There are a number of books and films in the pipeline between now and November, that take a critical look at Trump, his past, present and future. And a look at who we are and how we can get rid of this virus that has infected our society.
Here is a short list — I suspect there are many more, which hopefully Kossacks here will point out.
Book/Film |
Author, Creator |
Release Date |
Everything Trump Touches Dies |
Rick Wilson |
Aug 7 |
BlacKkKlansman (film)
|
Spike Lee |
Aug 10 |
Unhinged |
Omarosa |
Aug 14 |
Active Measures (documentary) |
Jack Bryan |
Aug 31 |
Under Fire
|
April Ryan |
Sep 4 |
Fear |
Bob Woodward |
Sep 11 |
Fahrenheit 11/9 (film) |
Michael Moore |
Sep 21 |
The Apprentice |
Greg Miller |
Oct 2 |
Full Disclosure |
Stormy Daniels |
Oct 2 |
Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents
|
Pete Souza |
Oct 16 |
Shut Up and Dribble (documentary) |
LeBron James |
October |
Everything Trump Touches Dies (Aug 7)
A respected, long-time Republican strategist, ad-maker, and contributor for The Daily Beast, skewers the disease that is destroying the conservative movement and burning down the GOP: Trumpism.
In Everything Trump Touches Dies, political campaign strategist and commentator Rick Wilson brings his darkly funny humor and biting analysis to the absurdity of American politics in the age of Trump. Wilson mercilessly exposes the damage Trump has done to the country, to the Republican Party he served for decades, and to the conservative movement that has abandoned its principles for the worst President in American history.
Everything Trump Touches Dies deftly chronicles the tragicomic Trump story from the early campaign days through the shock of election night, to the inconceivable trainwreck of Trump's first year. Rick Wilson provides not only an insightful analysis of the Trump administration, but also an optimistic path forward for the GOP, the conservative movement, and the country.
www.simonandschuster.com/...
BlacKkKlansman (Aug 10)
Spike Lee’s movie BlacKkKlansman, starring John David Washington and Adam Driver, is releasing this week in select theaters. Dark and funny.
From visionary filmmaker Spike Lee comes the incredible true story of an American hero. It’s the early 1970s, and Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department. Determined to make a name for himself, Stallworth bravely sets out on a dangerous mission: infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan. The young detective soon recruits a more seasoned colleague, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), into the undercover investigation of a lifetime. Together, they team up to take down the extremist hate group as the organization aims to sanitize its violent rhetoric to appeal to the mainstream.
There is lot more info on the movie in diary “Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman” at www.dailykos.com/…
Unhinged (Aug 14)
Don’t know how this one will end up ...
But Omarosa is, if nothing else, known for second acts. And, once more, she’s sparking headaches inside the administration. Her new book UNHINGED: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House, is being viewed as an act of petty revenge and yet another effort to profit off the Trump era by dishing damaging internal dirt, whether accurate or concocted.
www.thedailybeast.com/...
Active Measures (Aug 31)
ACTIVE MEASURES chronicles the most successful espionage operation in Russian history, the American presidential election of 2016. Filmmaker Jack Bryan exposes a 30-year history of covert political warfare devised by Vladmir Putin to disrupt, and ultimately control world events. In the process, the filmmakers follow a trail of money, real estate, mob connections, and on the record confessions to expose an insidious plot that leads directly back to The White House. With democracy hanging in the balance, ACTIVE MEASURES is essential viewing. Unraveling the true depth and scope of "the Russia story" as we have come to know it, this film a jarring reminder that some conspiracies hide in plain sight.
Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House (Sep 4)
Veteran White House reporter April Ryan thought she had seen everything in her two decades as a White House correspondent. And then came the Trump administration. In Under Fire, Ryan takes us inside the confusion and chaos of the Trump White House to understand how she and other reporters adjusted to the new normal. She takes us inside the policy debates, the revolving door of personnel appointments, and what it is like when she, as a reporter asking difficult questions, finds herself in the spotlight, becoming part of the story.
www.amazon.com/...
