Exurbia Now: The Battleground of American Democracy is Now Available!

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My new book, Exurbia Now: The Battleground of American Democracy, is now available. Publisher’s Weekly gave it a starred review, calling it “a darkly limned history of Chicagoland and a convincing portrait of a new era of white flight.” Booklist, in another starred review, credits it as “offering insight and a fresh perspective on the culture wars dividing the country.”

John T. Farrell writes the following, “An expressionistic ramble through the all-American countryside, out there beyond the cities and the suburbs, that brought us MAGA hats, megachurches and sedition—yet still offers hope, and the prospect of renewal. There is passion in David Masciotra’s writing, but not hate. He loves his country—just not blindly.”

Early media appearances include The Lincoln Project podcast, The Insurgents podcast, and the KeenOn podcast.

Order now!

New Essay on Right Wing Hatred of the United States, and Double Standards of Political Discourse

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In a new essay for Salon, I consider how the right wing routinely expresses hatred for the majority of Americans, and yet if a Democrat makes a snide remark, the world crumbles. The nauseating double standard is one reason why Trump’s hate movement still has power.

New Essay on Hubert Humphrey and American Liberalism

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I have a new essay with the Washington Monthly. In a review of James Traub’s insightful new biography of Hubert Humphrey, I explain why Humphrey is one of the unfairly forgotten heroes of American liberalism. The present is a perfect time to remember and revisit Humphrey’s crusade for civil rights, personal freedom, poverty relief efforts, and democracy.

Essay on Naomi Klein, Conspiracy Theories, and America’s Bizarre Political Culture

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I have a new essay at the Washington Monthly. I review Naomi Klein’s new book, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World, evaluating its strengths and sizable flaws. More broadly, I consider how and why our political culture has become so bizarre, silly, and destructive.

Recent Writing on Antisemitism

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I’ve written two essays on the deeply disturbing explosion of antisemitism since the October 7th pogrom that Hamas engineered against Israelis.

For the Washington Monthly, I examined the presidential race, as it currently stands, surveying the troubling reality that, among the candidates likely to appear on the ballot, President Joe Biden is the only one unworthy of accusations of antisemitism. In the essay, I take a close look at how Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Cornel West flirt with antisemites..

For the Bulwark, I issued a statement to fellow progressives, warning against the dangers of antisemitism, and declaring that I – and I suspect I am not alone – will not associate with antisemitism. The American left must eradicate the antisemitism currently festering and growing within its own ranks. The modern form of an ancient hatred is a moral abomination, and it undermines any intellectual and ethical credibility we could hope to have in the struggle against the fascistic right.

What the Clinton Haters on the Left Get Wrong

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I have reviewed a new attempted hitjob against the Clinton administration for the Washington Monthly.

The book, poorly written and lazily researched, isn’t worth much attention other than that it functions as a greatest hits collection of leftist fallacies regarding the record of the Clinton presidency.

In my essay, I deal with the actual record of accomplishment, explain why every socioeconomic indicator of American moved in the right direction during the 1990s, and defend Clinton against the increasingly popular conspiracy theories, distortions, and bromides regarding his two terms in the White House.

Read at the Washington Monthly.

New Interview with Rev. Jesse Jackson

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Recently, Rev. Jesse Jackson announced that he is “pivoting” to a more minor role at the human rights and political advocacy organization that he founded, The Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. I met with the civil rights leader to discuss his future plans, current political issues, and his fight with Parkinson’s Disease. Read at the New Republic.

The Dangerous Idiocy of Jason Aldean, and where to Find Better Small Town Politics and Music

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I have a new essay at Salon. It explores the idiocy of the new Jason Aldean song, connecting it to a history of hatred and violence. As I write, however, “In small towns, it is easy to find better politics and music.” John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, Tyler Childers, Rhiannon Giddens, Jason Isbell, and Miranda Lambert provide examples of progressive patriotism, from a small town perspective. Their vision of the provincial is winning, while Aldean’s is becoming more paranoid, estranged, and extreme. Read at Salon.