Pod Save America

Democracy or Else is officially number one in the New York Times bestseller list

which means all of you who bought the book and helped it get there also contributed to vote save America

that's a lot of money to vote save America and that means that a lot of campaigns grassroots organizations that are going to help elect Democrats up and down the ticket and register voters in 2024 are gonna get more money

so good for you guys and even more importantly for the rest of our lives we get to say we're number one New York Times bestseller

I know I saw you try to get around it whatever

Seems like Else is winning right now but that's okay

Thanks to Harvard Bookstore for selling Democracy or Else. Go get a copy.

Having actually had a chance to read a bit of this, you should tell your friends because this is a book that lets you read fast and look really smart.

It is a fantastic primer on what's happening, but it's an even better way for us to feel good about what we can get done. So I would just tell people that.

It's called Democracy or Else. It dropped Tuesday and it's available at fine bookstores everywhere, including here at this show.

It's how to get involved in politics in a way that's fun. It's not scary. That's not confusing.

It's short and also appreciated that the font was large.

It's for people who just read tweets all day, you know? Which is me.

The length reads like people that had a deadline.

It's just about, it's like, it's how to get involved in politics in a way that's fun. It's not scary. That's not confusing.

Pre-order Democracy or Else: How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps at crooked.com/books or wherever books are sold. Out June 25th.

Look, you have been on the New York Times bestseller list, which is our goal. What do you have to do to get there?

Like who do we grease and will you make a gigantic bulk purchase on my behalf?

I've already made several bulk purchases because I'm competitive. And if you if I was on the list, if you guys were on the list, I wanted to have that little dagger that they give for bulk purchases.

They always give to Ted Cruz, Ted Cruz, Don Jr.

They all get the little dad because the RNC buys them in bulk.

The very serious answer here is here is how you get on the bestseller list. This is the key.

People who are listening to this podcast right now, what they do is they go grab their phone, which they already have because they listen to this podcast and they preorder the book.

You go to crooked.com slash books to do that.

You can do it wherever you get your books. But that is the best way because every preorder gets dumped into the New York Times bestseller list the moment the book goes on sale.

That gives you a huge surge of momentum, which then puts you up the rankings on all the sites, which then gets you more publicity, which gets the book featured more.

So we cannot live in a world where this book is not on the New York Times bestseller list and not yet the top of the New York Times bestseller list.

So everybody listening, go preorder it right now.

It is very simple. You know you're going to buy it eventually. So buy it now and have more impact.

I'm excited for our first just like scathing review.

I don't know if it's going to come from the left or the right, but it's coming, baby. And it's going to hurt.

I don't think you're going to get a scathing review. I've read the book.

It is great. It is funny. The illustrations are great.

Hopefully what you want is you want to enrage someone on the right. Ben Shapiro and a bunch of other people went nuts over my last book and it was incredibly helpful.

Really?

Yes.

We're working on that.

Tickets to both shows include copies of the book.

Go to crooked.com slash events to get your tickets now.

If you're not in the New York or Boston area or you can't make it, go to crooked.com slash books to pick up a copy of Democracy or Else.

You'll enjoy it, we promise.

And as you know by now, Crooked Media is going to donate all the proceeds from the book to support Vote Save America and 2024 candidates.

So you are reading for a good cause or just putting something on your shelf for a good cause. Either is fine by me.

It is a how-to guide. Yes, if you want to get involved in this election and hopefully future elections without losing your mind, that's yeah, that's it.

And we got some tips. We got some advice from some really smart people. There's some jokes. There's some illustrations.

This is a public service you guys seriously.

Yeah, and all the profits from the book they go to vote save America and organizations protecting democracy on the ground.

So supporting the book is supporting a good cause and love it.

We worked really hard on this book. And yes, all the profits from this book go to Vote Save America and organizing on the ground to help protect our democracy.

It is actually funny. Like I feel like there's a lot of people who are really funny and cynical about politics. And there's a lot of really earnest doofs out there, you know, crossing the Delaware and every goddamn tweet.

But we worked really hard to try to make something that was helpful, useful, entertaining, funny, hopeful without being like kind of saccharine, you know, like a lot of that, like a lot of the content out there.

And it's illustrated, you know, so you can just flip through it.

And I feel like when we're all going to be paying attention to the news in a way that can suck the soul right out of your body, like this is a really fun way to remember why you cared about politics in the first place.

Everyone has their own unique amount of politics they can stomach or that they want. You might just be looking to get better informed. You might be trying to figure out how to vote.

You might be trying to figure out how to give donations more efficiently, or maybe you want to run for office yourself. We got you covered step by step in this book.

There's a chapter for you. You'll learn something.

Also, there's some embarrassing stories about us.

And there's really smart advice from people who are a lot smarter than us.

If you're listening to this and you've been listening to us for a long time, just do us a goddamn favor and buy the book.

We've been doing this podcast. We'll give you a refund for every episode.

It's free. We were losing to Christy Noem and Bill Maher at one point on the rankings.

We want to get this on the New York Times bestseller list because that's how the book gets into other bookstores and in front of a lot of people that might not otherwise come across it.

And that's how democracy is saved, ultimately.

It's saved at the fucking airport Hudson goddamn news.

It's Democracy or Else and right now, Else is ahead.

Crooked.com slash books. Check it out wherever you like to buy books and you can preorder it right now.

What a good time to plug my our book, Democracy or Else, which is on sale.

You can pre-order it right now. It'll be released a week from Tuesday.

I mean, I guess that counts as an organic plug. I guess.

Look, I came into the recording. The book was on the table, which I guess is just a not so subtle push from everyone on the marketing team to start pitching the book.

Look at this book. Look at this beautiful hardcover book.

We are two weeks out from the release of Democracy or Else. John, John and Tommy's incredibly useful, funny, timely book.

You cannot possibly let John and John Tommy live in a world where I made the bestseller list and they did not.

So each book is actually helping save democracy and you get a funny, smart, illustrated guide to get you through this election year.

Pre-order Democracy or Else: How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps at crooked.com/books or wherever books are sold. Out June 25th.

We are officially less than three weeks away from the publication of our book Democracy or Else how to save America in 10 easy steps June 25th, Dan.

We're so close. It's here. It is here.

It would be like his one night off, but I'm happy. I'm happy to do it. You guys did many of my book events.

We're kicking off the pod Save America live tour at the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre with very special guest host Stacey Abrams.

We're going to be pre-gaming the Trump Biden debate with a book chat at First Parish Church.

But for those persuadables in your life, it might be best to give them an actual book they can follow to get ready for this election year.

Love It, Tommy and I wrote one. Our first book. It's called Democracy or Else? How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps, coming June 25th.

And it's the perfect first step to getting your friends and family off the sidelines and engaged.

We know that election years can be overwhelming, but that's why we gathered all of our political insights from Pod Save America and our smartest friends in politics to write this funny, useful guide to help you and your friends through 2024.

Order Democracy or Else: How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps at crooked.com/books or wherever books are sold.

