I was thinking of a story about him that is not in the book. Tommy was an absolute joy from the youngest of ages. Tell me a bit about Tommy and what he believed in. It’s about January 6 and the crisis of American democracy, but a lot of it is about your son. Excerpts, lightly edited for length and clarity, follow. He and I spoke for the Vox Conversations podcast about the book, the life of Tommy Raskin, and keeping faith with moral values in moments of tragedy. In his new book, Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy, Raskin tells the story of his son’s life and of his experience of January 6, and explains how his son’s moral vision and clarity helped him cope with the aftermath of the Capitol attack. So, less than two weeks after his son’s death, Raskin became lead floor manager for the second impeachment of Donald Trump, leading only the fourth such effort in American history. But as a veteran lawyer and longtime professor at the American University Washington College of Law, Raskin was a natural person to lead Congress’s response to the events. Raskin, his daughter, and his son-in-law all made it out without physical harm. All three were thus present when thousands of Trump supporters, egged on by an inflammatory speech by the president, stormed the Capitol building, assaulting police officers and threatening the lives of Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among others. His daughter, Tabitha, and Hank Kronick, the husband of his other daughter Hannah, came along to witness the historic event. Not even a week after his son’s death, Jamie Raskin was called to the Capitol to participate in the counting of electoral votes in the 2020 presidential race.

Tommy - a student at Harvard Law School, an acclaimed poet and speaker, and an activist for peace and animal welfare - “had a perfect heart, a perfect soul, a riotously outrageous and relentless sense of humor, and a dazzling radiant mind,” as his parents described in a statement upon his passing. Jamie, the Democratic member of Congress representing many of DC’s most populous Maryland suburbs, and Sarah, a senior Fed and Treasury official under Obama, lost their son Tommy on December 31, 2020, to suicide.

But it was particularly devastating for Jamie and Sarah Bloom Raskin. Easy-to-use, well-organized format includes many tables, algorithms, boxes, and Key Point callouts for at-a-glance reference.The end of 2020 and beginning of 2021 was trying for most people around the world.Clear, concise descriptions include sampling techniques, slide preparation and examination, and guidelines for interpretation, leading to accurate in-house and commercial laboratory diagnosis.Coverage of histology in organ system chapters demonstrates the histological or histopathologic corollary of cytologic findings.Helpful hints for improving specimen quality are provided in discussions of common errors and problems encountered in the preparation of cytological specimens.

Discussions of clinical, differential, and cytological diagnosis accompany the illustrations of lesions and conditions in each chapter.Exceptional-quality, full-color photomicrographs show both normal and abnormal tissue and also include detailed legends.Comprehensive coverage of all body systems and body fluids - and the pathological changes associated with various infectious agents - emphasizes areas in which the application of cytology has the greatest diagnostic value.

Raskin book