Disney has Mickey Mouse ears, Packers games have cheese hats — and our 7th annual Ideas We Should Steal Festival on November 15 at Comcast’s RJR Forum will leave you wanting souvenirs, too. How about books by the authors among our amazing roster of speakers? They will be for sale onsite at Head House Books’ pop-up store. (Head House donates a portion of sales to The Philadelphia Citizen.) Or, buy them online in advance to get in the Festival spirit.
Festival tickets are nearly sold out, so get yours here now. We can’t wait to see you for another incredible day full of solutions!
Just added! The Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought to Fix Their Democracy, 1865-1915, by Jon Grinspan
This is the origin story of the “normal” politics of the 20th century. Only by exploring where that civility and restraint came from can we understand what is happening to our democracy today. Grinspan, a political historian at the Smithsonian, charts the rise and fall of 19th-century America’s unruly politics through the lives of a remarkable father-daughter dynasty. The radical congressman William “Pig Iron” Kelley, of Philadelphia, and his fiery, progressive daughter Florence Kelley led lives packed with drama, intimately tied to their nation’s politics. In telling the tale of what it cost to cool our republic, Grinspan reveals our divisive political system’s enduring capacity to reinvent itself.
Corporations Are Not People: Reclaiming Democracy from Big Money & Global Corporations, by Jeff Clements
With the updated version of his book, Clements — a cofounder of the nonpartisan American Promise, working to overturn Citizens United — adds a new chapter, “Do Something!,” showing how Americans are doing their part to curb unbalanced corporate power. Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editor and Publisher of The Nation, says, “More relevant than ever, this updated edition of Corporations Are Not People chronicles the remarkably vibrant, nationwide grassroots movement to ‘get money out and voters in.’”
Golden Gates, Fighting for Housing in America, by Conor Dougherty
Dougherty, an economics reporter at The New York Times, “Tells the story of housing in all its complexity,” according to NPR. There’s a reason the book was named a Time 100 Must-Read Book, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and one of the 10 Best Business Books by Fortune. Dougherty joins Sonja Trauss, the founder of Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) Law and, according to some, of today’s YIMBY movement, who will speak at the Festival.
Golden Gates was a Time magazine 100 Must-Read Book of 2020, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and one of the 10 Best Business Books of 2020 by Fortune.
April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Death and How It Changed America; I May Not Get There with You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr.; Represent: The Unfinished Fight for the Vote, by Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
Ever-prolific, Dyson’s array of books explore and honor our past — and pave a path to our future. A staple of our Festival, his rousing presence is sure to be an event highlight.
King: A Life, by Jonathan Eig
If it was good enough for Barack Obama to put on his annual reading list (not to mention the Pulitzer Prize for biography), you know it’s something special. Ken Burns has called Eig a “master storyteller.” Once you finish this powerful King biography, check out Eig’s others, about Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Lou Gehrig, and more.
The New Localism, by Bruce Katz and Jeremy Nowak
Katz, founding director of the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University and a regular Citizen contributor, and the late Nowak, co-founding chairman of The Citizen, argue that there’s vast power in city, state, and regional policies and players. At a time when Washington, D.C., is a mess, it’s a more heartening and encouraging argument than ever.
Mayor: The Best Job in Politics, by Michael A. Nutter
Michael Nutter spent nearly 15 years on City Council before becoming our city’s 98th Mayor — and from day one on the job until this very day, he has never wavered from his belief that the most meaningful jobs are the ones that serve the people. This book is a testament to his dedication. And if his book leaves you wanting more of Nutter’s signature wit and warmth, be sure to check him out on How to Really Run a City, the acclaimed Citizen podcast he co-hosts with former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Citizen Co-founder Larry Platt.
Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities, by Andre Perry
With Know Your Price, Perry, a fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, explores Black prosperity — its foundation, and its promise. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. called the work “groundbreaking and important,” writing Perry “brilliantly addresses the importance of fixing the racist governmental policies that have ‘created housing, education, and wealth disparities,’ especially in Black communities” — describing Know Your Price as a “rigorous analysis of the dynamics of devaluation” and “powerful personal narrative that will captivate his readers.”
Life is Magic: My Inspiring Journey from Tragedy to Self-Discovery; Every Day I Fight: Making a Difference, Kicking Cancer’s Ass; Only the Strong Survive: The Odyssey of Allen Iverson; Just Tell Me I Can’t: How Jamie Moyer Defied the Radar Gun and Defeated Time; and more, co-authored by Larry Platt
With every book he co-authors, Citizen co-founder Platt doesn’t just chronicle the lives of some of the most fascinating figures in sports — he digs deep into their foundations, their humanity, and their triumphs over tragedy.
Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America’s Working Men and Women; Bad News: How Woke Media is Undermining Democracy, by Batya Ungar Sargon
As deputy opinion editor of Newsweek and former opinion editor at The Forward — the largest Jewish media outlet in America — and with bylines in The New York Times and Washington Post and appearances on MSNBC, NBC and NPR, Ungar Sargon is quite literally an expert opinion-giver — for good reason: Her research, insight, and wisdom will challenge you to think, and maybe even change your thoughts.
Our History Has Always Been Contraband: In Defense of Black Studies; Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership, by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor co-edited Our History Has Always Been Contraband with former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Race for Profit was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and longlisted for the National Book Award. Both are powerful looks at how our institutions have continued to fail Black America, and how we can change that moving forward.
Small Acts of Courage, by Ali Velshi
The MSNBC host and Citizen board member shares the inspiring stories of those who’ve fought for change, “even when success seemed impossible.” We can all make a difference, he argues — and we must.
See Velshi talk about his book at a Citizen book launch.
Undiscovered, by Debra Winger
A three-time Oscar nominee, Winger is also an activist working to overturn Citizens United and, as she demonstrates in Undiscovered, a gifted memoirist as well. Publisher’s Weekly called the work “lyrical” and “meditative,” with “a distinct voice — whimsical but economic, wise but restless, stylized but warm-to explore.”
The Philadelphia Citizen’s 7th annual Ideas We Should Steal Festival takes place November 15 — with a kickoff event November 14.
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