If you're struggling to convey the stakes of 2024 to someone in your circle, this show is perfect for you. But for those persuadables in your life, it might be best to give them an actual book they can follow to get ready for this election year. Love It, Tommy and I wrote one. Our first book. It's called Democracy or Else, How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps coming June 25th.

And it's the perfect first step to getting your friends and family off the sidelines and engaged. We know that election years can be overwhelming, but that's why we gathered all of our political insights from Pod Save America and our smartest friends in politics to write this funny, useful guide to help you and your friends through 2024.

Plus, when you preorder, you're not just getting a book, you're already making a difference because Cricut is donating all of its profits to Vote Save America and 2024 campaigns.

Is it because June 25th is the release date of Democracy or Else?

It'll be in the paperback, people.

As you know, we wrote a book. Tommy Lovett and I have a book coming out called Democracy or Else, How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps.

The book's about how you can make a difference at every level of politics.

Pate of America has hit in the road this summer. The Democracy or Else book tour begins in Brooklyn on June 26th, followed by Boston on June 28th.

buy our book, Democracy or Else.

If that sounds threatening good, it was supposed to.

We only have a few months left to try and stop the country from getting Donald Trump as president again.

So we're done with subtlety.

Pick up brand new Democracy or Else merch inspired by our book that you haven't even seen yet, but the merch is inspired by it.

You can learn more and get tickets at crooked.com/events.

That is a fucking professional organic plug.

But that's a story you're going to have to buy Democracy or Else, How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps, to read the entire anecdote.

VIP tickets include a signed copy of our book Democracy or Else: How to save America in 10 easy steps and more exclusive merch and you know what we finished signing all the copies took like hours so many copies

Our VIP ticket bundles include the best seats in the house, plus a signed copy of our new book, Democracy or Else, How to Save America in 10 easy steps.

If Biden's remarks didn't cure your anxiety about the year ahead you can pre-order our book uh Democracy or Else right now at cricket dot com slash books and uh we're going to be donating the profits to support votes of america it's partners and other organizations which are mobilizing around the twenty twenty four election it's a fun book lots of illustrations pretty short a good guide to how to get through this election and other elections if we have them and uh and again it's it goes to a good cause VSA so pre-order your copy of Democracy or Else now at cricket dot com slash books

I've read it it's great dan is ready i've read it i pre-ordered it it is a short read which is real that's that's a plus you're gonna learn a lot you're gonna laugh a lot it's not gonna take so much your time go for it

Also, preorder our book, Democracy or Else? How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps.

It's a fun, useful guide to getting involved while keeping whatever's left of your sanity intact.

Plus, Cricut will donate its profits from the book to support Vote Save America and other organizations mobilizing for the 2024 election.

Democracy or Else is available on June 25th, but you can preorder your copy now at Cricut.com slash books or wherever books are sold.

Tommy and I wrote a book and it's coming out June 25th, 2024.

It's called Democracy or Else How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps.

Cricket's donating the profits to support Vote Save America, its partners and other organizations mobilizing for progressive outcomes in the 2024 election and beyond.

Democracy or Else: HOW TO SAVE AMERICA IN 10 EASY STEPS is coming June 4, 2024. Pre-order now at crooked.com/books or wherever books are sold.

Listen, they said this day would never come...Oh, no, he did it. There are people who didn't believe we could write something longer than a tweet. We were among them. John...Oh, we wrote a book.

It's a podcast, but you write it down. You put it on this stuff called popper.

It's basically a lot of the stuff we've said on the podcast and a lot of advice that we've gotten from people much smarter than us. Politicians, activists, organizers appears in the book. We're doing interviews with a lot of those people that those will appear in the book, too.

And it it's going to be released June 4th, 2024 just in time and just in time for the for the twenty twenty four election and the twenty twenty five insurrection just to to handy guide to help you through it.

We had a big announcement on the book today. Book tour dates are out for the first set of cities.

Book is out June 19th. All proceeds from the pre-sale go to Swing Left.

Is it because June 25th is the release date of Democracy or Else?

You're the best hype man for Democracy or Else, Dan.

It'll be in the paperback, people.

As you know, we wrote a book. Tommy Lovett and I have a book coming out called Democracy or Else, How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps.

The book's about how you can make a difference at every level of politics.

Pate of America has hit in the road this summer. The Democracy or Else book tour begins in Brooklyn on June 26th, followed by Boston on June 28th.

Buy our book, Democracy or Else.

If that sounds threatening good, it was supposed to.

We only have a few months left to try and stop the country from getting Donald Trump as president again.

So we're done with subtlety.

This is not the nuance business, all right?

You can learn more and get tickets at crooked.com/events.

That is a fucking professional organic plug.

Kyrgyz.com slash books.

VIP tickets include a signed copy of our book Democracy or Else: How to save America in 10 easy steps and more exclusive merch.

Our VIP ticket bundles include the best seats in the house, plus a signed copy of our new book, Democracy or Else, How to Save America in 10 easy steps.

we're going to be donating the profits to support votes of america it's partners and other organizations which are mobilizing around the twenty twenty four election it's a fun book lots of illustrations pretty short a good guide to how to get through this election and other elections if we have them

I've read it it's great dan is ready I've read it I pre-ordered it it is a short read which is real that's that's a plus you're gonna learn a lot you're gonna laugh a lot it's not gonna take so much your time go for it

Tommy and I wrote a book and it's coming out June 25th, 2024.

It's called Democracy or Else How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps.

Cricket's donating the profits to support Vote Save America, its partners and other organizations mobilizing for progressive outcomes in the 2024 election and beyond.

We were among them. John. Oh, we wrote a book. We wrote a book. It is how to save America, how Democracy or Else how to save America in 10 easy steps.

It's illustrated, so it'll go quickly. It's funny. It basically a lot of the stuff we've said on the podcast and a lot of advice that we've gotten from people much smarter than us.

We're donating the profits to help support Vote Save America and other 2024 campaigns.

It it's going to be released June 4th, 2024 just in time and just in time for the for the twenty twenty four election and the twenty twenty five insurrection just to to handy guide to help you through it.

You can preorder now at Crooked dot com slash books or wherever books are sold.

A great place to start is our New York Times number one bestselling book, Democracy or Else, How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps.

Another great way to support Vote Save America is by buying John John and Tommy's book, Democracy or Else, How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps because Crooked's donating the profits to support Vote Save America and progressive campaigns in 2024.

With 89 days until the election, Democracy or Else is the perfect gift for anyone who's ready to get involved in politics but doesn't know where to start.

You guys all already know about John Leavitt and Tommy's great book, Democracy or Else, How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps.

the new save america coffee table book where he threatens mark zuckerberg with jail time.

the book you guys wrote is a great guide for how to do that and I think it's manageable for people to say you know what I'm going to really give a little more extra time in this than I might normally do because it's only 90 days

Another great way to support Vote Save America is by buying John John and Tommy's book, Democracy or Else, How to Save America in 10 Easy Steps because Crooked's donating the profits to support Vote Save America and progressive campaigns in 2024.

