Bookstack

Catapulted into the spotlight with his marriage to Marilyn Monroe, American playwright Arthur Miller’s life had more complexity and nuance than his claim to pop culture fame. Theatre critic and author John Lahr joins Richard Aldous to talk about Miller, the subject of his latest book—the man behind 20th century masterpieces like The Crucible, Death of a Salesman, and All My Sons. Do Miller’s plays...

Based on newly declassified material, The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink by William Inboden plunges readers into the uncertainty of the late Cold War when the Soviet Union’s fate was far from a fait accompli. In conversation with Richard Aldous, Inboden explores Reagan’s thinking in trying to achieve a negotiated surrender that saw both a nuclear drawdown and a...

In The Subplot ( https://www.meganwalsh.co.uk/book ), Megan Walsh explores China’s diverse literary landscape, which ranges from underground comics and surrealist works to migrant-worker poetry and the less-regulated world of online fiction. She joined Richard Aldous to discuss how China’s modern literary culture offers a window into the lives of its citizens and a country grappling with shifting...

To meet today’s economic challenges, a reappraisal of America’s free-market ideology might be in order. Jacob Soll, author of Free Market: The History of an Idea ( https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/jacob-soll/free-market/9780465049707/ ), spoke with Richard Aldous about the world’s constantly evolving free-market ideologies and how they have functioned throughout different eras, from ancient Rome...

Ted Kennedy’s life was buffeted by heartbreak: the violent deaths of his three older brothers, his own terrible plane crash, his children’s bouts with cancer, the hideous self-inflicted wounds of Chappaquiddick. Those wounds scarred Ted deeply but also tempered his character, and, eventually, he embarked on a run as legislator that would change America for the better. John A. Farrell joins Richard...

What’s the best way to determine whether a presidential candidate is truly up to the task? Former Harvard Business School professor Gautam Mukunda joins Richard Aldous to discuss his new book, Picking Presidents: How to Make the Most Consequential Decision in the World. Mukunda outlines his non-partisan set of criteria for how we can evaluate if a presidential candidate would be an effective leade...

Many of today’s terrorist groups don’t just use the internet, they exist almost entirely on it. What do the online origins of these movements reveal about how to stop them? Counterterrorism expert Rita Katz joined Richard Aldous to talk about her new book, Saints and Soldiers: Inside Internet-Age Terrorism, From Syria to the Capitol Siege ( https://www.saintsandsoldiersbook.com ), and how the onli...

Acclaimed German journalists Stefan Aust and Adrian Geiges join Richard to discuss how Xi Jinping took China from the workbench of the world to a global superpower in their new co-authored book, [Xi Jinping: The Most Powerful Man in the World.]( https://www.amazon.com/Xi-Jinping-Most-Powerful-World/dp/1509555145 ) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or ge...

Former Barack Obama speechwriter Cody Keenan joins Richard to discuss the ten crucial days that marked Obama’s presidency and how he played a part in telling the story of America in his new book, Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America ( https://www.harpercollins.com/products/grace-cody-keenan?variant=39970831597602 ). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this w...

Guardian correspondent Giles Tremlett joins Richard to discuss Spain's complicated history and search for a national identity in his new book España: A Brief History of Spain. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe

Why has Israel played such a foundational role not only in American foreign policy, but in how America sees the world? Walter Russell Mead joins host Richard Aldous to talk about his new book The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People. ( https://www.amazon.com/s?k=arc+of+a+covenant&language=en_US&crid=1ZGOQGY4UEW8S&linkCode=sl2&linkId=3286f711151c99dc51d3db...

Misogyny in politics is as old as politics itself. But is there hope for progress? Eleanor Herman, author of Off With Her Head: Three Thousand Years of Demonizing Women in Power, joins host Richard Aldous to talk about her new book. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe

Why do rightwing narratives do so well on the internet? Francesca Bolla Tripodi, assistant professor at the School of Information and Library Science at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill joins host Richard Aldous to discuss her new book, The Propagandists’ Playbook: How Conservative Elites Manipulate Search and Threaten Democracy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this wit...

What’s the future of American power look like? To answer the question, Richard Aldous asked Michael Mandelbaum, author of the new book The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy, to look at how America came to be the power it is today. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe

What’s the relationship between the fight over abortion, campaign finance reform, and the rise of Trump? Historian Mary Ziegler joins host Richard Aldous to talk about her new book Dollars for Life: The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Fall of the Republican Establishment. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persua...

How big is the threat from China really in the telecommunications space? Jonathan Pelson warns host Richard Aldous that we should not underestimate it. Read his new book Wireless Wars: China’s Dangerous Domination of 5G and How We’re Fighting Back. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscrib...

Is all innovation the same? Is there such a thing as toxic disruption? And is there any cause for optimism even as tech has failed to deliver us a utopia? Ariel Ezrachi and Maurice E. Stucke join host Richard Aldous to talk about their new book, How Big Tech Barons Smash Innovation—and How To Strike Back. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access...

National security, secrecy, paranoia, suicide, and the rise of modern civil rights—James Kirchick joins host Richard Aldous to talk about the untold story of the nation’s capital, and his new book Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe

On this Fourth of July weekend, historian Thomas S. Kidd joins host Richard Aldous to talk about the contradictions of Thomas Jefferson, as detailed in his new book Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe

What we have been doing with China has clearly not been working. How can we course-correct? Renowned Asia scholar Aaron L. Friedberg joins host Richard Aldous to discuss his excellent new book Getting China Wrong. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe

With the Federal Reserve making bold moves this week, Lev Menand, author of the new book The Fed Unbound: Central Banking in a Time of Crisis, joins host Richard Aldous to talk about how the makers of monetary policy still need to adapt to the uncertain future. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.commu...

This week, Ambassador Frederic C. Hof joins host Richard Aldous to talk about his wrenching experience of almost negotiating a lasting Israeli-Syrian peace, as detailed in his new book Reaching for the Heights: The Inside Story of a Secret Attempt to Reach a Syrian-Israeli Peace. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit w...

A look into the inner life of a notorious murderer—Nelly Lahoud joins host Richard Aldous to talk about her new book, The Bin Laden Papers: How the Abbottabad Raid Revealed the Truth about Al-Qaeda, Its Leader, and His Family. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe

With Elon Musk in the news, it’s a good time to look back at some recent history. Jimmy Soni joins host Richard Aldous to talk about his book The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe

Was the Soviet Union’s demise inevitable, and was Gorbachev the heroic reformer we remember him to have been? Vladislav M. Zubok joins host Richard Aldous to discuss the complicated legacy of the end of the Cold War, as well as his new book Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit w...