Discuss U.S. politics with fellow Democrats through books and current events
We meet one Tuesday a month via Zoom from 7:30 PM to 8:45 PM UK time. We discuss the book of the month (45 minutes) and then current events (30 minutes).
All are welcome!
…even if you haven’t read the book. Sometimes our book of the month is a TV series!
Upcoming books and dates are announced 3 to 6 months ahead of time. Book discussion questions are sent out 3 to 4 weeks ahead of time. A current events newsletter is sent out in the week before the meeting. Have a book suggestion? Please contact us at the email below.
Here is the schedule of our upcoming books:
February 20, 2024
The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again
Robert D Putnam, author of Bowling Alone, with Shaylyn Romney Garrett
In the late 19th century, America was highly individualistic, starkly unequal, fiercely polarised and deeply fragmented, just as it is today. However, as the 20th century dawned, America became more egalitarian, cooperative, generous. Over the 1960s, these trends reversed, leading to today’s disarray. ‘An astonishing work that reminds Americans we are a great people, shows us what we can accomplish when we come together’ — Andrew McAfee, MIT scientist
March 19, 2024
Romney: A Reckoning
McKay Coppins
Romney does not hold back in a ‘biography with much to say about the collapse of Republican values’ (the Guardian). ‘“A very large portion of my party,” he told me one day, “really doesn’t believe in the Constitution.” He’d realized this only recently, he said. What role had the members of the mainstream establishment—people like him, the reasonable Republicans—played in allowing the rot on the right to fester?’ (Coppins in The Atlantic)
April 23, 2024
Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism
Rachel Maddow
The MSNBC host ‘dives deep into a forgotten history of a Nazi campaign waged on the streets of America — and the fifth column that could have cost the Allies the war. The parallels to today are bone-chilling. Prequel is a revealing account of exactly how it can happen here, and just how close we came to the brink just 80 years ago.’ (Rolling Stone)
May 14, 2024
Have a book to suggest? Contact BookClub@DemocratsAbroad.org.uk
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