Our Founding Ladies Recommends Takeover

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With the Fourth of July falling this Saturday, we at The Sunday Paper asked some of our favorite founding ladies to recommend their essential books, films, music, art and more to help better understand America. We hope these suggestions inspire you to find new ways to explore and appreciate our country during its 250th birthday!

The host of MS NOW's Money, Power, Politics with Stephanie Ruhle says “As we approach America’s 250th, I’m thinking about our future and our past- so there are two books on my mind.

AI for Good: How Real People Are Using Artificial Intelligence to Fix Things That Matter by Josh Tyrangiel. Artificial Intelligence is reshaping how we live, work and play. It is revered, feared & misunderstood. AI For Good is not snookered by tech industry hype. Instead, this book introduces us to doctors, teachers, parents & government leaders using AI technology to address what have been unsolvable puzzles and create real world solutions. 

My second choice honors our past—it is only 41 pages long, but each one a tribute to our country’s history. The Greatest Sentence Ever Written by Walter Isaacson is timed for America’s 250th anniversary and written expressly to honor the second paragraph, second sentence of the Declaration of Independence. ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ While the book is short, it teaches so much about our long and extraordinary history.”

The ABC News 20/20 Co-Anchor told us, “Last year after a friend recommended a small, unknown book about a stranger who shows up in a small town, leaving an imprint of kindness and mystery, I jumped in and was forever grateful. Theo of Golden is the book that everyone should read right now.  This celebration of friendship, empathy and love is a story that can change lives and spark connection in our troubled world. Theo’s journey is a quintessential American story. An unknown person shows up in a small town and shows curiosity and kindness and is soon embraced by those who appreciate his values of goodness and good will. Though they didn’t know his full story, they gave him the benefit of the doubt as he demonstrated devotion and respect to those around him. This book is magical. And so is its author, Allen Levi.”

You can also read Stacey Lindsay’s interview with Allen Levi here.

“Min Jin Lee’s Free Food for Millionaires. It is the story of a Korean American immigrant family in New York that reveals a pocket of America that had been virtually invisible before Min Jin decided to write it.”

Watch Joanne with Maria in her Life Above the Noise interview here.

This journalist wants you to listen to one of her favorite songs, “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar. “Few songs have captured the tension, resilience, hope, and protest woven into the American experience the way this one has. It’s more than a song…it became a rallying cry.”

Next, she has a book, podcast and documentary to inspire and inform you.

“READ: People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn

This book fundamentally changed the way I think about Jewish identity, memory, and the stories America chooses to tell. It feels especially important right now, at a time when antisemitism is rising around the world. Antisemitism has often functioned as a conspiracy theory—one that fills gaps in understanding with myths about power, control, and blame. Conspiracy theories flourish when we don’t understand how people, communities, or systems actually work. The antidote isn’t just fact-checking; it’s knowing one another more deeply.

Dara Horn invites readers to understand Jewish people as living, evolving human beings—not just symbols in history or victims in tragedy. I think that’s essential reading for anyone who wants to better understand America, because America’s story has always been shaped by the contributions, struggles, and resilience of Jewish communities.

One detail I think about often: the words engraved on the Statue of Liberty—'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…'—were written by Emma Lazarus, a Jewish American poet. One of the defining symbols of America’s promise is rooted in the vision of a Jewish woman. Remembering contributions like hers reminds us that Jewish history isn’t separate from the American story—it is part of the American story.

The more we understand one another’s stories, the less room there is for fear, myth, and dehumanization.

PODCAST: The Making Sense podcast with Sam Harris (or episodes of Conversations with Coleman by Coleman Hughes)

Both challenge you to think beyond tribalism. I don’t always agree with every conclusion, but I always leave with a more nuanced understanding of the country we’re trying to build and a reminder that intellectual curiosity is one of America’s greatest virtues.

WATCH: 13th

A documentary that forever changed the way I understood the relationship between race, incarceration, and American history.”

The author says “I may be a writer but the piece of art I most wish everyone could experience is Revelations by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. I’ve seen it multiple times and the unique combination of grief and joy perfectly illuminates the Black American experience. Our ability to transform pain into beauty, to turn the heaviest topics into something transcendent and hopeful is how we’ve survived centuries of enslavement and systemic racism in this country.”

“I had the privilege of writing a statement on behalf of a friend who recently became an American Citizen. 

When I thought about America, I realized the beauty of it is that we are not a chosen people. 

In our best moments, we are—and were always meant to be—a country of people who choose. People who choose to build and maintain a society that prioritizes freedom, justice, and liberty for all.

