Bookstack

Richard Aldous
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Nov 30, 2025 • 31min

Episode 176: Shadi Hamid on American Power

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 Shadi Hamid, author of The Case for American Power (Simon & Schuster).Bookstack is a production of American Purpose at Persuasion.Host: Richard AldousProducer: Bhaasita AthaniFollow Persuasion on X, LinkedIn, Instagram, 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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Nov 23, 2025 • 26min

Episode 175: Sven Beckert on Capitalism

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 Sven Beckert, author of Capitalism: A Global History (Penguin Press).Bookstack is a production of American Purpose at Persuasion.Host: Richard AldousProducer: Bhaasita AthaniFollow Persuasion on X, LinkedIn, Instagram, 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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Nov 16, 2025 • 26min

Episode 174: Vanessa Williamson on the Price of Democracy

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 Vanessa Williamson, author of The Price of Democracy: The Revolutionary Power of Taxation in American History (Basic Books).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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Nov 2, 2025 • 28min

Episode 173: Phillips O'Brien on War and Power

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 Phillips O’Brien, author of the new book, War and Power: Who Wins Wars—And Why (Public Affairs).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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Oct 5, 2025 • 27min

Episode 172: Phillip and William Taubman on McNamara at War

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 Aldous talks to Phillip Taubman and William Taubman, authors of the new book, McNamara at War: A New History (Norton).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 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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