Magnificent Desolation
On the 40th anniversary of the historic moon landing comes a riveting - and
heartwrenching - memoir by a true American hero. With never-before shared
insights into the successes and failures of the U.S. space program,
Buzz Aldrin tells the story of the Apollo 11 mission, as well as his life
afterwards, including a frank account of his own descent into depression
and alcoholism, and how true love helped him triumph over adversity and
ultimately saved his life. More than 600 million people watched Buzz Aldrin as he
became the second man to set foot on the moon. Millions
more have gazed in wonder at photographs and footage of
Buzz as he “raised” the American flag on the lunar surface.
But what few people know is how close Apollo 11 came to
aborting its landing less than 60 feet from the moon’s
surface, how a computer overload almost jeopardized the
entire mission, or that Aldrin and Armstrong had to
manually land the spacecraft with a mere 20 seconds of fuel
left.
Even less people know about Aldrin’s tragic descent into
depression and alcoholism upon returning to Earth–how one
of the greatest men of our time found himself down on his
luck, selling cars to make a living. Magnificent Desolation is the captivating memoir of a man
who has soared to the greatest heights and plummeted to the
darkest depths, and emerged as one of America’s strongest
assets for the future of humans in space. He will forever
be one of our most enduring and beloved heroes.
Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America
“This is the end of the world as we’ve known it,” Kurt Andersen writes in Reset. “But it isn’t the end of the world.” In this smart and refreshingly hopeful book, Andersen–a brilliant analyst and synthesizer of historical and cultural trends, as well as a bestselling novelist and host of public radio’s Studio 360–shows us why the current economic crisis is actually a moment of great opportunity to get ourselves and our nation back on track.
Historically, America has always shifted between wild, exuberant speculation and steady, sober hard work, as well as back and forth between economic booms and busts, and between right and left politically. This is one of the rare moments when all these cycles shift dramatically and simultaneously–a moment when complacency ends, ossified structures loosen up, and enormous positive change is possible.
The shock to the system can enable each of us to rethink certain habits and focus more on the things that make us authentically happy. The present flux can enable us as a society to consolidate the enormous gains of the last several decades in areas such as technology, crime prevention, women’s and civil rights, and the democratization of the planet. We can reap the fruits of a revival of realism and pragmatism at home and abroad. As we enter a new era of post-party-line common sense, we can start to reinvent hopelessly broken systems–in health care, education, climate change, and more–and rediscover some of the old-fashioned American values of which we’ve lost sight.
In Reset, Andersen explains how we’ve done it before and why we are about to do it again–and better than ever.
Even Silence Has an End: My Six Years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle
Born in Bogotá, raised in France, Ingrid Betancourt at the age of thirty-two gave up a life of comfort and safety to return to Colombia to become a political leader in a country that was being slowly destroyed by terrorism, violence, fear, and a pervasive sense of hopelessness. In 2002, while campaigning as a candidate in the Colombian presidential elections, she was abducted by the FARC. Nothing could have prepared her for what came next. She would spend the next six and a half years in the depths of the jungle as a prisoner of the FARC. Even Silence Has an End is her deeply personal and moving account of that time. Chained day and night for much of her captivity, she never stopped dreaming of escape and, in fact, succeeded in getting away several times, always to be recaptured. In her most successful effort she and a fellow captive survived a week away, but were caught when her companion became desperately ill; she learned later that they had been mere miles from freedom. The facts of her story are astounding, but it is Betancourt's indomitable spirit that drives this very special account, bringing life, nuance, and profundity to the narrative. Freed in 2008 by the Colombian army, today Betancourt is determined to draw attention to the plight of hostages and victims of terrorism throughout the world and it is that passion that motivates Even Silence Has an End. The lessons she offers here-in courage, resilience, and humanity-are gifts to treasure.
Speaking for Myself
Cherie Blair was the first British Prime Minister's wife to have a serious career, rising to the top of her profession at a young age, only to find herself in a new and challenging role in the public eye. In her autobiography she reveals for the first time about what it was like to combine this role with her full and rewarding life as a working mother. As a barrister and a judge, Cherie Blair is used to speaking on behalf of other people. At last she speaks for herself, offering a warm, intimate and often very funny portrait of a family living in extraordinary circumstances.
The Accidental President of Brazil
What is it like to govern one of the world's most notoriously ungovernable, most vibrant countries? Brazil's former president offers a candid, wry, illuminating view. Fernando Henrique Cardoso received a phone call in the middle of the night asking him to be the new Finance Minister of Brazil. As he put the phone down and stared into the darkness of his hotel room, he feared he'd been handed a political death sentence. The year was 1993, and he would be responsible for an economy that had had seven different currencies in the previous eight years to cope with inflation that had run at 3000 percent a year. Brazil had a habit of chewing up finance ministers with the ferocity of an Amazon piranha. This was just one of the turns in a largely unscripted and sometimes unwanted political career. In exile during the harshest period of the junta that ruled Brazil for twenty years, Cardoso started his political life with a tentative run for the Federal Senate in 1978. Within fifteen years, and despite himself, this former sociologist was running the country.
