Sarah Longwell with Jonathan V. Last — 'How to Eat an Elephant'

Third Place Books welcomes The Bulwark founder and pro-democracy advocate Sarah Longwell to our Lake Forest Park store for a conversation about her new book, . Drawing from years of experience as a political strategist, Longwell lays out the playbook for building a coalition big enough, bold enough, and tough enough to defeat authoritarian populism for good.

The Bulwark editor Jonathan V. Last joins in conversation.

What you need to know:

• All tickets come with a signed edition of How to Eat an Elephant specially bound by the publisher.
• Tickets must be purchased through Eventbrite. Pre-ordering the featured book will not grant you access to the event.
• In lieu of a public signing or meet-and-greet, this event will run about 20 minutes longer than a standard Third Place Books event. We expect the talk to begin at 7:00 PM and to wrap up around 8:20.
• If you are unable to attend the event, your book will be placed on hold at our Lake Forest Park store. You may request to have your book transferred to our Ravenna or Seward Park neighborhood stores.

Copies of How to Eat an Elephant will be available for purchase at the store.

Having trouble registering? See Eventbrite's troubleshooting FAQ here.

The playbook for consigning MAGA-style politics to the ash heap of history (where it belongs). Featuring a foreword by Jonathan V. Last.

After Donald Trump won the 2024 election, Sarah Longwell did what she's done nearly every week for the past eight years: She sat down with voters. She conducted hundreds of focus groups, listening to thousands of ordinary Americans—Republicans, Democrats, and the politically homeless—with the goal of understanding politics through the eyes of the people who will decide our country’s future.

American voters, and what they want for their country, are at the heart of How to Eat an Elephant. Longwell, the founder of The Bulwark and one of the sharpest political communicators of her generation, lays out the playbook for building a coalition big enough, bold enough, and tough enough to defeat authoritarian populism for good. Not with a single election. Not by doing another poll or debating the benefits of being more progressive or more moderate, but by building something new: A modern pro-democracy movement that can create its own communications infrastructure—just like the right has done for decades—achieve narrative dominance, elevate more compelling leaders, and talk to voters like adults.

Drawing on her own unlikely political journey from a lesbian Republican operative to the vanguard of the anti-MAGA movement, Longwell delivers a book that is equal parts war manual and pep talk—with her personal and professional story woven throughout. With her trademark bluntness and humor, she explains exactly how we got here and, more importantly, what we must build next—all while directly quoting the most important but overlooked people in the country: the voters themselves.

She answers the question: How do you eat an elephant? One voter at a time.

Sarah Longwell is CEO and Publisher of The Bulwark, one of the largest and fastest-growing independent media companies in the country, with millions of subscribers across all platforms. She is also the host of The Focus Group podcast, in which listeners hear directly from voters in Sarah’s focus groups. She has decades of experience leading some of the nation’s highest-visibility targeted persuasion campaigns, and is a nationally recognized leader in qualitative research into how voters are feeling about the state of the country. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her family and is a graduate of Kenyon College.

Jonathan V. Last is editor of The Bulwark. He writes the daily Triad newsletter, which delivers fresh, sobering analyses of the cracks forming in America’s democracy. JVL is a 2026 People’s Voice Winner at The Webby Awards for his work on the Triad. He also co-hosts The Secret Podcast, The Next Level podcast, and the YouTube show Receipts Live.

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events.