We’ve compiled eight recent releases on politics, economics and philosophy that have been getting everyone talking. Read on for an explosive look at the Trump presidency from the author of Fire and Fury, a compelling personal story of #BlackLivesMatter, an examination of modern economics through the lens of the music industry, and more.

Rockonomics by Alan Krueger

Drawing on interviews with people in the music industry and using the latest data on revenues, royalties, tour dates, and merchandise, Rockonomics takes readers backstage to show how the industry really works, and offers valuable lessons for what is in store for other industries that are struggling to adapt. Economists often turn to the music industry as a leading indicator of today’s economy. Author Alan Krueger, former chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, adeptly uses the ins and outs of the industry as a framework with which to clarify the principles and forces of economics, and how these forces shape our everyday lives.

Siege: Trump Under Fire by Michael Wolff

American essayist and journalist Michael Wolff’s book Fire and Fury was an explosive, dynamic exposition of the inner workings of Trump’s White House, made a bestseller by Wolff’s unprecedented access and insider information. Now, he follows it up with Siege: Trump Under Fire. Beginning as Trump’s second year in office kicks off and ending with the Mueller Report, Siege: Trump Under Fire reveals an administration that is perpetually beleaguered by investigations and a president who is increasingly volatile, erratic and exposed.

How We Fight White Supremacy by Akiba Solomon and Kenrya Rankin

In this incisive and vital collection by Akiba Solomon and Kenrya Rankin, writers like Ta-Nehisi Coates, Harry Belafonte and Damon Young contribute to a blueprint for the fight for freedom and justice. It is a true celebration of Black resistance and required reading for the next generation of leaders building a better future. In an age of unprecedented attacks on democracy, privacy and civil rights, How We Fight White Supremacy offers solutions and ideas for how we can all contribute to the fight for freedom.

Never Ending Nightmare: The Neoliberal Assault on Democracy by Pierre Dardot and Christian Laval

After the 2008 economic crisis, many of the world’s prominent economists announced that neoliberalism was over. But this was an exaggeration. But for Pierre Dardot and Christian Laval, neoliberalism is no mere dogma. Supported by powerful oligarchies, it is a veritable politico-institutional system that obeys a logic of self-reinforcement. Far from representing a break, crisis has become a formidably effective mode of government. The political confrontation with the neoliberal system and the oligarchical bloc has already begun.

The Management of Savagery by Max Blumenthal

The Management of Savagery tells the story of the parallel rise of international jihadism and Western ultra-nationalism. Max Blumenthal has written a powerful and eruptive exposition of the Pentagon’s willingness to to secretly fund extremists (such as Bin Laden), and how we have since seen the war come home to Western society with earth-shattering consequences. By funding, training, and arming jihadist elements in Afghanistan, Syria, and Libya since the Cold War and waging wars of regime change and interventions that gave birth to the Islamic State. Confronting but vital reading.

On the Other Side of Freedom by DeRay Mckesson

Following a series of illegal fatal shootings, the #BlackLivesMatter movement gained international recognition and support. On the Other Side of Freedom is Deray Mckesson’s story of quitting his day job as a teacher to move to Ferguson, Missouri and join the movement. This book is his intellectual, pragmatic, and political framework for a new liberation movement, drawing on his experiences in Ferguson and growing up as a young activist. It is a visionary call to action for a new generation of political and social activists from an inspiring, honest and courageous figurehead for social change.

The Great Successor: The Secret Rise and Rule of Kim Jong Un by Anna Fifield

The North Korea dictatorship is both feared and joked about worldwide, ruled by a leader both comical and terrifying in his unpredictability. The Great Successor: The Secret Rise and Rule of Kim Jong Un takes Kim Jong-Un and puts him under an investigative microscope, in a captivating portrait of of the oddest and most isolated political regimes in the world, lead by one of the most secretive, bizarre and dangerous political leaders active today. For example, he supposedly once ate so much Swiss cheese that his ankles gave way – this being the same man who is surrounded by bloody tales of the way he has ‘dealt’ with political and familial rivals and enemies.

Superior: The Return of Race Science by Angela Saini

The argument of racial ‘superiority’ has been in play for centuries now; for millennia, dominant societies have had the habit of believing their own people to be the best, deep down. Lately, with 21st-century science and morals in play, we like to think that we are above this level of thinking and have moved beyond scientific racism. But Angela Saini’s groundbreaking and compulsively readable new book (and our non-fiction book of the month), Superior: The Return of Race Science, argues not. Race science is experiencing a revival, fuelled by the misuse of science by certain political groups. Our reviewer Chris called Superior: The Return of Race Science ‘the perfect antidote to the whirlpool of pseudoscience currently engulfing mainstream global politics.’ Read the full review here.