It's now been one month since Crooked Media Reads published our first book Mobility by Lydia Kiesling and not only did it make the bestseller list. It also received amazing reviews from outlets like the LA Times which called it an emotionally and geopolitically savvy coming of age story.

It's a human story, but it's also about sort of the lies we tell ourselves when we know we're not doing something that is right, the sprawling nature of the energy business.

It's a really fun novel that follows the main character Bunny from her time as a teenager as a foreign service brat in Azerbaijan to her adulthood working in the energy industry.

A beautifully written and stunningly smart novel, a cautionary tale for our times.

It's a human story, but it's also about sort of the lies we tell ourselves when we know we're not doing something that is right, the sprawling nature of the energy business.

She's incredibly smart and I think you'll all love it.

It's a beautifully written and stunningly smart novel, a cautionary tale for our times.

Crooked Media Reads' first book, Mobility by Lydia Kiesling, is out now! Get your copy atwww.crooked.com/Mobility.

Mobility is a coming of age novel about navigating a world of corporate greed that's both laugh out loud, funny and politically insightful.

If you listen to this pod, this book is in your wheelhouse.

Crooked Media Reads' first book, Mobility by Lydia Kiesling, is out now!

Mobility is a coming of age novel about navigating a world of corporate greed that's both laugh out loud, funny and politically insightful.

If you listen to this pod, this book is in your wheelhouse.

We are excited to share that the first book from our very own Crooked Media Reads is available for preorder today. The novel is called Mobility by Lydia Kiesling, who also wrote the incredible book The Golden State.

We've been fans of Lydia's work for a long time. I think friends of the pod are going to love this book. Mobility is gripping and hilarious.

It's part coming of age story and part indictment of capitalism in the oil industry. It moves between Houston, Athens and Azerbaijan and attracts themes of class, power, politics and desire all through the life of a very compelling character, Bunny Glenn.

Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks called it, quote, a masterpiece of misdirection and a cautionary tale for our times.

Preorder Mobility at crooked.com slash Mobility or wherever books are sold so you can be the first to read it when it's released on August 1st.

It's now been one month since Crooked Media Reads published our first book Mobility by Lydia Kiesling and not only did it make the bestseller list, it also received amazing reviews from outlets like the LA Times which called it an emotionally and geopolitically savvy coming of age story.

It's fiction, it's a novel. It's a really fun novel that follows the main character Bunny from her time as a teenager as a foreign service brat in Azerbaijan to her adulthood working in the energy industry.

It's a human story, but it's also about sort of the lies we tell ourselves when we know we're not doing something that is right, the sprawling nature of the energy business.

It's a really fun novel that follows the main character Bunny from her time as a teenager as a foreign service brat in Azerbaijan to her adulthood working in the energy industry.

It's a human story, but it's also about sort of the lies we tell ourselves when we know we're not doing something that is right, the sprawling nature of the energy business.

Crooked.com/Mobility or wherever books are sold.

Crooked.com/Mobility or wherever books are sold.

Crooked Media Reads' first book, Mobility by Lydia Kiesling, is out now!

Mobility is a coming of age novel about navigating a world of corporate greed that's both laugh out loud, funny and politically insightful.

If you listen to this pod, this book is in your wheelhouse.

Crooked Media Reads' first book, Mobility by Lydia Kiesling, is out now!

Mobility is a coming of age novel about navigating a world of corporate greed that's both laugh out loud, funny and politically insightful.

If you listen to this pod, this book is in your wheelhouse.

Also, a reminder that Crooked Media Reads' first ever book, Mobility, by Lydia Kiesling, is available right now for pre-order. Vulture included Mobility on its 14 books we can't wait to read this summer list.

Head to crooked.com slash Mobility to pre-order your copy today and be the first to read when it's released on August 1st.

Also, a reminder that Crooked Media Reads' first ever book, Mobility, by Lydia Kiesling, is available right now for pre-order. Vulture included Mobility on its 14 books we can't wait to read this summer list.

The novel is called Mobility by Lydia Kiesling, who also wrote the incredible book The Golden State.

We've been fans of Lydia's work for a long time. I think friends of the pod are going to love this book. Mobility is gripping and hilarious. It's one of those novels you'll nag all your friends to read.

It's part coming of age story and part indictment of capitalism in the oil industry. It moves between Houston, Athens and Azerbaijan and attracts themes of class, power, politics and desire all through the life of a very compelling character, Bunny Glenn.

Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks called it, quote, a masterpiece of misdirection and a cautionary tale for our times.

I am still finishing promise A Promised Land, which is Barack Obama's memoir.

I would also recommend you read Barack Obama's take on this in his not particularly well-known book, Promised Land, which has only sold seven gazillion copies.

President Barack Obama the author of the new Book A Promised Land.

More importantly The guy who launched Podcast the world, let's face it I get no royalties But I am proud of you guys Sir the check is in the mail So Vclav Havel Is a surprise star in this book And for those who don't know Havel is a playwright, he's a dissident He became the first president of the Czech Republic and in the book We first encounter him during this stop in Prague On one of your foreign trips You guys have a brief meeting and I remember I was on that Trip and I remember that meeting So well because I had read Summer Meditations in college And I brought along my copy of the book Right here with me on the trip Because I naively thought that Spokespeople on foreign trips with the President have time to read books That is not how it works but Havel is prescient In the way he warns you about the double-edged Sword of high expectations and then How autocrats had evolved and how the economic Crisis was strengthening the forces of nationalism And then you mentioned him again In the context of the Cairo speech and then again After your conversation with Prime Minister Singh about Hindu nationalism And anti-Muslim sentiment in India So I guess my question to you is just What drew you to Havel And did you find it depressing Talking with him About the rise of nationalism and how Easy it was to predict and yet So difficult to prevent

Well look what drew me to him Was what had drawn You to him. I had Read his works in college And as I write about He was The Example of someone who had Grown out of a Mass movement A social movement from the bottom up Had then entered politics and His soul had remained intact Right so You know there were A handful of political leaders That I Look to as an example Because as I described my Inspiration wasn't JFK Or Some other Elected official My inspiration Was Gandhi And Lekh Malessa And you know the Civil rights workers In SNCC And it took me a while To feel comfortable with the idea That you could bring about change In electoral politics Because I had this sort of skepticism That I think a lot of young people At least growing up in America had towards Politicians and So when I see Havel and Mandela really those were the two Where I thought Oh you can make that transition Retain some sense Of connection to the mass movement That produced you And still enter into government So that was why I was keen on meeting him

But specifically Ben and I are gonna focus on all the foreign policy parts of the book, his record.

Our old boss, Barack Obama said in his Atlantic interview when he was talking about his new book that he had talked to an organizer who was canvassing in a majority black Philadelphia neighborhood.

And when he was talking to voters, they were talking about QAnon conspiracies about Joe Biden.

Our old boss, Barack Obama said in his Atlantic interview when he was talking about his new book that he had talked to an organizer who was canvassing in a majority black Philadelphia neighborhood. And when he was talking to voters, they were talking about QAnon conspiracies about Joe Biden.

