Books like Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right

01

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

Jonathan Haidt · Psychology

The Righteous Mind is Jonathan Haidt's argument that moral reasoning is not the source of our moral judgments — it's the press secretary for them.

Both dig into political polarization.

02

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

Isabel Wilkerson · Memoir

Isabel Wilkerson's second book proposes a reframing of American racial hierarchy: rather than thinking of racism primarily as prejudice, she argues that the United States has operated as a caste society, with Black Americans at the bottom of a rigidly maintained hierarchy similar in its structure — though different in its specific mechanisms — to the caste systems of India and Nazi Germany.

A kindred politics read.

03

Between the World and Me

Ta-Nehisi Coates · Memoir

Between the World and Me is a letter from Ta-Nehisi Coates to his teenage son, Samori, about what it means to live in a Black body in the United States.

A kindred politics read.

04

The Coddling of the American Mind

Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt · Psychology

Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt argue that American universities — and the parents and institutions that feed them — have adopted three ideas they call the Great Untruths: that what doesn't kill you makes you weaker, that you should always trust your feelings, and that life is a battle between good people and evil people.

A kindred politics read.

05

Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion

Paul Bloom · Psychology

Paul Bloom's argument is not that we should care less about others.

Both dig into empathy.

06

Design Is Storytelling

Ellen Lupton · Self-help

Design Is Storytelling is Ellen Lupton's compact guide to narrative thinking as a design skill.

Both dig into empathy.

07

Emotional Intelligence

Daniel Goleman · Psychology

Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence, published in 1995, made a widely influential argument: that the cluster of abilities involved in managing emotions — self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skill — predicts life outcomes at least as well as IQ, and possibly better in many domains.

Both dig into empathy.

08

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Dale Carnegie · Self-help

How to Win Friends and Influence People is Dale Carnegie's 1936 guide to dealing with people effectively.

Both dig into empathy.

09

In Cold Blood

Truman Capote · Memoir

Truman Capote's account of the 1959 murders of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas — and of the investigation, capture, trial, and execution of the killers Perry Smith and Richard Hickock — is the founding document of the true crime genre and one of the most admired works of American nonfiction of the twentieth century.

Both dig into empathy.

10

Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil

Paul Bloom · Psychology

Paul Bloom's central question is how much morality is innate versus learned.

Both dig into empathy.

11

Nonviolent Communication

Marshall B. Rosenberg · Self-help

Nonviolent Communication is Marshall Rosenberg's framework for communicating in ways that preserve connection and address needs rather than triggering defensiveness.

Both dig into empathy.

12

On Becoming a Person: A Therapist's View of Psychotherapy

Carl R. Rogers · Psychology

Carl Rogers wrote this book in 1961 as an attempt to communicate his therapeutic approach to readers outside the consulting room.

Both dig into empathy.