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Jurgen Klopp’s move to Red Bull seems surprising but it shouldn’t be

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Jurgen Klopp’s move to Red Bull seems surprising but it shouldn’t be

As Liverpool’s manager, Jurgen Klopp did not like long meetings. Rather than sitting around, poring over the latest big decision, he would regularly have important conversations in the canteen of the training ground while eating his lunch. 

Klopp was anything but formal, yet Mike Gordon — the president of Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group, a man who also operates with the sort of casual confidence you normally get from a dot com entrepreneur — placed the German on the same level as a corporate leader. He was, according to Gordon, “someone you would choose to run your company”, as he told Raphael Honigstein in his book, Bring the Noise.

Klopp’s new role as Red Bull’s global head of soccer, which he starts at the beginning of next year, potentially offers that kind of overarching responsibility. As a statement from Red Bull explained, the day-to-day running of the five clubs it owns, sponsors or has a minority stake in will not concern him but he will be helping sporting directors, scouting departments and coaches, ensuring Red Bull’s “philosophy” runs through each of its interests.

The decision, which arrived suddenly — nine years and a day since his arrival at Liverpool — might, on the face of it, be surprising, given how drained Klopp seemed when he departed Anfield in May. Back then, he said he had run out of energy and needed a total rest from football management.


Jurgen Klopp is given a guard of honour after his last match with Liverpool (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

He had left Borussia Dortmund with a similar message at the end of the 2014-15 season, before quickly landing on Merseyside after a summer largely spent playing tennis.

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Klopp finds it hard to sit still for any length of time, but his new job at Red Bull invites a slower and less stressful route back into the game he loves — and, in all likelihood, a precursor to the German national team job he has long coveted, given that reports in the country suggest a get-out clause exists in his contract.

Gordon’s comments about Klopp’s capabilities were made in 2017 and in the years that followed, as Liverpool became more and more successful, his power grew. With that, the support network that had also contributed to Liverpool’s rise was dismantled. Klopp was not running Liverpool because the most important financial decisions were still made by Gordon, yet he was the public face of a multi-national company, and the football department became his. It explains why Liverpool now employs a head coach rather than a manager and the club’s sporting director leads strategic and staffing decisions. It would be good to hear from Klopp on whether he thinks taking on too much contributed to his burnout. 

Perhaps the Red Bull gig gives him the opportunity to understand a world he is curious about. Last year, there was some talk of him enrolling on a sporting directorship course, something his representatives did not confirm or deny. Unlike at Liverpool, he will be able to do his job without the pressures of preparing a team, matches, and press conferences. In an Instagram post on Tuesday, he indicated that this treadmill had stopped him from learning as much as he would like. From here, if he ends up taking charge of Germany, he will surely understand better the responsibilities that come with different stations of leadership.

Klopp is not the first former Liverpool manager to take on this particular title at Red Bull. In 2012, after Gerard Houllier was forced into retirement due to deteriorating health, he met with the founder of the company, Dietrich Mateschitz, who turned up for a meeting in Austria on a motorbike, wearing jeans.

Quite how influential Houllier became depends on the impression of who you speak to. While he would later claim that he played a leading role in the organisation’s attempt to bring Sadio Mane into its fold from Metz in 2012, those closer to its running suggest his responsibilities were closer to that of an ambassador: turning up in various countries, shaking hands with partners, and occasionally whispering advice.

Will Klopp’s duties even be as all-encompassing as they might sound? He is certainly useful for Red Bull’s brand, one which has needed a touch of legitimacy ever since it started investing in football in 2005.

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Houllier was eight years out of Liverpool by the point his involvement started, while the Red Bull group had not yet produced a team talented enough to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League. Though its club in Leipzig has since made it through to that round of the competition in seven of the last eight seasons, the tale of a team rising up from the regional divisions has not exactly been met with encouragement in Germany, where the rules lean in favour of fan representation and significant outside investment is treated with suspicion. 