I am still finishing promise A Promised Land, which is Barack Obama's memoir.

I would also recommend you read Barack Obama's take on this in his not particularly well-known book, Promised Land, which has only sold seven gazillion copies.

She wrote a book by the same name.

You wrote this amazing book, come on the show, you geeked out about it, you decided to get into the podcast game and you were like higher ground.

The whole idea of the Some of Us the podcast is to kind of pick up where the book left off.

And check out Whataday this week to hear the team break down news around restrictive voting laws in Texas and the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Abdul is joined by our friend Heather McGee to talk about her fantastic book The Sum of Us and how race has affected the pandemic.

Everyone should go check it out.

In The Sum of Us, I talk about the way in which that this country has turned its back on the formula that helped create the greatest middle class the world had ever seen because we had a social contract that said that it was the government's job to make sure that our people have a high standard of living.

This racial resentment piece is at the core.

This zero sum story that I point out in The Sum of Us that is so much like the biggest impediment to our progress, this idea that progress for people of color has to come at the expense of white people.

Everyone go by if you haven't already, The Sum of Us, What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. It is a brilliant book. I'm so glad you wrote it.

It's a fantastic book. It's officially out today.

It's a classic divide and conquer, which is the central sort of analysis and indictment in my book, The Sum of Us, that Republicans have tried to cleave white working class people away from their brothers and sisters in the broader multiracial working class by resentment politics, by saying that it's either a dollar in your pocket or it's a dollar in the pocket of brown and black people.

I think that there are a lot of political books that people say you should read because really what they mean is they think other people who don't already agree with us should read them. Like, I agree so heartedly with this book, so you should read it. But this is a book that I think does something rare, which is it puts together a lot of pieces about what is broken in our system and helps you have a way to think about it that you might not have seen before.

The book is The Sum of Us, and I really hope everybody buys it.

She's currently working on a book called The Sum of Us, What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together.

She wrote a book by the same name.

You wrote this amazing book, come on the show, you geeked out about it, you decided to get into the podcast game and you were like higher ground.

The whole idea of the Some of Us the podcast is to kind of pick up where the book left off.

The book left off with this idea that because racism and our politics and our policymaking has a cost for everyone, that people coming together across race to actually put aside our divisions and gain from the collective power that comes with collective action is going to be the ticket to us winning big things.

And check out Whataday this week to hear the team break down news around restrictive voting laws in Texas and the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Everyone should go check it out.

In The Sum of Us, I talk about the way in which that this country has turned its back on the formula that helped create the greatest middle class the world had ever seen because we had a social contract that said that it was the government's job to make sure that our people have a high standard of living.

This racial resentment piece is at the core.

This zero sum story that I point out in The Sum of Us that is so much like the biggest impediment to our progress, this idea that progress for people of color has to come at the expense of white people.

Everyone go by if you haven't already, The Sum of Us, What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. It is a brilliant book. I'm so glad you wrote it.

It's a fantastic book. It's officially out today.

It's a classic divide and conquer, which is the central sort of analysis and indictment in my book, The Sum of Us, that Republicans have tried to cleave white working class people away from their brothers and sisters in the broader multiracial working class by resentment politics, by saying that it's either a dollar in your pocket or it's a dollar in the pocket of brown and black people.

I think that there are a lot of political books that people say you should read because really what they mean is they think other people who don't already agree with us should read them. Like, I agree so heartedly with this book, so you should read it. But this is a book that I think does something rare, which is it puts together a lot of pieces about what is broken in our system and helps you have a way to think about it that you might not have seen before.

The book is The Sum of Us, and I really hope everybody buys it.

And all of this, I will just say, is explored so brilliantly by my friend Heather McGee in her book, The Sum of Us, which is like the idea of if someone else is doing better, that means you're doing worse. And in fact, like in the example she uses is during segregation, in lieu of having black kids and white kids swim at the swimming pool together, some communities shut down the pool entirely.

Hillbilly Elegy was a good book. It just was.

Ron Howard made my book into a film.

He's got a life experience, a life story that is remarkably compelling, but this is JD Vance.

His arguments are a little weak, the diet Mountain Dew stuff, the everything's racist. He also made a comment the other day, which is very telling. And it's the point of the whole exercise, why you want JD Vance.

He's not nearly as substantial as you'd think his life experience and his book and the movie made about his book should be.

It's like, you know, President Biden and Kamala Harris overlooked Ohio and Michigan and Wisconsin and look at all these like, but it's not going to get any attention because he's written all these things and sell these things in the past that just make him fucking weird.

He's also doing a lot of training wheel stuff. He's like doing interviews with Trump. What a waste of time. I know.

It's also the challenge of the Trump Republican Party trying to rebrand itself as like the workers party, right? Even if you decide to pivot from the tax cuts for the rich and the deregulation agenda and all that bullshit, they are so obsessed with the like weird cultural shit that even if they have an economic populist story to tell, like J.D. Vance ostensibly does and has in Hillbilly Elegy and since then, like it's just going to get lost because they have all these other crazy ideas on cultural issues that are so out of step with mainstream America that that's going to get the attention.

I know he had a bestselling book but not that many people read it.

And that's why that book became a, a, a liberal darling cause it was actually like kind of being honest about the ways these places were supposed to be responsible for what had happened.

And it's, and that's why that book became a, a, a liberal darling cause it was actually like kind of being honest about the ways these places were supposed to be responsible for what had happened.

the question with him has always been like is he the JD Vance from his book that seemed more reasonable yeah which I read at the time I thought was pretty good and I know you're not allowed to say that anymore

Oh, my God, we have to learn everything we possibly can about the middle of America.

they all suddenly turned into fucking anthropologists.

Let's go out and let's find the diner. And let's go. Let's go to the white working class.

They were like salon book clubs about Hillbilly Elegy.

He is a Yale educated venture capital executive, Evan McMullin voter whose biggest supporter is a Facebook billionaire running as a populist heir to Trumpism.

the question with him has always been like is he the JD Vance from his book that seemed more reasonable... and it seems like an effort to better understand people's problems and solve them I think he was wrong about all his solutions but the JD Vance that we've all gotten to know since is scary and isolationist in bad ways and just a bad person and a demagogue.

The things that he has done as governor of Minnesota are the same kinds of programs that enabled a young J.D. Vance when he was going by a completely different name to survive while his mother was struggling with drug addiction, like while his grandmother was raising him. And J.D. Vance talks about that in Hillbilly Elegy. Those government programs were the bridge that allowed them to keep going as a family. Why then are you against them now and why are you pillering Tim Walls? Because he did more of that as governor.

JD studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and then wrote a bestseller trashing that community. Come on!

Those government programs were the bridge that allowed them to keep going as a family. Why then are you against them now and why are you pillorying Tim Walz? Because he did more of that as governor.

the experience taught me a valuable lesson that I could do it. I could work 20 hour days when I had to, I could speak clearly and confidently with TV cameras shoved in my face.

the experience taught me a valuable lesson that I could do it. I could work 20 hour days when I had to, I could speak clearly and confidently with TV cameras shoved in my face.

