Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. — America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries - with Jonathan Capehart

Joanna Stern — I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything - with Matt Murray

What happens when intelligent machines aren’t just in our pockets but are also driving our cars, making our decisions, folding our laundry, and educating our kids? You’ve heard the hype: AI will make us healthier, give every child a personalized tutor, run our businesses more efficiently, return hours of free time to our overworked brains, and make discoveries previously unimagined by humankind. The AI future is going to be unlike any other technological revolu­tion. But what does that really mean? And will AI truly make life better? To find out, award-winning journalist Joanna Stern surrendered her life to artificial intelligence for one year. The results are both hilarious and unsettling. I Am Not a Robot [https://politics-prose.com/book/9780063446618] is like a time machine trip to the very near future, where AI promises to be your doctor, chauffeur, teacher, masseuse, coworker, thera­pist, financial planner, chef, housekeeper, and even . . . romantic partner. Your colleague might be using ChatGPT to write emails at work, but Joanna used AI tools and robots to do household chores, to manage her health, and to transport her family on vacation. If there was a decision to make or a task to do, she let AI go first. Along the way, she conducted exclusive interviews with the tech leaders building this future, then reported back from the front lines as your funny, no-nonsense tour guide. Of course, tech’s sunny promises never tell the whole story, and that’s what Joanna is here to share. Filled with illustrations and photographs, this book offers less hype, more clarity, and as little jargon as humanly (or robotically) possible. It’s an AI guide for ordinary people—not the tech bros who tried to sell you a cruise to the metaverse or an NFT of a cartoon monkey. This book is not the definitive story, because we’re only a few years into the AI revolution. But after a year of living as a human lab rat, Joanna deliv­ers one of the clearest—and funniest—pictures yet of what’s really happening and what it means for you. Joanna Stern is an Emmy-winning tech journalist and author of I AM NOT A ROBOT: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything, about her year letting AI take over her life. She is the founder of New Things, where she publishes newsletters, videos and more about consumer technology. She’s also NBC News’ chief tech analyst, regularly appearing on TODAY, NBC Nightly News and beyond. Stern spent 12 years at The Wall Street Journal, where her personal tech columns and videos made her one of the most-watched voices in consumer technology. Her 2021 documentary E-Ternal won an Emmy for Outstanding Science, Technology or Environmental Coverage. She is also a two-time Gerald Loeb Award winner and a Pulitzer Prize finalist. She frequently appears on radio and podcasts, including The Vergecast. Previously, she was a technology editor at ABC News and The Verge. She lives in New Jersey with her wife, their two sons, a dog and more gadgets than a Best Buy. Stern will be in conversation with Matt Murray, executive editor of The Washington Post. During his first two years, the newsroom won three Pulitzer Prizes, including the 2026 awards for public service, for coverage of the Trump administration’s efforts to overhaul the federal government, and for feature photography, as well as the 2025 prize for breaking news coverage of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler. Murray served as editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires from June 2018 to February 2023, during which The Journal doubled digital subscriptions, grew its social media presence and video and audio businesses, and won two Pulitzer Prizes and its first Emmy. PURCHASE BOOK: https://politics-prose.com/book/9780063446618?ic_referral=1wgDFzdTWO9tmSDteHSWck6Vydo9dsyZNR0-IqhRQMYwM1Np2YRFcYCwnijRHsFG1x9C7Tn7CtfsiMMMZYh03s9dF6z62a5Tyflax0V7MTd_6q8dH4GcCWLwbDkz_m0_nDyDazU

Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. — America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries - with Jonathan Capehart

The New York Times bestselling author of Begin Again confronts America’s unfinished story in this blistering reassessment of race, freedom, and the myths that bind us. Celebrated public intellectual Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. presents a groundbreaking analysis of the vicious cycles of American history and the country’s enduring refusal to face its true nature—especially at the moments when national anniversaries steer us back toward the mythology meant to disguise the truth. America, U.S.A., [https://politics-prose.com/book/9780593239803?ic_referral=N8H5pt-NLuvo7GpJXMyVBbx_F7nzu5pRlCIF4RVTBMEwM9qF2MFMXoxGbvmai8yw0QkjkhwTYPBQJoyGu_K6yCzYZPzcVF-DTKdRsm_0vZRZq3tR5u7iZoNRpXXrNqGnHdVpd_c] deliberately formulated and beautifully written, details a heart-wrenching exploration of America’s legacy. It is a magnificently complex combination of lessons and voices—from W.E.B. DuBois and John Dos Passos to Herman Melville and Martin Luther King, Jr.—that, together, paint a sprawling and honest tableau of the United States, its complicated past, and ever more tenuous future. Glaude’s is a powerful voice of conscience in our tumultuous world. He pulls no punches, calling on us to interrogate our conceptions of innocence and freedom and the stories we tell ourselves about our past and present. Centered around the major celebrations of America’s milestone birthdays across 250 years of history, the book offers a riveting look at the battles over who has a stake in writing the American story. Devastatingly candid, profoundly moving, and deeply reflective, America, U.S.A. is a shining meditation on how we must reckon with a grim past in order to strive for the better angels of our future. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Princeton University and author of New York Times bestselling Begin Again and Democracy in Black. Glaude is in conversation with Jonathan Capehart, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who is co-host of the morning edition of “The Weekend” on MS NOW (7am - 10am) and the New York Times bestselling author of “Yet Here I Am: Lessons from A Black Man’s Search for Home.” At PBS, Capehart serves as a political analyst on “PBS News Hour” and is featured on the popular Friday segment “Brooks and Capehart.” Capehart is a former Associate Editor at The Washington Post, where he was an opinion writer for 18 years. Capehart was deputy editorial page editor of the New York Daily News (2002-2004) and served on its editorial board (1993-2000). They won the 1999 Pulitzer for Editorial Writing for their campaign to save the Apollo Theater.  PURCHASE BOOK: https://politics-prose.com/book/9780593239803?ic_referral=qtT5OP5qmYlOR9EOkNBxk2GSLXFkF87Wh4fnCYfeaDwwM2u4wv2yyMXHWa9-sKhv6ZC5OkX4tw7RHfy4hM3EZ2r2IlAiHwyZwH0S8uwYQ2cUXDSLED6aPS1kF036Cg0fgZxIeTQ

