & Ami Fields-Meyer — On Courage: How to Be a Dissident in an Age of Fear - with Miles Taylor

From a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and a former White House senior advisor, a deeply reported manual about how anyone can defy an authoritarian – based on original interviews with more than 100 dissidents, activists, and theorists across the world. The United States is only the latest country to face a leader who wields fear as a weapon, punishes political enemies, disappears people off the street, and undermines free and fair elections. Today nearly three out of four people on earth live under authoritarianism, the highest rate since the late 1970s. But even under repressive conditions, each of us holds the power to help defeat autocrats. Based on their acclaimed The New Yorker essay “So You Want to Be a Dissident?,” veteran reporter Julia Angwin and political strategist Ami Fields-Meyer give us a captivating – and profoundly hopeful – guide to courage in an age of fear. Meet a student from Hong Kong who risked everything for democracy. A mom in a working-class neighborhood of Caracas who broke with the political movement that raised her. Cairo twentysomethings who staged a gutsy stunt to help bring down a dictator. A mild-mannered immigrant fighting to save a landmark U.S. civil rights law. People throughout the United States and across five continents who faced serious risks for dissenting in their workplace, their community, or their country. On Courage is the story of how they did it anyway – and how you can do it, too. Blending rich, previously untold narratives with history, spirituality, and movement research, Angwin and Fields-Meyer deliver a highly accessible book full of practical lessons – an inspiring resource for anyone, anywhere, who feel the walls of history closing in on them. On Courage [https://politics-prose.com/book/9780063491946?ic_referral=cHBqMPECEL8Zp82ir66NVL9FGfhH1MdoxY_WO9vRT0UwMyhIMz2zlgpwlelBTTVzQlODQFHcrchisDuuC1bMBJ5d9f96XopnnIYJ_YFkieJTxiAnXWv8GABqgVTMcwFjFRt7RIY] is a roadmap to political courage and a powerful case for how taking personal risks can help save the free world. Julia Angwin is a Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist, New York Times bestselling author, and monthly contributing writer for New York Times Opinion. In 2018, she founded The Markup, an award-winning nonprofit newsroom that produces meaningful data-centered journalism about technology and the people affected by it. Before founding The Markup, she led investigative teams at ProPublica and The Wall Street Journal that pioneered the coverage of privacy and algorithmic accountability. She is a winner and two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in journalism. Ami Fields-Meyer is a political strategist, speechwriter, and former White House senior policy advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris. He is a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, and has served as a top advisor to political candidates, leaders of major civil rights groups, and high-profile public officials from Los Angeles City Hall to the West Wing. Angwin and Fields-Meyer will be in conversation with Miles Taylor. What does it cost to tell the truth — and is it worth it? Miles Taylor answered that question the hard way. As Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, he became one of the most prominent officials in American history to blow the whistle on a sitting president, publishing an anonymous New York Times essay that triggered a national reckoning. When he revealed his identity, he lost everything. He'd do it again. Miles has spent his career inside the haunted halls of power — the White House, the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, major U.S. tech companies, and beyond — and emerged with an uncommon vantage point on the threats to free society. As a national security expert, technologist, and one of the most recognized voices on democratic backsliding,. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9780063491946?ic_referral=vRZPVcle-th0Kwf9lBJp9FBJ9kJonOezXmf-0qfpx6EwM2VyC6RBxmwRN9pUAIeJ3UqhNhQHTvC769E0_cFrGLq7R-fJrUVoppdYXPP1Bct6y2vxJbpoCrMruhJ6sU5O9vCY9t4

17. juli 20261 h 2 min
episode Atima Omara — The Instigators: How Black Women Have Been Essential to American Democracy (And What We Can Learn from Them) - with Kimberly Atkins-Stohr artwork

Atima Omara — The Instigators: How Black Women Have Been Essential to American Democracy (And What We Can Learn from Them) - with Kimberly Atkins-Stohr

