Politics and Prose Presents

In Freedom Season, acclaimed historian Peniel E. Joseph offers a stirring narrative history of 1963, marking it as the defining year of the Black freedom struggle--a year when America faced a deluge of political strife and violence and emerged transformed.

Nineteen sixty-three opened with the centenary of the Emancipation Proclamation and ended with America in a state of mourning. The months in between brought waves of racial terror, mass protest, and police repression that shocked the world, inspired radicals and reformers, and forced the hands of moderate legislators. By year's end the murders of John F. Kennedy, Medgar Evers, and four Black girls at a church in Alabama left the nation determined to imagine a new way forward. Alongside the stories of historical giants like James Baldwin and Martin Luther King Jr., Joseph uplifts the perspectives of less celebrated leaders like playwright Lorraine Hansberry and activist Gloria Richardson.

Over one heartbreakingly tumultuous year, America unraveled and remade itself as the world looked on. Freedom Season shows how the upheavals of 1963 planted the seeds for watershed civil rights legislation and renewed hope in the promise and possibility of freedom.

PURCHASE BOOK HERE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781541675896?ic_referral=jR3cHh3-A6hG77U2-gEG1jIRVHQSDqVdvmrozrl7DxowM1KZq1JtFJ_iraNuvrvVPqsYtb-xTLGx_YCgHHsMrqBbNW_Z4KBhUCm320p62V61qA5t9_YLM_6q9oGGs0o318uinQ

Peniel E. Joseph is the Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values, founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and distinguished service leadership professor and professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author and editor of eight award-winning books on African American history, including The Third Reconstruction and  The Sword and the Shield. He lives in Austin, Texas.

Joseph is in conversation with Ibram X. Kendi. Dr. Kendi is a National Book Award-winning author of fifteen books for adults and children, including nine New York Times bestsellers—five of which were #1 New York Times bestsellers. Dr. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, and the director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a CBS News racial justice contributor. Dr. Kendi is the author of Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, making him the youngest author to win that award. He also authored the international bestseller, How to Be an Antiracist, which was described in the New York Times as “the most courageous book to date on the problem of race in the Western mind.” Dr. Kendi’s other bestsellers include How to Raise an Antiracist; Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019, co-edited with Keisha Blain; How to Be a (Young) Antiracist, co-authored with Nic Stone; Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, co-authored with Jason Reynolds; and Antiracist Baby, illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky. In 2020, Time magazine named Dr. Kendi one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world. He was awarded a 2021 MacArthur Fellowship, popularly known as the Genius Grant

*recorded 5/30/2025

A food story to binge.
A ghost story to devour.
A love story to savor.

Konstantin Duhovny is a haunted man. His father died when he was ten, and ghosts have been hovering around him ever since. Kostya can't exactly see the ghosts, but he can taste their favorite foods. Flavors of meals he's never eaten will flood his mouth, a sign that a spirit is present. Kostya has kept these aftertastes a secret for most of his life, but one night, he decides to act on what he's tasting. And everything changes.

Kostya discovers that he can reunite people with their deceased loved ones--at least for the length of time it takes them to eat a dish that he's prepared. He thinks his life's purpose might be to offer closure to grieving strangers, and sets out to learn all he can by entering a particularly fiery ring of Hell: the New York culinary scene. But as his kitchen skills catch up with his ambitions, Kostya is too blind to see the catastrophe looming in the Afterlife. And the one person who knows Kostya must be stopped also happens to be falling in love with him.

Set in the bustling world of New York restaurants and teeming with mouthwatering food writing, Aftertaste is a whirlwind romance, a heart-wrenching look at love and loss, and a ghost story about all the ways we hunger--and how far we'd go to find satisfaction.

PURCHASE BOOK HERE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781668061596?ic_referral=YdR6StRUJ3JvzJQsa5MuZLK55jf_L5Iz6ZejRPblHKowMyHRDri2-Ktane_MjglzAYxyc0m4LAlZGNX8V87JQxP2x_AW8B08_GJcUe1VfyEV3ed_NYPlsNcs-w3sjXR8kU2BTw

Daria Lavelle is an American fiction writer. Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and raised in the New York metro area, her work explores themes of identity and belonging through magic and the uncanny. Her short stories have appeared in The Deadlands, Dread Machine, and elsewhere, and she holds degrees in writing from Princeton University and Sarah Lawrence College. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, children, and goldendoodle, all of whom love a great meal almost as much as she does. Learn more at DariaLavelle.com.

