The East Wing, Azadeh Moaveni
The East Wing, Azadeh Moaveni
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The East Wing
Power, Intrigue, and the Untold Story of America's First Ladies

Author: Azadeh Moaveni

Narrator: Lipica Shah

Unabridged: TBD

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/20/2026

Synopsis

"Masterful." —Kate Brower Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of The Residence

An in-depth examination of women and power in Washington through the lens of the complex relationship between First Ladies and their staffs by Pulitzer finalist Azadeh Moaveni.

It could be said that every First Lady runs a court—a hub of political power within the White House, a place where enterprising aides vie for influence and patronage, a theatre of intrigue and counsel where great heights are uniquely possible, but so too is ruin. And the First Lady's aides are at the center of it all.

Behind the scenes throughout history, East Wing staffers have boldly advanced civil rights legislation, defused tension with America’s enemies, brought more women into government, and backed abortion rights. Their relationships and problems, their management and cultivation of the media landscape and the Georgetown social scene, are at the heart of the forces that have shaped the institution of the East Wing.

In The East Wing, academic and journalist Azadeh Moaveni blends original reporting, including extensive interviews with key players from past East Wings, with expert research and analysis to take readers deep inside the fascinating and high stakes world of the First Lady’s office like never before.

Spanning the most defining decades of the twentieth century, from the New Deal era, to the myth-making Kennedys, to the turbulent, MAGA-influenced 2020s, The East Wing is the captivating true story of the First Lady’s staffers and their role in the executive branch of governance, as well as the evolution of female leadership in our country.

About Azadeh Moaveni

Azadeh Moaveni is Associate Professor of Journalism at New York University, where she directs the program in Global Journalism. She has spent over two decades traveling the world, covering women’s movements across three continents and the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine, and writing extensively about gender and women’s quest for political leadership. She has served as correspondent for TIME magazine and the Los Angeles Times, a fellow at the New America Foundation, and director of the Gender and Conflict program at the International Crisis Group, where her work examined how women exercise political influence behind the scenes. A Pulitzer finalist, she is the author of Lipstick Jihad, Honeymoon in Tehran, and most recently, Guest House for Young Widows, which was short-listed for the Baillie Gifford Prize, the Rathbones Folio Prize, and long-listed for the Orwell Prize in Political Writing. Her writing appears regularly in The London Review of Books, The New York Times, and The New Yorker.

About Lipica Shah

Lipica Shah (she/her) is a half Bengali, half Kumaoni, fully Indian-American narrator, actor, and inclusion advocate. A SAG-AFTRA and Actors Equity Association member based in the Bronx, she thrives on collaboration and script development, with a special affinity for new plays. Lipica’s dynamic vocal skills, facility for accents and languages, and love of storytelling led her to audiobooks, and she’s had the privilege of narrating a wide range of genres, though her passion is non-fiction for all ages (especially current events, crime, science, politics, and history). As an actor, she has originated roles at Manhattan Theatre Club, The New Group, Mixed Blood Theatre Company, Cal Shakes, and American Conservatory Theater, among others. On screen she’s appeared on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, HBO, Showtime, USA, Comedy Central, Netflix, and recurring on MAX’s The Girls on the Bus. Hear her in the video game Starfield and English dubs of Pokémon, A Silent Voice, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, and more. As an inclusion advocate, she co-founded the nonprofit 1497, an organization committed to supporting and uplifting artists of South Asian descent and challenging their historical exclusion from and underrepresentation in the American film and television industry. She also serves on the Steering Committee of the Asian American Performers Action Coalition, with whom she received Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre. In her spare time, Lipica enjoys traveling, birdwatching, doing crossword puzzles in pen, lighting one-match campfires, and running for inordinate amounts of time outdoors.

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Quotes

"The East Wing itself may not exist anymore, but the presidential spouse and her complicated role remains. Azadeh Moaveni does a masterful job of telling the hopeful and inspiring story of the first ladies through the decades and shines a light on the men and women who have served them." —Kate Andersen Brower, New York Times bestselling author of The Residence

"Azadeh Moaveni brings an historian’s sharp insights and a reporter’s eye for the delicious detail to the East Wing." —Susan Page, Washington Bureau chief of USA TODAY and New York Times bestselling author of The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty

"Smart, engrossing, and deeply insightful... a compelling and important contribution to our understanding of the modern presidency." —J. Randy Taraborrelli, New York Times bestselling author of Jackie: Public, Private, Secret

"Well-reported and gripping, Azadeh Moaveni’s The East Wing provides a fascinating window into the powerful office of the First Lady, revealing the back-stage maneuvering to shape the policy and image of a presidency. With new details combined with historical research, she paints vivid portraits of influential yet often unknown staffers." —Meryl Gordon, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman Who Knew Everyone

"With elegant and authoritative prose, Moaveni demonstrates just how complex and nuanced it is to work for and with a First Lady and how the functioning of the First Lady’s staff is not merely integral but crucial to the presidency itself... A comprehensive and entertaining perspective on the last century American history." —Carl Sferrazza Anthony, bestselling author of First Ladies: The Saga of the Presidents’ Wives & Their Power, 1789-1989, and speechwriter to Nancy Reagan

"A deeply researched—and lively—insiders' account of the little-understood ways in which first ladies from Jacqueline Kennedy to Melania Trump (twice) found ways to further their agendas, build their images and leave their own marks on history. " —Karen Tumulty, Washington Post columnist and author of The Triumph of Nancy Reagan

"Through the individual stories of those who worked in the East Wing, Azadeh Moaveni deftly illuminates the crucial but undervalued role of the First Lady, her staff, and the building itself in shaping America." —Alex Prud’homme, author of Dinner with the President

"Offers sharp insight and graceful writing along with nonstop drama and dynamic portraits of the women she describes. You will remember these women and their critical contributions long after you turn the last page of this extraordinary book." —Heath Hardage Lee, author of The Mysterious Mrs. Nixon and The League of Wives

“Informative, engaging, and satisfyingly dishy …this insightful and readable narrative aptly documents each woman’s unique influence, including surges and slumps, disasters and triumphs, and lasting legacies.” —Booklist

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