Be Informed. Be Angry. Be Ready.

Books, Podcasts, Videos and more for those who want to dig deeper

The opinions in these publications are not necessarily endorsed by ORD2 Indivisible and statements of fact have not been checked. You can judge for yourself.

The Progressive Mindset

The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics
Hardcover – August 15, 2017
Available soon as an audiobook from HarperCollins publishers.
by Mark Lilla
An impassioned, tough-minded, and stinging look at the failure of American liberalism over the past two generations. Although there have been Democrats in the White House, and some notable policy achievements, for nearly 40 years the vision that Ronald Reagan offered—small government, lower taxes, and self-reliant individualism—has remained the country’s dominant political ideology. And the Democratic Party has offered no convincing competing vision in response. Instead, as Lilla argues, American liberalism fell under the spell of identity politics, with disastrous consequences. Driven originally by a sincere desire to protect the most vulnerable Americans, the left invested its energies in social movements rather than in party politics. In the contest for the American imagination, liberals have abdicated. Now they have an opportunity to reset.

Faith and Resistance in the Age of Trump
Paperback – September 14, 2017
by Miguel A. De La Torre
For many people of faith, the election of Donald Trump represents not just a political crisis but also a confessional crisis, a moment that calls into question the deepest meaning of our religious claims and values.
Reflections by notable religious scholars, ministers, and activists address this crisis. With chapters treating issues of gender, race, disability, LGBTQ+justice, immigration, the environment, peace, and poverty, the contributors seek to name our situation and to set forth an agenda for faith and resistance.
Contributors include Susan Thistlethwaite, Amir Hussain, David Gushee, Miguel Diaz, Kelly Brown Douglas, Christiana Zenner, Sister Simone Campbell, Kwok Pui-lan, George “Tink” Tinker, and Rabbi Steven Greenberg.

Obama

Obama’s Legacy – Yes We Can, Yes We Did
The main accomplishments and projects, all Executive Orders, International Treaties, Inaugural Speeches and Farewell of the 44th President of the United States

The Barack Obama page on Amazon.com

Hillary

What Happened
by Hillary Clinton
For the first time, Hillary Rodham Clinton reveals what she was thinking and feeling during one of the most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections in history. Now free from the constraints of running, Hillary takes you inside the intense personal experience of becoming the first woman nominated for president by a major party in an election marked by rage, sexism, exhilarating highs and infuriating lows, stranger-than-fiction twists, Russian interference, and an opponent who broke all the rules.
With humor and candor, she tells readers what it took to get back on her feet—the rituals, relationships, and reading that got her through, and what the experience has taught her about life. She speaks about the challenges of being a strong woman in the public eye, the criticism over her voice, age, and appearance, and the double standard confronting women in politics. And she addresses the unprecedented assault on our democracy by a foreign adversary.

The Hillary Clinton page on Amazon.com

Bernie

Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In
by Bernie Sanders
Sanders shares his personal experiences from the campaign trail, recounting the details of his historic primary fight and the people who made it possible. And for the millions looking to continue the political revolution, he outlines a progressive economic, environmental, racial, and social justice agenda that will create jobs, raise wages, protect the environment, and provide health care for all―and ultimately transform our country and our world for the better. For him, the political revolution has just started.

The Bernie Sanders page on Amazon.com

Taking Action

The ALL NEW Don’t Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate
Paperback – September 23, 2014
by George Lakoff
Ten years after writing the definitive, international bestselling book on political debate and messaging, George Lakoff returns with new strategies about how to frame today’s essential issues.
Called the “father of framing” by The New York Times, Lakoff explains how framing is about ideas―ideas that come before policy, ideas that make sense of facts, ideas that are proactive not reactive, positive not negative, ideas that need to be communicated out loud every day in public. The new edition delves deeper into how framing works, how framing has evolved in the past decade, how to speak to people who harbor elements of both progressive and conservative worldviews, how to counter propaganda and slogans, and more.
Lakoff urges progressives to go beyond the typical laundry list of facts, policies, and programs and present a clear moral vision to the country―one that is traditionally American and can become a guidepost for developing compassionate, effective policy that upholds citizens’ well-being and freedom.

The Little Blue Book: The Essential Guide to Thinking and Talking Democratic
Paperback – June 26, 2012
by George Lakoff and Elizabeth Wehling
Voters cast their ballots for what they believe is right, for the things that make moral sense. Yet Democrats have too often failed to use language linking their moral values with their policies, say Lakoff and Wehling. The Little Blue Book demonstrates how to make that connection clearly and forcefully, with hands-on advice for discussing the most pressing issues of our time: the economy, health care, women’s issues, energy and environmental policy, education, food policy, and more. Dissecting the ways that extreme conservative positions have permeated political discourse, Lakoff and Wehling show how to fight back on moral grounds and in concrete terms.