Dortmund fans protest before a game against RB Leipzig in 2017 (TF-Images/TF-Images via Getty Images)

At Dortmund and Liverpool, Klopp harnessed the authenticity of each club’s following, occasionally taking sideswipes at the artificial elements of rivals and other places. Had he been in charge of Dortmund in 2016 when they faced a recently promoted RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga for the first time, it would have been interesting to hear his thoughts on the actions of the Dortmund supporters who boycotted the fixture in protest at their opponents’ ownership model.

“Dortmund makes money, but we do it to play football,” said Jan-Henrik Gruszecki, one of the protest’s organisers, told The Guardian. “But Leipzig plays football to sell a product and a lifestyle. That’s the difference.”

Klopp, therefore, may have chipped his reputation by aligning himself with the fizzy drinks manufacturer — the antithesis of what he once represented. Perhaps this will be determined, particularly in Germany, by how visible he is while on Red Bull duty. 


Klopp will be removed from day-to-day coaching at Red Bull (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

Back in England, the company has a minority stake in Leeds United, having taken over as the club’s shirt sponsor. “The ambition to bring Leeds United back to the Premier League and establish themselves in the best football league in the world fits very well with Red Bull,” said Oliver Mintzlaff in May. Mintzlaff, Red Bull’s corporate projects CEO, played a significant role in Klopp’s appointment.

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Klopp suggested on his exit from Liverpool in the same month that he would never manage another Premier League club. But it is not too hard to imagine Leeds back in the top flight soon, and if that happens — and Red Bull lends its technical support, as expected — it will be fascinating to see where Klopp, if he remains in the position, fits in. Might he end up helping plot, even in some small way, Liverpool’s downfall come matchday?

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Marathe exclusive: ‘This club will not become Leeds Red Bulls – they understand that’

Immediately, many have chortled at the suggestion that one of his first tasks might involve the sacking of Pep Lijnders, his former assistant at Liverpool, whose Red Bull Salzburg team were thrashed by Brest and Sturm Graz in successive games last week.

There is no plan to remove the Dutch coach, but Klopp does not begin with Red Bull officially until January. Given how close they were at Liverpool, with Lijnders entrusted to lead training sessions, it seems unthinkable that Klopp, if asked, would suggest making a change. Instead, surely Klopp’s arrival at the Red Bull stable increases the chances of him surviving.

For the time being, Klopp is removed from the grind of the daily management, with this role seeming to strike a neat balance of involvement at the elite end through a new challenge, but without the pressure, and scrutiny, that comes from being a manager. Whether Klopp can resist the buzz of the latter in the long term remains to be seen. 

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(Top photos: Getty Images)

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Test Your Knowledge of French Novels Made Into Musicals and Movies

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Test Your Knowledge of French Novels Made Into Musicals and Movies

Welcome to Great Adaptations, the Book Review’s regular multiple-choice quiz about books that have gone on to find new life as movies, television shows, theatrical productions and more. This week’s challenge is focused on globally popular French novels that went on to become big-screen adventures — and more. Just tap or click your answers to the five questions below. And scroll down after you finish the last question for links to the books and some of their filmed versions.

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Try to Match These Snarky Quotations to Their Novels and Stories

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Try to Match These Snarky Quotations to Their Novels and Stories

Welcome to Literary Quotable Quotes, a quiz that challenges you to match a book’s memorable lines with its title. This week’s installment is focused on bold observations made by characters from assorted novels and short stories. In the five multiple-choice questions below, tap or click on the answer you think is correct. After the last question, you’ll find links to the books themselves if you want to get a copy and see that quotation in context.

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16 Mayors on What It’s Like to Run a U.S. City Now Under Trump

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16 Mayors on What It’s Like to Run a U.S. City Now Under Trump

It is no ordinary time to lead a city. Budgets are in flux. Divisions are deepening. Political violence and misinformation are growing concerns. And as President Trump aggressively pursues his agenda, national politics are becoming an inescapable reality in city halls.

The New York Times sat down last month with 16 mayors at a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Tampa, Fla. We asked them many of the same questions. Their answers revealed deep, bipartisan uncertainty over federal funding and concerns about rising incivility. Mayors of some of the nation’s largest cities, including New York and Los Angeles, did not attend.

