Politics and Prose Presents

Politics and Prose
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Politics and Prose is a large, independent bookstore uniquely situated in the nation’s capital and serving a broad array of Washington readers, writers, thinkers, teachers, and policy-makers. In addition to our incredible selection of titles, Politics and Prose offers more than 500 public events each year, bringing leading authors across all genres to venues in Washington, DC. Visit us online at www.politics-prose.com.

  1. 12h ago

    Robert Wright — The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning - with Joel Achenbach

    From bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Robert Wright comes a sweeping new view of artificial intelligence that argues this revolution will challenge us spiritually and could restore a missing ingredient in modern life—our sense of purpose.The God Test is the first book that sees AI not just as a technological tool with good and bad applications, but as an evolutionary force that will alter the trajectory of humanity itself. Written by one of our foremost public intellectuals, and informed by his decades of chronicling the digital age, the book boldly asserts that the current wave of AI progress is just the beginning. The changes we are about to witness will bring the most abruptly dramatic transformation in the history of our species.Wright provocatively suggests that to truly understand the significance of the AI revolution, we need to expand our perspective beyond the last century or even the whole history of technology and look back billions of years, across the entire history of life on Earth. All along, he says, evolution has been pushing life toward this technological threshold, which now confronts our species with a climactic challenge: Can we muster the political, moral, and spiritual resources needed to guide this technology wisely?If we fail this challenge, the consequences for the whole planet could be grave. But if we meet the challenge—if we pass “the God test”—we can live in a world where humanity thrives, finding not just happiness but deeper meaning and purpose. We can be enriched and uplifted by, rather than imperiled by, awesomely intelligent machines. Robert Wright is the New York Times bestselling author of The Evolution of God (a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize), Nonzero, The Moral Animal, Three Scientists and their Gods (a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award), and Why Buddhism Is True. He is the cofounder and editor-in-chief of the widely respected Bloggingheads.tv and MeaningofLife.tv. He has written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, Time, Slate, and The New Republic. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania and at Princeton University, where he also created the popular online course “Buddhism and Modern Psychology.” He is currently Visiting Professor of Science and Religion at Union Theological Seminary in New York.  Wright is joined in conversation with Joel Achenbach. Joel Achenbach retired in August from The Washington Post after 35 years as a reporter, columnist and blogger. In recent years he reported on health and science for the National Desk. He is the author of seven books, including “The Grand Idea: George Washington’s Potomac and the Race to the West” (2004). PURCHASE BOOK: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781668061657?ic_referral=G2T9cqxbmziJNoa9F1qtQ88KEFvaWNkui8vqftuGXG4wM9VF0KI9hhjArc11zBLv0MsP_B__Vq-c__AB_nhsq8cFEAzAn3mU4FN9ZOWkhEEv8kvCRHHNFJ5tabehkzoKPW4RbRw

  2. 1d ago

    Beverly Gage — This Land is Your Land: A Road Trip Through U.S. History - with Timothy Shenk

    Pulitzer Prize–winning author of G-Man and acclaimed historian Beverly Gage takes the ultimate road trip into the American past.Ride along with Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Beverly Gage as she travels the country to see the museums, historic sites, roadside attractions, reenactments, and souvenir shops where Americans learn—and fight—about our history. From the birth of the nation in Philadelphia to Disneyland and the California dream, This Land Is Your Land offers a guided tour of thirteen places and thirteen key moments that define America’s greatest successes and challenges.The year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, a document that proclaimed the liberty and equality of all human beings, but produced a country that often failed to agree upon—or live up to—those ideals. This Land Is Your Land is for everyone who wants to find that history—to experience it and confront it, to celebrate it and condemn it—in the places where it happened.Gage shows that Americans can face their past and still love their country. Toss the book in the back seat—or listen on audio with the windows down—and join the journey. Beverly Gage teaches American history at Yale. Her book G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century received the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Biography, the Bancroft Prize in American History, the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Biography. She is also the author of The Day Wall Street Exploded: A Story of America in its First Age of Terror, and writes for numerous journals and magazines, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. Gage is joined in conversation with Timothy Shenk, a historian of modern American politics at George Washington University. His latest book, Left Adrift: What Happened to Liberal Politics, was named one of the best books of 2024 by the New Republic, and his previous book, Realigners: Partisan Hacks, Political Visionaries, and the Struggle to Rule American Democracy, was chosen as one of the best political books of 2022 by the Wall Street Journal. A former editor of Dissent, he was named GW’s best professor by the university’s student newspaper, the Hatchet, in 2024. PURCHASE BOOK: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781668033104?ic_referral=seeuBo9eqRLVxx-F6XitCwgkqK6qiTI9qW6xZpcDdhkwMzeDlWK6N46eEDLN6ln8qt6FJI0qcjp8taWNhvLk_b04H6S8iJrWtO0RPpH-8x0VS05xhSuMQOkWW2Lg9KjJfuzdqBo