Lavelle is in conversation with Laura Hankin. Hankin is a screenwriter, author, and performer whose novels include ONE-STAR ROMANCE, HAPPY & YOU KNOW IT, A SPECIAL PLACE FOR WOMEN, and THE DAYDREAMS. She lives in Washington DC, where she once fell off a treadmill twice in one day.

*recorded 5/29/2025

In the spring of 2024, former President Trump, flanked by his band of loyal supporters, was shuttled daily into a gloomy Manhattan courtroom to face a trial with monumental stakes -- for him, and for the country.

Inside, a cast of larger-than-life characters awaited: tabloid impresario David Pecker; mess-making "fixer" Michael Cohen; counterpunching porn star Stormy Daniels; an enigmatic district attorney and the no-nonsense judge tasked with keeping the trial moving--and bringing Trump to heel. Each played a crucial part in a high-stakes legal drama with remarkable repercussions for American politics in the year of a historic election.

New York Times journalist Jonah Bromwich was there, capturing every moment--from the streets to the courtroom, to the back-office maneuvering. His daily reports gripped a global audience. Now, armed with new reporting and insider knowledge, Bromwich delivers the definitive account of this stranger-than-fiction showdown on Centre Street.

Dragon on Centre Street is a gripping, absurd, and outrageous story of power, attention, and America's future. A must-read for anyone seeking to understand this defining moment in history--and a political drama so wild, you'll have to remind yourself it's all true.

PURCHASE BOOK HERE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9798893310382?ic_referral=wXoDw41M4mpmu_mSp1Cx5223TNoTUUs_8-RgTijaZzQwMydjN3_RIVK7CCedG_tEixfG8iWyR4adPq6tQihonuTVPGPkj1dO0cCUA54MTs1VjkMctJxZwm1JUCTiWXdj399exro

Jonah E. Bromwich, a reporter for The New York Times, has covered Manhattan's criminal justice system for years. He was a lead reporter on Trump's criminal trial, reporting live from the courtroom for more than a month. Jonah has covered a number of major legal stories for the Metro desk, including multiple trials involving President Trump, the downfall of Governor Andrew Cuomo, and the chaos on Rikers Island. Previously, Jonah worked for the Style section, reporting on cultural change brought about by social media and celebrity culture. A native of Washington, DC, he studied at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and joined The Times in 2012.

Bromwich is in conversation with Michael S. Schmidt. Schmidt is a two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning Washington correspondent for The New York Times. Over his fifteen years at the Times, he has covered the investigations of the Trump presidency, the Pentagon, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the war in Iraq. He started his career at The New York Times as a clerk answering the phones on the foreign desk before becoming a sports reporter covering performance-enhancing drugs and legal issues. He is a graduate of Lafayette College.

*recorded 5/29/2025

The 1980s are usually seen as a slick, shrill decade. The Ayatollah Khomeini and his followers urged "Death to America"; Ronald Reagan was in the White House, backed by the Moral Majority; John Paul II was asserting Catholic traditionalism and denouncing homosexuality, as were the televangelists on cable TV. And yet "crypto-religious" artists pushed back against the spirit of the age, venturing into vexed areas where politicians and clergy were loath to go--and anticipating the postsecular age we are living in today.

That is the story Paul Elie tells in this enthralling group portrait. Here's Leonard Cohen writing "Hallelujah" in a Times Square hotel room; Andy Warhol adapting Leonardo's The Last Supper in response to the AIDS crisis; Prince making the cross and altar into "signs of the times." Through Toni Morrison the spirits of the enslaved speak from the grave; Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen deepen the tent-revival intensity of their work; U2, Morrissey, and Sinéad O'Connor give voice to the anguish of young people who were raised religious; Wim Wenders offers an angel's-eye view of Berlin. And Martin Scorsese overcomes fundamentalist opposition to make The Last Temptation of Christ--a struggle that anticipates Salman Rushdie's struggle with Islam in The Satanic Verses.

Much of that work drew controversy, and episodes such as the boycott sparked by Madonna's "Like a Prayer" video and the tearing up of Andres Serrano's Piss Christ in Congress were early skirmishes in the culture wars. But in this book's interlocking tales of the crypto-religious, the artists are the protagonists, and their work speaks to us because it deals with matters of the spirit that are too complex to be reduced to doctrines and headlines.