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Some Republican mayors spoke hopefully about this new Trump era. Many others, especially Democrats, who hold the majority of big-city mayoral jobs, voiced alarm about how the administration’s policies were playing out.

Here’s what we heard.

Across party lines, this one issue was a persistent concern.

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Americans have been telling their mayors that they are worried about everyday costs and struggling to afford a place to live.

With home prices rising and supply limited, several mayors said they were trying to build more units and meet demand. It was a challenge playing out in nearly every city, with young professionals struggling to buy their first houses and growing homeless populations straining city services.

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Mayors told us what else was keeping them up at night.

They described spending significant time outside the office worrying about local and national problems. As the mayor of Noblesville, Ind., put it: “My job is not nine to five. I’m mayor regardless of where I am.”

Some described the fear of receiving a phone call with news of another shooting. Others spoke about wanting to fix endemic issues like homelessness and drug addiction.

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Governing a city feels different under President Trump, most mayors said.

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Mayor Chris Jensen (R)

Noblesville, Ind.

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Mayor Donna Deegan (D)

Jacksonville, Fla.

Mayor Jerry Dyer (R)

Fresno, Calif.

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Mayor Regina Romero (D)

Tucson, Ariz.

Mayor Kathy Sheehan (D)

Albany, N.Y.

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Mayor Alyia Gaskins (D)

Alexandria, Va.

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Mayor Mattie Parker (R)

Fort Worth

With the Trump administration seeking to rapidly overhaul parts of the federal government, mayors from both parties described uncertainty over the fate of federal grants and other programs that Republicans in Washington have targeted.

Many Democrats said they had strong relationships with former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s staff members and had not yet built those same connections with Mr. Trump’s team. Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago, whose city has been singled out for criticism by Mr. Trump, said that “the very basic fundamental rights of our democracy are under siege.”

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Some Republicans described optimism about working with the new president, and not all of them had seen major changes. Mayor D.C. Reeves of Pensacola, Fla., said that “it’s probably too early to say that there’s a distinct difference.” Mayor Acquanetta Warren of Fontana, Calif., said it was “not at all” different. “We work with anyone,” she said.

We also asked whether mayors had changed their routines because of political violence.

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Several mayors said they had taken additional steps to ensure their safety since the killing of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband in June and other recent attacks. But political violence, many of them noted, was not new. Mayor Regina Romero of Tucson, a Democrat, pointed to the attempted assassination of Representative Gabby Giffords in her city in 2011.

And Mayor Indya Kincannon of Knoxville, a Democrat, said she had been inside a local church with her young daughters when a gunman opened fire in 2008, killing two people, in an attack linked to hatred of liberals and gay people. She remembered escaping with her daughters. “I picked them up and left as soon as the gunman was tackled,” she said.

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Mayor Todd Gloria (D)

San Diego

“It’s a difficult time for people in public office, and when we see the tragedy that just happened in Minnesota, you always have to wonder, you know, am I next?”

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portrait of Brandon Johnson

Mayor Brandon Johnson (D)

Chicago

“No. But what I can say is with the political violence that has been promulgating, there’s no place for it.”

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portrait of Alyia Gaskins

Mayor Alyia Gaskins (D)

Alexandria, Va.

“I have. I would say in light of recent violence, I’m much more aware of my surroundings and also those of my family.”

portrait of Kathy Sheehan

Mayor Kathy Sheehan (D)

Albany, N.Y.

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“For those of us who are elected officials, it is an uneasy time.”

portrait of Jerry Dyer

Mayor Jerry Dyer (R)

Fresno, Calif.

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“As a former police chief and spending 40 years in law enforcement, I’m keenly aware of the fact that there’s always a potential for a threat of violence against you, but it doesn’t mean that we’re always constantly aware of that threat. But I have become much more alert as of late in terms of my surroundings.”

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Mayor Quentin Hart (D)

Waterloo, Iowa

“One of the things that we’ve done immediately was to take more precautions within City Hall.”

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portrait of Brett Smiley

Mayor Brett Smiley (D)

Providence, R.I.

“I haven’t made changes to how I interact with my community, but I will admit that my stress and anxiety level is up a little bit higher.”