  3. 2d ago

    Lily Qi — Elected American: From Red China to Blue Maryland - with Josh Kurtz

    “Only in America can you run for office and get elected by people who can’t even pronounce your name.”—Lily Qi Thirty years after her solo journey to America, Chinese-born Lily Qi became a Maryland state delegate. It was a gratifying moment she did not take for granted. Qi had overcome a viral WeChat disinformation campaign from her Chinese community and met with skepticism from the Democratic establishment before being elected. Elected American tells the inspirational story of Qi’s dreams, setbacks, and achievements with candor and humility. Growing up in Mao’s Shanghai when “politics meant danger,” she never imagined running for public office. However, living in America, Qi came to see political participation as a missed opportunity for immigrants. As she campaigned to energize her cultural base, Qi realized she had to teach first-time voters how to make their votes count in a system not designed for them. As the only U.S. state legislator to have lived through China’s Cultural Revolution, Qi brings a rare cross-system perspective to American politics and the modern-day Asian American identity. Elected American is a political memoir and an immigrant story that emphasizes that democracy doesn’t wait on the sidelines—it favors those who participate. Lily Qi has served in the Maryland House of Delegates since 2019, representing Montgomery County, a suburb of Washington DC. As a champion for economic competitiveness and cultural competency, Qi is a leading voice on immigrant integration, civic and political engagement, and the Asian American experience. Qi is in conversation with Josh Kurtz, the founder of Maryland Matters, a 9-year-old nonprofit news website that covers Maryland government and politics, and is the co-host of Maryland Now, a new podcast that makes deep dives into Maryland policy.  PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781439927182?ic_referral=OaSVqi7Ax-2ACYgcOn0UWM-DMp_o-bdQ1NmPa9wzzWowM1XalISEQ8fE0x9sIRez7x7BE6rWl7jds3GrHHi40E7yBUdGPt7M_wiXVkfp08GdO8cc7yqETG6t4KKpQWj2kINtJVY

  4. 3d ago

    Alex Snider — Sometimes You Should Be Late: The Quiet Rebellion of Slowing Down in a World Obsessed with Speed -with Rebecca Davis

    What if the real measure of your life isn't how fast you run, how much you do, how 'on time' you are, but how well you pay attention to what actually matters? Sometimes You Should Be Late is about the quiet courage to slow down when the world keeps shouting, hurry up. It's not really about clocks; it's about questioning the stories we've inherited about time and consciously, rebelliously, choosing our own path. We live in a culture that worships urgency. Like horses with blinders, we're trained to look straight ahead--at deadlines, meetings, and to-do lists. This book invites us to lift those blinders and see what we're missing: the colleague who has a sad look in their eye, the simple joy of a walk, the gift of a slow morning with loved ones, the stranger who needs help. Because sometimes being late is how we arrive on time for what truly matters. Drawing on stories from government, psychology, and everyday life, meditation teacher and writer Alex Snider offers a field guide for reclaiming your attention from urgency culture. This isn't about hacks or time-management tricks. It's about choosing presence over punctuality, kindness over checklists, and our humanity over the clock. Alex Snider is a writer, facilitator, and former government strategist who bridges the worlds of public service and mindfulness. He brings over 15 years of federal experience to his work, having shaped domestic policy through the President's Management Agenda, represented the United States as a diplomat at the Department of State, and served in roles at the World Bank, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, and the U.S. Senate. He holds degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.Alex writes about mindfulness, urgency culture, and relationships for Psychology Today, his Substack Slow Mindfulness, and other publications. A certified meditation and authentic relating instructor, he has led hundreds of workshops in Washington, DC, and beyond. He also co-founded Mindful Fed, a cross-government mindfulness community that has grown to thousands of participants, helping public servants slow down and show up with presence. Snider is in conversation with Rebecca Davis, who has produced for HBO, VICE, Al Jazeera and A&E — and was the supervising producer for Season 2 of Vox's Netflix show, Explained. She was a senior producer with NBC News for nearly a decade, where her work focused on social movements, environmental and economic justice, and community innovators. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781788609685?ic_referral=8fQfXuWkReYWIu1PArynQpNf6QJQngXW02cs-en8_zowM6MbDecWLOucv1FxruN6IrM99x090x_t6DDnM7doMKSSGSf0O5oeEx9ZgJqLkAVjY5fdtn1ESVKuPT5B_GTR_wnQAJs

