Narrated by the authors, Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth A. Silvers.

Two friends on opposite sides of the aisle provide a practical guide to grace-filled political conversation while challenging readers to put relationship before policy and understanding before argument.

More than ever, politics seems driven by conflict and anger. People sitting together in pews every Sunday have started to feel like strangers, loved ones at the dinner table like enemies. Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers say there is a better way.       

As working moms on opposite ends of the political spectrum and hosts of a fast-growing politics podcast, Holland and Silvers have learned how to practice engaging conversation while disagreeing. In I Think You're Wrong (But I'm Listening), they share principles on how to give grace and be vulnerable when discussing issues that affect families, churches, the country, and the world. They provide practical tools to move past frustration and into productive dialogue, emphasizing that faith should inform the way people engage more than it does the outcome of that engagement. This urgently needed new book reveals how to talk about politics in a way that inspires rather than angers and that pays spiritual dividends far past election day.

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I THINK YOU'RE WRONG (BUT I'M LISTENING) by Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth A. Silvers

James Baldwin grew disillusioned by the failure of the civil rights movement to force America to confront its lies about race. In the era of Trump, what can we learn from his struggle? &#160; &ldquo;Searing, provocative, and ultimately hopeful . . .&#160;Begin Again&#160;challenges, illuminates, and points us toward if not a more perfect union then at least a more just one.&rdquo;&mdash;Jon Meacham &#160; We live, according to Eddie S. Glaude Jr., in the&#160;after times, when the promise of Black Lives Matter and the attempt to achieve a new America were challenged by&#160;the election of Donald Trump, a racist president whose victory represents yet another failure of America to face the lies it tells itself about race. &#160; We have been here before: For James Baldwin, the after times came in the wake of the civil rights movement, when a similar attempt to compel a national confrontation with the truth was answered with the murders of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. In these years, spanning from the publication of&#160;The Fire Next Time&#160;in 1963 to that of&#160;No Name in the Street&#160;in 1972, Baldwin transformed into a more overtly political writer, a change that came at great professional and personal cost. But from that journey, Baldwin emerged with a sense of renewed purpose about the necessity of pushing forward in the face of disillusionment and despair. &#160; In the story of Baldwin&rsquo;s crucible, Glaude suggests, we can find hope and guidance through our own after times, this Trumpian era of shattered promises and white retrenchment. Mixing biography&mdash;drawn partially from newly uncovered interviews&mdash;with history, memoir, and trenchant analysis of our current moment,&#160;Begin Again&#160;is Glaude&rsquo;s endeavor, following Baldwin, to bear witness to the difficult truth of race in America today. It is at once a searing exploration that lays bare the tangled web of race, trauma, and memory, and a powerful interrogation of what we all must ask of ourselves in order to call forth a new America. &#160; Advance praise for Begin Again &ldquo;A penetrating study of how the words of James Baldwin continue to have (often painful) relevance today. . . . In prose that is eloquent and impassioned&mdash;sometimes hopeful, sometimes not&mdash;the author presses his fingers on our bruises, the ones many of us would prefer to ignore. . . . Baldwin's genius glimmers throughout as Glaude effectively demonstrates how truth does not die with the one who spoke it.&rdquo;&mdash;Kirkus Reviews&#160;(starred review) Available for purchase at: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RFVCB11?tag=randohouseinc7911-20">Amazon</a><a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-8373827-11819508?sid=PRHD39095A662&url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9780525575344">Barnes & Noble</a><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-8373827-10747236?SID=PRHD39095A662--9780525575344&url=http://www.booksamillion.com/p/9780525575344">Books A Million</a><a href="http://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/book/9780525575320?utm_source=prh&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_term=301&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780525575320&utm_campaign=9780525575320">Hudson Booksellers</a><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525575320?aff=PenguinGroupUS">IndieBound</a><a href="http://www.powells.com/book/-9780525575320?utm_source=randomhouse&utm_campaign=randomhouse&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780525575320">Powell's</a><a href="http://goto.target.com/c/128773/81938/2092?subId1=PRHD39095A662--9780525575320&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fs%3FsearchTerm%3D9780525575320">Target</a><a href="http://linksynergy.walmart.com/fs-bin/click?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&subid=0&offerid=183959.1&type=10&tmpid=273&u1=PRHD39095A662--9780525575320&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-ng.do%3F&RD_PARM2=search_query%3D9780525575320%2526ic%3D16_0%2526Find%3DFind%2526search_constraint%3D3920">Walmart</a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1462587140?at=11l3IH&ct=PRHD39095A662--9780525575344">Apple Books</a><a href="https://google.prf.hn/click/camref:1011ld4r/pubref:PRHD39095A662--9780525575344/destination:https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780525575344&c=books">Google Play Store</a><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/link?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&offerid=258185.12829781935712206&type=2&u1=PRHD39095A662--9780525575344}&murl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kobo.com%2Fsearch%3FQuery%3D9780525575344">Kobo</a>

Begin Again by Eddie S. Glaude Jr., read by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.

