Sarah Kendzior

Instant New York Times Bestseller Washington Post Bestseller USA Today Bestseller Indie Bound Bestseller Authors Round the South Bestseller Midwest Indie Bestseller New York Times bestselling author Sarah Kendzior documents the truth about the calculated rise to power of Donald Trump since the 1980s and how the erosion of our liberties made an American demagogue possible. The story of Donald Trump’s rise to power is the story of a buried American history – buried because people in power liked it that way. It was visible without being seen, influential without being named, ubiquitous without being overt. Sarah Kendzior’s Hiding in Plain Sight pulls back the veil on a history spanning decades, a history of an American autocrat in the making. In doing so, she reveals the inherent fragility of American democracy – how our continual loss of freedom, the rise of consolidated corruption, and the secrets behind a burgeoning autocratic United States have been hiding in plain sight for decades. In Kendzior’s signature and celebrated style, she expertly outlines Trump’s meteoric rise from the 1980s until today, interlinking key moments of his life with the degradation of the American political system and the continual erosion of our civil liberties by foreign powers. Kendzior also offers a never-before-seen look at her lifelong tendency to be in the wrong place at the wrong time – living in New York through 9/11 and in St. Louis during the Ferguson uprising, and researching media and authoritarianism when Trump emerged using the same tactics as the post-Soviet dictatorships she had long studied. It is a terrible feeling to sense a threat coming, but it is worse when we let apathy, doubt, and fear prevent us from preparing ourselves. Hiding in Plain Sight confronts the injustice we have too long ignored because the truth is the only way forward.

The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America

Hiding in Plain Sight

NEW YORK TIMES and MIBA BESTSELLER From the St. Louis–based journalist often credited with first predicting Donald Trump’s presidential victory. "A collection of sharp-edged, humanistic pieces about the American heartland...Passionate pieces that repeatedly assail the inability of many to empathize and to humanize." — Kirkus In 2015, Sarah Kendzior collected the essays she reported for Al Jazeera and published them as The View from Flyover Country, which became an ebook bestseller and garnered praise from readers around the world. Now, The View from Flyover Country is being released in print with an updated introduction and epilogue that reflect on the ways that the Trump presidency was the certain result of the realities first captured in Kendzior’s essays. A clear-eyed account of the realities of life in America’s overlooked heartland, The View from Flyover Country is a piercing critique of the labor exploitation, race relations, gentrification, media bias, and other aspects of the post-employment economy that gave rise to a president who rules like an autocrat. The View from Flyover Country is necessary reading for anyone who believes that the only way for America to fix its problems is to first discuss them with honesty and compassion. “Please put everything aside and try to get ahold of Sarah Kendzior’s collected essays, The View from Flyover Country. I have rarely come across writing that is as urgent and beautifully expressed. What makes Kendzior’s writing so truly important is [that] it . . . documents where the problem lies, by somebody who lives there.”—The Wire “Sarah Kendzior is as harsh and tenacious a critic of the Trump administration as you’ll find. She isn’t some new kid on the political block or a controversy machine. . . .Rather she is a widely published journalist and anthropologist who has spent much of her life studying authoritarianism.” —Columbia Tribune

Dispatches from the Forgotten America

The View from Flyover Country

From one of the sharpest political voices of our time, They Knew is New York Times bestselling author Sarah Kendzior's deep dive into the conspiracies that have shaped, and will continue to shape, our increasingly polarized democracy. In an age of widespread misinformation, conspiracy theories cannot be dismissed as one-off or fringe belief systems. In They Knew, best-selling political author Sarah Kendzior explores the United States' "culture of conspiracy," the inevitable aftermath of decades of criminal impunity by the country's elite. Pulling from years of experience as a political commentator, she puts forth a timely and unflinching argument: uncritical faith in broken institutions is as dangerous as wild false narratives peddled by propagandists. As powerful actors secretly carry out plans that protect their interests-like the Jeffrey Epstein operation-it's unsurprising that conspiracy theories are on the rise. Both conspiracy theories and actual conspiracies revolve around questions of pre-existing power dynamics and the potential to shift them. A conspiracy is a form of betrayal. A conspiracy theory, when rooted in a sincere desire to find and expose the truth, is a refusal to move on from that betrayal. Conspiracy theories are expressions of grief and memory, but because they are emotionally potent, conspiracy theories can be weaponized by malevolent actors (including by the conspirators themselves) to mislead the public further. Through its discussion of the most influential conspiracy theories and unpunished government corruption of our moment, They Knew is a critical look at how we might rebuild our democracy by unearthing the political lies and crimes that have shaped us. The truth may hurt--but the lies will kill us.

How a Culture of Conspiracy Keeps America Complacent

They Knew

Andrea Chalupa

Co-hosts of the popular podcast Gaslit Nation outline the authoritarian's playbook, illuminating five steps every dictator needs to take to successfully amass and maintain power. Do you crave the power to shape the world in your image? Can you tell lies without blinking an eye? Do you see enemies all around you? If you answered yes to all of the above, then this is the job for you! And if becoming a dictator sounds intriguing, well, you’ve just stumbled upon the playbook that will guide you step by step towards making your big lie a reality. Join Gaslit Nation co-hosts Sarah Kendzior and Andrea Chalupa, with artist Kasia Babis, on a journey from riches to even more riches. They’ll show you how to consolidate your authority, silence your critics, weaponize your citizens, and even prolong your inevitable downfall! Dictatorship! It’s easier than you think.

Sarah Kendzior

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