  5. 4d ago

    Liz Lerman — Shape and Momentum: An Insomniac's Guide for a World in Constant Motion - with Diana Ayton-Shenker

    A choreographic manifesto for life in motion, offering new ways to navigate change and thrive amidst instabilityA sequel to Hiking the Horizontal, Liz Lerman's Shape and Momentum: An Insomniac's Guide for a World in Constant Motion is a choreographic manifesto for living in motion--part memoir, part creative toolkit, part philosophical inquiry. Written in a series of essays, from single-paragraph meditations to expansive chapters, the book weaves together personal anecdotes, creative theory, and movement-based wisdom. Lerman draws on Heisenberg's uncertainty principle to frame a central question: how do we hold both shape and momentum--form and change--at once? With insight and generosity, she explores creativity as a life practice, rooted in embodied knowledge and accessible to all. Witches from her decade-long project Wicked Bodies appear throughout as fierce, funny guides, helping readers stay curious and grounded. Essays are grouped in thematic sections--lived experience, kinship, rejection, reflection, and radical imagination--culminating in an "Atlas of Creative Tools(R)," a practical and poetic resource. Bridging dance, education, politics, and spiritual practice, Shape and Momentum offers tools for navigating instability and making a more relational world. Liz Lerman is a choreographer, writer, educator, and the recipient of numerous honors, including a 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship, the 2017 Jacob’s Pillow Award, and the 2002 MacArthur “Genius Grant” Award. Liz founded and led the Dance Exchange from 1976 until 2011, where she cultivated the company’s unique multi-generational ensemble. Current projects include building the Atlas of Creative Tools®, an online resource and archive, and Legacy Unboxed™ that involves a series of site-specific research performance events called My Body is a Library™. Lerman’s upcoming book is a collection of personal essays set to be published by Wesleyan University Press in 2025. Liz continues to evolve the Critical Response Process® through the annual certification program and an upcoming fundamentals course. Liz is the author of Teaching Dance to Senior Adults (1984), Hiking the Horizontal (2014), and co-author of Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process (2003) and Critique Is Creative (2022) with John Borstel. She is currently an Institute Professor at Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and a Fellow at the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy. Lerman will be in conversation with Diana Ayton-Shenker, CEO, Leonardo/ISAST (International Society of Arts, Science, Technology); Executive Director, Leonardo-ASU; Professor of Practice, ASU, and Senior Global Futures Scientist at Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Lab. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9780819501684?ic_referral=xP4NVtiPhmoUeFM6t5czwp_1H7-xcrLyCgm6LGO8aOwwM7APonZH38UX8oIuDp4iJ0OlWgJsatlNT4VRPh25-cZfYzTmg3sxmj7mQZYf6lIx_BkveiOr9j8KcG85tqNQFcBCqNM

  6. 5d ago

    Carol J. Williams — Dispatches from Moscow: Spies and Lies (The Iron Curtain Chronicles) - with Marie Yovanovitch

