Live at Politics and Prose

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Andrew McCabe: Live at Politics and Prose Mar 01, 2019

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McCabe started working at the FBI in 1996 and served in many capacities, from street agent on the Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force to leading the Counterterrorism Division, the National Security Branch, and the Washington Field Office as well as serving as the first director of the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group. Yet that estimable career came to a sudden end when Trump fired McCabe on March 16, 2018. In this book McCabe refutes Trump’s assertion that the firing was “A great day for Democracy.” In fact, as McCabe shows, Trump’s action was just the opposite. Giving a detailed insider’s view of the FBI, McCabe charts the Bureau’s last twenty years, during which time its most important task became protecting the country from terrorists—though now perhaps the major threat to Constitutional rights is the Trump administration itself.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781250207579

Pete Buttigieg: Live at Politics and Prose Feb 22, 2019

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When Buttigieg left a successful business career to return to South Bend, Indiana, his hometown had been declared a “dying city” by Newsweek magazine. Elected mayor in 2011 and re-elected in 2015, Buttigieg, a Harvard-educated Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Navy veteran, was determined to change that. Going directly to the community, he met with residents, reclaimed abandoned houses, confronted gun violence, and attracted high-tech industry. Today South Bend is a shining success, and Buttigieg’s candid and compassionate account is both an inspiring story of how politics can and should work and an introduction to one of today’s rising political figures.

Buttigieg is in conversation with Jonathan Allen of NBC News.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781631494369

Steve Luxenberg: Live at Politics and Prose Feb 15, 2019

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Awarded the 2016 J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award, Luxenberg’s second book is a deeply researched account of events leading up to the infamous “separate but equal” Plessy v. Ferguson decision. Announced on May 18, 1896, the decision had a deceptively quiet reception. But as Luxenberg shows, the case went to issues at the heart of the nation’s unresolved image of itself. Focusing on the individuals involved in bringing, arguing, and deciding the case as well as on the broader separatist currents throughout the era of westward expansion and industrialization, Luxenberg, a longtime Washington Post senior editor, forces us to see both how entrenched racism has been as well as how some have always struggled to root it out.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9780393239379

Marlon James: Live at Politics and Prose Feb 08, 2019

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Drawing from African history, mythology, and his own rich imagination, Marlon James’ new book, Black Leopard, Red Wolf, is a novel unlike anything that's come before it: a saga of breathtaking adventure that's also an ambitious, involving read. Defying categorization and full of unforgettable characters, it is both surprising and profound as it explores the fundamentals of truth, the limits of power, and our need to understand them both. Author of The New York Times’ bestseller A Brief History of Seven Killings and winner of the Man Booker Prize, James’ first installment in the Dark Star trilogy combines myth, fantasy, and events of the past to create an epic, awe-inspiring thriller.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9780735220171

Jason Rezaian: Live at Politics and Prose Feb 01, 2019

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In July 2014, Washington Post Tehran bureau chief Jason Rezaian was arrested by Iranian police and accused of spying for America. Initially, Rezaian thought the whole thing was a terrible misunderstanding, but soon realized that it was much more dire as it became an eighteen-month prison stint with impossibly high diplomatic stakes. In Prisoner, Rezaian writes of his exhausting interrogations and farcical trial, his bond with his Iranian father, and his life-changing decision to move to Tehran. Written with wit, humor, and grace, Prisoner brings to life a fascinating, maddening culture in all its complexity.

Rezaian is in conversation with Frank Sesno, author, former CNN correspondent, and director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9780062691576

April Ryan's Race in America panel: Winter 2019 Jan 25, 2019

Show notes

April Ryan, Washington Bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks and author of Under Fire, At Mama’s Knee, and The Presidency in Black and White returns for the sixth in an ongoing series of discussions focusing on race in America. As in previous presentations, Ryan will moderate a panel of leading writers and commentators to examine recent and longstanding issues. Panelists include Donna Brazile, Democratic political strategist, TV commentator, and co-author of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics; Jason Riley, member of The Wall Street Journal editorial board and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute; and Wesley Lowery, Pulitzer-winning national correspondent for The Washington Post and author of They Can't Kill Us All.

Kamala Harris: Live at Politics and Prose Jan 18, 2019

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In her new book, The Truths We Hold, Senator Harris draws on her own career and the work of those who have most inspired her to offer a master class in problem solving, crisis management, and leadership in challenging times. Known for being a voice for the voiceless, Senator Harris will explore the themes of The Truths We Hold and share her vision of our shared struggle, purpose, and values.

Sen. Harris is in conversation with Jonathan Capehart, writer for The Washington Post'sPostPartisan blog and contributor for MSNBC

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9780525560715

Daniel H. Pink: Live at Politics and Prose Jan 11, 2019

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Now in paperback, Pink’s fascinating study of timing starts with intriguing and seemingly inexplicable observations: why are prisoners eligible for parole more likely to get a favorable ruling earlier in the day? Why are adolescents who start school before 8 a.m. at an academic disadvantage? Drawing on research from psychology, biology, and economics, Pink shows that timing has strong and predictable effects on people’s thoughts and emotions, and that by understanding these patterns, we can maximize our potential by planning the timing of important events and decisions. Pink, the award-winning author of bestsellers including Drive, To Sell Is Human, and A Whole New Mind, makes the science of time compelling as well as useful, telling many stories and interweaving tips from his own “Time Hacker’s Handbook.”

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9780735210639

Susan Orlean: Live at Politics and Prose Jan 04, 2019

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At once a mystery, a cultural history, and a deeply personal love letter to reading, Orlean’s compelling new book starts with a disaster. On April 29, 1986, the Los Angeles Public Library went up in flames. The worst library fire in American history, the blaze destroyed more than 400,000 books and damaged another 700,000. It lasted for more than seven hours and temperatures reached 2,000 degrees. Over thirty years later, the cause of the fire is still unknown. Adding her own investigation to existing theories, Orlean, a New Yorker staff writer since 1992 and the author of The Orchid Thief, profiles the library’s staff and patrons, looks at the global history of libraries and the challenges these institutions face today, and irrefutably demonstrates the national and personal value of these truly public places.

https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781476740188

2018 Year in Review Dec 28, 2018

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Nearly a thousand authors visited Politics and Prose last year; here’s a collection of some of our favorite moments from 2018- including Michael Arceneaux, Kristin Hannah, Alexander Chee, Roxane Gay, Gary Trudeau, Lorrie Moore, Olga Tokarczuk, and Adam Hochschild.

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