Stirring, immersive, The Last Supper traces the beginning of our age, in which religion is both surging and in decline. And it presents an outlook--open to belief but wary of it--that those artists and today's readers have in common.

PURCHASE BOOK HERE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9780374272920?ic_referral=_hiYase6eV7C_gAM6anzcHZIbuAZbt6DuWp9T4-sfdMwMzlRVWe57XckMthXT3b0OHR_K6UMvauZYccNXspZp3nx9Qml1_pr9IjsvGQtgjyWYYswv_ZhK3gPHYJh9s2lwFVD_A

Paul Elie is the author of The Life You Save May Be Your Own (2003) and Reinventing Bach (2012), both National Book Critics Circle Award finalists. He is a senior fellow in Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and a regular contributor to The New Yorker. He lives in Brooklyn.

Elie is in conversation with Daniel Burke, the Senior Editor of Religion & Spirituality at NPR. Previously, he was CNN's religion editor, where he led coverage of religion for the website and network. He contributes reviews of books on religion and spirituality for The Washington Post, The Revealer and a number of other publications.

*recorded 5/28/2025

In 2014, after losing several friends and relatives to cancer, an unassuming insurance underwriter in Hoosick Falls, New York, began to suspect that the local water supply was polluted. When he tested his tap water, he discovered dangerous levels of forever chemicals. This set off a chain of events that led to 100 million Americans learning their drinking water was tainted. Although the discovery came as a shock to most, the U.S. government and the manufacturers of these toxic chemicals--used in everything from lipstick and cookware to children's clothing--had known about their hazards for decades.

In They Poisoned the World, investigative journalist Mariah Blake tells the astonishing story of this cover-up, tracing its roots back to the Manhattan Project and through the postwar years, as industry scientists discovered that these chemicals refused to break down and were saturating the blood of virtually every human being. By the 1980s, manufacturers were secretly testing their workers and finding links to birth defects, cancer, and other serious diseases. At every step, the industry's deceptions were aided by our government's appallingly lax regulatory system--a system that has made us all guinea pigs in a vast, uncontrolled chemistry experiment.

Drawing on years of on-the-ground reporting and tens of thousands of documents, Blake interweaves the secret history of forever chemicals with the moving story of how a lone village took on the chemical giants--and won. From the beloved local doctor to the young mother who took her fight all the way to the nation's capital, citizen activists in Hoosick Falls and beyond have ignited the most powerful grassroots environmental movement since Silent Spring.

Humane and revelatory, this book will provoke outrage--and hopefully inspire the change we need to protect the health of every American for generations to come.

PURCHASE BOOK HERE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781524760090?ic_referral=GfP0RlRmAusqlhJvAvaMabxAMOcqYrz6u-N17Y_vt8IwM8OYNXw3wTG11t2Rf6NzOnSFutD7Ys3XVYMrPq-I5beKXbBLgqKPYBpKFZA0h-Ls_FaJmqO1rkjWEfclEMBnKWdY43c

Mariah Blake is an investigative journalist whose writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Mother Jones, The New Republic, and other publications. She was a Murrey Marder Nieman Fellow in Watchdog Journalism at Harvard University.

Blake is in conversation with Juliet Eilperin. Eilperin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist at The Washington Post, editing climate and environmental coverage. She also is the author of two books, "Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks" and "Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the House of Representatives." Eilperin has worked for The Post since 1998. She previously served as The Post’s senior national affairs correspondent, White House bureau chief, national environmental reporter and House of Representatives correspondent.

*recorded 5/23/2025

From two of America's most respected journalists, an unflinching and explosive reckoning with one of the most fateful decisions in American political history: Joe Biden's run for reelection despite evidence of his serious decline--amid desperate efforts to hide the extent of that deterioration

In Greek tragedy, the protagonist's effort to avoid his fate is what seals his fate. In 2024, American politics became a Greek tragedy.

Joe Biden launched his successful 2020 bid for the White House with the stated goal of saving the nation from a second Trump presidential term. He, his family, and his senior aides were so convinced that only he could beat Trump again, they lied to themselves, allies, and the public about his condition and limitations. At his debate with Trump on June 27, 2024, the consequences of that deception were exposed to the world. It was shocking and upsetting.

