The List: A Week-by-Week Reckoning of Trump’s First Year

In this illuminating work, New Agenda cofounder and former Wall Street exec Siskind compiles her weekly lists, first published on her website, of events from the first 52 weeks following Donald Trump’s election that point to the weakening of democracy in the United States. In the preface, Siskind writes that she was inspired by experts on authoritarianism, including Sarah Kendzior, who suggest “making a list of the specific things they never would have believed... before the regime came into power.” Over the course of the 52 lists, their length rapidly grows from nine items in the first week to scores of items per week, involving attacks on groups that are not white, male, and straight; failure to appoint or retain staff; connections to Russian election meddling; continual lying; a broad lack of empathy; diplomatic disasters; and more. Siskind also chronicles actions taken by Americans and people abroad to investigate, censure, and counter the activities of Trump and his supporters. Following the nearly 400 pages of lists, each of which is accompanied by a few sentences of summary or commentary, are another 90 pages of citations for nearly every item. This is not a tour de force of prose, and Siskind provides only brief reflections with each week, but this is a worrying document of the current state of American affairs. [em](Apr.) [/em]