    A sweeping Cold War love story set against the crumbling Soviet empire Moscow, 1986. Natalie Chester has finally achieved her dream: a posting as an American news correspondent in the USSR at the very moment history pivots. But within days of her arrival, the Chernobyl disaster erupts, her fiancé abandons her, and her bureau chief wages a relentless campaign to destroy her career. Then she meets Anatoly Kuznetsov—a rising Soviet diplomat whose Nordic looks and reformist ideals set him apart from the gray functionaries of the Kremlin. Their attraction is immediate and dangerous. As they navigate secret meetings, KGB surveillance, and the disapproval of both governments, Natalie and Tolya become allies in a larger mission: to help end the Cold War before it ends humanity. From the radioactive aftermath of Chernobyl to clandestine trips through the Estonian countryside, from war-torn Afghanistan to a cherry blossom proposal in Tokyo, their love affair unfolds against the decade's most dramatic events—the Reykjavik summit, Gorbachev's glasnost reforms, and the brutal suppression of Baltic independence movements. But as the Soviet empire begins its death throes, the couple discovers that the hardliners willing to kill for the old order will stop at nothing to preserve their power. Inspired by the author's own experiences as a Moscow correspondent during perestroika, Dispatches from Moscow is a meticulously researched thriller that captures the intoxicating danger of journalism in an authoritarian state and the impossible choices faced by those who dare to imagine a better world. It's a story of professional ambition and personal sacrifice, of idealism tested by reality, and of a love that burns brightest in the shadow of the Iron Curtain's final days. Carol J. Williams is a retired foreign correspondent who covered the historic upheaval that ended the Cold War in an award-winning 35-year career with Associated Press and Los Angeles Times. She lived through the USSR's brief era of hope for reform and the tragic consequences of its failure. She followed Eastern Europe's euphoric rebellions that toppled Communist tyrants from Berlin to Bucharest. In Yugoslavia, she documented the rise of ethnic and religious nationalism fanned by corrupt leaders who pushed their peoples into devastating wars. Her dispatches from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine traced those conflicts to unresolved ideological disputes from their days of imperial oppression. Williams is a graduate of the University of Washington and holds a journalist law certificate from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. She lives with her husband Ken Olsen, a retired editor, in Silverdale, WA. Williams is in conversation with Marie Yovanovitch, the author of the New York Times best-selling memoir, Lessons from the Edge. During her thirty-three-year diplomatic career, Ambassador Yovanovitch served as the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (2016-2019), the Republic of Armenia (2008-2011) and the Kyrgyz Republic (2005-2008).  She worked in a number of senior State Department positions, as well as at U.S. Embassies in Moscow, London, Ottawa, and Mogadishu. Ambassador Yovanovitch has earned multiple awards, including the Presidential Distinguished Service Award twice. She is currecntly a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a non-Resident Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University, and a Distinguished Fellow at the Institute of Global Politics, Columbia University.   PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781965766590?ic_referral=qzdovIxL0NQ5jnoPIQRcdSNJ4LxLJCAtHTAkkvuWpQwwM1xoX9jobDpXH98wjTzkSuR7CdzOsvrVbvnrkgWmtIO-FTlU6G7UZgA60XLAYYiiUGhTw7zE4BohESEG5_iskudq34U

  7. 6d ago

    Donna Butts — Grandfamilies: Stories of Children and the Loving Relatives Who Raise Them - with Michelle Singletary

    A powerful firsthand look into the lives of grandparents and other relatives stepping in to raise children—and the people and policies that help them thrive. Today in the US, more than 2.4 million children whose parents are unable to care for them live in grandfamilies, where they are raised by grandparents or other loved ones. Until recently, their experiences have been all but invisible.These relative caregivers do time in waiting rooms and court hearings, put themselves at financial risk, and sacrifice their own health, all with the dream of making a better life for the kids they love. In Grandfamilies, Donna M. Butts, former longtime executive director of Generations United, sheds light on the ongoing fight for the recognition and resources these families deserve. Through heartfelt personal accounts, grandfamily members of all ages and backgrounds share their experiences, giving voice to the millions across this nation who have come together in the spirit of hope and resilience to imagine a better future for their loved ones.All book sale proceeds will go to Generations United to support their work with grandfamilies. Donna M. Butts is an award-winning nonprofit executive, author, and trusted voice frequently quoted in the national media. As Executive Director of Generations United, a role she served in for more than twenty-seven years, she was invited to testify before Congress, address the United Nations, and present in more than a dozen countries. As a fierce advocate for intergenerational solutions that benefit children, youth, older adults and families, she has helped pave the way for crucial legislation and support for grandfamilies. She lives in the Washington, DC, area. Butts is in conversation with Michelle Singletary, who writes the nationally syndicated personal finance column “The Color of Money,” which appears in The Washington Post on Wednesdays and Sundays. Her award-winning column is syndicated by The Washington Post News Service and Syndicate and is carried in dozens of newspapers nationwide. In 2021, she won the Gerald Loeb award for commentary. She has written four personal finance books, including, “What to Do With Your Money When Crisis Hits: A Survival Guide” and “The 21-Day Finan PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9798896363286?ic_referral=dwu3G6D-uw_xS84lsgjp87gKm_2qo1yYzJdAF3K8FWAwMyJyXDnjovW1tbQyuan1vukrJTu1alpXHlsKkutS_VEK_0O4DxsKBxe9-v1DsKTtVcuL_8ObOYOABIXAIXJm-9Vyfns

