From one of America's most inspiring political leaders, a book about the core truths that unite us, and the long struggle to discern what those truths are and how best to act upon them, in her own life and across the life of our country. Senator Kamala Harris' commitment to speaking truth is informed by her upbringing. The daughter of immigrants, she was raised in an Oakland, California community that cared deeply about social justice; her parents--an esteemed economist from Jamaica and an admired cancer researcher from India--met as activists in the civil rights movement when they were graduate students at Berkeley. Growing up, Harris herself never hid her passion for justice, and when she became a prosecutor out of law school, a deputy district attorney, she quickly established herself as one of the most innovative change agents in American law enforcement. She progressed rapidly to become the elected District Attorney for San Francisco, and then the chief law enforcement officer of the state of California as a whole. Known for bringing a voice to the voiceless, she took on the big banks during the foreclosure crisis, winning a historic settlement for California's working families. Her hallmarks were applying a holistic, data-driven approach to many of California's thorniest issues, always eschewing stale "tough on crime" rhetoric as presenting a series of false choices. Neither "tough" nor "soft" but smart on crime became her mantra. Being smart means learning the truths that can make us better as a community, and supporting those truths with all our might. That has been the pole star that guided Harris to a transformational career as the top law enforcement official in California, and it is guiding her now as a transformational United States Senator, grappling with an array of complex issues that affect her state, our country, and the world, from health care and the new economy to immigration, national security, the opioid crisis, and accelerating inequality. By reckoning with the big challenges we face together, drawing on the hard-won wisdom and insight from her own career and the work of those who have most inspired her, Kamala Harris offers in THE TRUTHS WE HOLD a master class in problem solving, in crisis management, and leadership in challenging times. Through the arc of her own life, on into the great work of our day, she communicates a vision of shared struggle, shared purpose, and shared values. In a book rich in many home truths, not least is that a relatively small number of people work very hard to convince a great many of us that we have less in common than we actually do, but it falls to us to look past them and get on with the good work of living our common truth. When we do, our shared effort will continue to sustain us and this great nation, now and in the years to come. Available for purchase at: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FC47R8D?tag=randohouseinc7911-20">Amazon</a><a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-8373827-11819508?sid=PRHD39095A662&url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9780525560722">Barnes & Noble</a><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-8373827-10876509?SID=PRHD39095A662--9780525560722&url=http://www.booksamillion.com/p/9780525560722">Books A Million</a><a href="http://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/book/9780525560715?utm_source=prh&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_term=301&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780525560715&utm_campaign=9780525560715">Hudson Booksellers</a><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525560715?aff=PenguinGroupUS">IndieBound</a><a href="http://www.powells.com/book/-9780525560715?utm_source=randomhouse&utm_campaign=randomhouse&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780525560715">Powell's</a><a href="http://goto.target.com/c/128773/81938/2092?subId1=PRHD39095A662--9780525560715&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fs%3FsearchTerm%3D9780525560715">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--9780525560715&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-ng.do%3F&RD_PARM2=search_query%3D9780525560715%2526ic%3D16_0%2526Find%3DFind%2526search_constraint%3D3920">Walmart</a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1409388390?at=11l3IH&ct=PRHD39095A662--9780525560722">Apple Books</a><a href="https://google.prf.hn/click/camref:1011ld4r/pubref:PRHD39095A662--9780525560722/destination:https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780525560722&c=books">Google Play Store</a><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/link?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&offerid=258185.12829781935712206&type=2&u1=PRHD39095A662--9780525560722}&murl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kobo.com%2Fsearch%3FQuery%3D9780525560722">Kobo</a>

The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris, read by Kamala Harris