A top Democratic Party strategist and media contributor offers a bold and urgent reminder that young Black women hold the key to saving our democracy and building a truly multi-racial future that benefits all Americans. Agitator. Troublemaker. Motivator. Initiator. Instigator. “How can we build a truly inclusive multi-racial democracy?” For Atima Omara, the answer is The Instigators—a name she has given to a demographic of Black women between the ages of 18 and 45. These women are uniquely equipped to save American democracy. They didn’t ask for this ability, she argues. It was forced on them because racism and sexism have made them the most marginalized group in American politics. We can all benefit from their strategic know-how as we rebuild our society. Black women have always been the most relentless instigators for change—building a democracy for all. Omara draws on her political knowledge and expertise, as well as history, to examine how they have responded to failed strategic decisions by movement leaders and the modern Democratic Party in previous elections as a context for the present. She also provides actionable recommendations to organizers, donors, candidates, strategists, political party leaders, that everyday people can use in their communities to build an inclusive democracy that endures beyond one election cycle. The Instigators [https://politics-prose.com/book/9780063424876] is at once an urgent political guide, historical exploration, and a poignant memoir that pulls from Omara’s two decades of work in Democratic politics and the progressive movement as an elected Democratic Party leader, movement organizer, former candidate, gubernatorial aide, campaign staff to candidates at the national, state, and local level; and now political strategist. Powerful, insightful, and practical, it is imperative reading for everyone eager to protect and rebuild our democracy and create a better tomorrow for all. Atima Omara is a nationally recognized award-winning political strategist, leader, writer, speaker, and advocate. She holds a BA in American Studies from the University of Virginia, and is a commentator on national politics, candidates, policy, race, gender and culture having been quoted in national outlets including The New York Times, Boston Globe, and The Atlantic. She’s appeared on CNN, PBS, Fox News, BBC, CBC, NPR, and MSNBC including Joy Reid’s The ReidOut. She was named one of one hundred notable Black Americans by EBONY Magazine. Atima’s writing was published in Wake Up America: Black Women on the Future of Democracy edited by Kesha Blain. She’s also written for Washington Post, the American Prospect, The Root, Teen Vogue, and other national outlets. Omara is in conversation with Kimberly Atkins-Stohr, a senior opinion writer and columnist with more than 20 years of experience covering politics, policy and law. She is an on-air political analyst for MSNBC, a frequent panelist on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” and co-host of the popular Politicon legal news podcast #SistersInLaw. Based in Washington, Kimberly focuses primarily on national political and legal analysis. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9780063424876?ic_referral=MWzJB00LENQPb7KI876Bu1ygqVcbXpp-o2T42RCbzSgwM9Iqhr6qpiHuJpAoMzy5UmQfdwDxvcKTTkNG-UUv5Fs3En6u2_9YIB0fRJIm0MjXx5ovc81w8RjE6cJD6oT52qfRP18

16. juli 202651 min
episode Devlin Barrett — The Department of Revenge: How Trump Took Control of American Justice - with Evan Perez artwork

Devlin Barrett — The Department of Revenge: How Trump Took Control of American Justice - with Evan Perez

