Showing results by narrator "Paul Boehmer" in All Categories

For centuries, medicine has made reckless use of one of earth's most toxic substances: mercury - and the consequences, often invisible or ignored, continue to be tragic. Today, global emissions of mercury as well as other toxicants, make us all more vulnerable to its effects. From the worst cases of syphilis to Sigmund Freud's first cases of hysteria, from baffling new disorders in 19th century Britain to the modern scourge of autism, The Age of Autism traces the long overlooked history of mercury poisoning.

Based on the life of an actual soldier who claimed to have fought at Bunker Hill, Israel Potter is unique among Herman Melville's books: a novel in the guise of a biography. In telling the story of Israel Potter's fall from Revolutionary War hero to peddler on the streets of London, where he obtained a livelihood by crying "Old Chairs to Mend," Melville alternated between invented scenes and historical episodes, granting cameos to such famous men of the era as Benjamin Franklin.

As the most celebrated European to explore Asia, Marco Polo was the original global traveler and the earliest bridge between East and West. A universal icon of adventure and discovery, he has inspired six centuries of popular fascination and spurious mythology. Now, from acclaimed author Laurence Bergreen, comes the first fully authoritative biography of one of the most enchanting figures in world history.

In Critical Mass, Whitley Strieber explores this unthinkable but real possibility in a furious story that is almost too terrifying to tell. Nuclear interdiction expert James Deutsch and his Muslim wife, Nabila, struggle to stop an impending nuclear attack on a great American city. Along the way, they delve deep into the hidden world of nuclear terrorism and the experts who strive to contain it, and get a compelling look at the titanic battle within Islam over its own future.

Gorliad and Karlax have clawed through decades of adversity to rise above the challenges thrown at them, but the Void isn't finished with either of them yet. Old and new threats abound, with any number of players ready to topple the hard-won victories over darkness and despair. The danger is as real as ever to the dragons and humans seeking peace.

The picturesque coastal town of Florence was known for millennia as a pleasure resort for the Nobility. As retribution for their decadence, the cruel and beautiful vampire inhabitants were "punished," driven out more than a thousand years ago by a solitary traveler in black. Only one—Baron Meinster—refused to leave, only to be thrown to the waves by the mysterious assassin. Summoned to contemporary Florence by Su-in, sister of a murdered village girl, the enigmatic Vampire Hunter D discovers a vampire curse ravaging the town's human inhabitants.

Emily Blaine's life is about to change. Arthur Benoit, the kindly multi-millionaire who has acted as her surrogate father for years, has just told her he's leaving her his entire estate, and he only has a few months to live. Soon Emily will go from being a restaurant manager with a useless English degree to one of the richest and most powerful women in New Orleans. There's just one price.

In this passionate, playful, and indispensable guide, oyster aficionado Rowan Jacobsen takes listeners on a delectable tour of the oysters of North America. Region by region, he describes each oyster's appearance, flavor, origin, and availability, as well as explaining how oysters grow, how to shuck them without losing a finger, how to pair them with wine (not to mention beer), and why they're one of the few farmed seafoods that are good for the earth as well as good for you.

Economists insist that recovery is at hand, yet unemployment remains high, real estate values continue to sink, and governments stagger under record deficits. The End of Growth proposes a startling diagnosis: humanity has reached a fundamental turning point in its economic history. The expansionary trajectory of industrial civilization is colliding with non-negotiable natural limits.

Presenting historical and cultural examples of ancestral veneration from around the world, Ben Stimpson shows you how to build a strong, healthy relationship with your ancestors. He teaches the concepts and considerations of this important practice, walks you through the ins and outs of ritual, and shares profound insight on building community. Ancestral Whispers provides exercises and journal prompts specially designed to help you develop an authentic living practice.

Disability critiques of architecture usually emphasize the need for modification and increased access, but The Architecture of Disability calls for a radical reorientation of this perspective by situating experiences of impairment as a new foundation for the built environment. With its provocative proposal for "the construction of disability," this book fundamentally reconsiders how we conceive of and experience disability in our world.

The idea of sexual fluidity may seem new, but it is at least as old as the ancient Greeks, who wrote about queer experiences with remarkable frankness, wit, and insight. How to Be Queer is an infatuating collection of these writings about desire, love, and lust between men, between women, and between humans and gods, in lucid and lively new translations.

The Respectful Leader presents an engaging, thought-provoking lesson for companies seeking off-the-charts performance. Author Gregg Ward draws on 25 years of leadership consulting, coaching, and training experience to reveal the secret to great results: respect. In this true-to-life business fable, he shares the story of Des Hogan, a CEO who discovers that disrespectful behavior on the part of his leadership team is eating away at his company's morale, productivity, and profits.

A mid-century doctor's raw, unvarnished account of his own descent into madness, and his daughter's attempt to piece his life back together and make sense of her own. Texas-born and Harvard-educated, Dr. Perry Baird was a rising medical star in the late 1920s and 1930s. Early in his career, ahead of his time, he grew fascinated with identifying the biochemical root of manic depression, just as he began to suffer from it himself.

Cassidy Burke has the best of both worlds - a driven and successful husband and a wild, impulsive best friend. But after a decadent Mardi Gras party, Cassidy finds both men pulling away from her. Did the three of them awaken secret desires during a split second of alcohol-fueled passion? Or is Mardi Gras a time when rules are meant to be broken without consequence? Only one thing is for certain: the chill that's descended over her marriage and her most important friendship will soon turn into a deep freeze if she doesn't do something. And soon.

Chris Heller, a nationally recognized leader in real estate, joins bestselling author Greg Reid to share profound principles and practices for creating unparalleled success in sales, leadership, and relationships. In this engaging parable, you’ll meet Nick, a young sales professional who approaches John, a retiring CEO, and asks for his secret to success. Expecting to receive a single game-changing nugget of wisdom, John instead becomes Nick’s mentor. Over the course of several years, he shares his profound business and success principles with the young salesman.

At dusk on December 8, 1941, the carrier Enterprise and her escort of cruisers and destroyers entered Pearl Harbor. Officers and men lined the rails, watching in stunned silence. The twisted, smoldering superstructure of the Arizona was still aflame, and there was a stench of charred wood and fuel oil in the air.

When a series of earthquakes strike a Dark Knight mining camp, goblin, and hobgoblin slaves take advantage of the bedlam and revolt. A fast and deadly rebellion erupts, pitting the Dark Knights against their slaves...and against the still-rumbling ground. Casualties on both sides climb as a leader emerges among the slave force - Direfang, a hobgoblin foreman with deep scars and a long, brutal history of servitude. He must rally the surviving goblins and hobgoblins and lead them out of Neraka....

For the oddball in you, flights into the sinister and fantastic The stories in this third collection from a master of speculative fiction are at once playful and dark, but each is wonderfully told.

Lightspeed was founded on the core idea that all science fiction is real science fiction and that science fiction is vast. It is inclusive. Science fiction is about people, and queer people, no matter how they identify, are a big part of that. They always have been. They're just sometimes harder to see. So, in the interests of visibility, Queers Destroy Science Fiction! shows just how wide the spectrum of sexuality and gender identity can really be.