Books

CA EVENT: Censorship and Politics

Communications — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/10/2008 - 12:00pm

Come hear more about the book that Studs Terkel calls "revelatory and stunning"; that Anthony Lewis praises for providing "a dramatic glimpse of a dark American past"; that Publishers Weekly says "artfully weaves the personal and the political" in a way that "readers will find engaging on more than one level."

Rick Wartzman, Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, will lecture on his new book, "Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" -- a powerful narrative that has particular resonance today.

Lunch will be provided.

This event is co-sponsored by the California Research Bureau.

The Predator State

Communications — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:15:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/06/2008 - 12:15pm

As the myth of the free market is overcome by current events, James K. Galbraith's new book explains both its rise and fall. His description of the dynamic and troublesome interaction between the public and private sectors is timely, instructive, and ultimately devastating. The rise of a free market ideology blurred both the distinction between these sectors and the growth of government. It did so in ways that not only contributed to greater wealth and income inequality, but also directly produced the financial crisis which is remaking the global economy on a daily basis. Join us for a discussion of the book and an exploration of the intersection of politics and policy in the response to the financial crisis.

This event is co-sponsored by the Next Social Contract Initiative and the Economic Growth Program.

This event will be WEBCAST LIVE on this page starting at 12:15 pm EST.

Hope Matters

Communications — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
10/02/2008 - 12:00pm

There is renewed interest in the power and role of faith in America. We see candidates talking about it in campaigns. But how does it influence how public servants in the trenches think about their work?

For the past several years, John Calhoun has been on a cross-country quest to discover how faith motivates some of America's hardest-working public servants. The result? He selected 24 amazing people who pursue a range of innovative and ambitious plans to help their communities. Their accomplishments are impressive, deeply moving, and often surprising. The interviewees include Christians of every denomination, Muslims, Jews, and others, some of whom pray five times a day and some who are "not that religious."

Through the stories, Calhoun reveals how people sustain their public work by privately calling upon their spiritual beliefs. Readers will discover how they overcome doubt, fear and burnout. They learn about finding a calling, about concepts that most faith traditions share.

Come join New America's Religious Center Initiative for an audacious discussion of hope.

Eric Liu in Publishers Weekly | 'The Monday Interview: Eric Liu, of The True Patriot'

Articles — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:26:00 -0400

New America in the News:

An interview with Eric Liu, co-author with Nick Hanauer of The True Patriot, which was published by Sasquatch in January 2008.

Publishers Weekly: How would you describe The True Patriot?

Eric Liu: The book is an argument that we’ve got to reclaim patriotism in more progressive terms. It’s written in the style of a Thomas Paine pamphlet, and is meant to provoke debate about the ways in which over the last four decades patriotism as an idea has been hijacked by the right and surrendered by the left--to the detriment of both. We put the book out there to reframe the conversation and take it out of the realm of reflex and gauzy cliché and reground it in a set of moral principles. People have a list of clichés built up in their mind, either positive or negative, and they’re far removed from truly revisiting the moral core of what it truly means to put country before self. LINK

America and the World

Communications — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:30:00 -0400

A New America Event
09/19/2008 - 5:30pm

In America and the World: Conversations on the Future of American Foreign Policy, two of the most respected figures in American foreign policy, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft -- each national security advisors under markedly different administrations, dissect, in lively and unscripted conversation moderated by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, the most significant foreign policy challenges facing the U.S.

Join the New America Foundation/American Strategy Program for a wine reception for a celebration of a New America Foundation/Basic Books release.

The discussion portion of this event will be webcast live, starting at approximately 6pm ET.

Steve Coll on Democracy Now | 'Book Discussion: "The Bin Ladens"'

Communications — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:39:00 -0400

New America in the News:
Steve Coll discusses his new book The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century, in which he details the complicated family history of Osama bin Laden, one of 54 children born to Mohammed bin Laden. LINK to video, audio, and transcript.

Beyond Tolerance

Communications — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
09/11/2008 - 12:30pm

On September 11, we cannot help but think about the power of religion to shape our world. In the past few years, religion has had a revival in America. It has been catapulted to the front pages of our newspapers, splashed on our television screens and most recently, at the forefront of the presidential campaigns. Religion’s rise to the surface does not need to be a negative, divisive matter. Historically, the U.S. has always had a degree of pluralism, a quality that has helped Americans, as a whole, work through their religious differences. Former New York Times religion reporter Gustav Niebuhr’s new book, Beyond Tolerance, is a testament to everyday efforts put forth by those often left out of headlines.

Beyond Tolerance is a hopeful, timely and important portrait of religious cooperation in America. Niebuhr discovers the inheritors of this tradition and explores heartening examples of cooperation between religious communities that go beyond tolerance. From Hindus and Quakers in Queens, New York to Catholics and Jews in Baltimore, Maryland, to black Baptists and Catholics in Louisville, Kentucky to Catholics and Buddhists in Los Angeles, he focuses on the different approaches.

Join the New America Foundation's Religious Center Initiative for a discussion of interfaith work in America.

Against Us

Communications — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:30:00 -0400

A New America Event
09/09/2008 - 3:45pm

In his first public event since the release of his book, Against Us: The New Face of America's Enemies in the Muslim World, ABC News' Senior Foreign Correspondent Jim Scuitto looks at how -- seven years after 9/11 -- anti-American extremism has become mainstream thinking in the Muslim world. In his book, Sciutto profiles people in eight different Muslim countries - to find that resentment extends far beyond the stereotype of wild-eyed religious fanatics, even to people we'd think would be our friends --from a Christian girl in Lebanon who supports Hezbollah as resistance against "American imperialism," to democracy activists in Iran and Egypt who see the United States as preventing rather than promoting progress.

Come join us as Sciutto breaks caricatures as well as explains the thinking and experiences behind the hostility America faces in order for our nation to find ways to address it.

What Does Patriotism Look Like?

Communications — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:15:00 -0400

A New America Event
09/09/2008 - 12:15pm

Former U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) will discuss his candid and smart political memoir, which calls on Republicans to return to their traditional principles of fiscal conservatism, respect for the environment and aversion to foreign entanglements.

America and the World

adminn — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:27:00 -0400

The status of the United States as a world power, and the nature of power itself, are at a historic turning point. It is essential that we understand and adapt to the new security environment in which we find ourselves.

Two of the most respected figures in American foreign policy are Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft -- both former National Security Advisors under markedly different administrations. In America and the World they dissect, in spontaneous and unscripted conversations moderated by David Ignatius, the most significant foreign policy challenges facing the U.S.: the Middle East, Russia, China, Europe, the Developing World, the changing nature of power in a globalized world, and… more