A former high school government and law teacher, Sharon McMahon acquired the nickname “America’s Government Teacher” during the 2020 election when her fact-checking social media posts went viral.

McMahon’s debut book, The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement, focuses on historical figures who didn’t make it into the textbooks – from a formerly enslaved woman on a mission to reunite with her daughter to a young boy detained at a Japanese incarceration camp.

McMahon shares some of these remarkable stories, discusses her ongoing fight against misinformation in an era of surging fake news and banned books, and explains how non-partisan facts can help us feel less afraid.