Now It's My Turn: A Daughter's Chronicle of Political Life
As a senior adviser to her father, she was in the middle of every major event of the 2000 and 2004 presidential contests - at the conventions, the debates, and on the trail. Both elections made history - and so did Mary. And for the first time ever, she writes about what it was like to be at the center of her father's campaigns as his daughter, as a member of the senior staff, and, though she never intended it, as a political target for the other side. In Now It's My Turn, a frank, funny, and down-to-earth memoir, Mary Cheney describes life inside the bubble of a national campaign. As she describes it, life inside a presidential campaign can be uplifting, frustrating, and heartbreaking, but no matter what else it may be, it's always entertaining.
Blue Skies, No Fences: A Memoir of Childhood and Family
In Blue Skies, No Fences: A Memoir of Childhood and Family, Lynne Cheney re-creates the years after World War II in a small town on the high plains of the West. Portraying an era that started with the Ink Spots on the Zenith Radio in her family's living room and ended with Elvis on the jukebox at the local canteen, she tells of coming of age in a time when the country seemed in control of its destiny and individual Americans in charge of theirs. She describes Casper, Wyoming, where she met a young man named Dick Cheney, and remembers her hometown as a place where the future seemed as bright as the blue sky and life's possibilities as boundless as the prairie. It was also a place where a pioneer heritage prevailed, and Cheney traces the paths of forebears who journeyed westward, strengthened against adversity by a bedrock belief that they would find a better life. An uplifting exploration of a special time and place in American history, Blue Skies, No Fences is also a heartfelt tribute to those optimistic souls who, in Lynne Cheney's words, "pinned their hopes on America and kept heading west."
In My Time: A Personal And Political Memoir
In this eagerly anticipated memoir, former Vice President Dick Cheney delivers an unyielding portrait of American politics over nearly forty years and shares personal reflections on his role as one of the most steadfast and influential statesmen in the history of our country.
Homeland Security: Assessing the First Five Years
Michael Chertoff outlines a long-term strategy for protecting America from terrorist attacks and preparing for effective responses to man-made and natural disasters. The former homeland security secretary also urges the nation to resist complacency, maintain its resolve, and build on past successes.
Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives
Your colleague's husband's sister can make you fat, even if you don't know her. A happy neighbor has more impact on your happiness than a happy spouse. These startling revelations of how much we truly influence one another are revealed in the studies of Drs. Christakis and Fowler, which have repeatedly made front-page news nationwide.
In Connected, the authors explain why emotions are contagious, how health behaviors spread, why the rich get richer, even how we find and choose our partners. Intriguing and entertaining, Connected overturns the notion of the individual and provides a revolutionary paradigm-that social networks influence our ideas, emotions, health, relationships, behavior, politics, and much more. It will change the way we think about every aspect of our lives.
Lipstick on a Pig: Winning in the No-Spin Era by Someone Who Knows the Game
Torie Clarke, renowned and respected in political and business circles as one of the nation's most gifted communicators, offers a complete guide to the new age of transparency. Clarke's message is refreshing and straightforward: No more spin. Always a dubious proposition, spin has become increasingly vulnerable as information sources have proliferated; spin is simply no longer viable. Or put another way, "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig." Distilling her twenty-five years of experience and wisdom into eight concise rules, Clarke counsels that politicians and executives need to tell the truth early, often, and in plain language. Clarke's experience is incomparable: She was the Pentagon's communications chief during the early years of George W. Bush's presidency and, prior to that, a high-ranking adviser to the first President Bush and to Senator John McCain. Clarke shows that a policy of transparency not only protects you, but that you even stand to gain from it - because once you figure out that you can't put lipstick on a pig, you've actually learned something far more powerful: not to create a pig in the first place. Entertaining, approachable, and full of crucial insight and practical guidance, Lipstick on a Pig will be indispensable for business leaders, public figures, and anyone working in media relations. With humor and savvy, Clarke's vision offers truly new opportunities for communications in the Information Age.
Back to Work
In Back to Work, Clinton details how we can get out of the current economic crisis and lay a foundation for long-term prosperity. He offers specific recommendations on how we can put people back to work and create new businesses, increase bank lending and corporate investment, double our exports, and restore our manufacturing base. He supports President Obama’s emphasis on green technology, saying that change in the way we produce and consume energy is the strategy most likely to spark a fast-growing economy and enhance our national security.
Lincoln Lessons: Reflections on America's Greatest Leader
Collected here are glimpses into Lincoln’s unique ability to transform enemies into steadfast allies, his deeply ingrained sense of morality and intuitive understanding of humanity, his civil deification as the first assassinated American president, and his controversial suspension of habeas corpus during the Civil War. The contributors [including Governor Mario Cuomo] also discuss Lincoln’s influence on today’s emerging democracies, his lasting impact on African American history, and his often-overlooked international legend—his power to instigate change beyond the boundaries of his native nation. While some contributors provide a scholarly look at Lincoln and some take a more personal approach, all explore his formative influence in their lives. What emerges is the true history of his legacy in the form of first-person testaments from those whom he has touched deeply.
Howard Dean's Prescription for Real Health Care Reform
Americans have pondered how to reform healthcare since the days of Harry Truman. But for most Americans, little has changed—except that healthcare costs have soared, health insurance companies have grown bigger and more oppressive to both doctors and patients, and today even those Americans who pay dearly for health insurance frequently find that their policies don't adequately cover them when they need their coverage most. Something has got to give. In his bold new book, Howard Dean—the physician and former governor widely credited for reviving the Democratic Party after the 2004 elections—tells Americans what needs to be done to successfully reform healthcare. One key, he writes, is to offer Americans the option to participate in a public health insurance program, much like Medicare. "America has had 'socialized' medicine since 1964," says Dean. "It's called Medicare; it covers every American over 65, and they are very happy with the program. The rest of America deserves a similar option."
