Tag Archives: Books

Recent Writing: Poetry, Politics, and a Tribute to a Friend

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Recently, I’ve written three stories:

I offer a detailed review and examination of the powerful poetry of Martín Espada. His work soars with artistic brilliance, while also grounding us in the harsh political realities of racism and injustice.

I also revisited Ted Kennedy’s “Robert Bork’s America” speech to consider how Democrats should, like the late Kennedy, give a full-throated denunciation of fascism, violations of human rights, sexism, homophobia, and assaults on the rule of law.

Finally, I wrote a tribute to my dear friend, Alanna Ford, who died in September. She was a member of the Rainbow/PUSH staff. In the essay, I consider not only personal grief, but the political permutations of mourning for someone dedicated to social justice, equality, and the enlargement of democracy.

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 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.

What Republicans and Democrats Get Wrong about Immigration

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I have a new story in the Progressive. It is an interview with Camilo Perez Bustillo, one of the leading experts on immigration and the southern border in the United States. Bustillo gives a fascinating account and analysis of migration patterns and US imperialism, what the Biden administration gets right and wrong on immigration, and how to formulate a reasonable and humane immigration policy. Read at the Progressive.