Now the full, unsettling truth is being told for the first time. Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson take us behind closed doors and into private conversations between the heaviest of hitters, revealing how big the problem was and how many people knew about it. From White House staffers at the highest to lowest levels, to leaders of Congress and the Cabinet, from governors to donors and Hollywood players, the truth is finally being told. What you will learn makes President Biden's decision to run for reelection seem shockingly narcissistic, self-delusional, and reckless--a desperate bet that went bust--and part of a larger act of extended public deception that has few precedents. The story the authors tell raises fundamental issues of accountability and responsibility that will continue for decades.

The irony is biting: In the name of defeating what they called an existential threat to democracy, Biden and his inner circle ensured it, tossing aside his implicit promise to serve for only one term, denying the existence of health issues the nation had been watching for years, dooming the Democrats to defeat. The decision to run again, the Original Sin of this president, led to a campaign of denial and gaslighting, leading directly to Donald Trump's return to power and all that has happened as a consequence. Rarely does hubris meet nemesis more explosively. Wherever you stand on the political spectrum, Original Sin is essential reading.

PURCHASE BOOK HERE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9798217060672?ic_referral=3mmJw49UnO2PvWwri5PcAYM9aWBgExYBNEURw8DBoLIwM235lq6UlQr-XdfOyfT83VzqfiC0vS_hIZY0nQiN5kIioiica-uyWhcl3A4o3A8AhPzurFMreGO_2A0ndZvSqPyHpmM

Jake Tapper wrote the bestselling nonfiction book The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor, which was turned into a critically acclaimed film in 2020, and two New York Times bestselling novels, The Hellfire Club and The Devil May Dance. He is an Emmy Award-winning TV journalist as lead DC anchor and chief Washington correspondent for CNN. A Dartmouth graduate and Philly native, he lives in Washington, DC, with his wife, daughter, son, three dogs, and cat.

Alex Thompson is a national political correspondent for Axios and a CNN contributor. Before that, he created Politico's West Wing Playbook newsletter and worked at The New York Times and Vice News. A Harvard graduate, he lives in Washington, DC. He has no pets, but is a proud uncle.

Tapper and Thompson are in conversation with Maureen Dowd. Dowd is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the New York Times, known for her sharp and incisive commentary on politics and culture. She is the author of three bestselling books: Bushworld, Are Men Necessary?, and The Year of Voting Dangerously. She lives in Washington, DC.

*recorded 5/22/2025

Countries dealing with major conflict are rarely portrayed in a well-rounded light by the media. Images of disarray and decline saturate their narratives, ignoring the strength, resourcefulness, and ingenuity that arise from having to navigate conflict. With empathy, curiosity, and an insistence on sharing different aspects of human survival, Hawa Hassan gathers singular, multifaceted narratives for eight countries from around the world.

Each chapter is devoted to a different country and opens with an informative essay on the culture and its history. Recipes follow highlighting indigenous ingredients and share intimate portraits of the people preserving food culture, including food from:

- Afghanistan, such as Bolani (Stuffed Flatbread) and Borani Banjan (Stewed Eggplant with Garlic Yogurt) 
- Democratic Republic of Congo, such as Chikwanga (Cassava Flour Cake) and Pondu (Cassava Leaf Stew) 
- Egypt, such as Ta'ameya (Fava Bean Fritters) and Ghorayeba (Shortbread Cookies) 
- El Salvador, such as Sopa de Res (Beef Shank Soup) and Pupusas con Curtido (Filled Masa Flatbreads with Cabbage Slaw) 
- Iraq, such as Shorbat Adas (Lentil Soup) and Bamia (Lamb and Okra Stew) 
- Lebanon, such as Malfouf (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls) and Mouhamara (Spicy Walnut and Red Pepper dip) 
- Liberia, such as Ground Peanut Soup and Kala (Sweet Fried Dough) 
- Yemen, such as Saltah (Lamb Stew with Fenugreek Fruth) and Sahawiq

An original and groundbreaking work, Setting a Place for Us returns agency to the people whose stories, up until now, have been ignored in the media. It sheds light on the important work of preserving recipes and food traditions in places of conflict and migration.

