The Crooked Places Made Straight by Raphael G. Warnock

THE CROOKED PLACES MADE STRAIGHT by Raphael G. Warnock is definitely informed by his position as a “pastor who serves in the Senate.” He invites readers to take a spiritual journey with him, writing “Our country needs moral leadership and a renewed vision like Isaiah’s, one that invites us to reach out to one another, to pray for one another rather than prey on one another, and to reach toward our highest and noblest ideas rather than sink in our basest fears.” Warnock explores six issues to offer “Reflections on the Moral Meaning of America.” He devotes a lengthy chapter each to voter suppression, influence of dark money, poverty, incarceration, gun violence and the climate. He quotes the Bible frequently and notes, for example, that there are “some two thousand verses in the Old and New Testaments about the poor and how to treat them.”  Warnock is not afraid to point out hypocrisy and that “the harshest and meanest voices against poor people in our country are often Christian voices.” He notes the efforts to cut or restrict programs like Head Start, Upward Bound and Pell grants, all of which he had personally participated in. Saying “we suffer from a poverty not of resources but of moral imagination and from a deficit of courage and vision,” Warnock outlines three goals for his thought-provoking book, paraphrased here: (1) to inspire readers to renew a common sense of purpose and to talk to people outside their comfort zone; (2) to urge politicians to look beyond election cycles and to take action to help the people they serve rather than their own ambitions; and (3) to reengage, especially for all of our children, to “when you pray, move your feet.” Publishers Weekly called this “a clarion call for a fairer America” – have a look. 

Winning the Earthquake by Lorissa Rinehart

WINNING THE EARTHQUAKE by Lorissa Rinehart is about “How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become the First Woman in Congress.” Rinehart, described as a women’s historian, author, speaker and regular Substack contributor, is clearly enthusiastic about Rankin and her accomplishments. The text presents Rankin in a very favorable light while providing details about her 1880’s childhood in rural Montana and her subsequent work with the poor in New York and San Francisco. Rinehart makes a convincing argument that Rankin’s “formative years in Montana taught her that society functioned best when men and women participated equally. Her work in San Francisco proved that women led the way when it came to grassroots enactment of Progressive reform. [And] Her education … underscored the necessity of government regulation in bringing about holistic change on a large scale.” I already knew that Rankin was a pacifist and had served in Congress, but I did not realize that she was first elected to Congress in 1916, four years before the right to vote was granted to women nationwide. I also did not realize that she had voted against US involvement in both World Wars (believing that “you can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake”) and that she was active (while in her nineties) in protesting the Vietnam War. This is a very accessible text brimming with details; with roughly a fourth of the book devoted to Notes. WINNING THE EARTHQUAKE received a starred review from Library Journal which said, “This superb biography of the first woman elected to Congress deserves a place on every public and academic library bookshelf.”

We the People by Jill Lepore

WE THE PEOPLE by Jill Lepore (the David Woods Kemper ’41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and professor of law at Harvard Law School) offers a history of the U.S. Constitution. Stressing the ability to endure through adaptation, she divides the lengthy text chronologically, looking first at the “Invention” of the Constitution during the end of the eighteenth century. Next, covering almost the entire nineteenth century, including the Civil War and its aftermath, is a section titled “The Contest over Interpretation.” Subsequently, Lepore describes the “Pattern of Amendment” from 1905 to 1959. The final part (through 2016) is called “The End of Amendment.” Each section is full of anecdotes and careful analysis. In her introduction, Lepore notes, “This book aims to chronicle the origins of amendment, to identify the conditions under which amendment is possible, to examine why the practice of amendment has been abandoned, and to reckon with the question of whether the constitution can endure without it.” It seems particularly critical for Americans to become familiar with texts such as this, especially as we encounter ongoing debate over rights enshrined in the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Lepore’s WE THE PEOPLE is the notable nonfiction Library Reads selection for September and it received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly (“galvanizing and paradigm-shifting”), Kirkus (interview here), and Booklist (“phenomenally researched, eminently accessible, and acutely relevant history”). She was also featured recently on PBS NewsHour; here is a video of that interview:

Also highly recommended: The Words We Live by from Linda R. Monk; even at twenty years old, this text is a wonderful summary of a core American document. And look for The Bill of Obligations by Richard Haass wherein he describes “The Ten Habits of Good Citizens” and offers multiple related resources, including teaching notes.  Constitution Day is celebrated on September 17 and offers a reminder to honor American values and rule of law. 

Lost in Austin by Alex Hannaford

LOST IN AUSTIN by Alex Hannaford is all about “The Evolution of an American City” which has seen phenomenal growth since Hannaford first arrived around the turn of the century. Hannaford, an award-winning podcaster and journalist, outlines Austin’s distinctive history and shares impressions from longtime residents. Our “Texas My Texas” book group will be discussing this title and one member has already remarked, “I expected this book to be very dry, but instead found many interesting observations.” Hannaford does adopt a somewhat academic tone and includes many negative comments about growth, infrastructure, racism, gentrification, and climate change. However, his comments will prompt much discussion, including questions like:

• Is Austin [still] a frontier town? Was it ever?
• Is Austin still "the live music capital of the world"? Why or why not? 
• The city has seen dramatic growth in population (and property prices, taxes, and rents...); it is number 11 in terms of size of US cities, yet 181 in terms of density How has that contrast impacted its "culture"? 

I am curious as to whether readers feel that his observations about climate change ("we weren't getting a spring or fall any more, just stiflingly hot summers that lasted from April to November") are accurate.  He writes at length about issues of affordability, also addressed in this KVUE report. Hannaford opines “in the decades since the era of LBJ and Governor Ann Richards, Texas had succeeded in creating an ‘anti-California culture,’ which has alienated highly educated people working in innovative technology that Austin had fought so hard to encourage to the city.” It certainly makes one wonder whether "transplants" are welcome in Texas or in Austin currently. Hannaford clearly misses the Austin he once knew, but I do wonder to what extent he is mourning the changes in Austin versus mourning the changes in himself as he ages, or perhaps both. Kirkus summarizes LOST IN AUSTIN by saying, “the ultimate impression is that of a city steadily losing its distinctiveness and livability. A model of first-rate reportage.” For more on Hannaford’s observations, see the reviews in Texas Monthly, local station KXAN, and Los Angeles Review of Books.  Additional perspective on famous Texans and how Texas has changed over time is provided in Lone Stars Rising from Texas Monthly.

Some relevant resources include images of changes to the Austin Skyline and a series of before and after photos, both from The Austin Statesman. The newspaper also published a pictorial review of 38 years of SXSW.

The Last American Road Trip by Sarah Kendzior

As today is a National Day of Hands Off protest, I thought I would post about a new book from a prolific social commentator. She writes, “Lincoln warned in 1838 that if the United States of America died it would be by its own hand. But what we have is more like assisted suicide. It is easy to love your homeland and hate your government. I've done it all my life and consider myself in the company of patriots…. You love it like a child and you love it like a parent, with an irrational depth and the fiercest desire to protect it from harm. You mourn the lost leverage of the ordinary American -- of elections, of courts, of protest, of documentation. You remember when those things seemed to matter or at least when the powerful felt obligated to pretend they did.” THE LAST AMERICAN ROAD TRIP by Sarah Kendzior (The View from Flyover Country) is generally VERY well-written, but oh so sad as America experiences such an unnecessary demise.

Just a couple of weeks into the new administration, Publishers Weekly described this text as a “poignant portrait of life in the Trump era.” I read (and listened to) a preview of THE LAST AMERICAN ROAD TRIP a few months ago and found then that I had to do so in shorts bursts – partly to reflect on her emotional writing and partly because this book can be upsetting. Given the events of the past two months, Kendzior’s comments seem even more prescient (and distressing) now. Kendzior writes at length and with much affection about Missouri, Mark Twain, and her efforts to expose her own children to the American Heartland between 2016 and now, saying, “A lot has changed since we first hit the road. My daughter went from being a fourth grader to a twelfth grader. My son went from being a kindergartner to an eighth grader. And the United States went from being a flawed democracy to a burgeoning autocracy; we drove past the point of no return and kept on driving.” She writes so expressively; for example, “raising children in the world running out of time means contending with two clocks ticking at once: the moments you spend with them as they grew up and the years left for your country, for the planet, for everyone. The first clock is a marvel of memory. The second a countdown to doom. You cannot live your life by these clocks, only alongside them. You forge ahead regardless of the odds because that is your obligation as a parent.”

