How We Met

We all had teachers who scolded us over the use of um, uh-huh, oh, like, and mm-hmm. But as linguist N. J. Enfield reveals in How We Talk, these "bad words" are fundamental to language. Whether we are

In First Bite, award-winning food writer Bee Wilson draws on the latest research from food psychologists and neuroscientists to reveal that our food habits are shaped by a host of factors: family and

America's leading nutritionist exposes how the food industry corrupts scientific research for profit Is chocolate heart-healthy? Does yogurt prevent type 2 diabetes? Do pomegranates help cheat death?

In The Collapse of Parenting, internationally acclaimed author Leonard Sax argues that rising levels of obesity, depression, and anxiety among young people can be traced to parents abdicating their au

An award-winning historian untangles the roots of America's obsession with personal security, arguing that our misguided fears undermine our democracy.

We live immersed in thought. But do we actually know what a thought is? To answer this question, psychology professor Charles Fernyhough draws on everything from neuroscience to literary history to gr

We can’t stop natural disasters, but we can stop them from being disastrous. One of the world’s foremost risk experts tells us how.Year after year, floods sweep cities clean, earthquakes tear apart co

"Wilson's book offers a novel approach to food writing, presenting a history of eating habits and mores through the lens of the technologies we use to prepare, serve, and consume food. This book tells

Why do three out of four professional football players go bankrupt? How can illiterate jungle dwellers pass a test that tricks Harvard philosophers? And why do billionaires work so hard?only to give t

Drawing on 40 years of research, a primatologist attempts to solve the mystery of the origins of our reproductive lives, showing that once we understand our evolutionary past, we can consider what wor

Since prehistory, humans have braved sharp knives, fire, and grindstones to transform raw ingredients into something delicious?or at least edible. Tools shape what we eat, but they have also transfor

Fifty percent of Americans can name four characters from “The Simpsons,” but only two out of five can name all three branches of the federal government. No more than one in seven can find

For over twenty years, psychologist Richard Wiseman has examined the quirky science of everyday life. In Quirkology, he navigates the oddities of human behavior, explaining the tell-tale signs that g

A historian, myth-buster, and author of Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths of American History takes aim at the concept of the American people in relation to the nation's political system, revealing h

Psychologists and philosophers have long grappled with the mysteries of dreaming, and now-thanks largely to recent innovations in brain imaging -neuroscientists are starting to join the conversation.

Considers how breakthroughs in DNA technology is significantly impacting the criminal justice system, citing the controversial role of DNA testing in the cases of O.J. Simpson, Chandra Levy, and Edwar

Considers the effect of Watergate on individual careers, legislative reforms, and expectations of the media

“This book will change your sense of how grand the sweep of human history could be, where you fit into it, and how much you could do to change it for the better. It's as simple, and as ambitious, as that.”—Ezra KleinAn Oxford philosopher makes the case for “longtermism” — that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time.The fate of the world is in our hands. Humanity’s written history spans only five thousand years. Our yet-unwritten future could last for millions more — or it could end tomorrow. Astonishing numbers of people could lead lives of great happiness or unimaginable suffering, or never live at all, depending on what we choose to do today. In What We Owe The Future, philosopher William MacAskill argues for longtermism, that idea that positively influencing the distant future is a key moral priority of our time. From this perspective, it’s not enough to reverse climate change or avert the next pandemic. We must ensure that civilization

An award-winning food writer takes us on a global tour of what the world eats--and shows us how we can change it for the betterFood is one of life's great joys. So why has eating become such a source

A preeminent political scientist's account of the demise of Western democracy and exploration of what lies aheadSince the end of World War II, democracy's sweep across the globe seemed inexorable. Yet today, it seems radically imperiled, even in some of the world's most stable democracies. How bad could things get?In How Democracy Ends, David Runciman argues that we are trapped in outdated twentieth-century ideas of democratic failure. By fixating on coups and violence, we are focusing on the wrong threats. Our societies are too affluent, too elderly, and too networked to fall apart as they did in the past. We need new ways of thinking the unthinkable--a twenty-first-century vision of the end of democracy, and whether its collapse might allow us to move forward to something better.A provocative book by a major political philosopher, How Democracy Ends asks the most trenchant questions that underlie the disturbing patterns of our contemporary political life.

A pioneering neuroscientist argues that we are more than our brainsTo many, the brain is the seat of personal identity and autonomy. But the way we talk about the brain is often rooted more in mystica

"An important and alarming new book." --New York TimesThe way we teach reading is not working, and it cannot continue. We have largely abandoned phones-based reading instruction, despite research that

"Our government is failing us. Can we simply blame polarization, the deregulation of campaign finance, or some other nefarious force? What if the roots go much deeper, to our nation's start? In Relic,

How do we know what’s real? That’s not a trick question: sensory science is increasingly finding that we don’t perceive reality: we create it through perception. InWe Have the Technology, science writ

The story of the rise of modern navigation technology, from radio location to GPS?and the consequent decline of privacyWhat does it mean to never get lost? You Are Here examines the rise of our techno

In Powering the Future, Nobel laureate Robert B. Laughlin transports us two centuries into the future, when we’ve ceased to use carbon from the ground—either because humans have banned carbon burning

As the income gap between developed and developing nations grows, so grows the cacophony of voices claiming that the quest to find a simple recipe for economic growth has failed. Getting Better, in sh

Why do certain civilizations, societies, and ecosystems collapse? How does the domino effect relate to the credit crunch? When can mathematics help explain marriage? And how on earth do toads predict

As the income gap between developed and developing nations grows, so grows the cacophony of voices claiming that the quest to find a simple recipe for economic growth has failed. Getting Better, in s

Happiness is central to the idea of America; along with life and liberty, the Founding Fathers listed "the pursuit of happiness" as a fundamental right in the Declaration of Independence. Yet little

Since mid-century, America has witnessed an ominous decline in presidential leadership, culminating in the failing presidency of George W. Bush today. How did this happen? In Running Alone, the disti