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Winging It - Improv's Power and Peril in the Time of Trump
- Author
- Randy Fertel
- Narrator
- Jeffrey Hedquist, Sean Pratt
- Publisher
- SueMedia Productions
- Publish Date
- 10 February 2026
- Run Time
- 9 hours 19 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Political activism
What to expect
In this audiobook, Randy Fertel offers a tour de force exploration of improvisation and its many uses, beginning with what most people would associate with “improv”: a distinctive form of theater perfected by Chicago’s Second City troupe. Fertel demonstrates how improvisation touches many other areas of life and society that have both immense creative and destructive potential. He shows why the latter is especially salient in today’s political climate. Indeed, for Fertel, one of the most significant applications of improvisation is in the political arena, where it is the most perilous. Explaining the dark places that former President Donald Trump takes improvisation, Fertel suggests that “his improvising gave him the authority to break norms (and laws).”
Critics Review
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“Randy Fertel is a master at unveiling theatrical illusion. In this brilliant book, he shines a piercing light into the shadows of the so-called improv style in politics. Winging It reveals the concealed instincts and the fierce emotional currents that keep a rapacious predator aloft.”
Murray Stein, author of Jung’s Map of the Soul
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“At the farmers market, I’m responding to color, and smell, and I’m following my intuition. In my kitchen when I’m imagining where things will lead, I’m improvising. In his artful and authoritative new book Winging It, Randy Fertel explores how improvisation shapes and enlivens our wider world. Yield to your impulses, act spontaneously, and get this book—it’s a revelation.”
Alice Waters, Founder of Chez Panisse and the Edible Schoolyard
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“In Winging It, Randy Fertel presents a wide ranging and masterful study of the art of improvisation that will delight scholars and lay readers alike. The work’s true fascination lies in its adept analysis of the political implications of the quicksilver art form. It is a work to be savored slowly and thoughtfully, especially in anticipation of the upcoming elections.”
Jessica B. Harris, author of High on the Hog
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“A masterwork—voracious in scope … and about as hopeful as can be in these troubling times.”
Bruce Boyd Raeburn, Curator Emeritus, Hogan Archive of New Orleans Music and New Orleans Jazz, Tulane University
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“In the new century, we’re all winging it now. Randy Fertel gives us an impressive and artful view of cultural patterns that are roiling our world in so many ways. His knowledge is encyclopedic and his feeling for the complexities and double binds we face is deep and humane.”
Stephen Nachmanovitch, author of Free Play
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“Winging It soars. Author Randy Fertel is a whipsmart, plate-spinning savant, an audacious flying circus wingman. Every performer faces unknown risks, but Fertel takes it to a whole new level, and it’s a very exciting ride.”
Michelle Shocked, singer/songwriter
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“Winging It dances with the reader atop a mountain of scholarship, original thinking, and profound applicability. Written in the spirit and style of improvisation, this book charms the reader into a fresh perspective on our discombobulated world, touching on social media, popular culture, literary classics, neuroscience, AI, and politics. It’s smart, fun, insightful, and relevant to life today and the incomprehensibles we live within. Don’t walk, improvise your way to the bookstore to grab this irresistible tour de force from Randy Fertel.”
Eric Booth, author of Making Change
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Details
- Author
- Randy Fertel
- Narrator
- Jeffrey Hedquist, Sean Pratt
- Duration
- 9 hours 19 minutes
- Release Date
- 10 February 2026
- ISBN
- 9798228820302
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- SueMedia Productions
- Genre
- Political activism
Synopsis
In this audiobook, Randy Fertel offers a tour de force exploration of improvisation and its many uses, beginning with what most people would associate with “improv”: a distinctive form of theater perfected by Chicago’s Second City troupe. Fertel demonstrates how improvisation touches many other areas of life and society that have both immense creative and destructive potential. He shows why the latter is especially salient in today’s political climate. Indeed, for Fertel, one of the most significant applications of improvisation is in the political arena, where it is the most perilous. Explaining the dark places that former President Donald Trump takes improvisation, Fertel suggests that “his improvising gave him the authority to break norms (and laws).”
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