Conspiracy Culture

UFOs. Aliens. Strange crop circles. Giant figures scratched in the desert surface along the coast of Peru. The amazing alignment of the pyramids. Strange lines of clouds in the sky. The paranormal is alive and well in the American cultural landscape.

Many Americans believe that their own government is guilty of shocking crimes. Although paranoia has been a feature of the American scene since the birth of the Republic, in Real Enemies, Kathryn Olmsted tells us that it was only in the 20th century that strange and unlikely conspiracy theories became central to American politics, In particular, she posits World War I as a critical turning point and shows that as the federal bureaucracy expanded, Americans grew more fearful of the government itself.

Today it is widely recognized that gay men played a prominent role in defining the culture of mid-20th-century America, with such icons as Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, Montgomery Clift, and Rock Hudson defining much of what seemed distinctly "American" on the stage and screen. Even though few gay artists were "out," their sexuality caused significant anxiety during a time of rampant anti-homosexual attitudes.

This edge-of-your-seat Indigenous murder-mystery set in Costa Rica from Pura Belpré and Walter Dean Myers Award-winning author of Saints of the Household is perfect for fans of Firekeeper's Daughter and Patron Saints of Nothing. How far would you go to protect your land? To protect your family?...

A journey through the fault lines of contemporary religious wars US-born Protestant evangelicalism has gone global to an extent of which many of us might be unaware. This book tells the story of Americans’ colossal mobilization to proclaim Christianity “to the ends of the Earth,” a...

A psychologist's gripping, troubling, and moving exploration of the brutal murder of a possibly transgender middle school student by an eighth grade classmate On Feb. 12, 2008, at E. O. Green Junior High in Oxnard, CA, 14-year-old Brandon McInerney shot and killed his classmate, Larry King, who...

Head down the rabbit hole and feed your fascination for conspiracy and controversy. Conspiracy theories-they're influential and spread to sometimes irrational extremes. Why do people cling to conspiracy theories so powerfully? Is there a way to separate the possible from the impossible? Yes...

“We have to fight back.” —Al Franken The Left is angry—angry at President George W. Bush, the war in Iraq, the “right-wing media,” and more. And as National Review investigative writer Byron York reveals in this stunning, meticulously reported book, liberal activists have harnessed...

Amid the imperialist fervor of late 1941 Tokyo, Harry Niles is a man with a mission -- self-preservation. But Niles was raised by missionary parents and educated in the shadows of Tokyo's underworld -- making his loyalties as dubious as his business dealings. Now, on the eve of the attack on...

After reading The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, did you ever wonder what it s like to be struck by lightning? To run with the bulls in Pamplona? To ride the crushing swell of an avalanche? Extreme Encounters describes these adventures and 37 others with endlessly addictive you-are-there...

Now a stirring movie from Paramount Pictures—starring Kate Mara (House of Cards and Fantastic Four) and David Oyelowo (Selma)—this inspirational, news-making life story of the young female hostage who in 2005 single-handedly talked the infamous Atlanta courthouse killer, Brian Nichols, into...

A dark comedy set at a contested Republican convention, written by a veteran political insider—the funniest and most prescient novel about politics in years. “[Stevens] brings a full arsenal of gifts to this enterprise: humor, tactile prose and an insider’s knowledge of the hardball...

Este libro es un crudo relato autobiográfico que se asemeja al bestseller internacional La cruz y el puñal. Casey Díaz llegó a este país cuando tenía dos años, siendo el hijo mayor de inmigrantes salvadoreños que se establecieron en los suburbios del centro de Los Ángeles en la década...

Journalist Krithika Varagur's Da'wa chronicles the House of Saud as it systematically transforms the Muslim world in its own image, in one of the major imperial projects in today's world, on par with China's economic diplomacy. Since 1979, Saudi Arabia has spent $1.8 billion per year, by one...

As early as 2014, after the fall of Mosul, maps of ISIS showing a desire to take over South Asia started to appear on social media. But how far has that borne fruit? Or has it always been more of an ill-conceived chimera? One of the shortcomings of our understanding of ISIS in India-and indeed...

Combining the compelling insight of Nixonland and the narrative verve of Ladies and Gentleman: The Bronx is Burning, a journalist’s definitive cultural and political history of the fatefully important moment when American politics and culture turned: the year 2000. Before there was Coronavirus...

“We have to fight back.” —Al Franken The Left is angry—angry at President George W. Bush, the war in Iraq, the “right-wing media,” and more. And as National Review investigative writer Byron York reveals in this stunning, meticulously reported book, liberal activists have harnessed...

Find over a thousand of astounding fun facts in this combination audiobook -- a treasure chest for trivia buffs. Want to be surprised with the truth? Discover how you've been misled for years? Get a kick out of coincidences? Learn about the U.S. state that no longer exists -- the man who was...

Working Relationships is an original exploration of the interplay between crisis, resilience, and employee experience in the workplace. The book delves into how working relationships - the relationships we develop with the work that we do, the people with whom we work, and the organizations for which we work - are formed and sustained, focusing on four key elements: continuity, reciprocity, purpose, and hope.

What can the massive protests that have roiled Hong Kong and the harsh repressive moves made against activists tell us about where this special metropolis is heading? And about how a resurgent China under strongman rule is challenging and reshaping the international order? Jeffrey Wasserstrom...