The Trump Survival Guide: Everything You Need to Know About Living Through What You Hoped Would Never Happen
Paperback – January 10, 2017
by Gene Stone
The stunning election of Donald J. Trump rocked an already-divided America and left scores of citizens, including the nearly 65 million voters who supported Hillary Clinton, feeling bereft and powerless. Now, Gene Stone, author of The Bush Survival Bible, offers invaluable guidance and concrete solutions they can use to make a difference in this serious call-to-arms—showing them how to move from anger and despair to activism as the Trump presidency is in full swing and he signs one executive order after another.
Stone outlines political and social concepts—including such issues as civil rights, women’s rights, the environment, Obamacare, international relations, and LGBTQ+ rights—providing a brief history of each, a refresher on Obama’s policies, and an analysis of what Trump’s administration might do. Stone then provides an invaluable guide for fighting back—referring to organizations, people, sites, and countless other resources that support positive and possible goals. While marches and social media are important forms of protest, concrete actions achieve real change.

WHAT WE DO NOW: Standing Up for Your Values in Trump’s America
Paperback – January 3, 2017
by Dennis Johnson
This collection of passionate manifestos by some of the country’s leading progressives aims to provide a blueprint for how those stunned progressives can move forward. Its powerful contributions―from economists, environmentalists, activists, artists, politicians, and novelists―will offer encouragement and guidance to practicing constitutionally protected acts of resistance throughout the unprecedented upcoming administration.
Among the contributors are Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Gloria Steinem, Paul Krugman, Robert B. Reich, George Saunders and Dave Eggers as well the heads of the ACLU, the NAACP, the Sierra Club, the Arab American Association, the National GLBTQ Task Force, the Freedom of the Press Association, and other prominent activists.

The Reunited States of America
by Mark Gerzon
In this era of poisonous partisanship, is a lifesaving antidote. At a time when loyalty to party seems to be overpowering love of country, The Reunited States of America not only explains how we can bridge the partisan divide but also tells the untold story of how our fellow citizens already are doing it.
This book, a manifesto for a movement to reunite America, will help put a stop to the seemingly endless Left-Right fistfight while honoring the vital role of healthy political debate.

The Broader Perspective

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
Hardcover – June 28, 2016
by J. D. Vance
From a former Marine and Yale Law School graduate, a powerful account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broad, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class. The Vance family story begins hopefully in postwar America. J. D.’s grandparents were “dirt poor and in love,” and moved north from Kentucky’s Appalachia region to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually their grandchild (the author) would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of their success in achieving generational upward mobility.
But as the family saga of Hillbilly Elegy plays out, we learn that this is only the short, superficial version. Vance’s grandparents, aunt, uncle, sister, and, most of all, his mother, struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, and were never able to fully escape the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. Vance piercingly shows how he himself still carries around the demons of their chaotic family history.

White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America
by Joan C. Williams
Many people have conflated “working class” with “poor.”But the working class is, in fact, the elusive, purportedly disappearing middle class. They often resent the poor and the professionals alike. But they don’t resent the truly rich, nor are they particularly bothered by income inequality. Their dream is not to join the upper middle class, with its different culture, but to stay true to their own values in their own communities―just with more money. While white working-class motivations are often dismissed as racist or xenophobic, Williams shows that they have their own class consciousness.
For anyone stunned by the rise of populist, nationalist movements, wondering why so many would seemingly vote against their own economic interests, or simply feeling like a stranger in their own country, White Working Class will be a convincing primer on how to connect with a crucial set of workers―and voters.

Dark Money
by Jane Meyer
Who are the immensely wealthy right-wing ideologues shaping the fate of America today?
Meyer illuminates the history of an elite cadre of plutocrats—headed by the Kochs, the Scaifes, the Olins, and the Bradleys—who have bankrolled a systematic plan to fundamentally alter the American political system. Mayer traces a byzantine trail of billions of dollars spent by the network, revealing a staggering conglomeration of think tanks, academic institutions, media groups, courthouses, and government allies that have fallen under their sphere of influence. Drawing from hundreds of exclusive interviews, as well as extensive scrutiny of public records, private papers, and court proceedings, Meyer provides vivid portraits of the secretive figures behind the new American oligarchy and a searing look at the carefully concealed agendas steering the nation.

