The “Work Less, More Success” Guide to Managing Your TimeAre you tired of productivity consultants—or worse, your boss—pushing you to do more with less? You’re in luck. Laura Stack knows your to-do li
Why is a horse called a horse and not a giraffe or a flapdoodle? Why did Plato go from being called Aristocles, after his grandfather, to being called Plato, which means muscleman? Where do any names
In a publishing career that spanned less than a decade, Jane Austen revolutionized the literary romance, using it as a stage from which to address issues of gender politics and class-consciousness rar
The evangelical embrace of conservatism is a familiar feature of the contemporary political landscape. What’s less well-known, however, is that the connection predates the Reagan revolution, goi
While eighteenth-century efforts to standardize the English language have long been studied--from Samuel Johnson's Dictionary to grammar and elocution books of the period--less well-known are the era'
Conceived as a gorgeously illustrated accompaniment to “How Do We Look” and “The Eye of Faith,” the famed Civilisations shows on PBS, renowned classicist Mary Beard has created this elegant volume on
Before you read this book, you have homework to do. Grab a notebook, go outside, and find a nearby patch of nature. What do you see, hear, feel, and smell? Are there bugs, birds, squirrels, deer, liza
If the universe is aimless, how do selves and aims emerge? Why do living beings have aims when inanimate things do not? Current science encourages us to reject the ghost-in-the-machine explanation—tha
From fjords to mountains, schools of herring to herds of reindeer, Scandinavia is rich in astonishing natural beauty. Less well known, however, is that it is also rich in languages. Home to seven lang
Who reads poetry? We know that poets do, but what about the rest of us? When and why do we turn to verse? Seeking the answer, Poetry magazine since 2005 has published a column called “The View From
During the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, New York City poets and musicians played together, published each other, and inspired one another to create groundbreaking art. In "Do You Have a Band?"
Are you struggling to stay afloat in a sea of paperwork, emails, meetings and an ever-growing to-do list? Are you working longer and longer hours ina vain attempt to catch up and, any time you do, the
Turn Your Can-Do Attitude Into CashAre you a pro at multi-tasking' Do you thrive on deadlines and love a good challenge' Could you find satisfaction in lending others a hand' If so, you're in high dem
What is sleep? How can this most unproductive of human states--metaphorically called death's shadow or considered the very pinnacle of indolence--be envisioned as action and agency? And what do we bec
How do the benefits of higher education compare with its costs, and how does this comparison vary across individuals and institutions? These questions are fundamental to quantifying the productivity o
How to Make It in the New Music Business has become the go-to resource for "do it yourself" musicians eager to make a living in a turbulent industry. Inspiring thousands to stop waiting around for tha
Modern notions of empathy often celebrate its ability to bridge divides, to unite humankind. Yet how do we square this with the popular view that we can never truly comprehend the experience of being
How things are divided up or pieced together matters. Half a bridge is of no use at all. Conversely, many things would do more good if they could be divided up differently: Perhaps you would prefer a
When we think about history, we often think about people, events, ideas, and revolutions, but what about the numbers? What do the data tell us about what was, what is, and how things changed over time
We are now acutely aware, as if all of the sudden, that data matters enormously to how we live. How did information come to be so integral to what we can do? How did we become people who effortlessly
What does it mean to be human in the twenty- first century? How do we be real people in a world of online personas and “authentic” simulated experiences? In this innovative examination of our present
Urban theorists have tried for decades to define exactly what a neighborhood is. But behind that daunting existential question lies a much murkier problem: never mind how you define them—how do
An international and historical look at how parenting choices change in the face of economic inequalityParents everywhere want their children to be happy and do well. Yet how parents seek to achieve t
Who was Ernest Withers? Most Americans may not know the name, but they do know his photographs. Withers took some of the most legendary images of the 1950s and ’60s: Martin Luther King, Jr., riding a
For at least two centuries, democratic representation has been at the center of debate. Should elected representatives express the views of the majority, or do they have the discretion to interpret th
Today’s stock market is not for the faint of heart. At a time of frightening volatility, what is the average investor to do?The answer: turn to Burton G. Malkiel’s advice in his reassuring, authoritat
In modern life, technology is everywhere. Yet as a concept, technology is a mess. In popular discourse, technology is little more than the latest digital innovations. Scholars do little better, offeri
From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, Europeans struggled to understand their identity in the same way we do as individuals: by comparing themselves to others. In Savages, Romans, and Despot
Why do we have the constant feeling that disaster is looming? Beyond the images of atomic apocalypse that have haunted us for decades, we are dazzled now by an array of possible catastrophe scenarios:
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault project is an arctic archive designed to preserve the world’s agricultural biodiversity. What do it and other novel forms of storage tell us about our relationship to th
Recent political thought has grappled with a crisis in philosophical foundations: How do we justify the explicit and implicit normative claims and assumptions that guide political decisions and social
Dogs and Puppies tells you everything you want to know about our favourite four-legged friend. Read about how they grow from cute puppies to dogs, all the different breeds, what jobs they do, how to c
Horses and Foals tells you everything you want to know about horses, from growing up to learning about different breeds, what jobs they do, how we care for them and so much more. Horses and Foals is p
Most of us face the same questions every day: What do I want? How can I get it? How can I live more happily and work more efficiently?Whether you’re a chronic second-guesser or just eager for new ways
American students vary in educational achievement, but white students in general typically have better test scores and grades than black students. Why is this the case, and what can school leaders do
A groundbreaking history that puts early and medieval West Africa in a global contextPick up almost any book on early and medieval world history and empire, and where do you find West Africa? On the p
Utopias fail. Utopias of one do not. They are perfect worlds. Yet their success comes at a cost. They are radically singular--and thus exclusive and inimitable.Utopias of One is a major new account of
You might think that any reader is a good reader (publishers certainly do). Merve Emre’s tongue-in-cheek subtitle calls out ?bad” readers?the kind whose approach to literature is naive, superficial, t
When we encounter a news story, why do we accept its version of events? A complicated set of cultural, structural, and technological relationships inform this interaction, and Journalistic Authority p
Contrary to conventional wisdom, countries that ignite a process of rapid economic growth almost always do so while lacking what experts say are the essential preconditions for development, such as go
