This is NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Kia Miyaka-Natis. You've probably seen her videos online,

a white woman with a whiteboard sitting in Congress and breaking down the bureaucracy with a dry erase marker and a down-to-earth approach.

Congresswoman Katie Porter has made a name for herself in politics and online with

this signature communication style. In her new memoir, I swear, politics is messier than my minivan.

Porter takes us on the journey from going up in Iowa to becoming a single mom raising three kids

while trying to see change on Capitol Hill. Here she is with

NPR's Juana Summers talking about the old traditions Congress clings to and why she's hoping to make a

move to the Senate in the upcoming elections. In the U.S., national security news can feel far away

from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

You may know Katie Porter as the Congresswoman and former professor who comes to hearings with her whiteboard in tow.

It's her preferred tool as she explains complex topics and dresses down CEOs and government officials.

And those moments often go viral.

I'd like for you to please explain to the American public why you and four other executives deserve to pay yourselves tens of million dollars each year.

I've got an empty whiteboard ready to take down your justifications.

Porter, who is now one of several prominent Democrats running for

the Senate in California, is out with a new memoir. It's called, I swear, politics is messier than my

many van. This particular moment has been messier than usual. And I think some of our institutions,

including Congress, haven't adapted to what people need in the modern age.

In the book, Porter talks about what it's like to work on Capitol Hill as a mom with three

young kids, who's also single and has a cross-country commute from Orange County to Washington,

...