PURCHASE BOOK HERE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781984860972?ic_referral=iDXonGlG1AJTsuyi8X-f2ohl2B3tRCH_2YbS6akhB34wM3FiFG9OEIV7ZBPZNQTxmVqx5GxK_VXuNQxaFKc9vSRqpm56hHJhKUQ840agPiJCw1qXNFXJM5pfuEeb7fkcfnwHpZo

Hawa Hassan is James Beard Award winner, host of Food Network's Hawa at Home and Cooking Channel's Spice of Life, acclaimed author of In Bibi's Kitchen, and founder and CEO of Basbaas, makers of African-inspired sauces and condiments. An acclaimed speaker and presenter, Hawa has been covered by major international media including The New York Times, Vogue, Vanity Fair, The Wall Street Journal, Bon Appetit, The Seattle Times, Condé Nast Traveler, Thrillist, Ebony, The Ringer, San Francisco Chronicle, Forbes, The Washington Post, and New York Magazine.

Hassan will be in conversation with Joe Yonan, a cookbook author and longtime food writer and editor. He is the author of several books for Ten Speed Press, the most recent being Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking, which was named one of the best cookbooks of the year by NPR, The New York Times, Bon Appetit, Food and Wine, Esquire, and more. His previous book, Cool Beans (2020), was a bestseller and nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award. Since 2006, Joe has been food and dining editor at The Washington Post, where he has won two James Beard Awards for food coverage. He writes The Post’s "Weeknight Vegetarian" column and for five years wrote the "Cooking for One" column, both of which have won honors from the Association of Food Journalists. His work from the Globe and The Post has appeared in multiple editions of the “Best Food Writing” anthology.

*recorded 5/27/2025

The Battle for the Black Mind is an explosive historical account of the struggle for educational justice in America. Drawing on over a decade of archival research, personal reflection, and keen sociological insight, this book traces a century of segregated schooling, examining how early efforts to control Black minds through education systems has laid the foundation for the systemic inequities we still live with today. NAACP Image Award-winning author Karida L. Brown, takes readers from the rural South to the bustling cities of the North and connects the dots between the experiences of Black students and educators across the nation. From the founding of early Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), such as Hampton, Atlanta, and Tuskegee University, to the rise of the Black freedom struggle, The Battle for the Black Mind weaves together the stories of pioneering Black leaders and the institutions they built to educate future generations.

Far from dwelling solely on oppression, this book offers powerful insight into how Black people have always fought to create environments where Black minds could thrive. Brown concludes with an urgent and empowering call to action, equipping everyday Americans with practical steps--both big and small--to ensure that Black minds can continue to flourish, even as our education system itself comes under attack.

Grounded in both historical rigor and astute social commentary, The Battle for the Black Mind speaks directly to today's national fight over the American classroom, making it clear that the battle for Black minds is far from over. This book will resonate deeply if one comprehends the transformative power of education and is invested in understanding how education has always played a role in shaping the moral conscience of America. 

PURCHASE BOOK HERE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781538768433?ic_referral=dtVAT5E5i6XQnb-7bHk7YegifGdVrOqcZZUmsmepNgUwM9U3_O1vgSvCV-BIXkxtFbMLa_1STs_7ztZC1UPGzXO6FZPhTYJgdexf6T4uNOeIvyYHSbMrHGodJ8710LaVFeWvCcY

Karida L. Brown is an NAACP Image Award-winning author and public intellectual. A professor at Emory University, Brown is a leading scholar of systemic racism and the study of Black life. Her work, which spans over a decade of groundbreaking research and analysis, has earned her both national and international acclaim. She is the author co-author of The New Brownies' Book: A Love Letter to Black Families, continuing the legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois by centering Black narratives and empowering Black futures.

Brown is in conversation Dr. David J. Johns. Dr. Johns Johns is the chief executive officer and executive director of the National Black Justice Collective (NBJC), a civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+, and same-gender loving (LGBTQ+/SGL) people, including people living with HIV/AIDS. 

*recorded 5/22/2025

In On Muscle, Bonnie Tsui brings her signature blend of science, culture, immersive reporting, and personal narrative to examine not just what muscles are but what they mean to us. Cardiac, smooth, skeletal--these three different types of muscle in our bodies make our hearts beat; push food through our intestines, blood through our vessels, babies out the uterus; attach to our bones and allow for motion. Tsui also traces how muscles have defined beauty--and how they have distorted it--through the ages, and how they play an essential role in our physical and mental health.

