Wednesday Mar 04, 2026
Anti-Fascist, Dystopian YA Novel Inspired by Central Bucks School District, with author Rich Shifman

An anti-fascist, dystopian YA novel published last week, We Were the Cuckoos Bees, was inspired in large part by Central Bucks School District during a time when Moms for Liberty and right-wing Christian extremists captured the school board in the early part of this decade. This is a story the Bucks County Beacon has reported on in great detail. Today I speak with local author Rich Shifman, who writes YA stories under the pen name, R.B. Shifman, about his new book which he dedicated to local Bucks County residents who helped flip the school board in late 2023 to bring sanity, common sense and compassion back to the school district.
Listen on Apple, Spotify, and iheart
READ:
- Meet Three of the Neighbors Who United to Defend Public Education in Central Bucks School District
- Moms for Liberty CEO and Co-Founder Tina Descovich Verbally Attacks the Bucks County Beacon at Harrisburg-Area Event
- We Must Continue to Defend the Freedom to Read in Central Bucks School District
- It Takes A Village: Expelling Right-Wing Extremism From Bucks County School Districts
ALSO LISTEN TO:
- Unmasking Moms for Liberty’s Extremism, with Olivia Little and Diana Leygerman
- Raising a Transgender Child in an Increasingly Transphobic Country and School District, with Brett Freeman
- Fighting for Students’ and Teachers’ Rights in Central Bucks School District, with ACLU’s Witold Walczak
- The Christian Right’s Crusade for Power and War on Democracy, with Katherine Stewart
- Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider on Their New Book ‘The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual’
- The History of Fascism and Anti-Fascism in America, with Bill Mullen and Christopher Vials
Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music.
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