Our guest is Timothy Egan, the Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter and author whose popular books include "A Pilgrimage to Eternity," "The Immortal Irishman," and "The Worst Hard Time." He joins us to talk about his newest book, which is just out. "A Fever in the Heartland" traces the rise and fall, throughout the 1920s, of the Ku Klux Klan in the US. Egan writes in particular of how this largely-forgotten saga relates to one D.C. Stephenson, a conman, rapist, and abhorrent thug who nevertheless rose to a position of vast wealth and power as the KKK became more mainstream among Midwestern politicians, kingmakers, and civic leaders. As was noted by David Grann (author of "Killers of the Flower Moon"): "With meticulous detective work, Egan shines a light on one of the most sinister chapters in American history -- how a viciously racist movement, led by a murderous conman, rose to power in the early twentieth century. [This book] is compelling, powerful, and profoundly resonant today."
"A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them"