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portrait of D.C. Reeves

Mayor D.C. Reeves (R)

Pensacola, Fla.

“Nothing permanent yet, but I’m certainly watching it.”

Immigration enforcement is creating fear in many cities, too.

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Mayors from both parties called on the federal government to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws.

“You couldn’t talk to a mayor who doesn’t want immigration reform,” said Mayor Kathy Sheehan of Albany, a Democrat. “We want Washington to fix this.”

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But as the Trump administration works to increase deportations and remove legal status for some immigrants, mayors said that some in their cities were living in constant fear of raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

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Mayor Brandon Johnson (D)

Chicago

Mayor Acquanetta Warren (R)

Fontana, Calif.

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Mayor Brett Smiley (D)

Providence, R.I.

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Mayor D.C. Reeves (R)

Pensacola, Fla.

Mayor Quentin Hart (D)

Waterloo, Iowa

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Mayor Jerry Dyer (R)

Fresno, Calif.

Mayor Regina Romero (D)

Tucson, Ariz.

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Mayor Mattie Parker (R)

Fort Worth

Mayors also pointed to local programs that could be national models.

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portrait of Chris Jensen

Mayor Chris Jensen (R)

Noblesville, Ind.

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“I had a local therapist approach me and ask, ‘Hey, would you go on Facebook and do a live therapy session to talk about what it’s like to be a leader during Covid?’ Of course, my initial answer was, ‘Absolutely not, I don’t want to go share my emotions with my community.’”

“But I ended up relenting and doing it. It was one of the best things I ever did. It was literally an hourlong therapy session talking about my feelings, about being a leader during such an uncertain time. That project has morphed into, now, a monthly program called ‘Mental Health Monday.’”

He added: “We have now comforted a community and a city and shown that it’s OK to not be OK.”

portrait of Acquanetta Warren

Mayor Acquanetta Warren (R)

Fontana, Calif.

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“Right now, the biggest challenge in our city is homelessness. That’s what our public is looking to see us resolve, so we’re on steroids doing that. We just bought a hotel last year, which allows us to put people off the street in an environment where they can get major assistance to transform their lives.”

portrait of Regina Romero

Mayor Regina Romero (D)

Tucson, Ariz.

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“We’ve planted more than 150,000 trees in the last six years. We created a heat tree map where we take a look at the areas of our city that have less canopy. Because trees are a nature-based solution to heat and climate.”

portrait of Todd Gloria

Mayor Todd Gloria (D)

San Diego

“Last year, despite high interest rates and high inflation, we permitted about 8,800 new homes in my city, more than double what we’ve been doing historically. The reforms that we’re putting in place to make it possible to build more homes for less and to build them faster is working.”

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We wanted to know what policy change under Trump was having the biggest impact, too.

We spoke to the mayors before Congress passed Mr. Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill. They told us they had spent months bracing for severe cuts to federal funding for local programs, though many of their worst-case fears had not materialized at that point.

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Some described the pausing of grants while the Trump administration re-evaluated previously approved projects, leaving cities in limbo. In places where the local economy is highly dependent on international trade, mayors voiced concern about the uncertainty around tariffs.

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Mayor Brandon Johnson (D)

Chicago

Mayor Todd Gloria (D)

San Diego

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Mayor Alyia Gaskins (D)

Alexandria, Va.

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Mayor Brett Smiley (D)

Providence, R.I.

Mayor Chris Jensen (R)

Noblesville, Ind.

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Mayor D.C. Reeves (R)

Pensacola, Fla.

Mayor Cavalier Johnson (D)

Milwaukee

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And mayors told us what they had learned about the United States in the last year.

Both Republicans and Democrats said the depth of the country’s political divisions had become even more clear in recent months. Some Democrats said they were still processing Mr. Trump’s return to power and what it means for the country’s future.

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Mayor Todd Gloria (D)

San Diego

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Mayor Daniel Rickenmann (R)

Columbia, S.C.

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Mayor Regina Romero (D)

Tucson, Ariz.

Mayor Jerry Dyer (R)

Fresno, Calif.