H/T to Tookish for bringing April’s book to our attention.
Fear (Sep 11)
In the book, Woodward’s 19th, the 75-year-old journalist and author “reveals in unprecedented detail the harrowing life inside President Donald Trump’s White House and precisely how he makes decisions on major foreign and domestic policies,” the publisher’s release states.
The expected tenor of the book is underscored by its unsettling cover, an extreme close-up of a squinty-eyed Trump depicted through a gauzy red filter. The hush-hush project derives its title from an offhand remark that then-candidate Trump made in an interview with Woodward and Post political reporter Robert Costa in April 2016.
Woodward’s new book draws on the hallmarks of his approach to investigative reporting, pulling details from “hundreds of hours of interviews with firsthand sources, contemporaneous meeting notes, files, documents and personal diaries,” according to his publisher. “FEAR brings to light the explosive debates that drive decision-making in the Oval Office, the Situation Room, Air Force One and the White House residence.”
www.washingtonpost.com/...
Fahrenheit 11/9 (Sep 21)
The Apprentice: Trump, Russia and the Subversion of American Democracy (Oct 2)
Greg Miller is a National Security Correspondent for The Washington Post.
“The Apprentice” begins with Russian hackers probing the Democratic National Committee’s computer network — it includes “details upon details” on how they did so — and concludes with the Trump-Putin summit held last month in Helsinki.
The book draws on reporting over the past two years by the National, Foreign, Business and Local staffs and is illustrated, in part, with photos by Post staff photographers.
“He’s an apprentice in terms of his lack of preparation for this job, the extent to which he’s learning in office — or not learning, in some cases. His odd relationship to Putin and the way he seems so subservient at times has an apprentice-like aspect to it as well.”
Full Disclosure (Oct 2)
In this book, Stormy Daniels tells her whole story for the first time: about how she came to be a leading actress and director in the adult film business, the full truth about her journey from a rough childhood in Louisiana onto the national stage, and everything about the events that led to the nondisclosure agreement and the behind-the-scenes attempts to intimidate her.
Stormy is funny, sharp, warm, and impassioned by turns. Her story is a thoroughly American one, of a girl who loved reading and horses and who understood from a very young age what she wanted—and who also knew she'd have to get every step of the way there on her own.
www.amazon.com/...
Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents (Oct 16)
Shade is a portrait in Presidential contrasts, telling the tale of the Obama and Trump administrations through a series of visual juxtapositions. Here, more than one hundred of Souza's unforgettable images of President Obama deliver new power and meaning when framed by the tweets, news headlines, and quotes that defined the first 500 days of the Trump White House.
What began with Souza's Instagram posts soon after President Trump's inauguration in January 2017 has become a potent commentary on the state of the Presidency, and our country. Some call this "throwing shade." Souza calls it telling the truth.
In Shade, Souza's photographs are more than a rejoinder to the chaos, abuses of power, and destructive policies that now define our nation's highest office. They are a reminder of a President we could believe in, and a courageous defense of American values.
Shut Up and Dribble (October)
Hot off the press — a new documentary series by LeBron James!
The series is titled “Shut Up and Dribble,” taken from conservative pundit Laura Ingraham’s remarks to James in February when players from the Golden State Warriors declined an invitation to the White House after the 2018 NBA Finals. The controversy serves as a prologue to the series as it chronicles the modern history of the NBA and its players, starting with the 1976 merger of the freewheeling ABA and the more conventional NBA of today.
Hopefully, these books and films will add to the blue wave that is building up against Trump and the GOP and keep talking heads talking about the Trump and corruption that infests his party.
Which of these books and films are you looking forward to? Which others recent books and films do you recommend?
P.S. A search for “Trump book” at Amazon reveals a large number of books authored by the usual gaggle of right-wing talk-show hosts and media personalities. One often wonders why they write these books — its not like their audience really cares about or knows how to read. Chances are high that some billionaire sugar-daddy will buy a whole lot of books and give them away and help the books climb the charts. The authors will make some moolah in the process, which is probably their primary motive anyways.