Working Together:
Why Great Partnerships Succeed
Every great institution needs a partnership to really achieve greatness. In Working Together, Michael Eisner, former Disney CEO and entertainment biz veteran, takes an inside look at some of the most successful business partnerships and what makes them tick.
In business there are always unique individual achievers, but pull down the veil and you’ll often find someone alongside them. Eisner does just that in this book, using his own successful collaboration with Frank Wells at Disney as a launching point for examining other famously successful and rewarding partnerships; for example, those of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, Bill and Melinda Gates, or Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti, among others. Working Together offers a wealth of behind-the-scenes stories and insights from Eisner’s in depth interviews with these partners: tried-and-true wisdom as well as the unexpected, and plenty about what works in business and what doesn’t work. An essential read for business people everywhere.
The Age of Deception: Nuclear Diplomacy in Treacherous Times
Release Date: April 26, 2011
For the past two decades, Mohamed ElBaradei has played a key role in the most high-stakes conflicts of our time. Unique in maintaining credibility in the Arab world and the West alike, ElBaradei has emerged as a singularly independent, uncompromised voice. As the director of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, he has contended with the Bush administration's assault on Iraq, the nuclear aspirations of North Korea, and the West's standoff with Iran. For their efforts to control nuclear proliferation, ElBaradei and his agency received the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. Now, in a vivid and thoughtful account, ElBaradei takes us inside the international fray.
Inspector, adviser, and mediator, ElBaradei moves from Baghdad, where Iraqi officials bleakly predict the coming war, to behind-the-scenes exchanges with Condoleezza Rice, to the streets of Pyongyang and the trail of Pakistani nuclear smugglers. He dissects the possibility of rapprochement with Iran while rejecting hard-line ideologies of every kind, decrying an us-versus-them approach and insisting on the necessity of relentless diplomacy. Above all, he illustrates that the security of nations is tied to the security of individuals, dependent not only on disarmament but on a universal commitment to human dignity, democratic values, and the freedom from want.
Probing and eloquent, The Age of Deception is an unparalleled account of society's struggle to come to grips with the uncertainties of our age.
Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the U.S.
The Investigative Project on Terrorism, founded in 1995 by Steven Emerson, maintains the largest nongovernmental data and intelligence library in the world on militant Islam. The Project assists the White House, the FBI, the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, and other government departments with counterterrorism activities. Together with a staff of experts, Executive Director Steven Emerson has compiled this thorough factual overview of the Islamist terrorist threat to the United States. Unlike the Final Report of the 9/11 Commission, which was focused mainly on the retrospective analysis of al Qaeda activities leading up to the attack of September 11, 2001, this work emphasizes current radical activities in the United States and the threat they might pose to national security. In a dangerous age, this is an important book for all Americans to read.
Eating Animals
Jonathan Safran Foer spent much of his teenage and college years oscillating between omnivore and vegetarian. But on the brink of fatherhood-facing the prospect of having to make dietary choices on a child's behalf-his casual questioning took on an urgency His quest for answers ultimately required him to visit factory farms in the middle of the night, dissect the emotional ingredients of meals from his childhood, and probe some of his most primal instincts about right and wrong. Brilliantly synthesizing philosophy, literature, science, memoir and his own detective work, Eating Animals explores the many fictions we use to justify our eating habits-from folklore to pop culture to family traditions and national myth-and how such tales can lull us into a brutal forgetting. Marked by Foer's profound moral ferocity and unvarying generosity, as well as the vibrant style and creativity that made his previous books, Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, widely loved, Eating Animals is a celebration and a reckoning, a story about the stories we've told-and the stories we now need to tell.
How Capitalism Will Save Us
Capitalism is the world’s greatest economic success story. It is the most effective way to provide for the needs of people and foster the democratic and moral values of a free society. Yet the worst recession in decades has widely—and understandably—shaken people’s faith in our system. Even before the current crisis, capitalism received a “bad rap” from a culture ambivalent about free markets and wealth creation. This crisis of confidence is preventing a full recognition of how we got into the mess we’re in today—and why capitalism continues to be the best route to prosperity.
How Capitalism Will Save Us transcends labels such as “conservative” and “liberal” by showing how the economy really works. When free people in free markets have energy to solve problems and meet the needs and wants of others, they turn scarcity into abundance and develop the innovations that are the foremost drivers of economic growth. The freedom of democratic capitalism is, for example, what enabled Henry Ford to take a plaything of the rich—the car—and transform it into something affordable to working people.
In the capitalist system, economic growth doesn’t mean more of the same—grinding out a few more widgets every year. It’s about change to increase overall wealth and give more people the chance for a better life.
Revolution of Hope
In Revolution of Hope, President Fox outlines a new vision of hope for the future of the Americas. For the first time, President Fox reveals the ups and downs of his close but rocky relationships with world leaders from President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair to Fidel Castro, Vladimir Putin and Hugo Chávez. He speaks out forcefully on hot global topics like immigration, the war in Iraq, racism, globalization, the role of the United Nations, free trade, religion, gender equity, indigenous rights and the moral imperative to heal the global divide between rich and poor nations. From the man who brought true democracy to Mexico, Revolution of Hope is a personal story of triumph and a political vision for the future.
