Hey, this is NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Timidiremius. Senator Cory Booker is angry,

at the state of politics in America and even at his own political party. He writes about his

frustrations and his ideas for a path forward in stand. In the book, the Democratic U.S.

Senator from New Jersey identifies 10 virtues he considers central to American civic life.

He spoke about it with all things considered host, Juana Summers.

Democratic Senator Cory Booker has had plenty of criticism for the Trump administration.

The Senate has to stop functioning like business as usual. When you have an executive that is overreaching their power, it is the responsibility of the Senate to check that power.

Though he also understands that Democrats are in the minority in Congress. I'm being faithful to the Constitution. And like Mother Teresa once said, I was called to be faithful, not necessarily

successful. Regardless, he keeps trying to shock the Senate into action. Last year, he broke the record

for the longest continuous floor speech in the Senate when he addressed Trump administration

policies for over 25 straight hours. In just 71 days, the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm

on Americans' safety, financial stability, the core foundations of our democracy.

Having literally stood for over a day street, Senator Cory Booker's new book is called

Stand. It is not about the politics of the current moment, at least not directly,

but it is an argument for moral principles. For ten virtues he sees as critical to American

life, like agency and patriotism, but also vulnerability and humility. He illustrates them

with historical examples. So I had to ask, you open by talking about

the concept of virtue. And some people might find that to be a sort of curious choice given the tenor of

our political rhetoric right now. Say more about that choice. I actually think that Democrats and

others make a mistake when they center this moment in American history around Donald Trump,

make him the main character of the story. I think there's been a lot leading to this,

and we are in tough times, and I hear a lot of fear and anger and anguish from Americans asking

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