The reading shelf

Read across the aisle

Books chosen so no side reads alone: the best case for each worldview beside its strongest critique, a book from the left and one from the right on every issue we cover, and the standard works on how news gets slanted.

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Reading lists

Reading list · 8 books Books to understand the right For a progressive reader: conservatism in its own words, and two outsiders who went and listened. See the list
Reading list · 8 books Books to understand the left For a conservative reader: the arguments progressives make, in their own words, from Rawls to Evicted. See the list
Reading list · 10 books How to disagree better Psychologists, negotiators and journalists on arguing with someone without writing them off. See the list
Gift guide · 12 books Gifts for the political junkie Caro, Chernow, Woodward and Bernstein: the political books people reread, from every era and side. See the list
Reading list · 8 books How elections work The Electoral College argued from both sides, plus polling, turnout and the fights over voting rules. See the list
Reading list · 8 books How to read the news Tests for sources and statistics, with critiques of the press from the left and from the right. See the list

Ten worldviews, in their own words

For each of the ten sides, the books its own thinkers would hand you, and the critique they would call serious.

Both sides of every issue

Each issue shelf runs left to right: a book arguing from the left, the background both sides trust, and a book arguing from the right.

Reading the news

The books behind Media bias, explained, each beside the chapter it goes deeper on.

Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson Confirmation bias
The Righteous Mind Jonathan Haidt Motivated reasoning
The Enigma of Reason Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber Motivated reasoning
Influence Robert B. Cialdini Conformity and the tribe
Why Societies Need Dissent Cass R. Sunstein Conformity and the tribe
Public Opinion Walter Lippmann Stereotypes: the pictures in our heads
The Nature of Prejudice Gordon W. Allport Stereotypes: the pictures in our heads
Left Turn Tim Groseclose The types of media bias
What Liberal Media? Eric Alterman The types of media bias
Setting the Agenda Maxwell McCombs Agenda-setting
Merchants of Doubt Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway False balance and bothsidesism
The Person and the Situation Lee Ross and Richard E. Nisbett The hostile media effect
The Filter Bubble Eli Pariser The filter bubble and algorithmic feeds
Breaking the Social Media Prism Chris Bail The filter bubble and algorithmic feeds
Propaganda Edward Bernays Propaganda and the manufacture of consent
Manufacturing Consent Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky Propaganda and the manufacture of consent
The Tyranny of Printers Jeffrey L. Pasley The press was born partisan
The Creation of the Media Paul Starr The press was born partisan
Yellow Journalism W. Joseph Campbell Yellow journalism
Getting It Wrong W. Joseph Campbell Yellow journalism
Talk Radio's America Brian Rosenwald The Fairness Doctrine
America's Battle for Media Democracy Victor Pickard The Fairness Doctrine
The Outrage Industry Jeffrey M. Berry and Sarah Sobieraj Cable news and the rise of conflict TV
How Partisan Media Polarize America Matthew Levendusky Cable news and the rise of conflict TV
Why Americans Hate the Media and How It Matters Jonathan M. Ladd Why Americans stopped trusting the news
The Attention Merchants Tim Wu Engagement ranking and the attention economy
The Chaos Machine Max Fisher Engagement ranking and the attention economy
The Power of One Frances Haugen Recommender systems as gatekeepers
The Black Box Society Frank Pasquale Recommender systems as gatekeepers
The Hype Machine Sinan Aral Algorithmic amplification of political content
Mindf*ck Christopher Wylie Microtargeting and the Cambridge Analytica harvest
Hacking the Electorate Eitan D. Hersh Microtargeting and the Cambridge Analytica harvest
The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet Jeff Kosseff Section 230 and moderation as editing
Hate Crimes in Cyberspace Danielle Keats Citron Section 230 and moderation as editing
Fake Photos Hany Farid Synthetic media and the liar's dividend
Deepfakes Nina Schick Synthetic media and the liar's dividend

Every side, every morning

Books give you the long view. The brief gives you today.

Each morning the brief lays the day’s news across all ten worldviews, in each camp’s own words. Free.

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