A Heart to Serve: The Passion to Bring Health, Hope, and Healing
Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist shares his unique experience as a heart transplant surgeon and U.S. senator inspiring people to make a difference wherever they are and whatever position they are in by helping others, risking failure, challenging the status quo, and above all, having a heart to serve. One of the brightest and most forward-thinking senators, Frist tackles controversial issues to offer feasible solutions. His simple philosophy for peace, for example, is service. "People don't usually go to war against someone who helped save their children," Frist writes. "While the world often sees America's tougher side ... when people see America's more compassionate, humanitarian side, the barriers come down, and peace becomes a viable possibility." With heartfelt love for family and country, warmhearted humor, and a doctor's comforting tones, Frist writes openly about the values and experiences that shaped his life, and challenges and inspires everyone to find a place where they, too, can make a difference.
Heroic Conservatism: Why Republicans Need to Embrace America's Ideals (And Why They Deserve to Fail if They Don't)
Michael Gerson, who worked with George W. Bush on his most inspiring speeches, is considered by many Democrats and Republicans to be the most influential White House speechwriter since the Kennedy administration. He was also more than a speechwriter, he was a trusted insider who helped shape policy. In Heroic Conservatism, Gerson uses his own experiences in the upper tier of the Bush White House to show why America needs a conservatism that is heroic in its aspirations—including "compassionate conservative" proposals to confront global AIDS, combat poverty in America, and promote human rights and dignity abroad—initiatives that Gerson fought for during his time in government. Gerson has a unique ability to frame complex issues in a way that both challenges and inspires, and in Heroic Conservatism, he delivers a new manifesto for the Republican Party and a fascinating memoir of a history-shaping Presidency.
Revolution 2.0: A Memoir And Call To Action
Wael Ghonim was a little-known, 30-year-old Google executive in the fall of 2010, when he anonymously launched a Facebook page to protest the death of one Egyptian man at the hands of security forces. The page's followers expanded quickly and moved from online protests to non-confrontational public gatherings. Then, on January 14, 2011, they made history when they announced a revolution pre-scheduled for the 25th. Over 50,000 friends clamored to join. On the 25th of January, as the revolution began in earnest, Ghonim was captured and held for eleven days of brutal interrogation—and when he emerged and gave a speech on national television, the protests grew even more intense. Four days later, Mubarak was gone.
The lessons he draws will inspire each of us: Forget the past. Don't plan ahead. Let the crowd make its own decisions. Welcome to Revolution 2.0.
Stumbling on Happiness
Why are lovers quicker to forgive their partners for infidelity than for leaving dirty dishes in the sink? Why will sighted people pay more to avoid going blind than blind people will pay to regain their sight? Why do dining companions insist on ordering different meals instead of getting what they really want? Why do patients remember long medical procedures as being less painful than short ones? Why do home sellers demand prices they wouldn’t dream of paying if they were home buyers? Why are shoppers happier when they can’t get refunds? Why do pigeons seem to have such excellent aim; why can’t we remember one song while listening to another; and why does the line at the grocery store always slow down the moment we join it?
In this brilliant, witty, and accessible book, renowned Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert describes the foibles of imagination and illusions of foresight that cause each of us to misconceive our tomorrows and misestimate our satisfactions. Vividly bringing to life the latest scientific research in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, and behavioral economics, Gilbert reveals what scientists have discovered about the uniquely human ability to imagine the future, and about our capacity to predict how much we will like it when we get there. With penetrating insight and sparkling prose, Gilbert explains why we seem to know so little about the hearts and minds of the people we are about to become.
Jane Goodall: 50 Years at Gombe
A great deal has happened since the publication of Jane Goodall: 40 Years at Gombe in 1999. Most recently, endeavors at the Gombe field site have included landmark research related to AIDS progression; establishing programs to improve sanitation, health care, and education in neighboring Tanzanian communities; and partnering with local people to pursue reforestation initiatives. The accomplishments of the past 10 years alone have given the Jane Goodall Institute a great deal to celebrate. In honor of the field site’s 50th anniversary, STC is proud to release Jane Goodall: 50 Years at Gombe, a compelling pictorial tribute to Dr. Goodall’s life, her studies of chimpanzee behavior, and her unflagging efforts to motivate people to make this world a better place. With a new format, a modern design, more than a dozen new photographs, and updated text throughout, this revised edition retraces five decades of compassion and discovery.
Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis
A Call to Action that Answers the Questions Posed by the Grammy Award-Winning An Inconvenient Truth
"It is now abundantly clear that we have at our fingertips all of the tools we need to solve the climate crisis. The only missing ingredient is collective will. Properly understood, the climate crisis is an unparalleled opportunity to finally and effectively address many persistent causes of suffering and misery that have long been neglected, and to transform the prospects of future generations, giving them a chance to live healthier, more prosperous lives as they continue their pursuit of happiness. Our Choice gathers in one place all of the most effective solutions that are available now and that, together, will solve this crisis. It is meant to depoliticize the issue as much as possible and inspire readers to take action — not only on an individual basis, but as participants in the political processes by which every country, and the world as a whole, makes the choice that now confronts us. There is an old African proverb that says, 'If you want to go quickly, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.' We have to go far, quickly.We can solve the climate crisis. It will be hard, to be sure, but if we can make the choice to solve it, I have no doubt whatsoever that we can and will succeed.” - Al Gore
Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East
In his gripping book, Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East, Amb. Indyk draws on his many years of intense involvement in the region to provide the inside story of the last time the United States employed sustained diplomacy to end the Arab-Israeli conflict and change the behavior of rogue regimes in Iraq and Iran. He dissects the very different strategies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to explain why they both faced such difficulties remaking the Middle East in their images of a more peaceful or democratic place. He provides new details of the breakdown of the Arab-Israeli peace talks at Camp David, of the CIA's failure to overthrow Saddam Hussein, and of Clinton's attempts to negotiate with Iran's president. Innocent Abroad is an extraordinarily candid and enthralling account, crucially important in grasping the obstacles that have confounded the efforts of recent presidents. As a new administration takes power, this experienced diplomat distills the lessons of past failures to chart a new way forward that will be required reading.
