Bookstack

Richard Aldous
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Sep 21, 2025 • 30min

Episode 171: Scott Anderson on the Iranian Revolution

Bookstack at Persuasion is delivered to you every other Sunday at 6am EST. Grab a coffee, settle onto the couch, and see your weekend out with a deep dive into the best new book releases…This week Richard talks to Scott Anderson, author of the new book, King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation (Doubleday).Bookstack is a production of American Purpose at Persuasion.Host: Richard AldousProducer: Bhaasita AthaniFollow Persuasion on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and YouTube to keep up with our latest articles, podcasts, and events, as well as updates from excellent writers across our network. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe
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Sep 7, 2025 • 30min

Episode 170: Simon Ball on A Modern History of Assassination

Bookstack returns after the summer with Richard talking to author Simon Ball about his new book, Death to Order: A Modern History of Assassination (Yale University Press).Bookstack is a production of American Purpose at Persuasion.Host: Richard AldousProducer: Bhaasita AthaniFollow Persuasion on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and YouTube to keep up with our latest articles, podcasts, and events, as well as updates from excellent writers across our network. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe
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Aug 3, 2025 • 30min

Episode 169: Ross Benes on Why 1999 Was the Year Low Culture Conquered America

In this week’s episode, Richard talks to Ross Benes, author of 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times (University Press of Kansas).Bookstack is a production of American Purpose at Persuasion.Host: Richard AldousProducer: Bhaasita AthaniFollow Persuasion on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and YouTube to keep up with our latest articles, podcasts, and events, as well as updates from excellent writers across our network. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe
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Jul 20, 2025 • 31min

Episode 168: Karen Elliott House on Mohammed Bin Salman and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia

This week Richard talks to Karen Elliott House, author of the new book, The Man Who Would Be King: Mohammed Bin Salman and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia (Harper).Bookstack is a production of American Purpose at Persuasion.Host: Richard AldousProducer: Bhaasita AthaniFollow Persuasion on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and YouTube to keep up with our latest articles, podcasts, and events, as well as updates from excellent writers across our network.And, to receive pieces like this in your inbox and support our work, subscribe below. Bookstack listeners can take advantage of a 20% offer for paid Persuasion membership, with access to special columns and bonus Good Fight with Yascha Mounk podcast content. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe
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Jul 4, 2025 • 38min

Episode 167: Joan C. Williams on How the Left Lost the Working Class

In today’s episode of Bookstack, host Richard Aldous sits down with Joan C. Williams, award-winning scholar of social inequality and author of Outclassed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back (St. Martin's Press). Bookstack is now a production of American Purpose at Persuasion. Host: Richard Aldous Producer (for the last time): Laura SilvermanFollow Persuasion on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and YouTube to keep up with our latest articles, podcasts, and events, as well as updates from excellent writers across our network.And, to receive pieces like this in your inbox and support our work, subscribe below. Bookstack listeners can take advantage of a 20% offer for paid Persuasion membership, with access to special columns and bonus Good Fight with Yascha Mounk podcast content. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe
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Jun 22, 2025 • 27min

Episode 166: Bryan Burrough on How Texas Gunfighters Made the West Wild

In today’s episode of Bookstack, host Richard Aldous sits down with Bryan Burrough, acclaimed journalist, podcaster, and author of The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild (Penguin Random House).Bookstack is now a production of American Purpose at Persuasion.Host: Richard AldousProducer: Laura SilvermanFollow Persuasion on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and YouTube to keep up with our latest articles, podcasts, and events, as well as updates from excellent writers across our network.And, to receive pieces like this in your inbox and support our work, subscribe below. Bookstack listeners can take advantage of a 20% offer for paid Persuasion membership, with access to special columns and bonus Good Fight with Yascha Mounk podcast content. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe
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Jun 8, 2025 • 36min

Episode 165: Marc Fasteau and Ian Fletcher on U.S. Industrial Policy

In today’s episode of Bookstack, host Richard Aldous sits down with Marc Fasteau and Ian Fletcher — board members of the Coalition for a Prosperous America and co-authors of Industrial Policy for the United States: Winning the Competition for Good Jobs and High-Value Industries (Cambridge University Press).Bookstack is now a production of American Purpose at Persuasion.Host: Richard AldousProducer: Laura SilvermanFollow Persuasion on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and YouTube to keep up with our latest articles, podcasts, and events, as well as updates from excellent writers across our network.And, to receive pieces like this in your inbox and support our work, subscribe below. Bookstack listeners can take advantage of a 20% offer for paid Persuasion membership, with access to special columns and bonus Good Fight with Yascha Mounk podcast content. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe
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May 18, 2025 • 41min

Episode 164: Edward Luce on the Life of Zbig, America's Great Power Prophet

In today’s episode of Bookstack, host Richard Aldous sits down with Edward Luce, U.S. National Editor at the Financial Times and author Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America’s Great Power Prophet (Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster).Bookstack is now a production of American Purpose at Persuasion.Host: Richard AldousProducer: Laura SilvermanFollow Persuasion on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and YouTube to keep up with our latest articles, podcasts, and events, as well as updates from excellent writers across our network.And, to receive pieces like this in your inbox and support our work, subscribe below. Bookstack listeners can take advantage of a 20% offer for paid Persuasion membership, with access to special columns and bonus Good Fight with Yascha Mounk podcast content. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe
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May 4, 2025 • 33min

Episode 163: Matthew C. Klein on Why Trade Wars are Class Wars

In today’s episode of Bookstack, host Richard Aldous sits down with Matthew C. Klein, economist, writer behind The Overshoot on Substack, and co-author. with Michael Pettis, of Trade Wars Are Class Wars: How Rising Inequality Distorts the Global Economy and Threatens International Peace (Yale University Press).Bookstack is now a production of American Purpose at Persuasion.Follow Persuasion on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and YouTube to keep up with our latest articles, podcasts, and events, as well as updates from excellent writers across our network.And, to receive pieces like this in your inbox and support our work, subscribe below. Bookstack listeners can take advantage of a 20% offer for paid Persuasion membership, with access to special columns and bonus Good Fight with Yascha Mounk podcast content. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe
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Apr 20, 2025 • 34min

Episode 162: Jonathan Rauch on Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy

In this episode of Bookstack, host Richard Aldous sits down with Jonathan Rauch, journalist and author of Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy (Yale University Press).Bookstack is now a production of American Purpose at Persuasion.Follow Persuasion on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and YouTube to keep up with our latest articles, podcasts, and events, as well as updates from excellent writers across our network.And, to receive pieces like this in your inbox and support our work, subscribe below. Bookstack listeners can take advantage of a 20% offer for paid Persuasion membership, with access to special columns and bonus Good Fight with Yascha Mounk podcast content. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe

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