Uh my first would be uh a novel called The Known World by Edward P. Jones uh about Auntie Billum Virginia. One of the most astonishing novels I've ever read. Uh one of my favorite American novels. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Answering The Ezra Klein Show's closing question, three books to recommend, in “What Trump Wants in Venezuela” (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-jonathan-blitzer.html). Quoted from the episode's YouTube auto-captions.
Um my second recommendation is a memoir by Carolyn Forche called What You Have Heard Is True. Um when she was 27, she was living in El Salvador at the start of what became the Salvadorian civil war. And it's sort of a reflection on what that period was like for her. It's incredibly haunting and beautiful. um and very much relevant to the current conversation.
Answering The Ezra Klein Show's closing question, three books to recommend, in “What Trump Wants in Venezuela” (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-jonathan-blitzer.html). Quoted from the episode's YouTube auto-captions.
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