The Art of Choosing
Every day we make choices. Coke or Pepsi? Save or spend? Stay or go? Whether mundane or life-altering, these choices define us and shape our lives. Sheena Iyengar asks the difficult questions about how and why we choose: Is the desire for choice innate or bound by culture? Why do we sometimes choose against our best interests? How much control do we really have over what we choose? Sheena Iyengar's award-winning research reveals that the answers are surprising and profound. In our world of shifting political and cultural forces, technological revolution, and interconnected commerce, our decisions have far-reaching consequences. Use The Art of Choosing as your companion and guide for the many challenges ahead.
Innovation Nation: How America Is Losing Its Innovation Edge, Why It Matters, and How We Can Get It Back
Based on his in-depth experience advising many of the world's leading companies and studying cutting-edge innovation "best practices" in the most dynamic hot spots of innovation both in the United States and around the world, John Kao argues that the United States still has the capability not only to regain our competitive edge, but to take a bold step out ahead of the global community and secure a leadership role in innovation. We must, though, take serious and concerted action fast.
Innovation Nation is vital reading for all those Americans who are troubled by the great challenges the United States faces in the ever-more-competitive economy of our twenty-first-century world.
Dr. David Katz's Flavor-Full Diet: Use Your Taste Buds to Lose Pounds and Inches with this Scientifically Proven Plan
Lose weight easily with Dr. Katz's groundbreaking approach to appetite control. Dr. David Katz's Flavor-Full Diet shows you how to fill up to complete satisfaction on fewer calories, calm the appetite center, and drop up to 16 pounds in just 6 weeks while eating delicious and nutritious food suitable for the whole family. With a Mediterranean-inspired 6-week meal plan, more than 100 delicious, simple, family-friendly recipes, and hundreds of insights available nowhere else, the Flavor-Full Diet will lead to weight control and better health, and to food you love that loves you back.
On China
In On China, Henry Kissinger turns for the first time at book length to the country he has known intimately for decades and whose modern relations with the West he helped shape. Drawing on historical records as well as on his conversations with Chinese leaders over the past forty years, Kissinger examines how China has approached diplomacy, strategy, and negotiation throughout its history and reflects on the consequences for the global balance of power in the twenty-first-century.
Great House
Finalist for the 2010 National Book Award in Fiction: A powerful, soaring novel about a stolen desk that contains the secrets, and becomes the obsession, of the lives it passes through.
FREAKONOMICS
Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime? These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much heralded scholar who studies the stuff and riddles of everyday life -- from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing -- and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head. Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and co-author Stephen J. Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives - how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In FREAKONOMICS, they set out to explore the hidden side of ... well, everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher. The secrets of the Ku Klux Klan. What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a surfeit of obfuscation, complication, and downright deceit, is not impenetrable, is not unknowable, and - if the right questions are asked - is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking. FREAKONOMICS establishes this unconventional premise: If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. FREAKONOMICS will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.
SUPERFREAKONOMICS: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide bombers Should Buy Life Insurance
After four years in the making, SUPERFREAKONOMICS, the follow-up to the phenomenal New York Times bestseller FREAKONOMICS which sold 4 million copies in 35 languages worldwide, will arrive in stores on October 20, 2009. Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner return with a book that is even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first. FREAKONOMICS made the world safe to discuss the economics of crack cocaine and the impact of baby names. SUPERFREAKONOMICS retains that off-kilter sensibility (comparing, for instance, the relative dangers of driving while drunk versus walking while drunk) but also tackles a host of issues at the very center of modern society: terrorism, global warming, altruism, and more. From the rarefied corridors of academia to the grimiest street corners, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner bring you stories inspired by engineers and astrophysicists, psychotic killers and emergency-room doctors, amateur historians and transgender neuroscientists. They address the topics in this book with neither fear nor favor, letting numbers speak the truth. Levitt and Dubner don’t take sides. The economic approach isn’t meant to describe the world as any one of us might like it to be, or fear that it is, or pray that it becomes — but rather to explain what actually exists. Most of us want to fix or change the world in some fashion, however large or small. But in order to change the world, you first have to understand it. Believe it or not, if you can understand the incentives that lead a schoolteacher to cheat, you can understand how the subprime mortgage bubble came to pass.
Allah, Liberty and Love: The Courage to Reconcile Faith and Freedom
In Allah, Liberty and Love, Irshad Manji paves a path for Muslims and non-Muslims to transcend the fears that stop so many of us from living with honest-to- God integrity: the fear of offending others in a multicultural world as well as the fear of questioning our own communities. Since publishing her international bestseller, The Trouble with Islam Today, Manji has moved from anger to aspiration. She shows how any of us can reconcile faith with freedom and thus discover the Allah of liberty and love—the universal God that loves us enough to give us choices and the capacity to make them.