Jennie Durant — Bitter Honey: Big Ag's Threat to Bees and the Fight to Save Them - with Nancy Lawson

A revealing investigation into how industrial farming poses a growing threat to America's bees Each February, a vast yet largely invisible migration takes place across the United States. Semi-trucks stacked high with honey bee colonies head to California's Central Valley, carrying nearly 99 percent of the nation's domesticated bees. There, the bees pollinate millions of acres of blooming almond orchards before fanning out across the country for apples, berries, and other crops. This massive undertaking sustains both beekeepers and farmers--but it comes at a heavy price. In Bitter Honey [https://politics-prose.com/book/9781642834000], Jennie Durant takes readers behind the scenes to reveal the human and ecological cost of industrial farming for bees, beekeepers, and all of us who depend on them. Bees today face a gauntlet of threats: parasites and disease, pesticide exposure, and climate extremes--all magnified by Big Ag. Beekeepers, meanwhile, endure grueling practices just to survive, often losing half their hives each year. But this isn't a story of defeat. Durant introduces us to the beekeepers, farmers, and activists pioneering new ways to support both wild and managed bees. The stakes are high: nearly three-quarters of our major food crops depend on bees and other pollinators. Bitter Honey exposes the crisis threatening the nation's bees and spotlights the advocates working to protect them for generations to come. Jennie Durant is a writer and researcher focused on bees, agriculture, and the environment. She has spent more than a decade working with beekeepers, scientists, and policymakers, including time at the US Department of Agriculture and University of California, at both Davis and Berkeley. Her writing has appeared in Grist, Glamour, HuffPo, and the San Francisco Chronicle. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family. Durant is in conversation with Nancy Lawson, the author of The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife and Wildscape: Trilling Chipmunks, Beckoning Blooms, Salty Butterflies, and other Sensory Wonders of Nature. A nature writer, habitat consultant, and founder of The Humane Gardener, she pioneers creative wildlife-friendly landscaping methods. Nancy co-chairs Howard County Bee City in Maryland and co-launched a community science project, Monarch Rx, after observing a little-known butterfly behavior in her own garden. Her habitat, books, and scientific endeavors have been featured in Science Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Oprah magazine, Entomology Today, and Ecological Entomology. Nancy is a columnist for American Gardener and an honorary director for Wild Ones. Her most recent book, Wildscape, received an honorable mention from the American Horticultural Society and was a 2024 finalist for an American Association for the Advancement of Science writing award. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781642834000?ic_referral=VXRj6EB9vkrAqRH2j5uXpoL3iAgDonDyxioYDhFFpkUwM8SzRsAlNuHs9FJefc3gqYfBL9b4am47SiiltbRIy6nUaLVC7F28EZMRgrqbzmiPwlzjXd2CggBKHKXfYtHIW0btr7U

Darby Saxbe, PhD — Dad Brain: The New Science of Fatherhood and How It Shapes Men's Lives - with Matt Yglesias

