That Said With Michael Zeldin

Join Michael in his conversation with Judge Patricia Broderick about her new book Reinventing the Wheel, Hard Roads Can Lead To Beautiful Places which chronicles her life’s story from a life-altering car crash at age seventeen to her judgeship on the Superior Court of the District ofColumbia.Reinventing the Wheel: Hard Roads Can Lead to Beautiful Places: Broderick, Patricia AAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join Michael in his conversation with Ali Velshi about his new book Small Acts of Courage, A Legacy of Endurance and the Fight for Democracy which tells the 125 years of his family’s history as advocates for social justice as a living, breathing experience—a way of life more than an ideology.Small acts of courage matter. Sometimes, they change the world. Our history books are filled with the stories of those who fought for democracy and freedom—for idealism itself—against all odds, from Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. These iconic struggles for social change illustrate the importance of engagement and activism and offer a template for the battles we are fighting today. But using the right words is often easier than taking action; action can be hard, and costly.More than a century ago, MSNBC host Ali Velshi’s great-grandfather sent his seven-year-old son to live at Tolstoy Farm, Gandhi’s ashram in South Africa. This difficult decision would change the trajectory ofhis family history forever. From childhood, Velshi’s grandfather was imbued with an ethos of public service and social justice, and a belief in absolute equality among all people—ideals that his childrencarried forward as they escaped apartheid, emigrating to Kenya and ultimately Canada and the United States.Small Acts of Courage, is rich in detail and vivid prose, as Ali relates the stories of regular people who made a lasting commitment to fight for change, even when success seemed impossible. This heartfeltexploration of how we can breathe new life into the principles of pluralistic democracy is an urgent call to action—for progress to be possible, we must all do whatever we can to make a differenceSmall Acts of Courage: A Legacy of Endurance and the Fight for Democracyhttps://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250288851/smallactsofcourageAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join Michael in his conversation with David Rubenstein about his new book The Highest Calling, Conversations on the American Presidency which chronicles the journeys of the presidents who have envisioned America as it now exists, what they envision for its future, and their legacy on the world stage.For years, bestselling author David M. Rubenstein has distilled the contours of American democracy through conversations with noted leaders and historians. In The Highest Calling, he offers an enlightening overview of arguably the single most important position in the world: the American presidency.Blending history and anecdote and drawing from his own experience in the Carter administration, he engages in dialogues with our nation’s presidents and the historians who study them. The book offers exclusive access to fresh perspectives, including:Original interviews with most of the living US presidents-Interviews with noted presidential historians like Annette Gordon-Reed, Ron Chernow, Candice Millard, and others.Through insightful analysis, Rubenstein captures our country’s most prominent leaders, the political genius and frays of the presidential role, and the wisdom that emerges from it.https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Highest-Calling/David-M-Rubenstein/9781668067628https://www.carlyle.com/about-carlyle/team/david-m-rubensteinAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join Michael in his conversation with Anne Applebaum about her new book Autocracy, Inc which tells an alarming account of how autocracies work together to undermine the democratic world, and how we should organize to defeat them.We think we know what an autocratic state looks like: There is an all-powerful leader at the top. He controls the police. The police threaten the people with violence. There are evil collaborators, and maybe some brave dissidents.But in the 21st century, that bears little resemblance to reality. Nowadays, autocracies are underpinned not by one dictator, but by sophisticated networks composed of kleptocratic financial structures, surveillance technologies, and professional propagandists, all of which operate across multiple regimes, from China to Russia to Iran. Corrupt companies in one country do business with corrupt companies in another. The police in one country can arm and train the police in another, and propagandists share resources and themes, pounding home the same messages about the weakness of democracy and the evil of America.International condemnation and economic sanctions cannot move the autocrats. Even popular opposition movements, from Venezuela to Hong Kong to Moscow, don’t stand a chance. The members of Autocracy, Inc, aren’t linked by a unifying ideology, like communism, but rather a common desire for power, wealth, and impunity. In this urgent treatise, which evokes George Kennan’s essay calling for “containment” of the Soviet Union, Anne Applebaum calls for the democracies to fundamentally reorient their policies to fight a new kind of threat.Anne Applebaumhttps://www.anneapplebaum.com/Autocracy, Inc.https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/725302/autocracy-inc-by-anne-applebaum/Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This Labor Day weekend, That Said revisits an intriguing conversation with Michael Finkel about his book The Art Thief. The book chronicles the extraordinary life of Stephen Breitweiser, the most prolific art thief in history, and has recently climbed the bestseller lists of both the New York Times and Washington Post with its paperback release.This interview is being re-released for two compelling reasons. First, the story of Stephen Breitweiser offers a gripping narrative that’s perfect for end-of-summer reading. Second, The Art Thief is a book that consistently resonates with readers around the world. Whether you're hearing this conversation for the first time or revisiting it, it promises to be a captivating listen. Enjoy this special Labor Day edition, and feel free to share your thoughts with us.