Dan's battling the big daily wire today.

In your new book, Battling the Big Lie, which is on sale today, right?

And so I think this is the singular challenge for our party over the next couple of years. Are we working despite having a growing majority with more popular ideas, more popular politicians? We're going to keep coming out on the short end of the stick.

Well, I know it's accurate because you've been talking about this broader challenge of the sort of right wing disinformation ecosystem and how much it does or how far it goes on Facebook.

If Ben Shapiro, Dan Bongino, Dan Bongino, Clay Travis hate the book, people who listen to Positive America will probably love it.

We are now less than two weeks out from the release of Battling the Big Lie, my book about how Fox, Facebook and the MAGA media are infecting our politics and what we can do about it.

It is I think gets at one of the questions that drives this podcast and now our listeners to focus on which is how is it possible in a country where progressives have the majority of voters, more popular positions, the more popular politicians that Republicans and conservatives keep winning some of the battles and that Donald Trump almost won, right-wing propaganda disinformation is one of the reasons for that. And in this book I try to explain how it happened, how it works, what we can do about it.

Battling the Big Lie, which for those who don't know is my book out on June 7th about the right wing propaganda and disinformation machine, where it came from, how it works, and perhaps I think most importantly what Democrats can do about it.

For every one of those pre-orders, I will be donating a portion of the proceeds to the Texas Library Association's battle against book bans in Texas.

For every pre-order, we'll be donating a portion of the proceeds to Texas Library Association and my publisher, 12 Publishing, which is headed by Sean Desmond, a great guy and son of a Texas librarian, will be matching the donation for the next 1,000 books pre-ordered.

Battling the Big Lie, Alchon 7th, pre-order it.

Well, John, I'm so glad you asked. Thank you. Look, in all seriousness... It was on my mind. It was on my mind. Yes.

In all seriousness, I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone, all the Pod Save America listeners, friends of the pod who went out and pre-ordered Battling the Big Lie, my book about right-wing disinformation and what Democrats can do about it that comes out on June 7th.

Go order it. Do it.

Everyone go buy Pre-Order Battling the Big Lie.

See why our very own Dan Pfeiffer called Midas Touch's unique approach to covering the news a sign of hope in his latest book and subscribe to the Midas Touch podcast today.

In your new book, Battling the Big Lie, which is on sale today...

This is the message versus megaphone problem. Democrats spend 99 percent of their time worrying about what they should say and only 1 percent figuring out how to get people to hear what they are saying.

And it is my contention, as I write about in the book, that that is a product of a decades long effort from right wing Republican political operatives like Roger Ailes and Steve Bannon, funded by billionaires like Rupert Murdoch and the Mercers to create this. I call it the mega megaphone.

I lay out how the right wing build up this megaphone, how it works. I think most Democrats do not understand. They sort of think Fox is bad. They don't understand how powerful Facebook is and just how prevalent mega extremist messaging is on it.

If Ben Shapiro, Dan Bongino, Dan Bongino, Clay Travis hate the book, people who listen to Positive America will probably love it.

We are now less than two weeks out from the release of Battling the Big Lie, my book about how Fox, Facebook and the MAGA media are infecting our politics and what we can do about it.

It is I think gets at one of the questions that drives this podcast and now our listeners to focus on which is how is it possible in a country where progressives have the majority of voters, more popular positions, the more popular politicians that Republicans and conservatives keep winning some of the battles and that Donald Trump almost won, right-wing propaganda disinformation is one of the reasons for that.

And in this book I try to explain how it happened, how it works, what we can do about it.

Battling the Big Lie, which for those who don't know is my book out on June 7th about the right wing propaganda and disinformation machine, where it came from, how it works, and perhaps I think most importantly what Democrats can do about it.

For every one of those pre-orders, I will be donating a portion of the proceeds to the Texas Library Association's battle against book bans in Texas.

Battling the Big Lie, Alchon 7th, pre-order it.

Well, John, I'm so glad you asked. Thank you. Look, in all seriousness... It was on my mind. It was on my mind. Yes.

In all seriousness, I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone, all the Pod Save America listeners, friends of the pod who went out and pre-ordered Battling the Big Lie, my book about right-wing disinformation and what Democrats can do about it that comes out on June 7th.

And so just always so grateful for this community of people who always come together and support our stuff and have been very supportive of my books in the past.

Go order it. Do it. Kellyanne Conway beat Dan. We don't need that here.

Everyone go buy Pre-Order Battling the Big Lie. Have a great weekend, and we will talk to you next week.

So Battling the Big Lie, how Fox, Facebook, and the MAGA media are destroying America comes out on June 7th.

It is about how everyone from Roger Ailes to Steve Bannon, with the help of Mark Zuckerberg and Donald Trump have built a massive messaging operation that I think is the greatest weapon in American politics.

I explain where it came from, how it works, who pays for it, and I think hopefully, most importantly, what Democrats, the media, all of us, everyone, me, everyone listening here can do to fight back against right-wing disinformation, online trolls spreading hate, the Ben Shapiros, Steve Bannon's of the world.

many people unhelpfully would point out to me that it was a bad idea to write a book because there is a limited audience for progressive books in the post-Trump era.

go to Battling the Big Lie.com, upload your proof of purchase. Give us your name and address.

Dan, you got a book that will save democracy.

Yeah, Ben and I, we had a blast this week.

The book comes out on Tuesday, February 15th.

And I wrote it because I do think our democracy is in a much more dangerous place than people actually believe.

And that starts in the 2020 election and it continues after we win.

Dan mentioned last pod that the paperback version of his book Yes We Still Can is out and available.

The paperback version of my book, Yes We Still Can, Politics in the Age of Obama, Twitter and Trump is out this week.

If you didn't get a chance to get the hardcover, get the paperback.

Oh, and good important point. New epilogue talking about what happened in 2018 and projecting forward some lessons we could learn from 2018 for 2020.

So new content. Oh, new content alert in the paperback.

So the week before the election sucks and it's very hard and stressful as we know. So we're going to give away a hundred 50 copies of my book.

So to do that, you go to yes, we still can book.com.

Yes, We Still Can will debut at number one on the New York Times nonfiction book.

for the next two weeks, a portion of proceeds from Yes, We Still Can, we donate it to NARAL because the thing that is perhaps most at risk - more at risk than any time in my life in politics is women's right to choose.

So everyone go buy Yes, We Still Can.

How many days till the book release, Dan?

We are...By the time you hear this we'll be one week out.

the title of the book is Yes We Still Can, Politics in the Age of Obama, Trump and Twitter.

It makes it easier to find on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound and all of your other places where you can find the books.

What's the book called Dan? Yes We still can. Politics in the Age of Obama, Trump and Twitter.

If you go to the website, yeswestillcanbook.com, there will be links to buy it in all the various ways. Barnes & Noble, Books & Million, Amazon, IndieBound, which is a site that lets you buy books from your local independent bookstore.

