Your End-Of-Year Reading List
A reading list of books worth reading or re-reading between now and Inauguration Day
To all of my paid subscribers: Thank you! And I want to say a special thank you to everyone who signed up this week. My plan is to produce more content over the next several months, to help us prepare for the incoming Trump Administration and engage when it arrives. Your contributions help enable me to do that.
As a subscriber, you’re receiving early access to this post. I’ll make it available to everyone on Tuesday. -M
I’ve been thinking about how to best use this space moving forward. One thing I’ve realized is that I’m not at all interested in analyzing how and why democracy and freedom (via Democrats, but let’s be real about what just went down) failed. Plenty of people will do that and debate it for months to come. Some of them will offer genuine and honest introspection, and some of them will blame the usual suspects. I’m glad other people are doing that, but I think looking forward is the best use of my energy. How do we prepare for the road ahead? How and where can we fight back? What do we need to know?
Many of you have asked for more resources. I’ve started compiling lists of books, media outlets, writers, organizations, social media channels, and newsletters from my archive that CARD readers will find helpful. Over the next few weeks, I will share them in a series of posts and then create a static page that can be updated regularly.
This week, let’s start with books. Below are the books I’ve read over the last decade that have had the greatest impact on me and my own writing. Compiled in no particular order. Here’s what you need to know:
Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter If you have read my review of this one, you already know I think it’s the most important book I’ve read in some time. Given how much more power and influence Musk will now have over politics in America, it’s worth understanding how he operates. How Musk obtains Twitter and then runs it into the ground offers real insight into how he’ll behave if given the keys to the Federal government in any capacity.
Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America The most recent book on the list. Talia Lavin, an expert on right-wing fascism in the US, explores the Christian Right in detail. This one actually pairs really well with Character Limit and if you only read these two books you’d get solid insights into two of the biggest energies driving the America Right.
Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism Rachel Maddow’s book on the history of mid-century American fascism. It’s an easily accessible read, and Maddow takes care to use lessons learned from America’s past to offer strategies a path forward. This book is an expansion of her podcast Ultra, which I also highly recommend.
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story You can’t understand America’s present moment without understanding the building blocks of what makes us a nation. There’s a reason that the Right has come for this book and associated media with everything they’ve gote since it came out. Now is the perfect time to read or revisit Nikole Hannah-Jones’s work.
The Age of Insurrection: The Radical Right’s Assault on American Democracy This is David Neiwert’s most recent book, but I recommend everything he’s ever written. David has been covering the far-right in America for his entire adult life, starting as a local reporter in Idaho. He’s also been a longtime friend and mentor. I’ve probably learned more from him than anyone else over the last decade.
The Black Antifascist Tradition: Fighting Back From Anti-Lynching to Abolition If you’re a white person, you probably don’t know enough, or anything, about the history of Black organizing and movements as covered in this book. It’s been a few years since I first read this one but it sticks with me and is on my list for a re-read.
Fascism: A Warning A personal history of fascism from someone who would know. I believe this was the last book from the former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright before she passed. I’ve always appreciated Albright’s moral clarity and where it comes from, even when I’ve disagreed with her on policy. Her voice will be very much missed by me in the coming years,
New Handbook for a Post-Roe America: The Complete Guide to Abortion Legality, Access, and Practical Support Speaking of moral clarity, Robin Marty has always been clear-eyed about what would happen when Roe fell and what would be required to survive in a post-Roe world. She’s updated her original handbook since the Dobbs decision. It’s a good one to keep handy.
Black Skinhead: Reflections on Blackness and Our Political Future It’s hard to even describe everything encapsulated in Brandi Collins Dexter’s book on Black America and politics. But I think it helps explain some of the shifts that are happening with MAGA as a white supremacist movement that’s somehow becoming more multiracial. Another one I plan to revisit before the year’s end.
Manufacturing Consensus: Understanding Propaganda in the Era of Automation and Anonymity Samuel Woolley interviews online propagandists who exploit tech platforms to spread disinformation and conspiracies for political gain. A surprising number of them are willing to talk and share the tricks of their trade. A good primer for understanding what’s happened in online spaces and why the problem will likely get worse before it gets better.
We are Proud Boys Reporter Andy Campbell has covered the Proud Boys and associated groups for years. One thing this book does especially well is explain the role that a street gang militia now has on American politics. How its turned violence and terror into electoral and political power.
The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family This is a painful read, especially for anyone who has lost a beloved relative or an entire branch of their family to the MAGA Cinematic Universe. But the personal is political and Jessalyn Cook does an admirable job connecting the two. One thing that I don’t think we’ve explored enough is how the pandemic and the isolation it caused exposed Americans to conspiracy theories like QAnon when they were at their most vulnerable.
That’s all for now. Talk to you again on Sunday.