Meditating in midst of the Coronavirus pandemic is not easy. It can be particularly difficult because many traditional meditations rely on the breath as an anchor, or focal point, for your attention. So the breath becomes the place you return to when the mind inevitably wanders. 

When we meditate on the breath, we settle on a place where we feel the breath moving (such as the nostrils, the chest or the abdomen), or we follow the whole breath in and out. Many will continue to find the breath a great solace and support at this time. But for some people, the breath may be a relatively uncertain anchor: the sensations of the breath don’t feel quite strong enough to hold their attention. This is especially true if you have an asthmatic condition, or a history of panic attacks, or are experiencing symptoms of Covid-19. 

To help you deal with such issues, we have produced a new collection of meditations that will help you explore alternative anchors for your attention; the feet, seat or hands. There are three versions of the Finding Your Ground meditation of different lengths..... Read more here http://franticworld.com/coronavirus/

Frantic World 2.0

Bells only - every 5'

What does it mean to write luxuriously? How can books be rich and generous? This month we’re talking about luxury in literature - and no, we don’t mean books about the 1% having spa days or flying first class. Instead, we’re talking about writing that explores the aesthetic, opulent, baroque and decadent. Through writers including Oscar Wilde, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sylvia Plath, we’ll be thinking about what makes writing luxurious, and why engaging with luxury can be a subversive act of resistance for marginalised communities. Our guest today is Shola von Reinhold, whose debut novel Lote is about present-day narrator Mathilda's fixation with the forgotten Black Scottish modernist poet, Hermia Druitt. It's also a beautiful meditation on aesthetics and beauty and who is allowed access to them. Listen in for all the usual recommendations, and a chance to find out if you're an Arcadian or a Utopian. So, come indulge with us in a little literary friction. 

Recommendations on the theme, Luxury: 
Octavia: Ariel by Sylvia Plath https://www.faber.co.uk/9780571236091-ariel-the-restored-edition.html
Carrie: The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/alan-hollinghurst/the-line-of-beauty/9781447275183

General Recommendations: 
Octavia: The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/emily-st-john-mandel/the-glass-hotel/9781509882809
Shola: Race, Sexuality and Identity in Britain and Jamaica: the Biography of Patrick Nelson by Gemma Romain https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/race-sexuality-and-identity-in-britain-and-jamaica-9781472588654/
Carrie: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett https://britbennett.com/the-vanishing-half

Email us: litfriction@gmail.com 
Tweet us & find us on Instagram: @litfriction 

This episode is sponsored by Picador https://www.panmacmillan.com/picador

Literary Friction - Luxury With Shola Von Reinhold

Don't know about you, but we've really felt the need for a little more joy around here lately. We miss it, and as the world continues to turn upside down, we’re learning how to find it in new ways and in new places. So, Minisode Fifteen is dedicated to JOY, and the best thing about joy is that once you have a little of it you can find ways to pass it on, like a paper chain of joy spreading out across communities virtual and real. What's bringing you joy right now? Is reading a joyful act? Can finding joy be a practice? And as we get into what brings us joy, hopefully we’ll spread a little of that joy to you, and finally as usual give a few recommendations of things we’ve been into lately. This is our last show before we take our summer break in August, so we wish you all good things, and may you go to your joy.

Minisode Fifteen: Joy

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Small Great Things and A Spark of Light comes a riveting novel about the choices that alter the course of our lives. Everything changes in a single moment for Dawn Edelstein. She&rsquo;s on a plane when the flight attendant makes an announcement: Prepare for a crash landing. She braces herself as thoughts flash through her mind. The shocking thing is, the thoughts are not of her husband but of a man she last saw fifteen years ago: Wyatt Armstrong. Dawn, miraculously, survives the crash, but so do all the doubts that have suddenly been raised. She has led a good life. Back in Boston, there is her husband, Brian, their beloved daughter, and her work as a death doula, in which she helps ease the transition between life and death for her clients. But somewhere in Egypt is Wyatt Armstrong, who works as an archaeologist unearthing ancient burial sites, a career Dawn once studied for but was forced to abandon when life suddenly intervened. And now, when it seems that fate is offering her second chances, she is not as sure of the choice she once made. After the crash landing, the airline ensures that the survivors are seen by a doctor, then offers transportation to wherever they want to go. The obvious&#160;destination is to fly home,&#160;but she could take another path:&#160;return to the archaeological site she left years before, reconnect with Wyatt and their unresolved history, and maybe even complete her research on The Book of Two Ways&mdash;the first known map of the afterlife. As the story unfolds, Dawn&rsquo;s two possible futures unspool side by side, as do the secrets and doubts long buried with them. Dawn must confront the questions she&rsquo;s never truly asked: What does a life well lived look like? When we leave this earth, what do we leave behind? Do we make choices . . . or do our choices make us? And who would you be if you hadn&rsquo;t turned out to be the person you are right now?

