NCW Libraries

By legitimizing bigotry and redefining so-called American values, a revived Klan in the 1920s left a toxic legacy that demands reexamination today. Boasting 4 to 6 million members, the reassembled Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s dramatically challenged our preconceptions of hooded Klansmen, who through violence and lynching had established a Jim Crow racial hierarchy in the 1870s South. Responding to the "emergency" posed by the flood of immigrant "hordes"-Pope-worshipping...

"We are living in the midst of an American Awakening, without God and without forgiveness. The first two Awakenings brought religious renewal; the third-the social gospel movement and its aftermath (1880-1910)-invoked the authority of religion to bring about political and social transformation, but lost sight of Christianity along the way. The Awakening through which we are now living comprehends politics through the categories of religion without...

Exposing how oppressive cultural codes--encapsulated in buzzwords such as inclusion, diversity, social justice, appropriation--are constricting the vibrant intellectual life of the world's freest country, a renowned author and playwright examines how politics and cultural attitudes about rebellion have shifted in the U.S. throughout history.

"Richard Rorty (1931-2007) was among the most influential intellectuals of the latter half of the twentieth century, a thinker whose pragmatist philosophy ranged effortlessly across literature, politics, history, and poetry. To today's wider public Rorty is best known as the philosopher who forewarned of the 2016 US presidential outcome almost two decades in advance when he presciently predicted that a portion of the electorate would "start looking...

"From popular radio host and social media star Jesse Kelly comes a powerful rallying cry for Americans to recognize the roots of the dangerous communist mentality encroaching on our country today, with Kelly's trademark combination of bombast, intelligence, and humor"--

Discusses the failure of America's political elites to recognize how group identities drive politics both at home and abroad, and outlines recommendations for reversing the country's foreign policy failures and overcoming destructive political tribalism at home. "Humans are tribal. We need to belong to groups. In many parts of the world, the group identities that matter most--the ones that people will kill and die for--are ethnic, religious, sectarian,...

Can a football game affect the outcome of an election? What about shark attacks? Or a drought? In a rational world the answer, of course, would be no. But as bestselling historian Rick Shenkman shows in Political Animals, our world is anything but rational. This isn't because we aren't smart. Instead, modern cues are setting off ancient, instinctive responses that worked to keep us safe in the Stone Age but lead us astray today. Pop culture tells...

Throughout history, kings and emperors have promised "freedoms" to their people. Yet these freedoms were really only permissions handed down from on high. The American Revolution inaugurated a new vision: people have basic rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and government must ask permission from them. Sadly, today's increasingly bureaucratic society is beginning to turn back the clock and to transform America into a nation where...

"Who is to blame for our broken politics? The uncomfortable answer to this question starts with ordinary citizens with good intentions. We vote (sometimes) and occasionally sign a petition or attend a rally. But we mainly "engage" by consuming politics as if it's a sport or a hobby. We soak in daily political gossip and eat up statistics about who's up and who's down. We tweet and post and share. We crave outrage. The hours we spend on politics are...