I used to think the American Dream was about having more. More opportunities, more money, more success. I hope it means we all have the chance to try for that, if it’s what we want, but more than anything I hope it means we all have the chance to be seen and valued. 

Whether we fail or triumph, and especially when life is messy and hard, my American Dream is that we all have the chance to be seen and valued for all that we are. 

These are a few of the books, films, and plays that helped me understand and reconsider aspects of my life—and also helped me hold space for the lives and experiences of others.”

Barbara Kopple’s documentary Harlan County, USA

Don’t Let Me Be Lonely by Claudia Rankine

Nothing Can Take You from the Hand of God, the Off-Broadway solo play by Jen Tullock and Frank Winters

The creator of Tiny Pricks Project says “The one thing I wish people would know, see, and understand in order to better understand America is that listening to each other is what we do when we are at our best. As someone who is always listening for voices to stitch, I am constantly looking for good words that capture this cultural moment. I look for activism, warmth, design, passion, reason, and a depth of personal storytelling. To celebrate our 250th, I offer a couple to read and watch: Debbie Millman and Roxane Gay. They give me hope, courage, and a glimpse of what caring for each other looks like when words and design matter. As Americans we're often speaking but we're also often listening. Keep searching for voices that speak to the better angels of your nature.”

Award winning podcast host Kate Bowler wants you to listen to the Jon Batiste song "BIG MONEY", which she says “captures a central tension in American life: our pursuit of wealth alongside our longing for lives rooted in meaning and connection. The song reminds us that our richest inheritance is found not in what we accumulate, but in the people, culture, and communities that shape us.”

"Next would be Amy Sherald - "They Call Me Redbone but I’d Rather Be Strawberry Shortcake” (2009). Amy Sherald’s work is essential to American culture because it reveals how race, identity, and belonging are shaped by the stories we inherit and the roles we are expected to play. By reimagining traditional portraiture, Sherald centers the dignity, complexity, and individuality of Black Americans, offering a richer understanding of the people and histories that define America.

Plus, Healing the Heart of Democracy by Parker Palmer argues that a stronger democracy begins not with better arguments, but with better habits of the heart. Parker Palmer offers a hopeful vision of civic life rooted in courage, empathy, and the everyday work of building trust across our differences.

Lastly, founded by Father Gregory Boyle, Homeboy Industries is the world's largest gang intervention and re-entry program, offering a powerful glimpse into an America shaped by compassion, dignity, and second chances. I love this organization because it reveals that some of the country's deepest truths are found in communities committed to healing, belonging, and the belief that no one is defined by the worst thing they've ever done.”

She says “Everyone needs to read The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander and Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God by Kelly Brown Douglas. This is the real story of America.”

The founder of Tono Latino told The Sunday Paper “I would love for everyone to read Still I Rise by Maya Angelou. It is a poem that really touched my heart, and, honestly, I don't usually connect to poetry. It is a poem that recognizes hard times but also that the human spirit is strong and we can overcome many things. It's a poem that gives me courage and hope.”

This Founding Lady says "It became clear to me while researching my book, We the Women: The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America, that women have been at the center of all of America’s great moral and political battles. For 250 years, women have fought to ensure that it wasn’t just 'all men are created equal' but that 'all men AND women are created equal.' That’s what is so remarkable about the Declaration of Sentiments and why I believe everyone should read the document during America’s semiquincentennial. The language is very similar to that of the Declaration of Independence, the document we honor every July 4th. While America’s thirteen colonies fought for independence from British rule, women wanted independence from a patriarchal U.S. government. It lists sixteen bullet points of proof of the 'absolute tyranny' of man over woman. The final bullet point is the one that really gets me. 'He has endeavored, in every way that he could to destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life.' As I read it while researching We the Women, I was brought to tears. These women weren’t asking to be heard, they were demanding it."

The acclaimed American historian says "For the nation's 250th, I would recommend:
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
The Virginian by Owen Wister

These three classic works of fiction tell quintessential American stories about how individuals in a period that looks much like our own tried to navigate the turbulence of their world. Through fiction, they open up new vistas to examine our past. 

For younger readers: 
The Witches' Bridge by Barbee Oliver Carleton
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
Boston Jane: An Adventure by Jennifer L. Holm

Boston Jane speaks to what happens when ideology comes up against reality. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch is the story of hard work and innovation, while The Witches' Bridge explores how our past shapes our present and the future. Taken together, they are a gateway to the importance of history for understanding our world."