  8. Jul 17

    Julia Angwin & Ami Fields-Meyer — On Courage: How to Be a Dissident in an Age of Fear - with Miles Taylor

    From a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and a former White House senior advisor, a deeply reported manual about how anyone can defy an authoritarian – based on original interviews with more than 100 dissidents, activists, and theorists across the world. The United States is only the latest country to face a leader who wields fear as a weapon, punishes political enemies, disappears people off the street, and undermines free and fair elections. Today nearly three out of four people on earth live under authoritarianism, the highest rate since the late 1970s. But even under repressive conditions, each of us holds the power to help defeat autocrats. Based on their acclaimed The New Yorker essay “So You Want to Be a Dissident?,” veteran reporter Julia Angwin and political strategist Ami Fields-Meyer give us a captivating – and profoundly hopeful – guide to courage in an age of fear. Meet a student from Hong Kong who risked everything for democracy. A mom in a working-class neighborhood of Caracas who broke with the political movement that raised her. Cairo twentysomethings who staged a gutsy stunt to help bring down a dictator. A mild-mannered immigrant fighting to save a landmark U.S. civil rights law. People throughout the United States and across five continents who faced serious risks for dissenting in their workplace, their community, or their country. On Courage is the story of how they did it anyway – and how you can do it, too. Blending rich, previously untold narratives with history, spirituality, and movement research, Angwin and Fields-Meyer deliver a highly accessible book full of practical lessons – an inspiring resource for anyone, anywhere, who feel the walls of history closing in on them. On Courage is a roadmap to political courage and a powerful case for how taking personal risks can help save the free world. Julia Angwin is a Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist, New York Times bestselling author, and monthly contributing writer for New York Times Opinion. In 2018, she founded The Markup, an award-winning nonprofit newsroom that produces meaningful data-centered journalism about technology and the people affected by it. Before founding The Markup, she led investigative teams at ProPublica and The Wall Street Journal that pioneered the coverage of privacy and algorithmic accountability. She is a winner and two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in journalism. Ami Fields-Meyer is a political strategist, speechwriter, and former White House senior policy advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris. He is a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, and has served as a top advisor to political candidates, leaders of major civil rights groups, and high-profile public officials from Los Angeles City Hall to the West Wing. Angwin and Fields-Meyer will be in conversation with Miles Taylor. What does it cost to tell the truth — and is it worth it? Miles Taylor answered that question the hard way. As Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, he became one of the most prominent officials in American history to blow the whistle on a sitting president, publishing an anonymous New York Times essay that triggered a national reckoning. When he revealed his identity, he lost everything. He'd do it again. Miles has spent his career inside the haunted halls of power — the White House, the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, major U.S. tech companies, and beyond — and emerged with an uncommon vantage point on the threats to free society. As a national security expert, technologist, and one of the most recognized voices on democratic backsliding,. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9780063491946?ic_referral=vRZPVcle-th0Kwf9lBJp9FBJ9kJonOezXmf-0qfpx6EwM2VyC6RBxmwRN9pUAIeJ3UqhNhQHTvC769E0_cFrGLq7R-fJrUVoppdYXPP1Bct6y2vxJbpoCrMruhJ6sU5O9vCY9t4

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About

Politics and Prose is a large, independent bookstore uniquely situated in the nation’s capital and serving a broad array of Washington readers, writers, thinkers, teachers, and policy-makers. In addition to our incredible selection of titles, Politics and Prose offers more than 500 public events each year, bringing leading authors across all genres to venues in Washington, DC. Visit us online at www.politics-prose.com.

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  • Creator
    Politics and Prose
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    712
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Politics and Prose
  • Show Website
    Politics and Prose Presents

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