Ep. 443 The Dark Underside of America with Kai Bird

Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer, journalist, and author Kai Bird to discuss his new book, American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn's Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump . This book explores the life of high-powered lawyer and fixer, Roy Cohn, and how his controversial four-decade career directly influenced modern politics.

In this episode, we talk about why he chose to cover Roy Cohn’s life now, how biographers shape stories, and the most surprising source for the book. Our book club pick for September is Brother, I’m Dying by Edwidge Danticat.

We will be discussing the book with Natalie Green on Wednesday, September 30th. You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: Connect with Kai: Website | X/Twitter Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Threads | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | Substack | Youtube See Privacy Policy at and California Privacy Notice at .