The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult, read by Patti Murin

Will Harris and Nick Makoha, prizewinning poets both, talk about Nick’s poems in the spring 2020 issue of The Poetry Review and how these poems exemplify his interest in song, story and myth, the parameters of self, reconfiguring the problem of the white lens, and how the act of writing poems produces unlooked-for discoveries. Nick gives electrifying readings of his poems ‘Codex 1’ and Codex 2, both published in the Review, and ‘Bird In Flames’ from his Forward-shortlisted debut Kingdom of Gravity.

Nick Makoha talks to Will Harris

Listen to an excerpt from LIVE FREE OR DIE by Sean Hannity and read by Sean Hannity

LIVE FREE OR DIE Audiobook Excerpt

When life feels depleted, does God care? I’m facing an onslaught of challenges, will God help? When life grows dark and stormy, does God notice? I’m facing the fear of death, will God help me? The answer in the life-giving miracles in the Gospel of John is a resounding yes.

In this book, Max will help you:

* Realize that Jesus is walking with you and lifting you out of your storms.
* Dwell in the grace of the cross, the miracle of the empty tomb, and the assurance of restoration power.
* Believe that God is your ever-present source of help.
* Recognize that you are never without hope or strength because you are never, ever, alone.

Today, take courage that you are stronger than you think because God is nearer than you know.

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YOU ARE NEVER ALONE by Max Lucado | Day One

Listen to an excerpt from RAGE by Bob Woodward, read by Robert Petkoff.

RAGE Audiobook Excerpt

A tense, page-turning psychological drama about the making and breaking of a family, about a woman whose experience of motherhood is nothing at all what she hoped for--and everything she feared Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting, supportive mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had. But in the thick of motherhood's exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter--Violet rejects her mother, screams uncontrollably, and becomes a disturbing, disruptive presence at her preschool. Or is it all in Blythe's head? Her husband, Fox, says she's imagining things. What he sees is an overwhelmed wife who can't cope with the day-to-day grind. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well. Then their son Sam is born--and with him, Blythe has the natural, blissful connection she'd always imagined with her child. Even Violet seems to love her little brother. But when life as they know it is changed in an instant, the devastating fall-out forces Blythe to face the truth. Here, we see the making and breaking of a family in crystalline detail, and what it feels like when women are not believed. The Push is a tour de force you will read in a sitting, an utterly immersive pageturner that will challenge everything you think you know about motherhood, about our children, and about what happens behind the doors of even the most perfect-looking families. . . Available for purchase at: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087BL9MML?tag=randohouseinc7911-20">Amazon</a><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9781984881670">Barnes & Noble</a><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-8373827-10747236?SID=PRHD39095A662--9781984881670&url=http://www.booksamillion.com/p/9781984881670">Books A Million</a><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/2186/9781984881663?prhc=PRHD39095A662">Bookshop.org</a><a href="http://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/book/9781984881663?utm_source=prh&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_term=301&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9781984881663&utm_campaign=9781984881663">Hudson Booksellers</a><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781984881663?aff=penguinrandom">IndieBound</a><a href="http://www.powells.com/book/-9781984881663?utm_source=randomhouse&utm_campaign=randomhouse&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9781984881663">Powell's</a><a href="http://goto.target.com/c/128773/81938/2092?subId1=PRHD39095A662--9781984881663&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fs%3FsearchTerm%3D9781984881663">Target</a><a href="https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=9781984881663">Walmart</a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1508884455?at=11l3IH&ct=PRHD39095A662--9781984881670">Apple Books</a><a href="https://google.prf.hn/click/camref:1011ld4r/pubref:PRHD39095A662--9781984881670/destination:https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9781984881670&c=books">Google Play Store</a><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/link?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&offerid=258185.12829781935712206&type=2&u1=PRHD39095A662--9781984881670}&murl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kobo.com%2Fsearch%3FQuery%3D9781984881670">Kobo</a>

The Push by Ashley Audrain, read by Marin Ireland

Harper Audio proudly traces its roots back to 1952, when Dylan Thomas first recorded for our Caedmon label. For more than five decades, HarperAudio/Caedmon has been synonymous not only with distinguished poets reading their works, but also with equally distinguished authors and readers performing classic and contemporary texts.

YOU ARE NEVER ALONE by Max Lucado | Day One

HarperAudio US