The Democracy Group's fall reading list

Fall is (almost) here! From a candid memoir that reveals stigmas surrounding mental health issues in America to discovering people in your community who are committed to protecting democracy, we’ve got you covered whenever you feel like cozying up with a good book. 

Featured on The Context: Good Reasonable People

In Good Reasonable People: The Psychology Behind America's Dangerous Divide, author Keith Payne explores the science behind political divide and what division means to individuals, families and communities. The book is about how ordinary people think about politics, why talking about it is so hard, and how we can begin to mend the personal bonds that are fraying for so many of us.

Payne is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina. His research has been featured in The Atlantic, The New York Times and on NPR.

Featured on An Honorable Profession: Lost and Broken

Lost and Broken: My Journey Back from Chronic Pain and Crippling Anxiety details Congressman Adam Smith’s years-long struggle with anxiety and chronic pain. The 26-year member of Congress discovered the severe limitations of our nation’s health care system, particularly the stigma in dealing with mental health issues, in this candid memoir. 

Smith represents Washington State's 9th Congressional District. He serves as the Democratic leader of the House Armed Services Committee

Featured on The Politics Guys: Something Between Us

Anand Pandian details his quest across the country to understand our country’s political and social divides in Something Between Us: The Everyday Walls of American Life, and How to Take Them Down. The book equips readers with tools and everyday strategies to overcome deep polarization in American society. 

Pandian is a professor of anthropology at Johns Hopkins University. He is a curator of the Ecological Design Collective and serves as president of the Society for Cultural Anthropology. 

Featured on TPNR: Summer of Our Discontent

Summer of Our Discontent: The Age of Certainty and the Demise of Discourse examines the paradigm shift in social justice over the past few years. From attacks on critical race theory and the rise of oppressive social media to Trumpism and the murder of George Floyd, author Thomas Chatterton Williams documents these social transitions and changes in the book.

Williams is a staff writer at The Atlantic and a visiting professor of humanities and senior fellow at the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College.

Featured on The Great Battlefield: You Are Not Alone

Feeling overwhelmed in this time of political anxiety? You Are Not Alone: Your Roadmap to Effective Political Action will help you get involved and make a difference. Author Gary Lucks helps you discover people in your community who are committed to protecting democracy and defeating the threat of authoritarianism.

Lucks is an environmental lawyer and activist. He has published extensively on environmental law, legislation and policy. 

Featured on Politics in Question: The Great Retreat

Author Didi Kuo provides a comprehensive historical account of the rise and fall of mass parties in the U.S. and Europe in The Great Retreat: How Political Parties Should Behave and Why They Don’t. The book also makes a controversial argument: Democracies require stronger political parties.

Kuo is a fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford University. She has written extensively about democratization, capitalism and political parties.

Featured on Future Hindsight: Vigilante Nation

Vigilante Nation: How State-Sponsored Terror Threatens Our Democracy exposes the MAGA Republican strategy to roll back civil, political and privacy rights and subvert American democracy. In the book, co-author David Noll explains their methods, from book bans to anti-abortion bounties to attacks on government proceedings.

Noll is the associate dean for faculty research and development and a professor of law at Rutgers Law School. He is an academic fellow of the National Institute for Civil Justice.

This is Jessie Nguyen, The Democracy Group's Community Manager. Here are some of my favorite podcasts this week, check them out!

Freedom Over Fascism: Kevin M. Levin: Remembering, Forgetting, Obscuring History

Author of the Civil War Memory Substack, Kevin Levin, joined this episode to talk about recent attacks on educational curriculum and national parks across the country. Levin discussed the significance of teaching and preserving American history, especially at a time when educational resources and tools like museums and websites are being targeted.

New Faces of Democracy: Nimit Sawhney of Voatz

Voatz is a mobile voting app that makes voting more secure, accessible and auditable. Co-founder and CEO Nimit Sawhney joined host Nancy Bynum to discuss its blockchain-based technology and how the app can restore public trust in the voting process. This episode is part of a series on the transformative power of mobile voting. If you like it, give episodes 47 and 48 a listen.

The Politics Guys: Trump/Putin Meeting, MPD Takeover, Redistricting Wars

Texas redistricting battle recently prompted a national war over congressional maps, starting with a response from Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom. This episode analyzes modern-day gerrymandering, Trump's crime crackdown in Washington D.C. and his meeting with Putin in Alaska. As always, The Politics Guys is your one-stop shop for current events, political commentary and national news. Give this one a listen!

FEATURED EXPERTS

The Context: Steven Levitsky on Authoritarianism Isn't Coming. It's Here.

Steven Levitsky is a professor of Latin American Studies and government at Harvard University. He is a Senior Fellow at the Kettering Foundation and a Senior Democracy Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Levitsky's research focuses on democratization and authoritarianism, political parties, and weak and informal institutions, with a focus on Latin America.

Politics in Question: Anne Meeker on What's the Future of Congressional Casework?

Anne Meeker is Deputy Director of POPVOX Foundation, a nonpartisan nonprofit helping democratic institutions keep pace with technological advancements. Prior to joining the POPVOX Foundation, Meeker served as an IDEA Fellow with the Ohio State University's Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability.