And why did you want to do it as an oral history? As you said, you are a reporter. You tend to write your own stuff. You use your own words. So what was it about this day that you felt like I got to, I got to dive, change the form? I think this is obviously a story that's had a lot of changing narratives and a lot of people who are sort of trying to create narratives around it.

And so for me, it's kind of almost like a bit of a foolproof way to get that history out there in the words of the people who were there and witnessed it without, you know, it's not my narrative.

It's not somebody else's narrative.

It's not partisan.

It's really just like the words of, you know, it's not my narrative. It's not somebody else's narrative. It's not partisan. It's really just like the words of the, you know, more than 150 people who were there.

Welcome to the Stacks, a podcast about books and the people who read them. I'm your host, Tracy Thomas, and today I am joined by Associated Press reporter Mary Claire Jelanick to discuss her new book, Storm at the Capitol,

an oral history of January 6th. In this book, Mary Claire Jolonic, who was on the scene that day,

offers a comprehensive retelling of the January 6th, 2021 insurrection through the firsthand accounts of rioters,

police officers, lawmakers, and those who were forced to flee the violence. Mary Claire shares

with me why she wanted to tell this story via oral history, what details she was hoping to bring

to light, and how her experience on the ground informed this story. Our book club pick for January

is girl-on-girl, how pop culture turned a generation of women against themselves. her experience on the ground informed this story. Our book club pick for January is

Girl on Girl, how pop culture turned a generation of women against themselves by Sophie

Gilbert, with Christiana Mbacue Medina returning as our guest on January 28th. Everything we talk

about on each episode of the stacks is linked in our show notes. If you like what you hear

today, if you want more bookish content

or a community of readers to help you stay on track with all your reading goals this year,

consider joining the Stacks Pack on Patreon and subscribing to my newsletter unstacked on

substack. Each of these places offer different perks like bonus episodes, community

conversations, hot takes on the latest literary and pop culture news, plus more. And your support

makes it possible for me to make this podcast every single week. Head to patreon.com slash the stacks

to join the snacks pack and check out my newsletter at tracythomas.substack.com. All right.

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