Tsui introduces us to the first female weightlifter to pick up the famed Scottish Dinnie Stones, then takes us on a 50-mile run through the Nevada desert that follows the path of escape from a Native boarding school--and gives the concept of endurance new meaning. She travels to Oslo, where cutting-edge research reveals how muscles help us bounce back after injury and illness, an important aspect of longevity. She jumps into the action with a historic Double Dutch club in Washington, D.C., to explain anew what Charles Darwin meant by the brain-body connection. Woven throughout are stories of Tsui's childhood with her Chinese immigrant artist dad--a black belt in karate--who schools her from a young age in a kind of quirky, in-house Muscle Academy.

On Muscle shows us the poetry in the physical, and the surprising ways muscle can reveal what we're capable of.

PURCHASE BOOK HERE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781643753089?ic_referral=yrP-1eBuhfQ9B8_39mF7-PhTxCHr6XJHhf3pW2hIVokwM2jnzEbCDU0oO3icqtIx5RSqCk7mDvPNvCaGqZRi_hAV1ASkqnP0hRZLmCIW2WGr4dSmzy1Tl86_rOGUg1nNeY1G6UA

Bonnie Tsui is a longtime contributor to The New York Times and the bestselling author of Why We Swim, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and a Time magazine and NPR Best Book of the Year; it is currently being translated into ten languages. Tsui is also the author of American Chinatown, which won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and Sarah and the Big Wave, a children's book about the first woman to surf Mavericks and a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection. Her work has been recognized and supported by Harvard University, the National Press Foundation, the Mesa Refuge, and the Best American Essays series. She lives, swims, and surfs in the Bay Area, and her website is bonnietsui.com.

*recorded 5/28/2025

Zbigniew Brzezinski was a key architect of the Soviet Union's demise, which ended the Cold War. A child of Warsaw--the heart of central Europe's bloodlands--Brzezinski turned his fierce resentment at his homeland's razing by Nazi Germany and the Red Army into a lifelong quest for liberty. Born the year that Joseph Stalin consolidated power, and dying a few months into Donald Trump's first presidency, Brzezinski was shaped by and in turn shaped the global power struggles of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. As counsel to US presidents from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama, and chief foreign policy figure of the late 1970s under Jimmy Carter, Brzezinski converted his acclaim as a Sovietologist into Washington power. With Henry Kissinger, his lifelong rival with whom he had a fraught on-off relationship, he personified the new breed of foreign-born scholar who thrived in America's "Cold War University"--and who ousted Washington's gentlemanly class of WASPs who had run US foreign policy for so long.

Brzezinski's impact, aided by his unusual friendship with the Polish-born John Paul II, sprang from his knowledge of Moscow's "Achilles heel"--the fact that its nationalities, such as the Ukrainians, and satellite states, including Poland, yearned to shake off Moscow's grip. Neither a hawk nor a dove, Brzezinski was a biting critic of George W. Bush's Iraq War and an early endorser of Obama. Because he went against the DC grain of joining factions, and was on occasion willing to drop Democrats for Republicans, Brzezinski is something of history's orphan. His historic role has been greatly underweighted. In the almost cinematic arc of his life can be found the grand narrative of the American century and great power struggle that followed.

PURCHASE BOOK HERE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781982173647?ic_referral=l7elYGVVlYYbxpa30ZejAARh2lQygDUvfpQZcTcG6tEwM51x2B71q8DV6IXDTm7s-pb2D3tadAKYnkegi_FkJSQoEqGsRxfKbbDeF119pXGLmVwDybCS2YON4bKepwNbJH93fm8

Edward Luce is the Financial Times's chief US commentator and columnist. He is the author of three acclaimed books: The Retreat of Western Liberalism (2017), Time to Start Thinking: America in the Age of Descent (2012), and In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India (2007). He appears regularly on CNN, NPR, MSNBC's Morning Joe, and the BBC. He lives in Washington, DC.

Luce is in conversation with Kori Schake, a senior fellow and the director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Before joining AEI, Dr. Schake was the deputy director-general of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. She has had a distinguished career in government, working at the US State Department, the US Department of Defense, and the National Security Council at the White House. Dr. Schake is the author of five books and has been widely published in policy journals and the popular press. 

*recorded 5/21/2025