It is also now available for pre-order on Audible.

tweet at me your proof of purchase because every one of those provides me with one additional minute of good night's sleep every night.

It is called Yes, We Still Can: Politics in the Age of Obama, Twitter, and Trump.

And it's about how Barack Obama and all of us navigated the forces in politics that ended up creating Trump, whether that's the Republicans going crazy, changes in media, Twitter.

I got a lot to say about Fox News and the Trump media in there.

But also I try to take from that some lessons that we learned and how Democrats could apply those to the future for the battles that come in 2018 and 2020.

And if you like Pods of America or at least one half of the Thursday Pods of America, I think you'll like this book.

I've been reading your book. It is excellent.

It's a very, very good first draft of history.

Jonathan Martin, thank you so much for joining Pod Save America. The book is This Will Not Pass by Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns. It's now a bestseller. Read it, hate read it, trigger yourself, buy one for your friends.

So we will be talking to the man who got his hands on some audio tapes of Kevin McCarthy, Jonathan Martin, about his book, his new book, This Will Not Pass on Monday's Pod Save America.

It is excellent. I imagine a lot of our listeners have seen all the scoops that have spilled out of the book in advance of publication.

It's a New York Times bestseller.

Read it, hate read it, trigger yourself, buy one for your friends.

It's now a bestseller.

It's a very, very good first draft of history.

We will be talking to the man who got his hands on some audio tapes of Kevin McCarthy, Jonathan Martin, about his book, his new book, This Will Not Pass on Monday's Pod Save America.

New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns report that soon after January 6th, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell told associates they believed President Trump was responsible for inciting the deadly riot and vowed to drive him from politics.

the very excellent book, The Trump Indictments

Andrew and I wrote that book, The Trump Indictments, and we annotated all four indictments.

Strix Grutonny, and the co-author of the book, The Trump Indictments, the Historic Charging Documents with commentary.

The Trump Indictments, the Historic Charging Documents with commentary by Melissa Murray and Andrew Weisman.

She's one of the hosts of Strict Scrutiny and co-author with Andrew Weissman of the new book, The Trump Indictments, the historic charging documents with commentary, which you can preorder now.

It's the big value add, like putting all of this in context so lay audiences can understand what's going on and follow along with these trials when and if they happen.

Joining me now to help break down the latest developments in the various and sundry cases against Donald Trump...She's one of the hosts of Strict Scrutiny and co-author with Andrew Weissman of the new book, The Trump Indictments, the historic charging documents with commentary, which you can preorder now.

It's the big value add, like putting all of this in context so lay audiences can understand what's going on and follow along with these trials when and if they happen.

Strix Grutonny, and the co-author of the book, The Trump Indictments, the Historic Charging Documents with commentary.

The Trump Indictments, the Historic Charging Documents with commentary by Melissa Murray and Andrew Weisman.

Well, listen, if you wanna understand more about all these cases, you should absolutely read The Trump Aditements, The Historic Charging Documents with commentary by Melissa Murray.

Joining me now to help break down the latest developments in the various and sundry cases against Donald Trump... She's one of the hosts of Strict Scrutiny and co-author with Andrew Weissman of the new book, The Trump Indictments, the historic charging documents with commentary, which you can preorder now.

It's the big value add, like putting all of this in context so lay audiences can understand what's going on and follow along with these trials when and if they happen.

She's one of the hosts of Strict Scrutiny and co-author with Andrew Weissman of the new book, The Trump Indictments, the historic charging documents with commentary, which you can preorder now.

It's the big value add, like putting all of this in context so lay audiences can understand what's going on and follow along with these trials when and if they happen.

If you're in the LA area the day after Super Tuesday, all four of us will be at the Wilshire Ebel Theater to talk about Dan's book, Untrumping America, and all the latest primary results.

We are two and a half weeks out from the release of Untrumping America and I've gotten the latest pre-order numbers and we're feeling good, but we have a lot of work to do to get to win the bet with the publisher.

And I do feel very passionately about this book and I've probably never felt as passionately about it as I have this week, as I've watched what the Republicans are doing in the impeachment trial, sort of what the fears that led me to write this book are sort of manifest right now.

And I always encourage people to, if they are generous enough and kind enough to purchase a book of which the portion of the proceeds could have verified action to share it on social media.

And that is, that does make me feel much better. I have to tell you how much nicer it is to open up Twitter and see people saying they bought my book, then yelling about something terrible.

I'm hitting the road after the book comes out. I'm going to do, um, a 17 stop tour for the book and it's going to start on February 19th in New York city.

We do because it's 2020 and it's before February 18th, the date the book comes out.

We will announce next week all of the tour stops. We are going to be traveling all over the country, including many battleground states.

You can find more information on those events and some of the other forthcoming ones at untrummingamerica.com/tour.

We announced a promotional giveaway where if you pre-order the book between now and this Friday, you can get a poster Of the cover that has not of Dan not of me.

if you pre-order the book you go to untrumpingamerica.com you upload your purchase You can get a poster.

So you now know out now have till Monday the poster says on November 3rd. Let's untrump America

The book, not the concept.

So we are announcing today a special promotional giveaway where anyone who pre-orders the book between now and Friday, January 17th, we'll get in the mail a signed poster version of the cover of the book, which says on November 3rd, let's un-Trump America.

If you are, if you're one of the American heroes who pre-ordered the book already and desperately want a poster, do not worry. You are still eligible.

whether that's a hardcover book, a Kindle, an audio book will be donated to Fair Fight Action, Stacey Abrams' group to protect our voting rights.

Go buy Untrumping America, everyone. Go buy it. It's going to be a fucking great book and it's going to teach you not only how we can beat Donald Trump, but how to fix our politics. It's a fantastic read. Go buy it.

but on Trumping America out February 18th, I will donate a portion of the proceeds of any and all books, hardcover, ebook, audio book to Fair Fight

I worked really hard on this book and I want people to read it, but also I am in a competitive battle with my publisher who has told me approximately 1,000 times that I will not pre-sell as many books as I sold last time because second books are harder, which makes no sense to me.

And of course, if you preorder Dan's new book on Trumping America, you will be able to help Fair Fight through buying the book as well.

And this book, which will be released on February 18th, 2020 is called Untrumping America, A Plan to Make America a Democracy Again.

It is born of the idea that there is nothing more important than beating Trump in 2020, but that is not enough to fix our democracy.

Because you have to beat him like a drum.

I am donating a portion of the proceeds of every book sold in the presale period to our friends at Fair Fight, Stacey Abrams' group that is helping protect voting rights and doing as much as anyone out there to ensure that America is a democracy.

If you can buy the book by going to untrumpingamerica.com, that gives you access to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indie Bound, where you can get it from a local independent bookstore.