Like a lot of people, lockdown has made us think about intimacy. As separation from our loved ones drags on, we're all having to find different ways to connect, and in this socially distant reality, intimacy feels more necessary than ever - however we can get it (hot tip: books are good!). Writing and reading can be intimate acts, so for this episode we'll be discussing what intimacy means in literature, which writers - from Henry James to Sally Rooney to Maggie Nelson - have been able to capture it, and what it means to write in an intimate way. Our guest this month is Garth Greenwell, a writer whose work chronicles and explores intimacy in many forms, so he couldn't be a better person to talk to. His second book, Cleanness, follows an American teacher living in Sofia, Bulgaria as he navigates relationships with his students, love and sex. Listen in for our interview with Garth, our thoughts about intimacy in literature, and all the usual recommendations. Come closer, let us put our arms around you, and get enveloped for the next hour by Literary Friction. 

Recommendations on the theme, Intimacy: 
Octavia: The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson https://www.graywolfpress.org/books/argonauts
Carrie: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/573/57368/giovanni-s-room/9780141186351.html

General Recommendations:
Octavia: This Brutal House by Niven Govinden https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/niven-govinden/this-brutal-house/9780349700687/
Garth: Where Reasons End by Yiyun Li https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/594959/where-reasons-end-by-yiyun-li/
Carrie: The Years by Annie Ernaux https://fitzcarraldoeditions.com/books/the-years

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 - Intimacy With Garth Greenwell

OPRAH&rsquo;S BOOK CLUB PICK &bull;&#160;The Pulitzer Prize&ndash;winning, bestselling author of&#160;The Warmth of Other Suns&#160;examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions. &#160; &ldquo;An instant American classic.&rdquo;&mdash;Dwight Garner, The New York Times &ldquo;As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power&mdash;which groups have it and which do not.&rdquo; &#160; In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. &#160; Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people&rsquo;s lives and behavior and the nation&rsquo;s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people&mdash;including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball&rsquo;s Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others&mdash;she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. She documents how the Nazis studied the racial systems in America to plan their out-cast of the Jews; she discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against; she writes about the surprising health costs of caste, in depression and life expectancy, and the effects of this hierarchy on our culture and politics. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity. Beautifully written, original, and revealing,&#160;Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents&#160;is an eye-opening story of people and history, and a reexamination of what lies under the surface of ordinary lives and of American life today.

Caste (Oprah's Book Club) by Isabel Wilkerson, read by Robin Miles

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 ANXIOUS PEOPLE by Fredrik Backman and read by Marin Ireland

ANXIOUS PEOPLE 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.

Download Audiobook

YOU ARE NEVER ALONE by Max Lucado | Day One

Listen to Rob Bell's EVERYTHING IS SPIRITUAL audiobook excerpt, read by the author.

This program is read by the author.

From Rob Bell, the New York Times bestselling author of Love Wins

This audiobook is an invitation to see your life in a new way.

Because we each have a story we're telling-
about who and where we come from,
what we've been through,
and what it all means-or doesn't mean.

These stories we tell can easily feel disjointed and fragmented,
like an endless series of events are happening to us without 
any particular coherence or point.

Just, you know, life.

But for thousands of years there's been another way of understanding
this experience we're all having here,
one that goes directly to the heart of those age-old questions
Who are we? And
What are we doing here?
And what does it all mean?

In this compelling and surprisingly subversive memoir,
Rob shows us this ancient wisdom, taking us through his history
and the history of the universe to show us something about each
our histories-
how all of it matters,
how everything we've been through forms a connected whole,
and how it's all been headed somewhere the whole time.

From the farthest reaches of the universe to the smallest cells in our bodies, Rob invites
us to see that there's something more going on here, something bringing us together
and guiding us into greater and greater wonder and awe at our own existence, showing
us how this world we call home is way more dynamic and mysterious and meaningful than we ever realized.

If you've every found yourself thinking
There's got to be me more than this.
this audiobook is for you.

Can your life get more fascinating,
more meaningful,
filled with more and more possibilities
surprising you year after year after year?
This book says yes.
Because everything is spiritual. 