The Other Side

Democracy in Chains
by Nancy MacLean
Behind today’s headlines of billionaires taking over our government is a secretive political establishment with long, deep, and troubling roots. The capitalist radical right has been working not simply to change who rules, but to fundamentally alter the rules of democratic governance. But billionaires did not launch this movement; a white intellectual in the Jim Crow South did. Democracy in Chains names its true architect—the Nobel Prize-winning political economist James McGill Buchanan. In response to the widening of American democracy, he developed a brilliant, if diabolical, plan to undermine the ability of the majority to use its numbers to level the playing field between the rich and powerful and the rest of us. And when multibillionaire Charles Koch discovered Buchanan, he created a vast, relentless, and multi-armed machine to carry out Buchanan’s strategy.
Now, with Mike Pence as Vice President, the cause has a longtime loyalist in the White House, not to mention a phalanx of Republicans in the House, the Senate, a majority of state governments, and the courts, all carrying out the plan. That plan includes harsher laws to undermine unions, privatizing everything from schools to health care and Social Security, and keeping as many of us as possible from voting.

Big Agenda: President Trump’s Plan to Save America
Hardcover – January 17, 2017
by David Horowitz
Mentor to many of Donald Trump’s key advisers, David Horowitz presents a White House battle plan to halt the Democrats’ march to extinguish the values America holds dear.
Big Agenda details President Trump’s likely moves, including his:
• First wave of executive orders—restoring Guantanamo, Keystone XL, nixing amnesty
• Surprising judicial appointments—Supreme Court and the federal judiciary
• Radical changes to federal rules and regulations—Obamacare, EPA overreach, and a New Deal for black America
He argues the GOP and Trump must recognize they are not fighting policy ideas, but an ideology—a progressive one with a radical agenda to stop Trump in an effort to reduce America’s power and greatness. Horowitz writes, “One battle is over, but there are many more to come. This book is a guide to fighting the opponents of the conservative restoration. It identifies who the adversaries are—their methods and their motivations.

Understanding Trump
Hardcover – June 13, 2017
by Newt Gingrich
Mr. Gingrich provides unique insight into how the new President’s past experiences have shaped his life and style of governing. This book also includes Mr. Gingrich’s thorough analysis of how President Trump thinks and makes decisions, as well as the President’s philosophy, doctrine, and political agenda going forward. He presents a detailed discussion of Trump-style solutions for national security, education, healthcare, economic growth, and government reform. Mr. Gingrich also identifies the forces in the Washington establishment, media, and bureaucracy that will oppose the president at every turn.

Rediscovering Americanism: And the Tyranny of Progressivism
Hardcover – June 27, 2017
by Mark R. Levin
In Rediscovering Americanism, Mark R. Levin revisits the founders’ warnings about the perils of overreach by the federal government and concludes that the men who created our country would be outraged and disappointed to see where we’ve ended up.
Levin returns to the impassioned question he’s explored in each of his bestselling books: How do we save our exceptional country? Because our values are in such a precarious state, he argues that a restoration to the essential truths on which our country was founded has never been more urgent. Understanding these principles, in Levin’s words, can “serve as the antidote to tyrannical regimes and governments.” Rediscovering Americanism is not an exercise in nostalgia, but an appeal to his fellow citizens to reverse course.

Your Highest Priorities

One Step In and One Step Out: The Lived Experience of Immigrant Participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program
Paperback – February 3, 2015
by Hillary S. Kosnac, Wayne A. Cornelius, Tom K. Wong

In June 2012 President Obama signed an executive order establishing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The President acted because the U.S. Congress had repeatedly failed to pass the “Dream Act” – legislation protecting from deportation young undocumented immigrants who had been brought to the United States as children. More than 818,000 “Dreamers” applied for protection under the President’s program through September 2014. They received short-term relief from deportation, not permanent legal status.
Qualitative interviews illuminate life after receiving DACA status. The interviewees report that DACA status has positively transformed their lives, especially in terms of educational and economic advancement. However, as a consequence of their tentative legal status, they continue to face significant limits and obstacles to full incorporation into the United States. The authors propose fourteen policy recommendations, for increasing future participation in the DACA program and for enhancing the economic, social, and psychological integration of those who benefit from it.

We Should All Be Feminists
Paperback – February 3, 2015
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The highly acclaimed, provocative New York Times bestseller—a personal, eloquently-argued essay, adapted from the much-admired TEDx talk of the same name—from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, award-winning author of Americanah. Here she offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the 21st century, one rooted in inclusion and awareness. Drawing extensively on her own experiences and her deep understanding of the often-masked realities of sexual politics, here is one remarkable author’s exploration of what it means to be a woman now—and an of-the-moment rallying cry for why we should all be feminists.

Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change
Paperback – August 18, 2015
by George Marshall
Most of us recognize that climate change is real yet we do nothing to stop it. What is the psychological mechanism that allows us to know something is true but act as if it is not? George Marshall’s search for the answers brings him face to face with Nobel Prize-winning psychologists and Texas Tea Party activists; the world’s leading climate scientists and those who denounce them; liberal environmentalists and conservative evangelicals. What he discovers is that our values, assumptions, and prejudices can take on lives of their own, gaining authority as they are shared, dividing people in their wake.
Marshall argues that the answers do not lie in the things that make us different, but rather in what we share: How our human brains are wired—our evolutionary origins, our perceptions of threats, our cognitive blind spots, our love of storytelling, our fear of death, and our deepest instincts to defend our family and tribe. Once we understand what excites, threatens, and motivates us, we can rethink climate change, for it is not an impossible problem.

The True Story of How Standing Rock Fell
Kindle Edition
by Marty Skovlund Jr.
The True Story of How Standing Rock Fell is an investigative essay written through the eyes of author Marty Skovlund, Jr. as he details the final days of the Oceti protest camp on the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation. Braving extreme weather as well as the volatile stand-off between the forces pushing the Dakota Access Pipeline and the self-proclaimed water protectors, he searches for the unbiased truth of what actually happened.
This long-form essay is the only account that offers the reader access to not only the protesters, but also the law enforcement and private military contractors who opposed them for nearly six months.

Impeachment and Legal Issues

The Case for Impeachment
Hardcover – April 18, 2017
by Allan J. Lichtman
Professor Allan J. Lichtman, who has correctly forecasted 30 years of presidential outcomes, makes the case for impeaching the 45th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump
In clear, nonpartisan terms, Lichtman lays out the reasons Congress could remove Trump from the Oval Office: his ties to Russia before and after the election, the complicated financial conflicts of interest at home and abroad, and his abuse of executive authority.
The Case for Impeachment also offers a look at presidential impeachments throughout American history, including the often-overlooked story of Andrew Johnson’s impeachment, details about Richard Nixon’s resignation, and Bill Clinton’s hearings. Lichtman shows how Trump exhibits many of the flaws (and more) that have doomed past presidents. As the Nixon Administration dismissed the reporting of Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as “character assassination” and “a vicious abuse of the journalistic process,” Trump has attacked the “dishonest media,” claiming, “the press should be ashamed of themselves.”

Electoral College

Presidential Lottery: The Reckless Gamble in Our Electoral System
Paperback – March 8, 2016
by James A. Michener
In this eye-opening nonfiction account, world-renowned author James A. Michener details the reckless gamble U.S. voters make every four years: trusting the electoral college. In 1968, Michener served as a presidential elector in Pennsylvania. What he witnessed that fall disturbed him so much that he felt compelled to expose the very real potential in this system for a grave injustice with history-altering consequences. Incorporating the wide-ranging insight and universal compassion of Michener’s bestselling novels, Presidential Lottery is essential reading for every American concerned about the ever-growing rift between the people and the political process.

Enlightened Democracy: The Case for the Electoral College (2nd Edition)
Paperback – September 3, 2012
by Tara Ross
Pick up a newspaper and read about the Electoral College. It is a sure recipe for losing respect for the institution. Media commentators are swift to dismiss the institution as outdated and elitist, an anachronism that should be replaced by a direct popular vote. In recent years, this discontent has found a voice as a well-funded, California-based effort seeks to bypass the Constitutional amendment process and effectively eliminate the Electoral College through a series of state laws. Such efforts to eliminate the Electoral College are misguided, and this book shows why. It traces the history of the Electoral College from the Constitutional Convention to the present. This second edition of the book is revised and expanded to include a new section about the National Popular Vote legislative effort. The Electoral College protects our Republic and promotes our liberty. Ross argues Americans should defend their unique presidential election system at all costs.

Picking the President: Understanding the Electoral College
Paperback – February 1, 2017
by Eric Burin
The 2016 presidential election has sparked an unprecedented interest in the Electoral College. In response to Donald Trump winning the presidency despite losing the popular vote, this collection of essays facilitate and expand the conversation: it examines the Electoral College from different disciplinary perspectives, including philosophy, mathematics, political science, history, and pedagogy. Along the way, the essays address a variety of questions about the Electoral College: Why was it created? How has it changed over time? Who benefits from it? Is it just? How will future demographic patterns affect it? Should we alter or abolish the Electoral College, and if so, what should replace it?