I think it it really is Dependent upon the definition of a poll definition of the sample

The poll that you're referring to which is the 25th year at harvard shows Among likely voters that the race is relatively normal

The vibe and the rooms in 2017 different when trump was in office in terms of the fear and the anxiety and the concern I'm i'm hearing the same thing but in the economic um perspective that I had never heard of before

It's how they feeling it and perceiving it at this moment in this very, you know Young part of their other overall hopefully adult experience

They'll say something to the effect of I want to progress on student debt on gun violence on climate

John Della Volpe, pollster and author of "Fight: How Gen Z is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America," joins to talk about the President's struggle with younger voters.

John Della Volpe joins to talk about the president's challenge with younger voters.

John Della Volpe, pollster and author of "Fight: How Gen Z is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America," joins to talk about the President's struggle with younger voters.

My name is John Della Volpe. I am the director of polling at the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School. I was a Biden pollster in the 2020 campaign, focusing on the youth vote. And I am the author of Fights, how Gen Z is channeling their fear and passion to save America.

He was doing little fist bumps if you read Art of the Deal too.

Sweden does have at least one big Republican fan. His name is Donald Trump. How do we know this? Donald Trump pretended to be of Swedish ancestry for decades, including the line in his book, The Art of the Deal.

The Trump family was German, but pretended to be Swedish to avoid angering Jewish tenants during World War II and then just kind of went with it because it seemed cool.

But he's taking - this is like we said last week. He's buying his cards at sticker price.

The Bible is the only book better than art of the deal

That's right, Dan. Donald Trump, the president of peace, the darling of Davos, duked it out with Denmark over Greenland, and he art of the dealed himself into his greatest achievement yet. Let's take a listen.

It's really hard not to see this through the lens of the art of the deal.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited Iowa last week for his book tour, prompting the New York Times headline, 'A Glimpse of DeSantis in Iowa'.

He talks about how we did an outsource decision-making on COVID to Fauci and creating a Faucian dystopia or a quote biomedical security state.

He has a whole section about how smart he was going behind the scenes to do that implication. There are some Republicans who are unable to smartly do anything behind the scenes.

I wanted to move the embassy to Jerusalem. He had to get Trump on board.

He is the... Like, the Tea Party seed planted in 2011, that is him. That is the Mark Meadows version of things.

Trump was president for four years. Trump didn't do that. Trump never thought of attaching.

Do you guys know, have we talked about what DeSantis' book that's coming out, I think in February is called?

Oh, The Courage to Be Free.

Courage to be Free.

You nailed it. Both of you. Wow. Well, cause I pre-ordered obviously.

That's a good one. Gotta get my sign copy. The Courage to Be Free. Of course. Sure, Mike.

He talks about how we did an outsource decision-making on COVID to Fauci and creating a Faucian dystopia or a quote biomedical security state.

Everything you mentioned is about Trump. He does that in his book too.

I did a speed read right as soon as it was coming out and the stuff that jumps out is it's not just how he retells the stories, but he'll mention. And then the White House got this wrong or even the way that he...

The whole Disney thing, which I don't need to recapitulate the whole thing, but basically he legislatively, the way he took away the Disney state in Central Florida was attaching it at the very end of a special session.

He has a whole section about how smart he was going behind the scenes to do that implication. There are some Republicans who are unable to smartly do anything behind the scenes. It leaks the front page of New York Times. It leaks on...

DeSantis is kicking off what appears to be a pre-presidential announcement MAGA Media Tour for his new book, The Courage to Be Free,

which the New York Times is calling Culture War Mad Libs with a dull coldness at its core that reads like a politician's memoir churned out by chat GPT.

Doesn't the book tour doesn't exist to promote the book. The book exists to promote the tour.

I do think this book is like right in the fucking center of the target of exactly the kind of shit Rhonda Santas would would produce.

woke ideology is bad Florida good generic biography.

Do you guys know, have we talked about what DeSantis' book that's coming out, I think in February is called?

Oh, The Courage to Be Free.

Courage to be Free.

You nailed it. Both of you.

Well, cause I pre-ordered obviously. That's a good one. Gotta get my sign copy.

A little little book called Audacity of Hope that did pretty well.

It's much like The Audacity of Hope tour.

I think Obama wrote about this in the book eventually, but he got his place. He got like the bare minimum stuff in the apartment and he forgot a shower curtain.

A little little book called Audacity of Hope that did pretty well.

It's much like The Audacity of Hope tour.

I think Obama wrote about this in the book eventually, but he got his place. He got like the bare minimum stuff in the apartment and he forgot a shower curtain.

That was in the Michael Wolff book.

So we had this book Fire and Fury and it's written by a sleaze about sleaze To narrate a sleazy guy, right fine.

With the coverage we have been reading for the past day look different if that book had never even come out We've not spent three or four or five weeks talking about just how incompetent and just how ridiculous the administration is The answer is no, right?

So the book had absolutely no impact right even though everyone recognizes that it's probably at the very worst 75 true, right? so what does that tells me that like There is a desire to to not truly allow the truth of this administration's behavior and conduct Seep into coverage because ultimately that is a simple and boring story to write over and over again,

But like if you wonder why the clinton people go crazy if you look in your times op-ed page this weekend One had a column that from maureen dow that talked about how hillary enabled bill's bad behavior a column She's been writing for 20 years and another lauded melania trump as some like Transgressive first lady breaking the mold because she didn't go to davos after it was revealed that her husband Paid off a porn star he slept with

doesn't this clip basically confirm the central thesis of Michael Wolff's book, which is that Trump has no fucking idea what he's doing.

Now, there's been a lot of questions about whether all of Wolff's reporting is accurate or embellished.

I do think to see a White House that has so little regard for the president of the United States, when they're currently dedicating their lives to working for the man, that they would shithunt him to a person, including his own children like that.

They hang up the phone and they're exasperated.

He is, I've said this before, a Fox News loving low information voter who became president.

The reality with this book is his team fucked up royally by the way they responded to this.

Trump celebrated over Christmas by playing golf for seven days in a row, flew back to Washington over New Year's, turned on Fox News and reacted to those yapping morons with more than a dozen public statements released to the world via Twitter.com on Tuesday.

Trump taunted fellow madman Kim Jong-un by saying that he has a bigger nuclear button.

Steve Bannon describing the June 2016 meeting between Russian spies and Don Jr., Jared, and Paul Manafort as treasonous and predicting that the investigation will focus on money laundering and end up taking down Kushner and Don Jr.

He has axes to grind. He thinks Donald Trump is a moron.

It's the larger truth here that's more important. And the larger truth is from this book that no one who works for Donald Trump or who has ever worked for Donald Trump believes he is capable of doing the job of president of the United States, which is a frightening conclusion.

And so, of course, he's going to do as little as possible. They have made a choice that this in some way helps them politically, that that all these denunciations come from people he never had. And that's sending this quiet signal to the worst elements of our country will help him politically in ways I don't fully understand.

And so, of course, he's going to do as little as possible. They have made a choice that this in some way helps them politically, that that all these denunciations come from people he never had. And that's sending this quiet signal to the worst elements of our country will help him politically in ways I don't fully understand.

