How does an Obama speechwriter befriend a Joe Rogan fan? Via surfing

<p>David Litt’s new book It’s Only Drowning centres on an improbable friendship and how shared experience provides a neutral ground for connection</p><p>What do men want? Democrats need to know after their election drubbing by Donald Trump and the “manosphere” last year. They have responded by commissioning “Speaking with American Men”, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/03/democrats-young-men-study-00384370">a strategic plan</a> that will study “the syntax, language and content that gains attention and virality” in online spaces.</p><p>News of the two-year $20m project reinforced critics’ view that Democrats have become the party of an aloof, college-educated liberal elite whose pursuit of working class men resembles a Victorian explorer wielding a butterfly net. Which makes the publication of David Litt’s book, <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Its-Only-Drowning/David-Litt/9781668035351">It’s Only Drowning</a>, a timely contribution to Democrats’ ongoing post-mortem.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jun/21/david-litt-book-its-only-drowning">Continue reading...</a>