Liz Lerman — Shape and Momentum: An Insomniac's Guide for a World in Constant Motion - with Diana Ayton-Shenker

Lily Qi — Elected American: From Red China to Blue Maryland - with Josh Kurtz

“Only in America can you run for office and get elected by people who can’t even pronounce your name.”—Lily Qi  Thirty years after her solo journey to America, Chinese-born Lily Qi became a Maryland state delegate. It was a gratifying moment she did not take for granted. Qi had overcome a viral WeChat disinformation campaign from her Chinese community and met with skepticism from the Democratic establishment before being elected. Elected American [https://politics-prose.com/book/9781439927182] tells the inspirational story of Qi’s dreams, setbacks, and achievements with candor and humility. Growing up in Mao’s Shanghai when “politics meant danger,” she never imagined running for public office. However, living in America, Qi came to see political participation as a missed opportunity for immigrants. As she campaigned to energize her cultural base, Qi realized she had to teach first-time voters how to make their votes count in a system not designed for them. As the only U.S. state legislator to have lived through China’s Cultural Revolution, Qi brings a rare cross-system perspective to American politics and the modern-day Asian American identity. Elected American is a political memoir and an immigrant story that emphasizes that democracy doesn’t wait on the sidelines—it favors those who participate. Lily Qi has served in the Maryland House of Delegates since 2019, representing Montgomery County, a suburb of Washington DC. As a champion for economic competitiveness and cultural competency, Qi is a leading voice on immigrant integration, civic and political engagement, and the Asian American experience. Qi is in conversation with Josh Kurtz, the founder of Maryland Matters, a 9-year-old nonprofit news website that covers Maryland government and politics, and is the co-host of Maryland Now, a new podcast that makes deep dives into Maryland policy.  PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781439927182?ic_referral=OaSVqi7Ax-2ACYgcOn0UWM-DMp_o-bdQ1NmPa9wzzWowM1XalISEQ8fE0x9sIRez7x7BE6rWl7jds3GrHHi40E7yBUdGPt7M_wiXVkfp08GdO8cc7yqETG6t4KKpQWj2kINtJVY

Alex Snider — Sometimes You Should Be Late: The Quiet Rebellion of Slowing Down in a World Obsessed with Speed -with Rebecca Davis

What if the real measure of your life isn't how fast you run, how much you do, how 'on time' you are, but how well you pay attention to what actually matters? Sometimes You Should Be Late [https://politics-prose.com/book/9781788609685] is about the quiet courage to slow down when the world keeps shouting, hurry up. It's not really about clocks; it's about questioning the stories we've inherited about time and consciously, rebelliously, choosing our own path. We live in a culture that worships urgency. Like horses with blinders, we're trained to look straight ahead--at deadlines, meetings, and to-do lists. This book invites us to lift those blinders and see what we're missing: the colleague who has a sad look in their eye, the simple joy of a walk, the gift of a slow morning with loved ones, the stranger who needs help. Because sometimes being late is how we arrive on time for what truly matters. Drawing on stories from government, psychology, and everyday life, meditation teacher and writer Alex Snider offers a field guide for reclaiming your attention from urgency culture. This isn't about hacks or time-management tricks. It's about choosing presence over punctuality, kindness over checklists, and our humanity over the clock. Alex Snider is a writer, facilitator, and former government strategist who bridges the worlds of public service and mindfulness. He brings over 15 years of federal experience to his work, having shaped domestic policy through the President's Management Agenda, represented the United States as a diplomat at the Department of State, and served in roles at the World Bank, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, and the U.S. Senate. He holds degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.Alex writes about mindfulness, urgency culture, and relationships for Psychology Today, his Substack Slow Mindfulness, and other publications. A certified meditation and authentic relating instructor, he has led hundreds of workshops in Washington, DC, and beyond. He also co-founded Mindful Fed, a cross-government mindfulness community that has grown to thousands of participants, helping public servants slow down and show up with presence. Snider is in conversation with Rebecca Davis, who has produced for HBO, VICE, Al Jazeera and A&E — and was the supervising producer for Season 2 of Vox's Netflix show, Explained. She was a senior producer with NBC News for nearly a decade, where her work focused on social movements, environmental and economic justice, and community innovators. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781788609685?ic_referral=8fQfXuWkReYWIu1PArynQpNf6QJQngXW02cs-en8_zowM6MbDecWLOucv1FxruN6IrM99x090x_t6DDnM7doMKSSGSf0O5oeEx9ZgJqLkAVjY5fdtn1ESVKuPT5B_GTR_wnQAJs

Liz Lerman — Shape and Momentum: An Insomniac's Guide for a World in Constant Motion - with Diana Ayton-Shenker

