Thomas Frank — The Creativity Con: How Innovation Became America's Biggest Racket
Thomas Frank presents *The Creativity Con: How Innovation Became America’s Biggest Racket*, a critique of America’s long-running fixation on creativity and innovation. He argues that these ideals, celebrated by business leaders, technology advocates, politicians, educators, military strategists, and urban planners, have also served as ideological cover for policies that preserve inequality and protect elite interests.
Frank traces this national self-image from Sputnik and Silicon Valley to Apple, Lockheed Martin, Madison Avenue, Richard Florida, and Donald Trump. Drawing on political commentary, pop psychology, SXSW, and the neighborhoods designed for the “creative class,” he examines how innovation-focused rhetoric has accompanied tax cuts for the wealthy, financial deregulation, offshoring, the prioritization of white-collar knowledge work, and the transformation of American cities. The page characterizes the book as an incisive examination of postwar American business and political culture.
Frank is the author of *What’s the Matter with Kansas?*, *Listen, Liberal*, *The People, No*, and other books. He founded *The Baffler*, formerly wrote a column for *The Wall Street Journal*, and has contributed to *Harper’s*, *The Guardian*, and *Le Monde Diplomatique*. He lives outside Washington, DC.
When: Sunday, November 8, 2026
Showtimes: 5:00pm
Venue: Politics and Prose at 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
Tickets: Free
Seating: First come, first served.
Accessibility: To request accommodations or ask about accessibility, email events@politics-prose.com, ideally at least one week before the event. The venue will make an effort to accommodate requests made up to the event time.
Related book: *The Creativity Con: How Innovation Became America’s Biggest Racket* by Thomas Frank, hardcover, $30.00. The book’s listed publication date is October 20, 2026, and its ISBN is 9780593657539.
Run time: Not specified.
Ages: Not specified.