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Essentials

Buy the audiobook

Everything Is Spiritual by Rob Bell, audiobook excerpt

From bestselling author and NYU Business School professor Scott Galloway comes a keenly insightful, urgent analysis of who stands to win and who's at risk to lose in a post-pandemic world The COVID-19 outbreak has turned bedrooms into offices, pitted young against old, and widened the gaps between rich and poor, red and blue, the mask wearers and the mask haters. Some businesses--like home exercise company Peloton, video conference software maker Zoom, and Amazon--woke up to find themselves crushed under an avalanche of consumer demand. Others--like the restaurant, travel, hospitality, and live entertainment industries--scrambled to escape obliteration. But as New York Times bestselling author Scott Galloway argues, the pandemic has not been a change agent so much as an accelerant of trends already well underway. In Post Corona, he outlines the contours of the crisis and the opportunities that lie ahead. Some businesses, like the powerful tech monopolies, will thrive as a result of the disruption. Other industries, like higher education, will struggle to maintain a value proposition that no longer makes sense when we can't stand shoulder to shoulder. And the pandemic has accelerated deeper trends in government and society, exposing a widening gap between our vision of America as a land of opportunity, and the troubling realities of our declining wellbeing. Combining his signature humor and brash style with sharp business insights and the occasional dose of righteous anger, Galloway offers both warning and hope in equal measure. As he writes, "Our commonwealth didn't just happen, it was shaped. We chose this path--no trend is permanent and can't be made worse or corrected." Available for purchase at: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HL8JYZN?tag=randohouseinc7911-20">Amazon</a><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9780593332221">Barnes & Noble</a><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-8373827-10747236?SID=PRHD39095A662--9780593332221&url=http://www.booksamillion.com/p/9780593332221">Books A Million</a><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/2186/9780593332214?prhc=PRHD39095A662">Bookshop.org</a><a href="http://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/book/9780593332214?utm_source=prh&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_term=301&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780593332214&utm_campaign=9780593332214">Hudson Booksellers</a><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780593332214?aff=penguinrandom">IndieBound</a><a href="http://www.powells.com/book/-9780593332214?utm_source=randomhouse&utm_campaign=randomhouse&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780593332214">Powell's</a><a href="http://goto.target.com/c/128773/81938/2092?subId1=PRHD39095A662--9780593332214&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fs%3FsearchTerm%3D9780593332214">Target</a><a href="https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=9780593332214">Walmart</a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1530728487?at=11l3IH&ct=PRHD39095A662--9780593332221">Apple Books</a><a href="https://google.prf.hn/click/camref:1011ld4r/pubref:PRHD39095A662--9780593332221/destination:https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780593332221&c=books">Google Play Store</a><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/link?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&offerid=258185.12829781935712206&type=2&u1=PRHD39095A662--9780593332221}&murl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kobo.com%2Fsearch%3FQuery%3D9780593332221">Kobo</a>

Post Corona by Scott Galloway, read by Scott Galloway

Listen to an excerpt from DARK TIDES by Philippa Gregory and read by Louise Brealey

DARK TIDES Audiobook Excerpt

Listen to an excerpt from LET US DREAM by Pope Francis and Austen Ivereigh and read by Arthur Morey

LET US DREAM Audiobook Excerpt

Twelve early pieces never before collected that offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of Joan Didion. Mostly drawn from the earliest part of her astonishing five-decade career, the wide-ranging pieces in this collection include Didion writing about a Gamblers Anonymous meeting, a visit to San Simeon, and a reunion of WWII veterans in Las Vegas, and about topics ranging from Nancy Reagan to Robert Mapplethorpe to Martha Stewart. Here are subjects Didion has long written about -- the press, politics, California robber barons, women, the act of writing, and her own self-doubt. Each piece is classic Didion: incisive and, in new light, stunningly prescient.

Everything Is Spiritual by Rob Bell, audiobook excerpt

MacmillanAudio

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