What is American democracy in 2024?
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Mystery character and book of the week
| This character is one of literature’s most tragic and memorable, immortalized in an 18th century novel that is recognized as one of the world’s greatest works of art.
The character is alleged to have materialized in the writer’s imagination when the writer was supposed to be working on another book.
But this character wouldn’t be denied, and as the person took shape under the writer’s pen, the writer realized they had something remarkable.
The character was inspired by a person the writer observed, the servant of a neighbor, whose dramatic arguments with a spouse were fodder for neighborhood gossip.
When the servant came to a calamitous end, the writer was mesmerized by the details.
In the novel, this character is described as magnetic with “shining eyes and the barely noticeable smile that curved (their) lips.”
The book would take four years to complete and when it was finished, the writer was eager to be finished, unaware that they had produced a masterpiece that is still read today.
Do you know who this character is and which novel they appeared in? When you have a guess, email me: [email protected].
And, my book of the week. This month I am launching an election series asking what is American democracy in 2024?
Our first book of the series is by Boston College historian and author Heather Cox Richardson who captures all of the chaos, concern, cynicism and perceived calamity of this political moment with her first sentence: “America is at a crossroads.”
Richardson warns that democracies wither – not at gunpoint – but at the ballot box when the threat of autocracy is misperceived or under-appreciated.
She points to the shared strategies of autocratic strongmen through history: the way they deploy specific language and “false history,” their methods of undermining power structures and offering mirage-like solutions.
Richardson writes: "As a strongman becomes more and more destructive, followers’ loyalty only increases."
— Kerri Miller | MPR News |
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| | How women of the CIA changed history |
In her new book, “The Sisterhood,” journalist Liza Mundy reveals the hidden stories of women working inside America’s top spy agency — how they brought down a Russian spy, discovered where Osama bin Laden was hiding and endured a decadeslong fight for equality and recognition.
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