The Velshi Banned Book Club was launched to highlight under-reported stories of book bans and challenges to titles around the country. As “Velshi” comes to a close, Ali takes a look back at the incredible authors and banned writers who joined the Book Club on #Velshi www.ms.now/ali-velshi/w...

Bearing witness has never mattered more and you don’t have to be a journalist to do it. Contrary to what the people counting on your indifference want you to believe, citizenship is a choice to show up and engage with your neighbors, your community, your country. We will not look away. #Velshi

The Velshi Banned Book Club was launched to highlight under-reported stories of book bans and challenges to titles around the country. As “Velshi” comes to a close, Ali takes a look back at the incredible authors and banned writers who joined the Book Club on #Velshi

In 1958, Ann Patchett's favorite children’s book, “The Rabbit’s Wedding,” was banned for fear it would encourage interracial marriage. “Anytime you ban a book, you are on the wrong side of history,” she says. #Velshi

Nick Cutter’s brand new horror novel, fittingly called “The Dorians,” pays homage to Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and its quest for eternal youth. #Velshi #VelshiBannedBookClub

“The Future Is Peace” written by Palestinian @azizabusarah.bsky.social and Israeli @maozinon.bsky.social argues that there is no alternative for the region, for the world. “Status quo doesn’t exist — things only get worse or better. And we want it to get better.” #Velshi #VelshiBannedBookClub

Censorship and book banning is “neither a blue issue or a red issue – it is an everybody issue. This affects everyone,” says Keri Lambert, Vice President of Tennessee’s Rutherford County Library Alliance. #VelshiBannedBookClub

Why read? “Literature is so powerful because when you read a book, a memoir – you get to know this family, you get to go deep into these people,” award-winning author Edwidge Danticat explains, “No one person, no one group, is one thing.”

"Sold" by Patricia McCormick is a fictional account of a young girl sold into sexual slavery. The novel has been a National Book Award finalist, but now, it's the most challenged book in America. "We need to prepare our young readers for the world as it is," McCormick says. #Velshi

“Martyr!” author Kaveh Akbar reminds us all that, “we are the same species, despite our overwhelming sameness and the brevity of our being here, we create these reasons to be mad at each other [...] the inability of the mind to access that, art can help with.” #Velshi #VelshiBannedBookClub

PEN America was quick to condemn Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilization. PEN’s co-CEO @selopez.bsky.social says, “We are defending freedom of expression, defending writers, literature, and the freedom of people to tell their stories and document their histories.” Everyone deserves that.

Following the SCOTUS ruling on conversion therapy, Garrard Conley, author of “Boy Erased,” which recounts his experience in a conversion therapy camp, says “it’s a dangerous idea” to say LGBTQ people are “a subject to be debated.” #Velshi

What do 18th century colonists, an eight-year-old with cerebral palsy, and a 15-year-old schoolgirl from Alabama have in common? Each made a choice to challenge injustice. America’s history is shaped by ordinary people standing up for something greater than themselves. #Velshi

Colm Tóibín’s new book, “The News From Dublin,” includes the timely story of an undocumented Irish immigrant who leaves America right as President Trump returns to office. The author’s restraint, intensity, and deliberation have earned him praise as one of Ireland’s great living writers. #Velshi

This Saturday is #NoKingsDay — rallies in every corner of the country. We want YOUR view from the ground. Photos, videos, your story — send them to [email protected]. Can’t make it but still out here fighting for democracy? We want to hear from you too.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ - #velshi

"All Boys Aren't Blue" by @iamgmjohnson.bsky.social took readers through the author's childhood. Now, an upcoming memoir, "And If I Die Before I Wake," will take readers through their adulthood. "This book was about talking to all those versions [of me] again." #VelshiBannedBookClub

"The Man in the High Castle" by Philip K. Dick asks what humanity, morality and creativity look like in the face of evil. "He’s asking you to experience a kind of vertigo," says author Jonathan Lethem. "It allows you to think 'what if I'm reading the present wrong?'" #VelshiBannedBookClub#Velshi#Velshi