Allah, Liberty and Love is the ultimate guide to becoming a gutsy global citizen. Irshad Manji believes profoundly not just in Allah, but also in her fellow human beings.
One Billion Customers: Lessons from the Front Lines of Doing Business in China
Destined to become the bible for business people in China, One Billion Customers shows how to navigate the often treacherous waters of Chinese deal making. Brilliantly written by an author who has lived in China for nearly two decades, the book reveals indispensable, street-smart strategies, tactics, and lessons for succeeding in the world's fastest growing consumer market. McGregor has seen or experienced it all, and now he shares his insights into how China really works. With nearly 100 strategies for conducting business in China, this unprecedented account combines practical lessons with the story of China's remarkable rise to power.
Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won
In Scorecasting, University of Chicago behavioral economist Tobias Moskowitz teams up with veteran Sports Illustrated writer L. Jon Wertheim to overturn some of the most cherished truisms of sports, and reveal the hidden forces that shape how basketball, baseball, football, and hockey games are played, won and lost.
Drawing from Moskowitz's original research, as well as studies from fellow economists such as bestselling author Richard Thaler, the authors look at: the influence home-field advantage has on the outcomes of games in all sports and why it exists; the surprising truth about the universally accepted axiom that defense wins championships; the subtle biases that umpires exhibit in calling balls and strikes in key situations; the unintended consequences of referees' tendencies in every sport to "swallow the whistle," and more.
Two for the Money: The Sensible Plan for Making It All Work
Today, a Baby Boomer will turn fifty every eight seconds. Chances are they have school-age children and aging parents, with only 250 paychecks left until their sixtieth birthday and the onset of their own retirement years. So, how does the generation that truly has it all take care of everyone's needs and still have something left at the end? From fixing your 401k before it's too late to avoiding the investment "landmine" to dealing with the rising cost of healthcare to hiring a financial advisor, Two for the Money lends invaluable counsel. As seen on the Today Show, financial experts Jonathan and David Murray are professional investment advisors who have spent their careers successfully guiding Boomers through the financial shoals peculiar to their generation. Here, they give their viewers and readers a comprehensive, step-by-step, easy-to-use guide for emerging from the earning years to finding oneself in a financially healthy state.
In The Line of Fire
As the former President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf held "the world's most dangerous job," according to TIME Magazine. He has twice come within inches of assassination. His forces have caught more than 670 members of al Qaeda in the mountains and cities, yet many others remain at large and active, including Osama bin Laden. Long locked in a deadly embrace with its nuclear neighbor India, Pakistan has come close to full-scale war on two occasions since exploding a nuclear bomb in 1998. In the Line of Fire chronicles Musharraf's presidency as he struggled for the security and political future of his nation, where the stakes could not have been higher for the world at large. According to the Washington Post, In the Line of Fire is "full of fascinating details that only an insider would know...this memoir tells us a great deal about a military Muslim leader we need to understand - and about a country to which we should have been paying much more attention."
Why Women Should Rule the World
When President Bill Clinton was elected, Dee Dee Myers was told she would act as his Press Secretary, but only for the transition. There was no guarantee she would keep the position after his inauguration. Only 31 at the time, Myers was too intoxicated by victory to realize she was being shortchanged. But in January of 1993, Myers did become Press Secretary in spite of the odds. She was the youngest person ever and the only woman in the history of the country to hold the position. As she writes in this poignant new book, "I wasn't the first woman to be the first woman, of course. I stand on the shoulders of the countless others who stuck their necks out ? and sometimes got their heads knocked off ? for going where no woman had gone before. Not all of them were trying to advance the interests of the sisterhood. Still, because of them, those of us who followed have had more, different, and better opportunities. I know I have." Told through the prism of her own life, this book explores the trials woman have boldly faced throughout history to achieve opportunities in places where their presence was once denied. Filled with anecdotes from her tenure in the white house, Myers provides a fresh take on the achievements women have made in all aspects of public life.
Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy
Black-market networks are stealthily transforming global politics and economics. Filled with fast-paced, vivid examples that are as real as they are surprising, Illicit shows how we got to this dangerous point - and stresses the interconnections between these illegal enterprises, how they endlessly recombine to breed new lines of business, distort the economy of entire countries and industries, enable terrorists and even take over governments. From pirated movies to weapons of mass destruction, from human organs to endangered species, drugs or stolen art, Illicit reveals the inner workings of these amazingly efficient international organizations and shows why it is so hard - and so necessary - to contain them. Illicit offers a fresh, ingenious and compelling vision of this untold story of globalization. It provides a powerful new lens with which to assess how today's world really works and where it may be headed.
Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever
The anchor of The O'Reilly Factor recounts one of the most dramatic stories in American history—how one gunshot changed the country forever. In the spring of 1865, the bloody saga of America's Civil War finally comes to an end after a series of increasingly harrowing battles. President Abraham Lincoln's generous terms for Robert E. Lee's surrender are devised to fulfill Lincoln's dream of healing a divided nation, with the former Confederates allowed to reintegrate into American society. But one man and his band of murderous accomplices, perhaps reaching into the highest ranks of the U.S. government, are not appeased.