I could keep quoting from THE LAST AMERICAN ROAD TRIP for quite a while, but end with this reflection: “The people who want to destroy my country are banking on us not missing America. To miss America is to remember America. To remember America is to explore America. To explore America is to see the best and worst in everything -- to reconcile, to repent.” 

Seven Social Movements that Changed America

SEVEN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS THAT CHANGED AMERICA by Linda Gordon is a penetrating look at events and happenings during the twentieth century. Gordon, an author and historian who has won numerous prizes for her biography of Dorthea Lange, reflects on several movements that still reverberate today. For example, one is the early work on old age pensions, eventually included in the Social Security Act of 1935, and highlighting the elderly as an activist political force. Other chapters discuss the efforts to unionize farm workers, promote civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s, and the subsequent women’s liberation movement. A more distressing example is the influence of the Ku Klux Klan (developed even further in Gordon’s 2017 text The Second Coming of the KKK) – and echoed, sadly, in the “very fine people on both sides” comments about the white nationalists protesting in Charlottesville. Gordon writes, “I am telling these stories [the seven social movements] in a way designed to reveal their commonalities as well as their distinctiveness.” Her tone is rather academic, and she argues that “‘followers’ often exerted vital but less often-recognized leadership.” Whether she is exploring early settlement houses and the fight against poverty, or efforts to establish job programs in the 1930s, her text offers researchers and scholars a thoughtful analysis and many details of value. At least a fourth of the book lists references and footnotes.

Beyond the Horse Race by John Zogby

Booklist called BEYOND THE HORSE RACE by John Zogby “A timely read for the politically inclined.” To be honest, I was a bit turned off by the patronizing attitude in his Acknowledgments section which the author displayed towards his daughters-in-law who “made substantial contributions to the production of our babies.” His text is designed to explore “How to Read Polls and Why We Should” but the graphs did not display properly in the preview copy I had. This made it difficult to fully appreciate his points. Zogby, a political consultant and the founder of the Zogby International Poll, does provide a short section at the end of each chapter which summarizes its “lessons” such as “don’t be a victim of myopia and insularity.” Another observation he offers: “Numbers produce stories. Imagination and hard work help us find the stories behind the numbers.” There are many stories and tales here spanning decades which a specialized audience will likely enjoy if they can discount the author’s tone. Slightly less than twenty percent of the text is devoted to notes, an extensive list of Works Cited, and an index. 

Beyond the Big Lie by Bill Adair

BEYOND THE BIG LIE is a new book by Bill Adair, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, creator of PolitiFact, and professor at Duke University. He subtitles the text: “The Epidemic of Political Lying, Why Republicans Do It More, and How It Could Burn Down Our Democracy.” Although Publishers Weekly referred to some content as “overly partisan,” Adair clearly believes in the importance of being truthful with the electorate and outlines numerous examples of being less than truthful in a dozen chapters. The text is very accessible, and he frequently refers to input from his college students. One example is in the chapter called “Lying Hall of Fame” where students nominated candidates like Big Tobacco, Exxon, Rupert Murdoch, Roger Ailes, and numerous politicians from both parties as part of a research project. Adair points out that political lying “crippled our discourse and made it impossible for us to have a serious discussion on the vital issues of our day -- the climate crisis, public health, or the future of Social Security and Medicare.” Adair also chronicles the evolution of Mike Pence, a personal friend and neighbor of his when Pence first served in Congress. In that chapter, Adair notes that “attitudes have changed” and also quotes from an interview with Anthony Fauci: “there is no shame in lying now. There is no shame in developing your own alternative facts -- untruth, conspiracy, lies have become normalized.” A final chapter explores “How Can We Stop the Lying?” and Adair argues “research suggests there is fertile ground for a citizen movement to hold politicians accountable for lying, …. I believe politicians will respond if enough people speak up.” Sigh, people need models – AARP has published candidate responses to their questions with no fact-checking at all (“We allowed the candidates to present their views and positions without commenting on the accuracy of their claims.”) BEYOND THE BIG LIE is an intriguing, if disturbing, read. Roughly twenty percent is devoted to Notes, a list of Sources (from over four years of interviews), a Selected Bibliography, and an Index.  