A groundbreaking exploration of the science and significance of fatherhood that shows great dads are made, not born Over the last decade, we’ve learned more about the transformative power of parenthood—biologically, psychologically, and socially—than ever before. But while the experience of motherhood has attracted well-deserved attention, fatherhood has remained overlooked and, often, misunderstood. Now, in Dad Brain [https://politics-prose.com/book/9781250387523], field-leading psychologist Darby Saxbe, PhD, explains how becoming a father changes men, from their bodies and brain architecture to their hormones and sense of purpose. Inspired by her relationship with her dad, Saxbe has studied fathers and families for over twenty years. In her first book, she takes readers behind the scenes of her new research and around the world, from hunter-gatherers in the Congo to contemporary suburban dads, and into her pioneering studies of how parenthood shapes men’s brains and lives. Readers may be surprised to learn that, in addition to altering a dad’s hormones and health (yes, men experience postpartum depression, and “dad bod” is real), parenthood can also benefit men. Dads who spend time with their kids sharpen their paternal instincts and even show more youthful brains in later life. Dads’ unique approach to play makes kids more resilient, and fathers bring new insights to workplaces and build better societies. Ultimately, fatherhood can help men discover a richer, more connected, and more meaningful life. For fans of science-based storytelling that is also irreverent, funny, and personal, Dad Brain offers an illuminating, empowering, and optimistic new understanding of fatherhood that will become a must-read for every parent. Darby Saxbe, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of Southern California. She has published over eighty scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and secured more than $3 million in grant funding for her research. She earned awards from the American Psychological Association and the Society for Research in Child Development and was a Fulbright fellow. Dr. Saxbe has written for outlets such as the New York Times, O: The Oprah Magazine, and Scientific American, and consulted on bestselling books, including Eve Rodsky’s Fair Play. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from UCLA and her BA in English and psychology from Yale University. Saxbe is in conversation with Matt Yglesias, who co-founded Vox.com with Ezra Klein and Melissa Bell back in the spring of 2014. He was a senior correspondent focused on politics and economic policy, and co-hosted The Weeds [https://www.vox.com/the-weeds] podcast twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays. Before launching Vox, he was the author of the Moneybag column for Slate and before that he wrote and blogged for Think Progress, The Atlantic, TPM, and The American Prospect. Yglesias is the author of two books, most recently “The Rent Is Too Damn High” about the policy origins of the middle class housing affordability crisis in America. Yglesias was born and raised in New York City, but has lived in Washington DC since graduating college in 2003. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781250387523?ic_referral=EsK3nLKP0vAd-ePVY7f8i1rrcnBfxqsXaZKCAvRkGAYwM0j7oUk-C_gob5r8njN0IL_4iPbygyu87sEu7PxL3k-rJMEf1AWqI3ayP7huDU_OQUoiDvtLiz9SfiizUdHh_AsKaUI

Samuel Clowes Huneke & Hugh Ryan — I Will Not Abandon You: Queer Women in Nazi Germany & My Bad: A Personal History of the Queer Nineties and Beyond

I Will Not Abandon You [https://politics-prose.com/book/9781487554347] brings to life the unrelenting defiance of queer women in fascist Germany. In his latest book, award-winning historian Samuel Clowes Huneke shows how love, queer resistance, and collective action survived in the harrowing circumstances of Nazi rule. Drawing on a decade of archival research, Huneke takes readers into a hidden world, from the wartime balls that lesbian activists continued to organize to the concentration camps where women accused of loving women were imprisoned. Following a diverse cast of characters, Huneke reveals both the oppression that queer women faced and how they resisted fascism in solidarity with one another. Arguing that this solidarity - which transcended race, class, and gender - offers a compelling alternative to today's fractured identity politics, I Will Not Abandon You is a vital, new history of queer life under fascism and a call to rethink the foundations of progressive politics today. Samuel Clowes Huneke is associate professor of History at George Mason University. He is the author of States of Liberation: Gay Men between Dictatorship and Democracy in Cold War Germany, awarded the David Barclay Book Prize of the German Studies Association and the Smith Book Award of the Southern Historical Association. He has written for Boston Review, The Baffler, and Los Angeles Review of Books. ——— A powerful and hilarious personal history that tells the true story of the queer ’90s and how it transformed queer life in the decades that followed The 1990s were a decade of transformation. Globalization reshaped geopolitics, and the rise of the World Wide Web revolutionized technology forever. As society shifted from the analog to the digital at the turn of the century, LGBTQ life profoundly changed too. Increased visibility arrived, but at a heavy cost. In his most personal book yet, historian Hugh Ryan guides us through a pivotal decade for queer people and its aftershocks—from new breakthroughs in activism, to the early days of AOL chat rooms, and the eventual backlash to progress. Through the prism of his own experiences, Ryan maps how queer life transitioned from private to public in the late ’90s and early aughts, reshaping the challenges and possibilities LGBTQ people navigated in the new millennium. On a Greyhound bus headed to Burning Man and the glittery dance floors of clubs in Manhattan and Berlin, a timeless and all-too-common story emerges: how a young queer person chooses silence to protect himself—only to spend another beautiful, complicated decade undoing his shame. Funny, stylish, and deliciously nostalgic, My Bad [https://politics-prose.com/book/9781645030577] reckons with the gains and setbacks of a decade that reshaped queer life forever. Hugh Ryan is the award-winning author of When Brooklyn Was Queer (2019) and The Women’s House of Detention (2022). He teaches creative nonfiction in the MFA program at the Bennington Writing Seminars and runs the Queer History 101 Book Club with world-famous performer Peppermint.  PURCHASE BOOKS HERE: https://politics-prose.com/sam-huenke-hugh-ryan-061626