Hot Seat — Hot City

Mayor Adler of Austin had no place to hide.

• A serial bomber terrorizes the fastest-growing U.S. city.

• A pandemic kills people and shuts down the economy.

• Homeless encampments take over parks and civic debate.

• A city is at war with itself over policing and race.

• Affordability and housing costs explode.

• A city navigates unprecedented political polarization.

From 2015 to 2023, every crisis landed on the Austin mayor’s desk—and every decision carried immediate, real-world consequences. Hot Seat—Hot City is Adler’s unflinching, first-person account of what governing actually looks like when there are no great options. Not a campaign memoir or partisan argument—this is written by someone accountable for outcomes, not rhetoric.

As national politics grows more dysfunctional, cities have become the front line of American democracy. Mayors absorb the consequences of failures they didn’t create, forced to make real-time decisions under intense public scrutiny. This is the story of mayors everywhere, and 48 U.S. mayors have put their names behind it.

This book is a clear-eyed look at what democratic leadership demands when consensus is elusive, institutions are strained, and the stakes are high.