The Politics of Gen Z and Polarized by Degrees

THE POLITICS OF GEN Z by Melissa Deckman describes “How the Youngest Voters Will Shape Our Democracy.” Deckman, political scientist and the CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute, looks at voters born between 1997 and 2012 and their growing political participation. She cites interviews and research supporting the increasingly left-leaning activism of women and those concerned with LGBTQ rights; and also notes that young men in this age cohort tend to be more conservative. An entire chapter looks at “gendered spaces” in relation to issues like gun violence, climate change, and income inequality. Almost half of the book is devoted to an Index, Notes section and an extensive Methodological Appendix which includes data, statistics, and numerous graphs. Deckman’s text is an academic one that uses surveys, focus groups, and social science research to argue “the gendered political revolution is underway. Its roots are deep…” For an excellent overview and summary of her arguments, here is an interview with Deckman from PBS NewsHour:

 

In POLARIZED BY DEGREES, Matt Grossmann and David A. Hopkins have focused on “How the Diploma Divide and the Culture War Transformed American Politics.” Grossmann, Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University, and Hopkins, Associate Professor of Political Science at Boston College, assert that “a growing ‘diploma divide’ has rapidly reversed the traditional relationship between education and partisanship, now separating degree-holding white Democrats from degree-lacking white Republicans.” They note that the combination of trends like increased educational attainment and a leftward shift in American cultural norms “has also left whites without a college degree - who maintain relatively traditionalist predispositions, hold increasingly precarious economic positions, and perceive themselves as vulnerable to downward social mobility - open to populist appeals that promote resentment of, and mobilization against, members of the cultural elite like professional journalists, educators, scientists, and intellectuals.” I have included that excerpt both for content and as an example of the often-verbose style. Numerous scholars and students (see the acknowledgements) provided feedback and input for this text; researchers interested in this topic will find much to explore in the many Notes and detailed Index which together comprise about a third of the text. Recent political discussions do feel as though we do not have shared experiences or speak a common language so I just had to add the blurb for POLARIZED BY DEGREES from The New York Times’ Thomas Edsall: “essential reading for everyone trying to figure out what the hell is going on in American politics.”

That Librarian by Amanda Jones

THAT LIBRARIAN by Amanda Jones is a LibraryReads selection for August. Look at the cover – do you see a metaphorical caped crusader? In this text, Jones, an award-winning librarian and former President of the Louisiana Association of School Librarians, describes “The Fight Against Book Banning in America” and the harassment she endured after speaking out at a local public library meeting in support of keeping LGBTQ books in the collection. I had the privilege recently of seeing Jones on a School Library Journal TeenLive! panel with Debbie Levy, author of A Dangerous Idea about the Scopes Trial roughly 100 years ago. Sadly, those long ago attempts to restrict student access to ideas offer many parallels to today’s efforts to ban books. For example, much of this discussion is happening in small communities, but has a national impact. Both authors were stressing how together we can overcome these prejudices and how concerned citizens, especially librarians, authors, and book publishers, are working hard to protect young people and their right to read. Jones has been extremely brave in publicizing her story and her efforts to hold her detractors accountable in court. She says, “everyone in the United States should stand up for intellectual freedom and stand against censorship…” and offers suggestions (see especially chapter 15) for local action in your own community. Follett’s Titlewave offers a free, downloadable Reading Group Guide for THAT LIBRARIAN; one suggested eye-opening exercise is to list books that have had an impact on your life and then research whether they have been banned or challenged. Jones references many supportive groups, some of which are PEN America (exhibit coming soon to Austin’s Henry Ransom Center); EveryLibrary, and the American Library Association which offers resources at Unite Against Book Bans. Library Journal gave a starred review to THAT LIBRARIAN, calling it a “essential reading” and Booklist- in another starred review - said, “Jones is an inspiration to everyone combating book bans, and her memoir/guidebook should be available to all.” I concur.

