i met heather cox richardson. >> he was trying to preserve the constitution. >> she is a historian atege who has become known to many more as the author behind her daily sub stack newsletter, "letters from an american," where she analyzes to day's events in the context of our past, drawing parallels to find guidance forward. her new book, "democracy awakening: notes on the state of america," explores other divisive periods in american history and how remarkable individuals help prevent its fall to authoritarianism. the book opens with a familiar diagnosis of our present -- america is at a crossroads. >> we are in a moment in which we are facing a choice between preserving and expanding american democracy. the idea that everybody should have a right to be treated equally before the law and you have a say in their government on the one hand, and on the other hand, the idea of a authoritarianism, which is rising in the united states as well as around the world. this is the moment when we choose between those two things, so this is the moment when we are standing at a crossroads. >> peopl

and finally, boston college history professor heather cox richardson turns her eye to the current era in her latest book, democracy awakening. notes on the state of america. ms. richardson has written several academic books, but is probably best known these days for her popular substack newsletter, letters from an american about the history behind today's politics. well, thanks for joining us on about books program and podcast produced by c-span booktv booktv. we'll continue to bring you publishing news and author programs. and a reminder that you can get this podcast on the c-span now app and you can also watch online anytime at booktv dot org.

. >>> heather cox richardson is an american history professiono writes "letters from american" one ofples of entrepreneurship that's found a big audience in the country. and "democracy awakening" notes on the state of america. welcome, professor. >> a pleasure to be here. >> well, that's exactly what you were saying, that's that in both cases, it's a question of a group of republicans who are unwilling to accept the conditions of democracy. that is, in the house speaker fight, the house conference, the house republican conference has refused to honor the person that the majority of their conference picked. first, they lost mccarthy, then they lost scalise, and then jordan, and now there are a whoa party of people that decide they want to try. but in each case, they are illustrating the idea that the republicans in this extreme wing, do not have to honor the tenets of democracy. they don't have to honor majority rule. that's what happened when the former president tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. it's a crisis for the party, but even more than that, it's

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