A welcome, revealing study of how political messages can be shaped positively to counter both enmity and disinformation.
A sharp examination of how activists are working to build resistance to the many antidemocratic forces now at work around the world.
In 2013, writes political analyst Giridharadas, a Russian troll farm recruited writers with the pledge of free meals and weekly payments in exchange for social media posts that supported Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine. The farm soon added a brief “to foment political unrest in Russia’s great adversary, the United States,” by exploiting already widening divisions in American society in order to undermine belief in democracy. The drumbeat sounded to both left and right at Russian hands: “These people are not to be trusted. They will never change. They are who they are. And who they are is a risk to your being.” Granted, notes the author in a cogent, sometimes encouraging narrative, there were yawning divisions to exploit, and they would widen with the rise of Donald Trump on the right and Bernie Sanders on the left. Some of Giridharadas’ subjects seem more or less doctrinaire at first blush: Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, say, who came under resounding assault from her own progressive wing for having dared say something nice about John McCain after he died, giving indications that there may be room for common ground after all. Of course, there are plenty of good reasons for political division. As one social justice activist told the author, “You probably don’t want to end up in a partnership with Jared Kushner just because you favor prison reform.” But most of the activists the author illuminatingly profiles are seriously committed to building bridges to a kinder, gentler, more united politics at a time when many purists, agreeing with others on 90% of issues, confine their focus to the 10% difference. Instead, the goal is to help voters find common ground, recognizing, for one thing, that “making manipulated people feel stupid is a terrible way to fight these [antidemocratic] forces.”
A welcome, revealing study of how political messages can be shaped positively to counter both enmity and disinformation.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-31899-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.
A warts-and-all portrait of the famed techno-entrepreneur—and the warts are nearly beyond counting.
To call Elon Musk (b. 1971) “mercurial” is to undervalue the term; to call him a genius is incorrect. Instead, Musk has a gift for leveraging the genius of others in order to make things work. When they don’t, writes eminent biographer Isaacson, it’s because the notoriously headstrong Musk is so sure of himself that he charges ahead against the advice of others: “He does not like to share power.” In this sharp-edged biography, the author likens Musk to an earlier biographical subject, Steve Jobs. Given Musk’s recent political turn, born of the me-first libertarianism of the very rich, however, Henry Ford also comes to mind. What emerges clearly is that Musk, who may or may not have Asperger’s syndrome (“Empathy did not come naturally”), has nurtured several obsessions for years, apart from a passion for the letter X as both a brand and personal name. He firmly believes that “all requirements should be treated as recommendations”; that it is his destiny to make humankind a multi-planetary civilization through innovations in space travel; that government is generally an impediment and that “the thought police are gaining power”; and that “a maniacal sense of urgency” should guide his businesses. That need for speed has led to undeniable successes in beating schedules and competitors, but it has also wrought disaster: One of the most telling anecdotes in the book concerns Musk’s “demon mode” order to relocate thousands of Twitter servers from Sacramento to Portland at breakneck speed, which trashed big parts of the system for months. To judge by Isaacson’s account, that may have been by design, for Musk’s idea of creative destruction seems to mean mostly chaos.
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9781982181284
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
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A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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