Our Nation at Risk edited by Zelizer and Greenberg

With political conventions this summer and roughly three months until a national election, scholars will find it worth taking a look at OUR NATION AT RISK edited by Julian E. Zelizer (Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University) and Karen J. Greenberg (Director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law). Their text, encompassing sixteen chapters, explores “Election Integrity as a National Security Issue.” In addition to New York Times Columnist Thomas Edsall and former Senator Russ Feingold, contributors include professors based at Catholic University of America, Cornell, MIT, NYU, Stanford, UCLA, UT Austin, and Vanderbilt. Plus, representatives of organizations like American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Enterprise Institute and American Constitution Society. OUR NATION AT RISK has an academic, legal tone, referring often to pertinent court cases and full of footnotes. For example, the chapter titled “Presidential Power and Federal Elections” notes “the absence of lawful authority alone does not guarantee that a president will not attempt to use his office to interfere with an election” and concludes that “the viability of the legal limits on the president's involvement in elections depends greatly on the willingness of those within his [or her] administration to observe and then force them.” Other selections explore equally timely topics like foreign election interference, disinformation, role of Congress and the Supreme Court, and the right to vote.

Economics and history ... describing America...

I was reflecting on today’s Iowa caucuses and the current economy after reading an excellent Guest Opinion and analysis in The New York Times. That led me to comment on these texts:

THE PHOENIX ECONOMY by Felix Salmon was published in May 2023. Salmon, the chief financial correspondent at Axios, describes “Work, Life, and Money in the New Not Normal.” He spends a great deal of time noting the far-reaching impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and argues, for example that “Covid broke time,” impacting our regular habits (daily commute, annual family visits, shopping trips) in a disconcerting manner. The economic impacts, of course, were far-ranging, too, (e.g., a deep but short recession in 2020; use of Zoom and Slack; investment timeframe). Salmon writes in an engaging manner and his commentary, especially on how investment strategies and styles differ by generation (building on Kevin Roose’s concept of from ladders to trampolines) is informative and though-provoking. As we all acclimate to a post-Covid environment, this text offers a terrific (if triggering) retrospective. THE PHOENIX ECONOMY is the Winner of the 2023 SABEW (an association of business journalists) Best in Business Book Award for Investing and Personal Finance. This text was also profiled and summarized by The Next Big Idea Club.

THE VELVET ROPE ECONOMY by Nelson D. Schwartz was originally published in March 2020, and therefore probably did not get as much attention as it would have had at other times. Schwartz, a business reporter at The New York Times with close to two decades of experience, discusses “How Inequality Became Big Business,” a topic which certainly features in analyses of voting patterns and reactions to candidates. In fact, Schwartz concludes the text by writing “it's up to all of us -- including those well ensconced inside the velvet rope -- to create a less segmented society, where Americans from different walks of life actually meet one another and find common ground.” His chapters look at experiences inside (envy, exclusivity, ease, access, and security) and outside (exclusion, division, and isolation) by sharing numerous examples across industries. Perhaps one of the most vivid is the literal separation at sporting venues like the new Yankee Stadium which limits access and getting autographs to certain ticket holders. While looking at product differentiation and capacity constraints, Schwartz points to travel, healthcare, and education, saying, “as the public sector is replaced by private services aimed at the elite, the very foundation of the republic is eroded.” THE VELVET ROPE ECONOMY is well-researched, and notes represent roughly ten percent of the text. Schwartz’s examples tend to be domestic ones, but internationally, as was stated more recently on The Conversation web site: “Globally, inequality is so extreme that the world’s 10 richest men possess more wealth than the 3.1 billion poorest people, Oxfam has calculated.” Think about it.

