Broke offers an urgent, narrative account of a city’s bankruptcy and its aftermath, told through the lives of seven valiantly struggling Detroiters.

In the lead up to Detroit’s July 2013 bankruptcy, and in its aftermath, dramatic headlines, thousands of column inches, hundreds of news reports, and a goodly number of books explained the process and possible benefits of municipal bankruptcy. But rarely in all that reporting was the impact on the people living in the city discussed.

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Jodie Adams Kirshner is a research professor at New York University. Previously on the law faculty at Cambridge University, she also teaches bankruptcy law at Columbia Law School. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute, past term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a technical advisor to the Bank for International Settlements. She received a prestigious multi-year grant from the Kresge Foundation to research Broke.

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Latest News / Articles

Op-Ed Contribution: Mitch McConnell Has No Idea What Bankruptcy Actually Means

Apr 27, 2020 | Op-Ed

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/27/opinion/coronavirus-bankruptcy-detroit.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage Opinion Mitch McConnell Has No Idea What Bankruptcy Actually Means Cities should avoid bankruptcy. It hasn’t helped Detroit....

Broke Interview on BBC World

Feb 26, 2020 | Uncategorized

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCohp4X4t128_f2zxJzR7gTg

Broke Shortlisted for J Anthony Lukas Book Prize (with Alex Kotlowitz, Emily Bazelon, Margaret O’Mara)

Feb 25, 2020 | Uncategorized

https://nieman.harvard.edu/news/2020/02/2020-j-anthony-lukas-prizes-shortlist-announced/ Columbia Journalism School and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University are pleased to announce the 2020 shortlists for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize....

Broke Selected as New York Times Book Review “Editor’s Choice”

Jan 18, 2020 | News, Press, Review, Uncategorized

BROKE: Hardship and Resilience in a City of Broken Promises, by Jodie Adams Kirshner. (St. Martin’s, $28.99.) Kirshner, an expert in bankruptcy law, applies a scholar’s deep understanding and a novelist’s eye for detail to the largest municipal bankruptcy in...

Broke on C-Span Book TV

Jan 10, 2020 | Press, Uncategorized

https://www.c-span.org/video/?466933-1/broke 00:00:00 STARTING NOW, IT'S BOOK TV IN PRIME TIME. IN JUST A MOMENT, THE IMPACT THAT DETROIT'S BANKRUPTCY HAS HAD ON THE CITY'S POOR. THEN VANDERBILT...

Broke Interview on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition

Nov 25, 2019 | Uncategorized

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to bankruptcy expert Jodie Adams Kirshner about how Detroit residents have navigated life during and after the city's bankruptcy. Kirshner's new book is called Broke....

Broke excerpted in the New York Times

Nov 19, 2019 | Uncategorized

‘Broke: Hardship and Resilience in a City of Broken Promises,’ by Jodie Adams Kirshner: An Excerpt Nov. 19, 2019 Prologue: Springtime in Detroit Miles strode through the streets of Detroit, long-legged and focused, carrying a cup of keys to all the houses he...

Broke reviewed in the New York Times

Nov 19, 2019 | Review

NONFICTION ‘Broke’ Chronicles a City Out of Cash and Awash in Desperation An abandoned home on Detroit’s east side, 2017.Credit...Erin Kirkland for The New York Times By Anna Clark Nov. 19, 2019, 5:00 a.m. ET BROKE Hardship and Resilience in a City of...

Op-ed in The Hill on New Research

Mar 1, 2021 | Op-Ed

https://thehill.com/opinion/education/540965-student-debt-fears-lower-the-bar-for-low-income-students Student debt fears lower the bar for low income students BY JODIE ADAMS KIRSHNER, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 03/01/21 10:01 AM EST As the pandemic stretches...

Footage from Broke Interview With The Hill (Changing America)

Nov 9, 2020 | News, Press, Uncategorized

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMJYx1rQ_qs

Broke in Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies Magazine

Oct 19, 2020 | Press

https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/news/radcliffe-magazine/newsmakers-winter-2020

Kirshner Writes Essay for Salzburg Global Seminar

Oct 16, 2020 | Op-Ed, Press

https://www.salzburgglobal.org/news/opinions/article/jodie-adams-kirshner-what-do-companies-owe-their-workers Print articleAug 13, 2020by Jodie Adams Kirshner Jodie Adams Kirshner - What Do Companies Owe Their Workers? Jodie Adams Kirshner is a research professor at...

Georgetown University’s Kalmanovitz Institute Celebrates Broke’s Book Award

Oct 16, 2020 | Award, News, Press

https://lwp.georgetown.edu/visitingscholars/wcp-essential-work-the-2020-wcsa-awards/ At the center of all the chaos and turmoil of 2020 has been the essential worker on the front lines—from healthcare workers treating those infected with COVID-19 to service workers of...

Broke in Houston Style Magazine

Oct 16, 2020 | Press, Review

http://stylemagazine.com/news/2019/dec/06/broke-hardship-and-resilience-city-broken-promises/ “Broke: Hardship and Resilience in a City of Broken Promises” by Jodie Adams Kirshner, foreword by Michael Eric Dyson Terri Schlichenmeyer | 12/6/2019, noon “Broke:...

Broke Reviewed in Legal Journal

Oct 16, 2020 | Press, Review

https://www.alwd.org/index.php?option=com_attachments&task=download&id=264 How Individuals’ Narratives CanCommunicate What Legal Theoryand Statistics Can’tBroke: Hardship and Resilience in a City of Broken PromisesJodie Adams Kirshner (St. Martin’s Press...

Broke in News Chief

Oct 16, 2020 | Press, Review

Entertainment Book review: Why the Detroit comeback stalled By Lee Scott For the Times-UnionPosted Dec 1, 2019 at 12:01 AM In “Broke: Hardship and Resilience in a City of Broken Promises,” Jodie Adams Kirshner, a research professor at New York University, attempts...

Broke in Record Eagle

Oct 16, 2020 | Op-Ed

Opinion: Detroit’s future depends on job training BY JODIE ADAMS KIRSHNERNov 28, 2019 By Jodie Adams Kirshner Last winter, after Fiat Chrysler announced it would spend nearly $5 billion to build the first new auto assembly plant in Detroit in...