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Mayor Brandon Johnson (D)

Chicago

Mayor D.C. Reeves (R)

Pensacola, Fla.

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Mayor Indya Kincannon (D)

Knoxville, Tenn.

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Mayor Alyia Gaskins (D)

Alexandria, Va.

We also asked some lighter questions, like which TV or streaming show they liked best.

Mayors also revealed their favorite after-work beverages.

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Many mayors were eager to plug local craft breweries. Mayor Daniel Rickenmann of Columbia gave a shout-out to the Kentucky distillery that he cofounded. Others preferred a particular soft drink.

We asked them to brag about their cities’ signature dishes, too.

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They boasted about a Friday night fish fry in Milwaukee, fish tacos in San Diego and Mexican food in Fresno and Fontana. Knoxville’s mayor suggested “meat and three,” the local term for meat and three side dishes, while Pensacola’s mayor highlighted his city’s seafood.

Two mayors shared different theories on hot dogs. And two Midwestern mayors boasted about their pork tenderloins.

Their bookshelves are also as varied as their cities.

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When asked about the best book they had read recently, mayors shared a range of fiction and nonfiction titles.

Mayor Alyia Gaskins of Alexandria said much of her reading time was spent with her young children, who enjoy “Little Blue Truck” and “Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site.” The mayors of Fontana, Knoxville and San Diego all praised “Abundance” by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson.

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portrait of Jerry Dyer

Mayor Jerry Dyer (R)

Fresno, Calif.

“One Blood” by John M. Perkins

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portrait of Kathy Sheehan

Mayor Kathy Sheehan (D)

Albany, N.Y.

“A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles

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portrait of Donna Deegan

Mayor Donna Deegan (D)

Jacksonville, Fla.

“The Wisdom Pattern” by Richard Rohr

portrait of D.C. Reeves

Mayor D.C. Reeves (R)

Pensacola, Fla.

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“A Land Remembered” by Patrick D. Smith. “It’s a novel, but it’s kind of on the history of Florida.”

portrait of Brandon Johnson

Mayor Brandon Johnson (D)

Chicago

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“Locking Up Our Own” by James Forman Jr. “I recommend that people across America take a look at it, particularly at a time in which the carceral state is something that’s being enacted, especially by this federal government.”

portrait of Daniel Rickenmann

Mayor Daniel Rickenmann (R)

Columbia, S.C.

“Rockets’ Red Glare” by William Webster and Dick Lochte

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portrait of Quentin Hart

Mayor Quentin Hart (D)

Waterloo, Iowa

“The 1619 Project” by Nikole Hannah-Jones, who is from Waterloo. Also “Anesa, No Skola Today” by Anesa Kajtazovic, a children’s book about growing up during the Bosnian War.

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portrait of Chris Jensen

Mayor Chris Jensen (R)

Noblesville, Ind.

“The Circle Maker” by Mark Batterson. “It’s all about big prayers, big bold ideas.”

portrait of Brett Smiley

Mayor Brett Smiley (D)

Providence, R.I.

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“A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara. “Probably the saddest book I’ve ever read, but it was really, really, really well written and wonderful.”

portrait of Regina Romero

Mayor Regina Romero (D)

Tucson, Ariz.

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“The Teenage Brain” by Dr. Frances E. Jensen. “That really has helped me understand my teenagers and why they do the things they do.”

portrait of Mattie Parker

Mayor Mattie Parker (R)

Fort Worth

“On Leadership” by Tony Blair. “It’s incredibly thought provoking as a leader. I probably should have read it at the beginning of my administration, but I’ve learned quite a bit.”

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portrait of Cavalier Johnson

Mayor Cavalier Johnson (D)

Milwaukee

I’m reading it right now: ‘A Promised Land’ by Barack Obama. I’m a little behind because I’m mayor and I’ve got three kids, but I’m making up for it now.”

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Finally, we wanted to know what gave mayors hope for the United States.

Across party lines, mayors spoke about frightening political divisions, seemingly intractable problems and serious fears about the future. But most also voiced optimism about the country, drawing hope from America’s history and especially from the people they meet in their own cities.

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