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join Michael in his discussion with David Gergen about his book, Hearts Touched with Fire, How Great Leaders are Made as they explore the fundamental attributes necessary to become a leader and the key leadership lessons David has stockpiled from his half-century of public service.David Gergenhttps://twitter.com/David_Gergenhttps://www.david-gergen.com/https://www.commpro.biz/news/a-conversation-with-david-gergen-author-hearts-touched-with-fire-how-great-leaders-are-madeAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join Michael in his updated discussion with historian Heather Hendershot in a discussion of her book When the News Broke: Chicago 1968 and the Polarizing of America, which revisits the TV coverage of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago; a pivotal moment in American history when the notion of a liberal biased media became mainstreamed and nationalized.This discussion will also focus on the upcoming Democratic National Convention and what to look for in the coverage of the 2024 presidential election.BIOshttps://communication.northwestern.edu/faculty/heather-hendershot.htmlAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join Michael in his updated discussion with E.J. Dionne, Jr. and Miles Rapoport about their new book 100% Democracy, The Case for Universal Voting, which argues that mandatory participation in our electoral system should be the cornerstone of our Democracy. Simply put, the authors make a compelling argument that it is time for the United States to recognize voting as both a fundamental civil right and a solemn civic duty of all U.S. citizensBIOshttps://www.commpro.biz/news/a-conversation-with-ej-dionne-and-miles-rapoport-authors-democracy-the-case-for-universal-votinghttps://www.amazon.com/100-Democracy-Case-Universal-Voting/dp/1620976773https://100percentdemocracy.org/Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This week we will re-release our February 2021 conversation with John Dean about his book Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers.Authoritarian Nightmare was the first book to take a deep dive into the psychology of Trump’s voter base in an effort to answer such questions as: Why does his rhetoric continue to appeal to them, while his actions are often contrary to their economic, health and religious interests? Why do his followers believe his lies despite so much proof to the contrary? Why do they continue to have faith in a man whose words and actions continue to contradict reality?The Monmouth University Polling Institute which provided research on Authoritarian tendencies to support for John’s book, has released a new poll this month, July 2024, that explores the continuing prevalence of authoritarianism tendencies in the American populace, especially among Trump voters. https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/2020/08/25/authoritarian-tendencies-in-the-american-electorate-part-1/https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/2020/08/25/authoritarianism-among-pro-and-anti-trump-voters-part-2/https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/MonmouthPoll_US_071124/Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join Michael in his conversation with Michael Wolraich about his new book The Bishop and the Butterfly, Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age which tells the gripping story of the rise and fall of the New York Tammany Hall political machine intertwined with a murder-mystery that set everything in motion.Her body lay in the undergrowth beside a road that snaked through Bronx’s Van Cortlandt Park. It might have gone unnoticed but for a white kid glove snagged on a bush that caught the morning light, drawing the attention of a pedestrian. Her hair was auburn and fashionably short. She wore a black velvet dress and a single suede shoe. A dirty noose squeezed her throat so tightly that it broke the skin. The murder was sensational, even by the jaded standards of the bloody Prohibition Era. Journalists rushed to the scene and breathlessly expounded on the victim’s beauty and glamorous clothing. But the biggest bombshell landed after the body was identified as Benita Bischoff, alias Vivian Gordon. The lead detective described her as a “a woman of many acquaintances,” while the Bronx DA called her “a shakedown artist.” When detectives searched her posh Midtown apartment, they found scandalous black books and an explosive clue—a letter from an anti-corruption investigation that had exposed a heinous police conspiracy. These shocking discoveries riveted the public and set in motion events that ultimately brought down the corrupt political machine that had ruled New York for generations.Michael is the critically acclaimed narrative non-fiction author of two previous books Unreasonable Men and Blowing Smoke. His writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, New York Magazine, among numerous other publications. Wolraich grew up in Iowa and graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts and has lived in New York City since 2000.https://michaelwolraich.com/Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy