From the bestselling author of What's the Matter with Kansas?, a wonderfully insightful and sardonic look at why the worst economy since the 1930s has brought about the revival of conservatism Economic catastrophe usually brings social protest and demands for change-or at least it's supposed to. But when Thomas Frank set out in 2009 to look for expressions of American discontent, all he could find were loud demands that the economic system be made...

From the author of the landmark bestseller What's the Matter with Kansas?, a jaw-dropping investigation of the decades of deliberate-and lucrative-conservative misrule In his previous book, Thomas Frank explained why working America votes for politicians who reserve their favors for the rich. Now, in The Wrecking Crew, Frank examines the blundering and corrupt Washington those politicians have given us. Casting his eyes from the Bush administration's...

From the bestselling author of What's the Matter With Kansas, a scathing look at the standard-bearers of liberal politics—an audiobook that asks: what's the matter with Democrats?

It is a widespread belief among liberals that if only Democrats can continue to dominate national elections, if only those awful Republicans are beaten into submission, the country will be on the right course.

But this is to fundamentally misunderstand

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Frank answers questions by examining the conservative revolution in his home state, of Kansas.

Frank argues that conservatives have taken pains to enshrine the free market as the permanent creed of state, selling off the government, deregulating some industries, defunding others, but always turning public policy into a private-sector bidding war.

Love in the Life of Spies is, as its title suggests, a love story between two spies during the Cold War, an East German woman and an American man, each working for their respective opposing clandestine agencies and, therefore, against each other. Their meetings, seemingly accidental, unfold over years in the United States, Germany, Argentina, Paraguay and, finally, serve only to reveal an uncertain future. It asks the question: is such a love viable...

Sergio and his little brother Divino are poor children who live in a favela in the populous city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. When they lost their mother, Dona Ute - a teacher who has a little school in that place - took them to live with him. They are now on vacation in a wilderness area not far from the city. Looking for firewood to light the kitchen stove, the little brothers go into the mountain where they unknowingly go through a dimensional door,...

In an series of private interviews, conducted over sixteen years with the stipulation that they not be released until after his death, the 38th President of the United States reveals a profoundly different side of himself: funny, reflective, gossipy, strikingly candid. In 1974, journalist DeFrank, then a young correspondent for Newsweek, was interviewing Vice President Gerald R. Ford when Ford blurted out something indiscreet, came around his desk,...

With his acclaimed wit and acuity, Thomas Frank turns his eye on what he calls the “thirty-year backlash”—the populist revolt against a supposedly liberal establishment. The high point of that backlash is the Republican Party’s success in building the most unnatural of alliances: between blue-collar Midwesterners and Wall Street business interests, workers and bosses, populists and right-wingers.

America has always been a land of extremes, but it is as polarised today as it's ever been. Travelling through its states, this timely documentary explores the influences that are changing the face of American culture. Meeting artists, musicians, locals and leaders, rich and poor, it takes a look outside of the political maelstrom at the complex dynamics and divides playing out at a grassroots level. What will become of the land of the free?