Tag Archives: USA

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!

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.

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.

Interview with Anthony DiMaggio, a leading scholar on the threat of Right Wing Extremism

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I recently interviewed one of the leading scholars on far right extremism – a great academic voice warning us about the dangers facing democracy – Anthony DiMaggio. DiMaggio is a political scientist at Lehigh University, and the author of several books on American politics, including the most recent, Rising Fascism in America: It Can Happen Here. Along with a team of researchers, DiMaggio is releasing groundbreaking and important studies of the prevalence of far right extremism in the US, critical to understanding the nature of the threat and how to mitigate it.

Read the interview at the Washington Monthly.

Arlington Road: The Conspiracy Thriller that Foresaw the Spread of Far Right Extremism

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I have a new essay at CrimeReads. Part movie review and part political analysis, my new story delves into how Arlington Road, despite its flaws as a film, was prescient and profound regarding the threat of right wing terrorism in the United States.

Read at CrimeReads.

Appearance on Take on the South Podcast

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I was thrilled to sit down for an interview with Kent Germany, an American historian, for the Institute for Southern Studies at the University of South Carolina’s podcast, Take On the South. We discussed the momentous life and influence of Jesse Jackson, paying particular attention to his formative years in South Carolina. Listen here!

A Review of Norman Mailer’s Political Writing

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I have new essay in the Washington Monthly on the political work of Norman Mailer, and his strengths and weaknesses as a writer and social critic. He was prescient about the rise of fascist politics in the US, but off the mark on many other topics. Above all, he was fascinating, and composed some of the finest sentences in American literature. Read at the Washington Monthly.