Author Jennifer Egan’s “The Candy House” explores the defining feature of our time: technology. “Again and again with every invention we begin with a utopian idea of what it will do for us,” she says, “then later we see the intended consequences.” #Velshi #VelshiBannedBookClub

Award-winning authors @clarebeams.bsky.social and MT Anderson share how Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” gives a clear explanation for where American society is today, a world of cultural fixation and addiction to distraction in a world of unbridled mass consumerism. #Velshi #VelshiBannedBookClub

Greg Ketter, the owner of Dreamhaven Books & Comics in Minneapolis, went viral for putting words to what so many are feeling right now. He is angry. And he knows what book banning & the suppression of dissent means: “the chipping away of our freedom.” #Velshi #VelshiBannedBookClub

Author Emily St. John Mandel knows a thing or two about a dystopia, a post-apocalyptic world. She writes all about it. So what does she have to say about America today? “There is hope, there is community.” #VelshiBannedBookClub#Velshi#Velshi

Kurt Vonnegut’s daughter Nanette isn’t just fighting censorship in Utah because of her father’s legacy, his love of libraries, or his belief in the importance of literature. She is fighting for much more. #Velshi #VelshiBannedBookClub

Today's #VelshiBannedBookClub#Velshifeature is "The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze" by Derrick Barnes. It follows a gifted Black athlete navigating racism, identity, and ambition. Barnes says framing sports as uniquely unifying lets white Americans “escape harsh realities Black Americans face." #Velshi

“Books are about, fundamentally, what it means to be human,” says “We Were Liars” author @elockhartbooks.bsky.social #Velshi #VelshiBannedBookClub www.msnbc.com/ali-velshi/w...

What do the authors of “The Day the Books Disappeared”, @joannahowrites.bsky.social and @carolinekpritchard.bsky.social, say to those who argue a certain book might be too advanced for a child? Do not "underestimate the brilliance of young people”. #Velshi #VelshiBannedBookClub

Today's #VelshiBannedBookClub features the blueprint of all romantic novels, "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen. Author Elaine Castillo says Austen's seminal work deepens us as readers. It's why her profound literary legacy is so enduring for readers and authors alike.

Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” has a lot to tell us about culture today, including why reading is so important. UCSB professor Julie Carlson & author @kierstenwhite.bsky.social say, “Reading is where the creature discovers feeling and thought, & the history of the world.” #VelshiBannedBookClub

"Teens are dealing with issues of love, body image, mental health, and identity, whether parents want them to or not," says @jenniferniven.bsky.social. Literature helps them "to find themselves and to realize they are not alone...even if the adults don't want to talk about it." #VelshiBannedBookClub

Today’s #VelshiBannedBookClub feature, “Breathless” by @jenniferniven.bsky.social#VelshiBannedBookClub is an exploration of how to find yourself after experiencing your first devastating loss as a young person. It's about choosing your voice, your future, and yourself. Niven joins me at noon EST. Don't miss it!

What does the uptick in censorship & book bans mean for authors today? “The Knife and the Butterfly” author Ashley Hope Pérez says, “the biggest obstacle...the temptation to shrink or constrain the range of experiences authors explore in the hope of not being banned.” #VelshiBannedBookClub

Today's #VelshiBannedBookClub feature, “The Knife and the Butterfly” by Ashley Hope Pérez, is a reminder of just how much novels can create a sense of empathy. It tells the story of two teenagers, members of rival gangs, and the single act of violence that connects them forever. Tune in at noon EST!

Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist @lynseyaddario.bsky.social has put herself in danger to capture the dark realities of war many times. She joins me at 12p ET to discuss the competing demands of her journalism and her family as captured in a brand new documentary. #Velshi

“All My Rage” is predominantly an immigrant story, but those feelings of wanting to belong and of finding yourself? According to author Sabaa Tahir, “they’re universal.” #Velshi #VelshiBannedBookClub

"Trump & Republicans have unleashed this unprecedented extremism on the American people from the very beginning," says @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social. "We're talking about an assault on the rule of law, an assault on the American way of life, and an assault, of course, on democracy itself." #Velshi

"Maybe they think they have enough of the levers of power that it no longer matters what people think,” says fascism scholar Jason Stanley of the Trump Administration. But he also says, the more extreme the messaging gets, the more forcefully civil society will push back. #NoKings #Velshi

"Maybe they think they have enough of the levers of power that it no longer matters what people think,” says fascism scholar Jason Stanley of the Trump Administration. But he also says, the more extreme the messaging gets, the more forcefully civil society will push back. #NoKings #Velshi

The dystopian world that M.T. Anderson created in his novel “Feed” feels eerily similar to the world we live in right now. “You can feel the way the cognition is changing, we’re being rewired by [the technology we use & consume].” How does Anderson fight it? “Books.” #Velshi #VelshiBannedBookClub

Today's #VelshiBannedBookClub spotlight is "Feed" by M.T. Anderson, our most alarmingly prescient dystopian feature to date. Written before the advent of social media, it warns of the dark effects of high-tech consumerism. Join us at 12p ET!

"The erasure of history is a way of unmooring us from what we know to be true, until suddenly the very idea of fact is somehow challenged," says @alexgibneyfilm.bsky.social of George Orwell's ever-relevant warnings against authoritarianism. "It's a very bleak vision of the future." #Velshi

PEN America's new report says book bans have become "rampant and common." Legendary author and member of the #VelshiBannedBookClub Stephen King has been singled out as the most banned author for the 2024-2025 school year. #VELSHI

PEN America's new banned book list is out, showing an alarming number of books being pulled off shelves. PEN America President @jennyboylan.bsky.social joined the #VelshiBannedBookClub to warn against this new normal. “We’re only as strong as our tolerance for stories we don’t agree with.” #VELSHI

“We stopped being able to have conversations, and when you can’t have conversations, you ban books,” says Booker Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy. Roy argues “books are so subversive” that in the mere act of banning them, “you show your own weakness.” #VelshiBannedBookClub

Why is “1984” so important to read today? “Because patterns repeat … It becomes relevant over and over again,” says @veronicarothbooks.com, author of the “Divergent” series #Velshi #VelshiBannedBookClub

Why are children’s books so important? Co-author of the “The 1619 Project: Born on the Water” Renée Watson has the answer. “Reading is a form of listening” and listening to others’ stories is crucial #Velshi #VelshiBannedBookClub

The great @stephenking.bsky.social has advice for every single member of the #VelshiBannedBookClub#Velshi “Run to the library or to the bookstore and find out what they don't want you to read.” #Velshi

You want to know what the king of horror thinks of humanity? @stephenking.bsky.social says, "You can call me a romantic if you want to, but I think that most people are inherently good, and they try to do their best.” #Velshi #VelshiBannedBookClub www.msnbc.com/ali-velshi/w...

What could be better than a #VelshiBannedBookClub meeting with the singular @egangoonsquad.bsky.social? A #VelshiBannedBookClub meeting on Gothic classic “Rebecca” by Daphne Du Maurier *with* @egangoonsquad.bsky.social#VelshiBannedBookClub#VelshiBannedBookClub#VelshiVelshi 📚

Why is fantasy such an important and popular genre? “Cemetery Boys” author @aidenschmaiden.bsky.social says when “we’re talking about heavy stuff [...] it eases it a little bit with a little magic and mystery and mayhem.” #VelshiBannedBookClub #Velshi www.msnbc.com/ali-velshi/w...

"Let's be more intentional about how we reach kids that are marginalized…Let’s ask more of ourselves,” says author Abdi Nazemian, whose award-winning novel 'Like A Love Story,' is now banned across Utah public schools. "I want to focus on the best of history, not the worst.” #VelshiBannedBookClub

Why is it so crucial to fight bans and preserve access to literature? The lawsuits help “in a myriad of ways,” says author @iamgmjohnson.bsky.social. "At first I thought they were trying to ban my story, but then I realized they never read my story…Our books are actually saving lives.” #Velshi