america

Most of us think we’d never fall for a cult. But toxic groups don’t just exist on the fringe. They thrive in boardrooms, group chats, fitness classes, political rallies, religious groups, and corporate retreats—anywhere we seek identity, purpose, and belonging.The new book, "The Culting of America," cult survivor, scholar, and former Army intelligence officer Daniella Mestyanek Young—author of the bestselling memoir Uncultured looks to dismantle the illusion that cults are rare or easy to spot.

Walter Isaacson is a biographer of geniuses like Benjamin Franklin and in his new book he reveals the origins of the most genius revolutionary line in the Declaration of Independence. He does so in his book “The Greatest Sentence Ever Written.”

This Saturday, October 25, Hudson Hall presents a special preview performance of “What is Your Hand in This?,” a new collaboration between acclaimed baritone Davóne Tines and early music band Ruckus.The performance will be broadcast live as part of WAMC’s On the Road series.

In the #1 “New York Times” bestseller “So You Want To Talk About Race” Ijeoma Oluo offered a vital guide for how to talk about important issues of race and racism in society. In the book “Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy Of White Male America” she discussed the ways in which white male supremacy had an impact on our systems, our culture, and our lives throughout American history.

It is 1883, and America is at a crossroads. At a tiny college in Upstate New York, an idealistic young professor has managed to convince Mark Twain, Frederick Douglass, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Confederate memoirist Forrest Taylor, and romance novelist Lucy Comstock to participate in the first (and last) Auburn Writers’ Conference for a public discussion about the future of the nation."The Auburn Conference" is a new novel by Tom Piazza.

Pianist Jacqueline Schwab will perform a concert entitled “Mothers and Children: A Mother's Day Concert of Hope and Peace” at the Guilderland Public Library this Sunday, May 14 at 2 p.m.Schwab’s signature piano playing features in over a dozen of Ken Burns’ documentaries, including his Grammy-winning “Civil War,” “Baseball,” “The War” and others. As a solo pianist, she has performed vintage American music in almost every state of the union. Her latest album is “I Life My Lamp: Illuminations from Immigrant America.”

It is 1883, and America is at a crossroads. At a tiny college in Upstate New York, an idealistic young professor has managed to convince Mark Twain, Frederick Douglass, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Confederate memoirist Forrest Taylor, and romance novelist Lucy Comstock to participate in the first (and last) Auburn Writers’ Conference for a public discussion about the future of the nation."The Auburn Conference" is a new novel by Tom Piazza.

Distinguished historian of racial justice movements Dr. Peniel Joseph will be speaking Wednesday night, April 19 at 7 p.m. at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, New York.

In "Poverty, by America," acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor.

George Packer is an award-winning author and staff writer at The Atlantic. His previous books include "The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America"…