I’m a member of a group called OurDayMobile, and we held our second protest on March 8, 2025 in Mobile, AL. As one of the speakers (and as your official self-appointed Librarian of the Revolution), I felt like I had so much more to share and recommend than there was time for on that day, so I’ve prepared a Post-March Reading List of material that has helped me begin to understand our current political moment. Here are my most highly recommended:
THE BOOKS
Lewis, Michael. The Fifth Risk. W. W. Norton & Company, 2018.
This book will make you love and respect the civil servants who work in our federal government (or did, before Elon Musk fired them…).
When Donald Trump took office the first time around, the presidential transition was chaotic. Trump and his people seemed to lack any understanding of how the government did—and should—work (unlike Trump’s second term in which they know but either don’t care or are actively hostile towards good governance). Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball, The Blind Side, and other titles, outlines Trump’s failure to grasp the complexity and importance of the federal government and foreshadows his attempts to dismantle and/or privatize much of it now. Read it and weep (and then go out and protest).
Poniewozik, James. Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America. Liveright, 2019.
New York Times chief television critic James Poniewozik has written one of the best explanations of why Trump is the way he is in Audience of One. As Poniewozik relates, Trump and television grew up together, and Trump came to see everything in life as production, even spectacle, rather than as reality (and as having real consequences for real people). I was reminded of how spot on this book was when I heard that after betraying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with an on-camera ambush in the Oval Office, Trump shrugged off the outrage of what he had just done, saying, “This is going to be great television.” A fascinating analysis.
Trump, Mary L. Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man. Simon & Schuster, 2020.
Similarly, Mary Trump, who is a trained clinical psychologist and Donald Trump’s niece (her father was Donald’s rather tragic older brother, who died at the age of 42) gives us an intimate glimpse into a profoundly dysfunctional family. If Trump weren’t so cruel and dangerous, you’d almost have to feel sorry for him. (But he is cruel and dangerous.)
THE BLOGGERS
Letters from an American by Heather Cox Richardson
Of all the bloggers and podcasts that I follow, Heather Cox Richardson is the most essential. Richardson has degrees from Harvard and is an accomplished historian, but her talent is for clearly and concisely making connections between history and what is happening right now. Her daily newsletter Letters from an American (also available as a podcast) will clarify events for you in a way that no one else can.
Episodes not to be missed:
February 15, 2025 ← why they hate government
February 19, 2025 ← explains Trump’s ties to Russia
Chop Wood, Carry Water by Jessica Craven
When it’s all too much and you have lost your will to resist, Chop Wood, Carry Water will restore you. Activist Jessica Craven offers a handful of small but meaningful actions that anyone can undertake on any given day, even providing you with scripts for calling your reps both Republican and Democrat. Every now and then, she will devote a post to a list of things that are going RIGHT. For example, on March 9, 2025, Craven listed no fewer than 60 positive outcomes due primarily to a growing resistance! Her mantra is “Breathe. Act. Rest. Repeat.” Always a pick-me-up.
THE PODCAST
Pod Save America will make you laugh out loud, even when the news is catastrophic. Hosts Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vietor all worked in the Obama White House, and they know them some politics. Astute and hilarious every single episode.
THE SUBREDDIT
The 50501 Movement appeared out of nowhere in February 2025, using social media to call for 50 protests, in 50 states (or state capitols) on one day. Such was the pent-up feeling then and now, that even without knowing who was behind the organization, people did turn out in large numbers. A President’s Day protest followed on Feb. 17, and then another on March 4, and March 8, and more and more to come. The r/50501 subreddit is a rich source of information and inspiration.