A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs and Dangerous Days at Sea
It was just another day on the job for fifty-three-year-old Richard Phillips, captain of the Maersk Alabama, the United States-flagged cargo ship which was carrying, among other things, food and agricultural materials for the World Food Program. That all changed when armed Somali pirates boarded the ship. The pirates didn't expect the crew to fight back, nor did they expect Captain Phillips to offer himself as hostage in exchange for the safety of his crew. Thus began the tense five-day stand-off, which ended in a daring high-seas rescue when U.S. Navy SEALs opened fire and picked off three of the captors. A Captain's Duty tells the life-and-death drama of the Vermont native who was held captive on a tiny lifeboat off Somalia's anarchic, gun-plagued shores. A story of adventure and courage, it provides the intimate details of this high-seas hostage-taking—the unbearable heat, the death threats, the mock executions, and the escape attempt. When the pirates boarded his ship, Captain Phillips put his experience into action, doing everything he could to safeguard his crew. And when he was held captive by the pirates, he marshaled all his resources to ensure his own survival, withstanding intense physical hardship and an escalating battle of wills with the pirates. This was it: the moment where training meets instinct and where character is everything. Richard Phillips was ready.
A Force of Nature: The Frontier Genius of Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford, who grew up in colonial New Zealand and came to Cambridge on a scholarship, made numerous revolutionary discoveries, among them the orbital structure of the atom and the concept of the "half-life" of radioactive materials, which led to a massive reevaluation of the age of the earth—previously judged just 100 million years old. Above all, perhaps, Rutherford and the young men working under him were the first to split the atom, unlocking tremendous forces—forces, as Rutherford himself predicted, that would bring us the atomic bomb. Rutherford, awarded a Nobel Prize and made Baron Rutherford by the queen of England, was also a great ambassador of science, coming to the aid of colleagues caught in the Nazi and Soviet regimes. Under Rutherford's rigorous and boisterous direction, a whole new generation of remarkable physicists emerged. In Richard Reeves's hands, Rutherford leaps off the page, a ruddy, genial man and a towering figure in scientific history.
Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped our Nation
In her new book Ladies of Liberty (on sale April 8, 2008, Morrow) Cokie Roberts draws on personal correspondence, private journals and other primary sources in this second installment to her bestselling Founding Mothers. The book is peppered with entertaining gossip from the early days of the capital, but it also captures the great shift that occurred in American history as the country continued its expansion. Throughout, Ms. Roberts captures the heart and soul of the American spirit and offers new insights on the women who have helped make our nation great.
From Every End of this Earth: 13 Families and the New Lives They Made in America
New York Times bestselling author Steven V. Roberts follows the stories of thirteen immigrant families in From Every End of This Earth, a poignant and eye-opening look at immigration in America today. He captures the voices of those living the promise of a new land—and the difficulties of starting over among strangers whose suspicions increasingly outweigh their open-armed acceptance. As the political debate rages on, Roberts sheds light on the enormous contributions immigrants continue to make to the fabric and future of America.
Big Shoes: A Celebration of Dads and Fatherhood
Bestselling author and beloved Today show personality Al Roker teams up with his celebrity friends to share personal thoughts, stories, and reflections on fathers and fatherhood in this heartwarming collection dad is always there to provide support and encouragement just when it's needed most, as well as help teach us some of life's most invaluable lessons-from how to fly a kite and pitch a tent to how to change a tire, negotiate a raise, or take on our first big home improvement project. Now it's time to say thank you! In Big Shoes, Al Roker and 45 other well-known personalities share personal stories about how their fathers have been there for them during times of both adversity and triumph, and the countless large and small ways they've shaped their lives throughout the years. These essays remind us of the important-and lasting-legacy of our dads, even as we've grown up and gone on to start families of our own.
Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight
The highly anticipated memoir from the former White House Deputy Chief of Staff and architect of two successful presidential campaigns recounts his life in politics and service with his long-time friend President George W. Bush. From a unique seat to view history, Karl Rove will pull back the curtain on the Bush administration, set the record straight on those controversial years, and show how tests of character affected him and his family. He lays out the facts, frankly responds to critics, passionately articulates his political philosophy and openly explains the reasons behind his decisions in campaigns and the White House. Threshold Editions’ Executive Vice President and Publisher Louise Burke said, “Karl Rove is without a doubt one of the most influential political strategists in modern history, and Courage and Consequence will deliver to readers his unique experiences and insight, gained from a truly unique vantage point, as a key figure in the extraordinary events of recent times.”
Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran
In this gripping and inspirational true story, Roxana Saberi writes movingly of her imprisonment, her trial, her eventual release, and the faith that helped her through it all. Her recollections are interwoven with insights into Iranian society, the Islamic regime, and U.S.-Iran relations, as well as stories of her fellow prisoners—many of whom were jailed for their pursuit of human rights, including freedom of speech, association, and religion. Ms. Saberi gains strength and wisdom from her cellmates who support her throughout a grueling hunger strike and remind her of the humanity that remains, even when they are denied the most basic rights. Between Two Worlds is also a deeply revealing account of this tumultuous country and the ongoing struggle for freedom that is being fought inside Evin Prison and on the streets of Iran. From her heartfelt perspective, Saberi offers a rich, dramatic, and illuminating portrait of Iran as it undergoes a striking, historic transformation.
