Pod Save America

Your last book, Original Sin, which you wrote with Alex Thompson from Axios, made a lot of waves. Um, it was about, you know, President Biden, his age and decline and the ways, um, that people around him prevented the disclosure of that decline.

We wrote a book about an unprecedented event happening, which was Joe Biden having such a horrible performance at a presidential debate where his only job was to convince people he was up to the task of being president for another four years.

We wrote a book in 2011 called Why Civil Resistance Works. And what we did there is we looked at 323 campaigns that you would call, say, maximalist campaigns. So they were trying to oust dictatorships.

And we found in that book a couple of important things. One is that the campaigns that had relied on people power, which is civil resistance, nonviolent civil resistance, where unarmed civilians prosecute the conflict using strikes, protests, boycotts and other unarmed methods, were more than twice as likely as their armed counterparts to have succeeded.

Cases like the Philippines people power movement or the Polish solidarity movement or even the latter part of the South African anti-apartheid movement were actually using a technique of struggle that was more effective than, say, the Algerian revolution or even the Cuban revolution, which many people had held up as sort of a hallmark of the success of armed revolutions.

You will hear the interview Lovett and I did at an event with Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson earlier this week about their book, Original Sin.

The entire premise of the book, which is based on more than 200 interviews with cabinet officials, members of Congress, fundraisers, donors, people who saw him up close who told us their stories.

If you continue the metaphor, the biggest symptom is publicly telling everyone that Joe Biden could be president for another four years.

I read it because I was really interested in moments when movements were able to galvanize public support, not just to make changes in a company or an industry, but to make broader political change.

And the book was really helpful to do that. And this conversation was really helpful to think about that, about getting public support, the balance between radicalism and pragmatism, the ways in which violence can harm a movement, and how much it matters when you have political leaders who are supportive of organizing and labor movements and when they're hostile to them.

The book is The History of America in Ten Strikes. I recommend everybody check it out.

Biden's diagnosis comes in the middle of a news cycle about the extent of his decline in office and his decision to run for re-election in 2024, which is chronicled in Original Sin, the new book by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson that is now out today.

Our old pal Dean Phillips, the Democrat who mounted a late primary challenge to Biden, told the New York Times that he doesn't think it's, quote, coincidental that this was announced the week that Jake and Alex's book dropped.

Our friend, Amanda Littman's great new book, When We're in Charge, the next generation's guide to leadership is out now from crooked media reads.

The book is a manual for leadership on your own terms, no fluff, no gatekeeping, no losing yourself in the process, just real tools, honest lessons, and the kind of clarity that younger leaders actually need.

I'm thinking about One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which I think actually becomes more relevant every day as a film. It's a very good movie, actually. Great movie. Great book too.

So Chastin's got a book coming out called Papa's Coming Home. It's a children's book.

Chastin was kind enough to bring some extra copies of his new book. That night, I read it to Charlie. I told Chastin this. But Charlie loved the book. Like, multiple LOLs from my... Endorsement.

My guest today is the author of the new children's book, Papa's Coming Home, which is out May 20th, right? But available for pre-sale now.

We got a new book from Crooked Media Reads. Our friend Amanda Lippman has written When We're in Charge, The Next Generation's Guide to Leadership. It drops next week, May 13th.

The next book from Crooked Media Reads is coming soon. It's called When We're in Charge? The Next Generation's Guide to Leadership by our pal Amanda Littman.

When We're in Charge is part manifesto, part manual, and just so helpful in thinking about how young people can lead and run for office.

So Peter Atiyah, who is a doctor that was recently, like a longevity guy, who was recently brought- Extremely popular book. Extremely popular book. Outlive, right?

Actually, like, you know, I didn't know that he was in the fucking Epstein files. Like, I've seen clips from him. And I was like, oh, that's interesting. How real is this guy?

The book is The U.S. Constitution, a comprehensive and annotated guide for the modern reader.

First of all, this is for the modern reader.

I did it so you don't have to. I go through and I explain what every single clause is doing, what it's for, what they were animated by when they decided to include it. But there are all kinds of really fun stories about the Constitution that you probably didn't even know that are in this book.

We live in a world where we act like the Supreme Court is the final word on our rights. This book shows that ordinary people can be constitutional changemakers and that the Constitution is a living document that we can understand and shape.

The book is The U.S. Constitution, A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader. Everyone go pick it up, please.

Last week, Tommy and I sat down with California Governor Gavin Newsom ... to discuss his new book, Young Man in a Hurry, A Memoir of Discovery.

Let's talk about the book. You've been saying that writing this book made you realize that for most of your life, you were trying to be someone you're not.

And that's what this book is, I'm paying homage to her. To thank her for her sacrifice, teaching me resilience and grit.

And so this book was cathartic. It's not a sanitized politician's book, man.

Governor, you've been so generous with your time, everyone. The book is Young Man in a Hurry. It is honestly... It's a really good book.

I wrote a book over the break called An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro.

What was interesting about it is it was about what happens in a country after the fascist fervor breaks.

the upcoming release of the memoir has then prompted Newsy's exfiance, political journalist Ryan Lizza, to tell his side of the story in a multipart series on his new substack

the New York Times style section piece about her book just kind of yada yada right past that and didn't really touch it

Geraldo Rivera wrote a memoir in 1991 with the title ExposingMyself? That detailed all of his exploits

she's also out with a fascinating new book that I'm loving, A Dream Deferred, Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power.

you are also the author of a brand new book, A Dream Deferred, Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power, which is now on sale.

The other reaction I had coming through the book was just this feeling of frustration and anger that there aren't many potential Democratic candidates today who have the ability, I think like Jackson did, to speak from a place of passion and moral conviction about social and economic injustice, while also very explicitly trying to build a multiracial working class coalition.

The book is A Dream Deferred, Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power. It's fantastic. Everyone go pick it up.

I think part of it was the story in the book about how he did a rally with farmers whose farms were being foreclosed, showing his unique outreach to rural voters.

So, Robin, you recently put out a book called Make It Ours, Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh.

Two things occur to me from the book.

If you enjoyed my conversation with Robin Givon, please pick up her latest book, Make It Ours, Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh.