Paul Street

Paul Street is an author, journalist, political commentator, historian, editor, and speaker based in Iowa City, Iowa, and Chicago, Illinois. He is the author of seven books to date, including Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics (Paradigm, 2008) and They Rule: The 1% v. Democracy (Paradigm, 2014). Mr. Street is a regular contributor to Truthdig, telesur English, Counterpunch, Black Agenda Report, and Z magazine.

Mr. Street’s essays, articles, reviews, interviews, and commentaries have appeared in numerous outlets, including Truthout, the Chicago Tribune, Capital City Times, In These Times, Chicago History, Critical Sociology, Journal of American Ethnic History, Social History, Review of Educational, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, Dissent, Economic & Political Weekly (India), Tinanbantu (South Africa), New Left Project (United Kingdom), Press TV (Iran), The Times of India (India), Morning Star (England), Al-Alkhbar (The News in Beirut, Lebanon), Monthly Review, History News Network, Tom’sDispatch, AlterNet., the Capital City Times (Madison, WI), and ZNet.

Mr. Street has doctorate in U.S. History from Binghamton University and has taught in a large number of Chicago-area colleges and universities. He was Director of Research at The Chicago Urban League (from 2000 through 2005),

Books by Paul Street

Image of Empire and Inequality (Cultural Politics & the Promise of Democracy)
Image of Racial Oppression in the Global Metropolis: A Living Black Chicago History
Image of Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics
Image of Empire's New Clothes: Barack Obama in the Real World of Power
Image of Crashing the Tea Party: Mass Media and the Campaign to Remake American Politics
Image of They Rule: The 1% vs. Democracy

Book Reviews by Paul Street

Image of How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them
Author(s):
Jason Stanley
Genre(s):
Political & Social Science, World, Europe

How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them

November 8, 2018
Reviewed by: 
Paul Street

The title of this short but important book is a bit off.

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Image of Pictures of a Gone City: Tech and the Dark Side of Prosperity in the San Francisco Bay Area (Spectre)
Author(s):
Richard A. Walker
Genre(s):
Political & Social Science

Pictures of a Gone City: Tech and the Dark Side of Prosperity in the San Francisco Bay Area (Spectre)

June 15, 2018
Reviewed by: 
Paul Street

“brilliant, richly informed, and cleverly written . . .”

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Image of American Discontent: The Rise of Donald Trump and Decline of the Golden Age
Author(s):
John L. Campbell
Genre(s):
Government, Economics

American Discontent: The Rise of Donald Trump and Decline of the Golden Age

June 3, 2018
Reviewed by: 
Paul Street

“a clever, deeply informative, and often brilliant analysis of key historical forces that have pushed U.S. politics and policy dangerously starboard . . .”

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Image of Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump
Author(s):
Michael Isikoff
Genre(s):
21st Century, Government, Elections, Politics—General, Russia and former Soviet Union

Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump

April 10, 2018
Reviewed by: 
Paul Street

Russian Roulette is essential reading for anyone interested in the strange story of Donald Trump’s complex and disturbing relationship with Russia.

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Image of The Presidency of Barack Obama: A First Historical Assessment
Author(s):
Julian E. Zelizer
Genre(s):
U.S., Presidents & Heads of State

The Presidency of Barack Obama: A First Historical Assessment

March 15, 2018
Reviewed by: 
Paul Street

“The Presidency of Barack Obama: A First Historical Assessment is a welcome and useful first look by first-rate historians at the still very incompletely excavated record of the hi

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Image of Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House
Author(s):
Michael Wolff
Genre(s):
Government, Executive Branch, Politics—General, Politics & Politicians, U.S.

Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House

February 15, 2018
Reviewed by: 
Paul Street

“The only thing worse than reading this chilling book is not reading it and thereby failing to fully grasp the depth and degree of America’s descent into madness as it lurches chaotically t

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Image of US Politics in an Age of Uncertainty: Essays on a New Reality
Author(s):
Genre(s):
Politics & Politicians, U.S., Executive Branch, Corruption & Misconduct

U.S. Politics in an Age of Uncertainty: Essays on a New Reality

January 26, 2018
Reviewed by: 
Paul Street

“a brilliant and indispensable intervention from the socialist left on the real historical, class, and sociopolitical forces at play beneath the national political freak show that is the ne

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Image of Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House
Author(s):
Donna Brazile
Genre(s):
Government, Elections, Political & Social Science, Politics & Politicians

Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House

November 28, 2017
Reviewed by: 
Paul Street

For some time now, the United States’ two dominant political organizations have functioned less as real political parties than as corporate fundraising platforms and vehicles for the promotion of b

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Image of Democracy in America?: What Has Gone Wrong and What We Can Do About It
Author(s):
Benjamin I. Page
Genre(s):
Government, Political Ideologies, Political & Social Science

Democracy in America?: What Has Gone Wrong and What We Can Do About It

November 19, 2017
Reviewed by: 
Paul Street

“brilliant, indispensable, and highly accessible . . . examination of the inner undemocratic workings of a U.S.

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Image of In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of US Global Power (Dispatch Books)
Author(s):
Alfred W. MCCoy
Genre(s):
International Affairs, History, U.S., World

In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of US Global Power (Dispatch Books)

November 9, 2017
Reviewed by: 
Paul Street

“a brilliant and deeply informed must-read for anyone seriously interested in geopolitics, the history of Empire, and the shape of the future.”

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Image of Bernie Sanders Guide to Political Revolution
Author(s):
Bernie Sanders
Genre(s):
Biography, Autobiography & Memoir, Political, Government, Politics & Politicians, Political & Social Science, Politics

Bernie Sanders Guide to Political Revolution

October 20, 2017
Reviewed by: 
Paul Street

Conservatives in both the two major United States political parties can relax about Bernie Sanders’ new book.

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Image of Conscience of a Conservative: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle
Author(s):
Jeff Flake
Genre(s):
Politics & Politicians, U.S., Elections & Political Process, Political Ideologies

Conscience of a Conservative: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle

August 28, 2017
Reviewed by: 
Paul Street

“Flake is to be applauded for courageously calling out Trump and his many enablers in the Republican Party for their dangerous dance with authoritarian and bigoted white nationalism.”

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Image of Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama
Author(s):
David Garrow
Genre(s):
Biography, Autobiography & Memoir, Presidents & Heads of State, Politics & Politicians, U.S.

Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama

May 30, 2017
Reviewed by: 
Paul Street

“Rising Star is an epic triumph of personal and political biography.”

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Image of Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America
Author(s):
James Forman Jr
Genre(s):
Law Enforcement & Intelligence, Incarceration

Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America

April 21, 2017
Reviewed by: 
Paul Street

James Forman Jr.’s new book tells an all-too-hidden and tragic part of the story of the rise of the racist mass incarceration state in the United States.

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