Podcast
Terms of Engagement – The Great American Redistrict-Off
A fight is brewing between some of America’s largest states. A line has been drawn, not in the sand, but on a Texas map.
Feature
Stephen Richer’s Summer Reading List
The official start of Summer is almost here, and Stephen Richer, Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy and former elected Maricopa County Recorder, shares his summer reading list with a range of books focused on his work of democracy and elections, as well as his personal favorites.
Programs
Issues
As an Ash Center Democracy Fellow, summer offers a unique opportunity to reflect, recharge, and reconnect with the ideas that shape our civic life. This curated reading list brings together thought-provoking works on the foundations, challenges, and evolution of democracy, alongside a selection of personal favorites. Whether you’re looking to deepen your understanding of democratic theory, explore the lived experiences of communities grappling with change, or simply enjoy a compelling story, these books and articles offer both insight and enjoyment for the season ahead.
The Doors of Stone
Patrick Rothfuss
The third book in one of the greatest fantasy series ever written (The Kingkiller Chronicle). Fourteen years in progress. I’m trying to will it into existence. IYKYK.
Jonah Goldberg Articles
All new articles written by Jonah Goldberg. Because real conservatism still matters. So too does serious thinking. So does humor. Jonah’s got it all.
The Chicago Canon 
Tony Banout and Tom Ginsburg
University of Chicago has been the voice of sanity on campus speech. This book explains a lot of the university’s thinking.
Pride & Prejudice 
Jane Austen
I reread it every summer. Because real literature still matters. The game has changed a bit. But the players are still basically the same. Although, ironically, I’m not sure the opening line is one of those everlasting truths (“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune…”)
Inherit The Wind
Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
Rereading in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Scopes Monkey Trial, and in light of the newly-proposed Oklahoma student curriculum regarding the 2020 election. Truth matters. Man is a rational creature.
Three Shattered Souls
Mai Corland
Third book in “The Broken Blades” fantasy series. I read a lot of fantasy, and this is one of the more enjoyable ones I’ve picked up lately. A bunch of flawed characters who get thrown together in a complicated alliance as they have very different motives to complete the same quest.
Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy
Jonathan Rauch
Jon is a friend, a Brookings scholar, a writer for The Atlantic, and consistently one of the most insightful social commentators in the country. He argues, to the surprise of his younger self, that a healthy Christianity is critical to American democracy. And we don’t currently have a healthy practice of Christianity.
The Art of Winning
Bill Belichick
When one is in the land of the Patriots, one must do as the Patriots do (did). BB+JH 4EVER.
The Purposeful Warrior
Jocelyn Benson
Jocelyn is a friend, a fellow election administration person, and has collected a lot of interesting stories as Secretary of State of Michigan these past six years.
More from this Program
Feature
From South Texas to Cambridge, Josh Cortez Carries His Story Forward
When Josh Cortez crossed the stage to graduate from Harvard Kennedy School in May 2025 as a recipient of the Roy and Lila Ash Scholarship in Democracy, he carried more than a degree—he carried generations of heritage, grit, and purpose. His story doesn’t begin in Cambridge but hundreds of years earlier, on the banks of the Rio Grande in Starr County, Texas.
Podcast
Terms of Engagement – Censorship by Settlement?
What does Columbia’s recent settlement with the Trump administration mean for higher education? Are the First Amendment rights of Columbia and other universities being infringed?
Podcast
Terms of Engagement – The Great American Redistrict-Off
A fight is brewing between some of America’s largest states. A line has been drawn, not in the sand, but on a Texas map.
Article
Chicago’s Solution To Public Pension Debt is a Generational Scam
In this op-ed, Jennifer Hochschild explains that Chicago is facing a financial crisis decades in the making — a crushing burden of pension debt that no current resident created but all must bear. Instead she says, it is the result of a century of political promises, underfunded commitments, and systemic avoidance — leaving Chicagoans to reckon with the consequences today.
Podcast
Terms of Engagement – Democracy: The Worst Form of Government — Except All the Rest?
A majority of people agree that democracy is worth fighting for, but when asked if democracy is at risk, opinions begin to differ. Are we all operating under the same idea of what a democracy truly is?