"This reading list includes newsletters, podcasts and books the recommended by the Spring 2018 Brown in Washington cohort. In D.C., staying up to date on political and policy news, and understanding it, was necessary to both our internships and classes. Listening to podcasts like The Daily, The Weeds and the NPR Politics Podcast were highlights of my metro commute every day because they were an entertaining way to get high quality information about what was happening around me on the go. Podcasts were also a great way to prepare for class speakers and discussions. I would often look for and listen to interviews with guests before we met with them. The recommendations on this list greatly enriched our D.C. experience, and we hope you enjoy them too!" 

- Joelle Sherman, ’19, Political Science
 

Daily News / Digests

• Politico Playbook 
• Roll Call 
• 7:30 DC ​
• theSkimm​
• Daily Chatter

Podcasts

• "Pod Save America"
• "What in the World"
• "Up First" on NPR
• "BBC Global News Podcast"
• "LSE: Public Lectures and Events"
• "More Perfect"
• "Revisionist History"
• "Making Obama"
• "The Daily"
• "Deep State Radio"
• "NPR Politics Podcast"
• "Slow Burn"
• "Off Message"
• "The Weeds"
• "RadioLab" 
• "The Atlantic Interview"
• "The Nerdcast"

Books

• "What It Takes: The Way to the White House" by Richard Ben Cramer 
• "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership" by James Comey
• "Dear Madam President: An Open Letter to the Women Who Will Run the World" by Jennifer Palmieri
• "The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America" by Richard Rothstein
• "Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?: And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work in the White House" by Alyssa Mastromonaco and Lauren Oyler
• "Political Uses of Utopia: New Marxist, Anarchist, and Radical Democratic Perspectives" edited by S. D. Chrostowska and James D. Ingram
• "Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg" by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik
• "A Fighting Chance" by Elizabeth Warren
• "Promise Me Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose" by Joe Biden
• "Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few" by Robert Reich
• "What Happened" by Hillary Clinton
• "Conscience of a Conservative: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle" by Jeff Flake
• "The Dictator’s Handbook" by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
• "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates 
• "The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency" by Randall Kennedy
• "The Gatekeepers: How The White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency" by Chris Whipple