HOW: Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything ... in Business (and in Life)
The flood of information and unprecedented transparency reshaping today’s business world has dramatically changed the rules of the game. It’s no longer what you do that sets you apart from others, but how you do what you do. Whats are commodities, easily duplicated or reverse-engineered. Sustainable advantage and enduring success—for both companies and the people who work for them—now lie in the realm of how, the new frontier of conduct. For more than a decade, Dov Seidman’s pioneering organization, LRN, has helped some of the world’s most respected companies build "do it right," winning cultures. Seidman’s distinct vision of the world, business, and human endeavor has enabled more than ten million people doing business in over 100 countries to outbehave the competition. In HOW: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything . . . in Business (and in Life), Dov Seidman shares his unique approach with you. Through entertaining anecdotes, surprising case studies, cutting-edge research in a wide range of fields, and revealing interviews with a diverse group of business leaders, experts, and everyday people on the front lines, this book explores how we think, how we behave, and how we govern ourselves to uncover the values-driven "hows" of 21st-century success.
Making it Happen: Turning Good Ideas into Great Results
The world is not short of ideas, but it is short of people who know how to carry them out. "Making It Happen" unravels the process of taking a good idea and turning it into a successful venture. Author Peter Sheahan guides the reader through the five competencies that will enable you to understand and utilize the forces that drive buyers’ behavior, break through mental barriers and effectively position your offer in the market. Whether you are looking to start a business, get promoted or launch a social movement, this book will streamline your thinking so you can finally turn your good ideas into great results.
Peter Sheahan has a reputation for making it happen fast. By 30, he had established two international multimillion-dollar consulting practices and authored five books, including the bestsellers “Generation Y” and “Fl!p.” Let him share with you the strategies that make Google, BMW and Goldman Sachs his clients.
Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President
Release Date: September 2011
Acclaimed Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind, author of the New York Times bestselling The Way of the World, The One Percent Doctrine, and The Price of Loyalty, gives an explosive inside account of an Obama White House overwhelmed by the global financial crisis—and the political and economic consequences still being felt today. Readers of Michael Lewis’s The Big Short, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin’s Game Change, and Andrew Ross Sorkin’s Too Big to Fail will be riveted by Suskind’s illuminating, in-depth investigation of the financial meltdown. Rooted in hundreds of hours of interviews with key members of the Obama administration, including the President himself, Suskind’s expose offers an eyewitness account of the most momentous events in the history of global finance.
Teaching the Pig to Dance: A Memoir of Growing Up and Second Chances
Fred Thompson has enjoyed a remarkable career in Hollywood and politics, but when he sat down to write a memoir about how he got to be the person he is, he discovered that his best stories all seemed to come out of the years he spent growing up in and around his hometown of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. It was a small town but not the smallest—after all, it was the county seat and it did have a courthouse, a couple of movie theaters, and its own Davy Crockett statue. But Lawrenceburg is where Fred got to be a kid, get in his share of trouble and scrapes, get to know folks he didn’t realize were so colorful at the time but sure does now, get married, have a few kids, become a man, and start his career as a country lawyer (pretty much in that order). And as Fred tells it, getting that law degree was something of a surprise for him, since in school he’d been less than stellar as a scholar. “Teaching Latin to someone like me,” he says, “was like trying to teach a pig to dance. It’s a waste of the teacher’s time and it irritates the pig.”
In these reflections, as hilarious as they are honest and warm, Fred touches on the influences—family, hometown neighbors and teachers, team sports, jobs, romances, and personal crises—that molded his character, his politics, and the way he looks at life today. More than anyone else from those days though, Fred remembers his mom and dad, who taught him that kids are shaped most of all by the love and support they can take for granted.
Teaching the Pig to Dance will delight everyone who admires Fred Thompson for his contributions to politics or for his work in movies and on TV, along with all those who just love to hear rollicking but unforgettable stories about growing up in a place where, as one of the local old timers put it, “We weren’t big enough to have a town drunk, so a few of us had to take turns.”
Gang Leader For A Day
First introduced in Freakonomics, here is the full story of Sudhir Venkatesh, the sociology grad student who infiltrated one of Chicago's most notorious gangs. Gang Leader for a Day is the fascinating full story of how Sudhir Venkatesh managed to gain entrance into the gang, what he learned, and how his method revolutionized the academic establishment. In Hollywood-speak, Gang Leader for a Day is The Wire meets Harvard University. It's a brazen, page turning, and fundamentally honest view into the morally ambiguous, highly intricate, often corrupt struggle to survive in what is tantamount to an urban war zone. It is also the story of a complicated friendship between Sudhir and JT-two young and ambitious men a universe apart.
Walk In My Shoes: Conversations Between a Civil Rights Legend and His Godson on the Journey Ahead
A top aide to Martin Luther King, Jr. and one of history’s most important civil rights leaders, Andrew Young has witnessed history and made his own. For years, he has been mentoring his godson, Kabir Sehgal, in correspondence and conversation. This book encapsulates that mentoring, and presents Young’s thoughts and meditations on such important topics as race, civil rights, faith, and leadership. It’s a living Tuesdays with Morrie, an inspirational and inter-generational discourse that addresses issues of race, justice and leadership. "This book is my attempt to humbly pass along a few anecdotes, life lessons, and insights to prepare you for the long journey ahead," Young says.
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In Asia, Europe and the U.S., VP Gore has been speaking to audiences about leadership, reinvention, the challenges facing global business, the democratization of technology, and the centrality of science in issues facing our nation and the world today.
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