Social Change

In the 16th century, control of colonies and gold bullion gave Spain the edge; 17th-century Netherlands profited from trade and finance; 18th-century France gained from its larger population, while 19th-century British power rested on its primacy in the Industrial Revolution and its navy. In the era of Kennedy and Khrushchev, power resources were measured in terms of nuclear missiles, industrial capacity, and numbers of men under arms and tanks lined up ready to cross the plains of Eastern Europe. But the global information age of the 21st century is quickly rendering these traditional markers of power obsolete, remapping power relationships

The Pun Also Rises is an authoritative yet playful exploration of a practice that is common, in one form or another, to virtually every language on earth. At once entertaining and educational, this engaging book answers fundamental questions: Just what is a pun, and why do people make them? How did punning impact the development of human language, and how did that drive creativity and progress? And why, after centuries of decline, does the pun still matter?

Pete and Geri Scazzero developed The Emotionally Healthy (EH) Relationships Course over a 21-year period to directly address core biblical principles to guide you and others into an experience of discipleship that will deeply change your life. In the EH Relationships Course, everyone will learn eight practical relationship skills to develop mature, loving relationships with others.

Taking listeners from the melting Alaskan permafrost to storm-torn New Orleans, acclaimed journalist Elizabeth Kolbert approaches this monumental problem from every angle. She interviews researchers and environmentalists, explains the science, draws frightening parallels to lost civilizations, and presents the moving tales of people who are watching their worlds disappear.

Thurgood Marshall brought down the separate-but-equal doctrine, integrated schools, and not only fought for human rights and human dignity but also made them impossible to deny in the courts and in the streets. In this stunning new biography, award-winning author Wil Haygood surpasses the emotional impact of his inspiring best seller The Butler to detail the life and career of one of the most transformative legal minds of the past 100 years.

We all know that change is hard. It's unsettling, it's time-consuming, and all too often we give up at the first sign of a setback. But why do we insist on seeing the obstacles rather than the goal? This is the question that best-selling authors Chip and Dan Heath tackle in their compelling and insightful new book. They argue that we need only understand how our minds function in order to unlock shortcuts to switches in behaviour.

The fascinating true story of how a group of visionary attorneys helped make American business synonymous with big business and Wall Street the center of the financial world.

"Ideas are dangerous things. They are like drops of acid burning away our comforting certainties, making holes in the fabric of our cherished beliefs." This often surprising collection of incendiary essays takes the reader on an intellectual journey through the myths of mass culture. It takes a piercing look at such diverse subjects as money, suicide, self-pity, art, beauty, ugliness, religion and the nature of evil and power in its various forms. It explores such questions as: is an afterlife possible? How much freedom is enough? What are celebrities for? Are the old really human? All of ...

Himalaya is one of the world's most extraordinary geophysical, historical, environmental and social regions. Historian John Keay introduces us to the myriad mysteries of this vast, confounding and utterly fascinating corner of the planet, and makes the case that it is one of our most essential—and endangered—wonders. For centuries, Himalaya has captivated an illustrious succession of admirers, from explorers, surveyors and sportsmen, to botanists and zoologists, ethnologists and geologists, missionaries and mountaineers.

The Book of Pride captures the true story of the gay rights movement from the 1960s to the present, through richly detailed, stunning interviews with the leaders, activists, and ordinary people who witnessed the movement and made it happen. These individuals fought battles both personal and political, often without the support of family or friends, frequently under the threat of violence and persecution.

2020 will go down alongside 1914, 1929, and 1968 as one of the most consequential years in history. This riveting and affecting book is the first attempt to capture the full human experience of that fateful time. At the heart of 2020 are seven vivid profiles of ordinary New Yorkers—including an elementary school principal, a bar manager, a subway custodian, and a local political aide—whose experiences illuminate how Americans, and people across the globe, reckoned with 2020.

Culture change expert and diversity speaker Michelle Silverthorn explains how to transform diversity and inclusion from mere lip service into the very heart of leadership. Following the journey of a Black woman in the workplace, leaders learn the old rules of diversity that keep failing her and millions like her again and again, and the new rules they must put in place to make success a reality for everyone.

In The Nature of Nature, world-renowned environmental thinker and activist Vandana Shiva argues that food is the currency of life, a thread woven throughout the web of all life, indivisible from Earth and its natural systems. When this interdependence is ruptured—as it is now—the conditions for the “metabolic disorder” of climate change and countless other ecological imbalances come into being.

When the sixth Earl Fitzwilliam died in 1902, he left behind the second largest estate in 20th-century England, valued at more than three billion dollars in today's money - a lifeline to the tens of thousands of people who worked either in the family's coal mines or on their expansive estate. The earl also left behind four sons, and the family line seemed assured. But was it?

In this radically illuminating audiobook, Alan Cohen delves into one of the world’s most venerated wisdom texts for answers and brings the lofty and enigmatic concepts of the Tao Te Ching down to earth in fresh, easy-to-grasp language with practical, personal examples we can use to uplift our daily lives.

The year is 2393, and the world is almost unrecognizable. Clear warnings of climate catastrophe went ignored for decades, leading to soaring temperatures, rising sea levels, widespread drought, and the disaster now known as the Great Collapse of 2093. Dramatizing science in ways traditional nonfiction cannot, The Collapse of Western Civilization reasserts the importance of scientists and the work they do, providing a welcome moment of clarity amid the cacophony of climate-change literature.

Women make over 80% of healthcare decisions in the U.S., yet only 4% of all medical research and development is focused on women's health issues. From periods and childbirth to menopause, female pain has been normalized, as society shrugs and says "Welcome to being a woman," instead of coming up with better solutions. But it doesn't have to be this way. In The Vagina Business, award-winning journalist Marina Gerner, Ph.D. takes an eye-opening look at the innovators challenging the status quo to deliver the healthcare solutions women need.

Are there people in your life that leave you feeling drained, depleted, and just exhausted? They demand limitless time, emotional support, attention, or affirmation; you dread interacting with them but don’t know how to change the dynamic. You’ve just encountered a real-life vampire. Energy vampires can be people, situations, or even your own mindset, but in Surrounded by Energy Vampires, internationally best-selling author Thomas Erikson identifies the different types of energy vampires and offers practical tools, fun self-assessments, and relatable stories to help you combat them.

Every single one of us has a calling. For most it’s the thing you have to force yourself not to do. When you try to ignore it, you can’t stop thinking about. It is the thing that both terrifies you and brings you the most joy. Already living yours? Great! How do you make the most of it? The Calling will provide listeners with a road map, via 3 fundamental shifts, on how to stay true, get paid and do good.

Bill McKibben’s groundbreaking book The End of Nature - issued in dozens of languages and long regarded as a classic - was the first book to alert us to global warming. But the danger is broader than that: Even as climate change shrinks the space where our civilization can exist, new technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics threaten to bleach away the variety of human experience. Falter tells the story of these converging trends and of the ideological fervor that keeps us from bringing them under control.