A choreographic manifesto for life in motion, offering new ways to navigate change and thrive amidst instability A sequel to Hiking the Horizontal, Liz Lerman's Shape and Momentum: An Insomniac's Guide for a World in Constant Motion [https://politics-prose.com/book/9780819501684] is a choreographic manifesto for living in motion--part memoir, part creative toolkit, part philosophical inquiry. Written in a series of essays, from single-paragraph meditations to expansive chapters, the book weaves together personal anecdotes, creative theory, and movement-based wisdom. Lerman draws on Heisenberg's uncertainty principle to frame a central question: how do we hold both shape and momentum--form and change--at once? With insight and generosity, she explores creativity as a life practice, rooted in embodied knowledge and accessible to all. Witches from her decade-long project Wicked Bodies appear throughout as fierce, funny guides, helping readers stay curious and grounded. Essays are grouped in thematic sections--lived experience, kinship, rejection, reflection, and radical imagination--culminating in an "Atlas of Creative Tools(R)," a practical and poetic resource. Bridging dance, education, politics, and spiritual practice, Shape and Momentum offers tools for navigating instability and making a more relational world. Liz Lerman is a choreographer, writer, educator, and the recipient of numerous honors, including a 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship, the 2017 Jacob’s Pillow Award, and the 2002 MacArthur “Genius Grant” Award. Liz founded and led the Dance Exchange from 1976 until 2011, where she cultivated the company’s unique multi-generational ensemble. Current projects include building the Atlas of Creative Tools®, an online resource and archive, and Legacy Unboxed™ that involves a series of site-specific research performance events called My Body is a Library™. Lerman’s upcoming book is a collection of personal essays set to be published by Wesleyan University Press in 2025. Liz continues to evolve the Critical Response Process® through the annual certification program and an upcoming fundamentals course. Liz is the author of Teaching Dance to Senior Adults (1984), Hiking the Horizontal (2014), and co-author of Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process (2003) and Critique Is Creative (2022) with John Borstel. She is currently an Institute Professor at Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and a Fellow at the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy. Lerman will be in conversation with Diana Ayton-Shenker, CEO, Leonardo/ISAST (International Society of Arts, Science, Technology); Executive Director, Leonardo-ASU; Professor of Practice, ASU, and Senior Global Futures Scientist at Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Lab. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9780819501684?ic_referral=xP4NVtiPhmoUeFM6t5czwp_1H7-xcrLyCgm6LGO8aOwwM7APonZH38UX8oIuDp4iJ0OlWgJsatlNT4VRPh25-cZfYzTmg3sxmj7mQZYf6lIx_BkveiOr9j8KcG85tqNQFcBCqNM

Carol J. Williams — Dispatches from Moscow: Spies and Lies (The Iron Curtain Chronicles) - with Marie Yovanovitch

A sweeping Cold War love story set against the crumbling Soviet empire Moscow, 1986. Natalie Chester has finally achieved her dream: a posting as an American news correspondent in the USSR at the very moment history pivots. But within days of her arrival, the Chernobyl disaster erupts, her fiancé abandons her, and her bureau chief wages a relentless campaign to destroy her career. Then she meets Anatoly Kuznetsov—a rising Soviet diplomat whose Nordic looks and reformist ideals set him apart from the gray functionaries of the Kremlin. Their attraction is immediate and dangerous. As they navigate secret meetings, KGB surveillance, and the disapproval of both governments, Natalie and Tolya become allies in a larger mission: to help end the Cold War before it ends humanity. From the radioactive aftermath of Chernobyl to clandestine trips through the Estonian countryside, from war-torn Afghanistan to a cherry blossom proposal in Tokyo, their love affair unfolds against the decade's most dramatic events—the Reykjavik summit, Gorbachev's glasnost reforms, and the brutal suppression of Baltic independence movements. But as the Soviet empire begins its death throes, the couple discovers that the hardliners willing to kill for the old order will stop at nothing to preserve their power. Inspired by the author's own experiences as a Moscow correspondent during perestroika, Dispatches from Moscow [https://politics-prose.com/book/9781965766590] is a meticulously researched thriller that captures the intoxicating danger of journalism in an authoritarian state and the impossible choices faced by those who dare to imagine a better world. It's a story of professional ambition and personal sacrifice, of idealism tested by reality, and of a love that burns brightest in the shadow of the Iron Curtain's final days. Carol J. Williams is a retired foreign correspondent who covered the historic upheaval that ended the Cold War in an award-winning 35-year career with Associated Press and Los Angeles Times. She lived through the USSR's brief era of hope for reform and the tragic consequences of its failure. She followed Eastern Europe's euphoric rebellions that toppled Communist tyrants from Berlin to Bucharest. In Yugoslavia, she documented the rise of ethnic and religious nationalism fanned by corrupt leaders who pushed their peoples into devastating wars. Her dispatches from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine traced those conflicts to unresolved ideological disputes from their days of imperial oppression. Williams is a graduate of the University of Washington and holds a journalist law certificate from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. She lives with her husband Ken Olsen, a retired editor, in Silverdale, WA. Williams is in conversation with Marie Yovanovitch, the author of the New York Times best-selling memoir, Lessons from the Edge. During her thirty-three-year diplomatic career, Ambassador Yovanovitch served as the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (2016-2019), the Republic of Armenia (2008-2011) and the Kyrgyz Republic (2005-2008).  She worked in a number of senior State Department positions, as well as at U.S. Embassies in Moscow, London, Ottawa, and Mogadishu. Ambassador Yovanovitch has earned multiple awards, including the Presidential Distinguished Service Award twice. She is currecntly a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a non-Resident Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University, and a Distinguished Fellow at the Institute of Global Politics, Columbia University.   PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781965766590?ic_referral=qzdovIxL0NQ5jnoPIQRcdSNJ4LxLJCAtHTAkkvuWpQwwM1xoX9jobDpXH98wjTzkSuR7CdzOsvrVbvnrkgWmtIO-FTlU6G7UZgA60XLAYYiiUGhTw7zE4BohESEG5_iskudq34U

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