The paperback version of Ben Rhodes' book, The World as It Is, went on sale Tuesday, April 2nd. It is a fantastic book, one of my favorite Obama books. Go buy yourself Ben's book if you haven't already.

It was a fantastic series on Crooked Convos.

I mean we read it but tell the audience about it. Why is the why'd you write it? The main message you're trying to get across there

I do think that you and this isn't shouldn't be surprising but you capture how Barack Obama thinks and Sort of what he was thinking during all these moments of the presidency better than anyone else.

Everyone should go buy the book and read it It is it is very very excellent memoir

I'm just behind Newt on the list So if you guys can help me get up there at least get closer to Newt

Everybody should also of course buy Dan's book and and people need to buy my book before the Pfeiffer juggernaut comes down the tracks

Tommy's new episode of Pod Save the World is up. It's a conversation with our pal Ben Rhodes about his new memoir, The World as It Is. It's fantastic. It's up now. Everyone go buy the book. You will enjoy it very much.

But first I wanted to say as someone who has recently written a book, Ben's book is so good and I cannot imagine the fact, not only that he wrote it and it's a beautiful book, which you can only expect from Ben because Ben is a beautiful writer.

This was in I think the New York Review. This will be the best view of the Obama presidency from anyone other than Barack Obama, in my view. Ben was there for all the big moments and he writes about it beautifully.

We have another book that's coming out from the Obama family and the Crooked Media family, Ben Rhodes.

Ben Rhodes has a book coming out on June 12th, 2018 but it's available for pre-order now on Amazon and the book is called The World as It Is and it's sort of about Obama's foreign policy over the last eight years he was in office but also about Ben's personal story about working for Obama which he did since the early days of the 2008 campaign when I desperately needed another writer to help out and was suggested Ben Rhodes, smart foreign policy guy and I soon saw he was one of the most brilliant writers and best people that I could have ever hired.

Yeah I would say this, I can't imagine anyone who saw more over the 10 years of the Obama decade of 2007-2017 than Ben.

Yeah. He is a beautiful writer. How they always says that every Ben Rhodes speech finds a way to make her cry.

I have pre-ordered my copy and I would encourage everyone to do so. It's going to be, I think when people look back on the Obama years many many many years from now Ben's book will be a very important part of the story.

He's the author of the books like Woke Inc., which attacks social justice movements.

He's the author of the books like Woke Inc., which attacks social justice movements.

Vivek Ramaswamy's Truth

He's the author of the books like Woke Inc., which attacks social justice movements.

Former Trump Defense Secretary Mark Esper has a new book out on Tuesday and it's a bit of a doozy He writes that in 2020, the former president

The most recent of which was Peril.

Wouldn't it be almost cool to have that power?

Pence says, no, I've done everything I could and then some to find a way around this. It's simply not possible.

No, no, no. You don't understand, Mike. You can do this. I don't want to be your friend anymore. If you don't do this.

You took away my authority. You're not the president. I'm the goddamn president.

You're all fucked up, everybody. You're all fucked. Every one of you is fucked up.

And that got me thinking about how every Bob Woodward book has three core elements.

One, juicy insider details to sort of an omniscient voice that makes it impossible to verify said details. Three, a histrionic title.

The most recent of which was Peril.

Wouldn't it be almost cool to have that power?

Pence says, no, I've done everything I could and then some to find a way around this. It's simply not possible.

No, no, no. You don't understand, Mike. You can do this. I don't want to be your friend anymore. If you don't do this.

I wanted to tell a story about the arc of his life about the world of dysfunction that he came from where corruption touched on various aspects of the media of the real estate industry that he came from of his family business of machine boss politics and of racial tribalism in New York and how all of that was exported by him to Washington and foretold how his presidency was going to go.

He is not strategic and I do hope that people who read a lot of strategy into what he does come away with realizing that from reading the reporting in the book, but what he is is more calculating moment to moment and I hope they get that too.

I think a great deal. I would I would put that in one bucket I think another bucket that explains his political success is that he spent decades brick by brick news story by news story building this orifice of himself as a you know, a massively successful tycoon Commensurate with you know, New York's biggest names in finance, which was just not who he was.

But the view of him outside of the five boroughs of New York was much more that that was the case And I remember being very struck by the cognitive dissonance in that in 2015 A big part of that was him playing himself on The Apprentice, you know the the person who We got to see over and over again doesn't really like interpersonal conflict and doesn't really like to fire people himself Had the catchphrase you're fired and that's what he was known for.

combined with to your point He both intimidates and is about power and dominance But he also tries to entertain and that has kept him where he is.

So, Maggie wrote a preview in The Atlantic and a few outlets got copies of the book. So, we already have plenty of tidbits.

And let me tell you, it doesn't seem like the guy was the best president.

Maggie's like, 'Oh my god, I think he's racist. Oh my god, I think he's transphobic.'

Donald Trump said in this book, 'You know how some guys you always kind of knew they were gay? Not Jason Miller. Not even one percent.'

When he is being asked to speak to trans issues, he's asking if a hypothetical college student asking about trans rights is cocked or uncocked.

A lot of reporting Maggie Haberman has done in some of these books that Cipollone was often the person trying to stop Trump and his allies from committing a lot of crimes, stopping and failing in many cases.

I wanted to tell a story about the arc of his life about the world of dysfunction that he came from where corruption touched on various aspects of the media of the real estate industry that he came from of his family business of machine boss politics and of racial tribalism in New York and how all of that was exported by him to Washington and foretold how his presidency was going to go.

He is not strategic and I do hope that people who read a lot of strategy into what he does come away with realizing that from reading the reporting in the book, but what he is is more calculating moment to moment.

He both intimidates and is about power and dominance But he also tries to entertain and that has kept him where he is.

I see him as a boss. I'll answer that slightly differently because I think an authoritarian has a coherent view of governance And and I think an authoritarian doesn't mind having responsibility in addition to power I think Donald Trump is all about avoiding responsibility.

He does not enjoying himself. You can see it when he's at these rallies. It's just something is is not quite what it was

So that's going to be a bit harder thanks to next Tuesday's release of New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman's eagerly awaited Trump book Confidence Man.

And let me tell you, it doesn't seem like the guy was the best president. I'll just that's the spoiler alert from the from what I've read.

Maggie's like, oh, my God, I think he's racist. Oh, my God, I think he's transphobic. Oh, my God, Maggie.

And it really made me lose respect for John Kelly, because like you had him where you wanted him and you fucking you fumbled the bag, man.

When he is being asked to speak to trans issues, he's asking if a hypothetical college student asking about trans rights is cocked or uncocked.

So I would read books that kind of pushed me to think about some of these issues, like The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander and other books that made me feel a sense of urgency around making sure our kids got better schools and making sure our justice system was really reformed and we started to decarcerate.

Michelle Alexander talks about being a second class citizen. We are the last second class citizens in this country.

He went to the bookstore and got a whole bunch of books from The New Jim Crow to Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy.

The Road to End Mass Incarceration Could Begin with Mercy for Some January 6 Rioters