The Ones We've Been Waiting For

How a New Generation of Leaders Will Transform America

By: Charlotte Alter

Narrated by: Charlotte Alter

An optimistic look at the future of American leadership by a brilliant young reporter

A new generation is stepping up. There are now 26 millennials in Congress - a fivefold increase gained in the 2018 midterms alone. They are governing Midwestern cities and college towns, running for city councils, and serving in state legislatures. They are acting urgently on climate change (because they are going to live it); they care deeply about student debt (because they have it); they are utilizing big tech but still want to regulate it (because they understand how it works). In The Ones We've Been Waiting For, Time correspondent Charlotte Alter defines the class of young leaders who are remaking the nation - how grappling with 9/11 as teens, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, occupying Wall Street and protesting with Black Lives Matter, and shouldering their way into a financially rigged political system has shaped the people who will govern the future.

Through the experiences of millennial leaders - from progressive firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg to Republican up-and-comer Elise Stefanik - Charlotte Alter gives the big-picture look at how this generation governs differently than their elders, and how they may drag us out of our current political despair. Millennials have already revolutionized technology, commerce, and media and have powered the major social movements of our time. Now, government is ripe for disruption. The Ones We've Been Waiting For is a hopeful glimpse into a bright new generation of political leaders, and what America might look like when they are in charge.

©2020 Charlotte Alter (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Alter is an exceptional storyteller...this nuanced and comprehensive guide does an admirable job illuminating the next generation of political leaders & the issues that drive them." (Publishers Weekly)

"The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For is an excellent and timely look at the young leaders who are at the gates, and a lesson in what we have to learn from them. If you’re curious about what the future looks like, this book is a thorough, thoughtful place to start." (Rebecca Traister, New York Times best-selling author of Good and Mad and All the Single Ladies)

"For anyone who has dismissed millennials or who cares about our country’s future, Charlotte Alter has written a riveting, essential book. In bringing to vivid life the young upstarts who will ultimately inherit our democracy, Alter has inadvertently given us another vital young voice that will shape our political future: Hers." (Amy Chozick, New York Times best-selling author of Chasing Hillary)

Must Listen!

If you’re a Millennial and interested in politics this is an absolute must read. It will give you hope that your hard work is worth it.

Excellent for Understanding of the Generations

I love this book so much that I ordered three copies for my wife and twin 14 year olds. We’re going to read a chapter a day and discuss what we read. School is on hold due to the Corona Virus.

Over all good biut too much labeling

Overall it was a good reading of some of the young leaders there were a few factual errors like that there were no successful Gay politicians in DC when Pete was a teenager since Barney Frank came out when he was about nine. It was a good look at some young leaders and their pluses and minuses a bit skewed towards socialists but that’s OK just not sure that we need to label boomers and millennials etc. because they overlap and ideologies mix more frequently than she lets on. She leaves out people like Gavin Newsom and others who are on the cusp instead choosing to pick sides still a useful look at some young leaders

Excellent insight into the Millennial mindset.

Well written and well read. The Millennial generation and the next may redeem us all.

We are so screwed

I have a new appreciation for how my generation is completely screwed. I basically will have to watch as my grandparents and parents decide our political landscape? Oh hell no!

great Insight

Everything mentioned had clear resources and examples. The book seemed very unbiased and compared different generations based on attributes and historical events.

would highly recomend to anyone in a leadership role.

insightful, if a *little* tedious

super satisfying with an applicable thesis, but a little surface level.

it kind of feels like a long walk through a bunch of individual stories, with analysis of those stories. But this analysis is often disorganized, and I only felt like I came away with any big themes or messages towards the end of the book. That being said, it's an important piece - if a little too generous to its subject matter (not much critical thinking or reflection on the interviews which make up the book).

Informative and hopeful for a better future.

I liked it but I'm not familiar with some of the people that were mentioned and the transition between stories was a little hard to follow. Other than that I liked the way the statistics were laid out and it gives me some hope for the future of our country.

I think I wanted more, but it was still intriguing

Overall it was good. It helped me understand more about why generations believe the things they do. It was compelling for a millennials like myself to feel seen. I did hope for more, facts. She mentions some studies and such, but I do like more concrete evidence. It also felt biased, but I can’t tell if that’s because millennials are just overall more left-leaning or because I am so aware of biased media that I’m on guard. Overall it was good tho and I’d recommend it to anyone.

Wow - Helps me Understand Bernie's Appeal

What an excellent description of the social, economic, demographic, political, and cultural forces that have shaped the millennial generation and its up and coming leaders! Charlotte Alter's solid reporting combines hard data about the trends that have shaped the millennials, with engaging stories from the lives of ten millenials (Six of the ten names were familiar to me) : Pete Buttigieg, Haley Stevens, Braxton Winston, Elise Stefanik, Dan Crenshaw, Eric Lesser, Max Rose, Lauren Underwood, Svante Myrick, and Alexandria Occasio-Cortez. She starts the book by detailing what these individuals were doing on 9/11, and then recounts the forces that have shaped this generation - being raised by Baby Boomer parents, growing up reading Harry Potter stories, and being burdened with college debt. This is the generation that has grown up with school shootings, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, disastrous weather events brought about by climate change and social movements such as Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall Street. She tells the stories of how these individuals got started in local and national politics and contrasts their approaches with those of entrenched leaders in both the Democratic and Republican parties. The book gave this Baby Boomer a much better understanding of the appeal of Bernie Sanders and gives me hope for our political future. I can't recommend it highly enough. 5 stars doesn't seem a enough rating for the book overall. I rated the performance of the book a "4" because Charlotte Alter reads it a little fast, I slowed the audio down to 75% speed to better absorb the data she shares.