Published in 2020, PROMISED LAND by David Stebenne chronicles “How the Rise of the Middle Class Transformed America, 1929-1968.” Stebenne, a lawyer and Associate Professor of History at The Ohio State University, documents change across those four decades through an historical lens so as to tell “the story of how and why that transformation [to a predominately middle-class nation] came about, what life was like during the heyday of the middle class, and why, beginning in the later 1960s, that process slowed down and eventually stopped.” He discusses a “state of mind” and how the middle class “prized a sense of belonging, taking pride in their families, neighborhoods, communities, and country” which echoes the work of other scholars such as Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone, Our Children or, perhaps, even Upswing. In addition to economic characteristics, Stebenne points to demographic (race and gender), geographic, and cultural (increase in driving, radio, television, etc.) factors in a readily accessible way. Of help to interested researchers (especially AP US students), roughly twenty percent of PROMISED LAND is devoted to notes and bibliographic references.

Oath and Honor by Liz Cheney

OATH AND HONOR by Liz Cheney is a text which every American should read. This memoir (and a warning, as it is subtitled) sold out on its release day in early December and has been topping sales charts since then. Cheney, a former Congesswoman from Wyoming and previously part of the Republican Party’s leadership, lays out events leading up to the January 6th 2021 insurrection and the subsequent House investigation for which she was Vice Chair. Her perspective is detailed and unique due to the many contacts which she and her family have in the political and legal sphere. The events which she recounts are disturbing, particularly the unprincipled stance from so many of her colleagues. Throughout the remainder of this election season, we will all have an opportunity to educate ourselves, to reflect on true American and Constitutional values, and ultimately to make informed decisions in the upcoming primaries and general elections. Read and decide for yourself; here is an interview with Cheney about OATH AND HONOR from the PBS NewsHour:

If you would like to hear and see more of her book talk and reading at Politics and Prose in DC, click here or read a review from The Washington Post. More perspective is available in RENEGADE by Adam Kinzinger from Illinois.

Mr. Texas by Lawrence Wright

MR. TEXAS by Lawrence Wright, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, offers a penetrating look at Texas politics and at the compromises involved in a marriage. The main character is a rancher, Sonny Lamb, from West Texas who performs a heroic action that draws attention from L.D. Sparks, a cynical and wily political operative. In fact, “when the attorney general, a pious crook, was caught fixing up a girlfriend with a well-paying job with a real estate developer in exchange for settling and damaging lawsuit, L.D. not only managed to quash the whistleblower complaint, he got the AG's wife elected to the Texas Senate.” Soon, Sonny is embroiled in this world, splitting his time between the state capital in Austin (where he has been elected to the legislature) and his ranch where he and wife Lola are trying to conceive their first child. Along the way, readers are treated to more of Wright’s biting comments about political practice in the Lone Star State; take your pick:

“‘Crazy ideas can turn into crazy public policy,’ said Wanda [Sonny’s aide]. ‘History is one long struggle for sanity.’”

“A pro-choice bill has about as much chance in the Texas Legislature as a kangaroo in a hockey rink.”

“‘And a shitload of new voting restrictions,’ said Gilbert. ‘When are you guys gonna start believing in democracy?’ ‘Democracy is fine as long as the right people vote,’ said Carl.”

Sadly, many of Wright’s references are reflected in the actual state politics like media influence: “A common affliction among billionaires is the belief that money equals wisdom. To share his abundant opinions, Mr. Peeples started his own radio station.” Or regarding Governor Greg Abbott’s efforts to limit local regulation, as also profiled here and here in The Texas Tribune. One idea Wright missed? A chance to showcase the MAGA work from Mothers Against Greg Abbott – thought provoking and clever commercials from a grassroots group. Combining satire and humor with social justice themes, MR. TEXAS appears on The New York Times’ list of 34 Works of Fiction to Read This Fall.