Dear American, No part of life in the United States has been untouched by Donald Trump’s relentless weaponization of the Justice Department. This is a cautionary tale about how, once a president amasses such power, future presidents may never relinquish it. Whose votes get counted and whose get tossed out? Who gets prosecuted and who gets protected, like Jeffrey Epstein’s friends? Who gets to run our colleges and schools? How do citizens protest without getting killed? For generations, the Justice Department has sought to enforce the law fairly, without fear or favor. But Trump came into his second term with one obsession above all. “I was the hunted,” he said. “And now I’m the hunter.” In this shocking exposé, the three-time Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter Devlin Barrett reveals the systematic way the president’s men and women have dismantled the department as it once existed and retooled it to hunt Trump’s enemies. This time around, the president and his team have been far shrewder about getting what they want: revenge against the people who investigated and prosecuted Trump; revenge against a legal system he believes was set to ruin not just his career but also his life; and, ultimately, revenge against the parts of America he despises. In a book filled with bombshells, Barrett describes how Trump’s adviser Stephen Miller drives the department and the FBI on a daily basis; how the White House decimated the justice divisions that protect civil rights and punish tax cheats; how prosecutors deploy a “charge first, ask questions later” approach against those they don’t like; and how lawyers are hired for the purpose of going after Trump’s personal targets, such as James Comey, Jerome Powell, Chuck Schumer, and even the mayor of Newark. Most concerning, Barrett shows how the Trump administration has shut down a program used to monitor and react to election security threats, raising concerns that future elections could be chaotic and that the Justice Department, rather than ensuring the integrity of the results, may instead serve as a megaphone for unfounded claims of fraud. This is the inside story of the damage—and a road map for putting our justice system back together. Devlin Barrett has covered federal law enforcement for more than twenty-five years. He writes about the Justice Department and FBI for The New York Times, and previously worked for The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, and the New York Post. In the past decade, he has been part of three Pulitzer Prize–winning reporting teams—for Public Service, for National Reporting, and for Breaking News—and was a cofinalist for Pulitzer Prizes for International Reporting and Feature Writing. He is also the author of October Surprise: How the FBI Tried to Save Itself and Crashed an Election, an account of the FBI's role in the 2016 presidential election. Barrett lives in Virginia with his wife and children. Barrett is in conversation with Evan Perez. Perez is a CNN Senior Justice Correspondent based in the Washington, D.C. Bureau, reporting on legal, crime, and national security issues. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781668065129?ic_referral=stiGUG9PxoILBCvlC0EgWyXEU5OCCGn4BL-nru8qpIcwMwG-eGozPe9BKtIsdQoHYrm60_ftji-opbE9btkJKvn7XJ_XhHLHiqCu7stMmXLWXHV7-WgR3VYSzvJvK6Ef1ckSvz0

16. juli 202659 min
episode Stephanie Green — AMERICAN CROWN: From Revolutionaries to Royalty: The Story of Prince William's American Ancestors - with Amy Argetsinger artwork

Stephanie Green — AMERICAN CROWN: From Revolutionaries to Royalty: The Story of Prince William's American Ancestors - with Amy Argetsinger

The fascinating story of Prince William’s American ancestors, and how this often-rebellious lineage will help shape the future King of Great Britain. In this fresh and perspective-shifting narrative, American Crown is an absorbing blend of American history and royal biography that brings to life the past generations who will shape the Prince of Wales’s role in the future of Britain, America and the world. For the first time, Britain will have a monarch whose ancestors fought against the very crown he bears. It all goes back to the roots of Diana, Princess of Wales whose Spencer family has a friendship with the Washington clan of Sulgrave Manor that produced the founding father of America, but more fascinating is Diana’s maternal side whose American ancestors fought in the Revolution in New England, became successful in the new nation, and then (like many Gilded Age families) sent a daughter across the ocean to marry into the British elite. Other Spencers on the British side had bucked social trends in the 1770s even raised funds for the American rebels themselves. Embodying more interconnected history than any of his predecessors, William’s sense of his own role in the world is markedly different from anyone who’s ever held the throne.  With sweeping locations from battlefields to Buckingham Palace and featuring grand personalities like Nathan Hale, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Winston Churchill, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II, Stephanie Green’s American Crown tells the story of a very new kind of royal family—one with the potential to bring two countries closer together in times of turmoil and bring the “special relationship” into next century. Stephanie Green is a cultural journalist and features writer. A longtime contributor to The Washington Post, she is a former reporter for Bloomberg News and The Washington Times. Her freelance work has appeared in Vogue, Vanity Fair, WWD, and a wide variety of print and online publications. She lives in Washington, DC.  Green is in conversation with Amy Argetsinger. Argetsinger is an editor for The Washington Post’s acclaimed Style section, where she has overseen coverage of media, popular culture, politics and society. A staff writer since 1995, she covered local DC-area communities, higher education and the West Coast before authoring the paper’s signature Reliable Source gossip column for eight years. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and daughter. Her first book, There She Was: The Secret History of Miss America (SIMON & SCHUSTER, 2021) explored the subculture of the century-old beauty contest and the pageant's lingering impact on the larger culture. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9798897101054?ic_referral=zpttQY8ZU_abkI-TroT6iUy2EnuFNDnGGy4hSgfEJ-8wM4Hnisd9tlfUkU6Bdf7K_OK1WH_J_SZg466E1NL4sXfEt4c4bhHWh-nNsZ4URlGEjA96crZ1CeJDdz-e7UdLnls_xxo

15. juli 202648 min