English Culture

The official editions of the King James contained the books of the Apocrypha until 1796. Most printers did not clear inventories and change to the 66-book version we know today until the mid 1800's. Ethymologically, the word "apocrypha" means "things that are hidden", but why they were hidden is not clear. Listen to find out more!

Voddie Baucham has a message for Christians in today’s culture—it’s time to take a stand for the truth. In The Ever-Loving Truth, this powerful preacher and teacher addresses the cost of being a twenty-first-century Christian and helps listeners apply the unchanging truth of God’s Word to contemporary life issues. The book draws parallels between committed Christians in our society and the New Testament writers, Peter and John, as followers of Christ who proclaimed and stood for truth in their non-Christian environment.

How will artificial intelligence affect crime, war, justice, jobs, society, and our very sense of being human? The rise of AI has the potential to transform our future more than any other technology - and there's nobody better qualified or situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor who's helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial.

In 1984, at the age of 24, Clarence Louie was elected Chief of the Osoyoos Indian Band in the Okanagan Valley. Nineteen elections later, Chief Louie has led his community for nearly four decades. The story of how the Osoyoos Indian Band - “The Miracle in the Desert” - transformed from a Rez that once struggled with poverty into an economically independent people is well-known. Guided by his years growing up on the Rez, Chief Louie believes that economic and business independence are key to self-sufficiency, reconciliation, and justice for First Nations people.

Timmy the Traveler and his pet parrot Penny journey to Beijing! Timmy receives a mysterious letter to join an expedition to a newly discovered cave system underneath the city of Beijing. Timmy must team up with a group of adventurers and unlock the secrets of the cave.

Christians today face a dilemma: In a world that seems to reject everything we believe, how do we walk closely with God without caving to pressure or alienating those we hope to reach? In this eye-opening new book, Chris Hodges provides a solution by examining the life of the prophet Daniel, who persevered in a corrupt culture that closely resembles our own — and emerged as an influential force in God’s redemptive plan.

When it comes to recruiting, motivating, and creating great teams, Patty McCord says most companies have it all wrong. McCord helped create the unique and high-performing culture at Netflix, where she was chief talent officer. In her new book, Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility, she shares what she learned there and elsewhere in Silicon Valley.

The Science Behind Success is the complete guide to delivering meaningful leadership in modern business. It is filled with eye-popping studies and practical tools that create immediate results from the frontline manager to the C-suite executive.

Suspend your disbelief and embark on a journey through time and space, stepping into a world of Norse magic, paganism, runes, mythology, and mystery. Have you always been fascinated by Norse mythology and its myriad of powerful gods—including Odin, Thor, Loki, Freya, and Baldur? Have the Norse runes always mystified you, and would you love to know more about their history, symbolism, and usage? Would you like to harness the power of Norse magic, rites, and rituals, so you can connect with the extraordinary Norse gods and goddesses?

Few would disagree that inclusion is both the right thing to do and good for business. Then why are we so terrible at it? If we believe in the morality and the profitability of including people of diverse and underestimated backgrounds in the workplace, why don't we do it? Because, explains Ruchika Tulshyan in this eye-opening book, we don't realize that inclusion takes awareness, intention, and regular practice. Inclusion doesn't just happen; we have to work at it. Tulshyan presents inclusion best practices, showing how leaders and organizations can meaningfully promote inclusion.

The multi-disciplinary artist and author of Like a Bird and How to Cure a Ghost explores the commodification and appropriation of wellness through the lens of social justice, providing resources to help anyone participate in self-care, regardless of race, identity, socioeconomic status or able-bodiedness.

Recent years have seen a revival of the heated culture wars of the 1990s, but this time its battleground is the Internet. On one side the alt-right ranges from the once obscure neo-reactionary and white separatist movements, to geeky subcultures like 4chan, to more mainstream manifestations such as the Trump-supporting gay libertarian Milo Yiannopolous. On the other side, struggle sessions and virtue signaling lurk behind a therapeutic language of trigger warnings and safe spaces. The feminist side of the online culture wars has its equally geeky subcultures.

Starting in 1997, Bob Chapman and Barry-Wehmiller have pioneered a dramatically different approach to leadership that creates off-the-charts morale, loyalty, creativity, and business performance. The company utterly rejects the idea that employees are simply functions to be moved around, “managed” with carrots and sticks, or discarded at will. Instead, Barry-Wehmiller manifests the reality that every single person matters, just like in a family. It’s not a cliché on a mission statement; it’s the bedrock of the company’s success.

In The 50th Law, hip hop and pop culture icon 50 Cent (aka Curtis Jackson) joins forces with Robert Greene, best-selling author of The 48 Laws of Power, to write a "bible" for success in life and work based on a single principle: fear nothing. With intimate stories from 50 Cent's life on the streets and in the boardroom as he rose to fame after the release of his album Get Rich or Die Tryin', as well as examples of others who have overcome adversity through understanding and practicing the 50th Law.

Comedy is king. From multimillion-dollar TV specials to sold-out stand-up shows and TikTok stardom, comedy has never been more popular, democratized, or influential. Comedians have become organizing forces across culture—as trusted as politicians and as fawned-over as celebrities—yet comedy as an art form has gone under-considered throughout its history, even as it has ascended as a cultural force.

Two and a half millennia ago in a remote corner of space, beside a trillion-year-old dying sun from a different universe, the artifact appeared. It was a perfect black-body sphere, and it did nothing. Then it disappeared. Now it is back. Diplomat Genar-Hofoen of Special Circumstances is sent to investigate but, sidetracked by an old flame and the spoiled-brat operative Ulver Seich, and faced with the systematic depravities of a race who call themselves the A­ffront, it's anyone's guess whether he'll succeed.

Since it was first published in 2005, Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity Is Near and its vision of the future have been influential in spawning a worldwide movement with millions of followers, hundreds of books, major films, and thousands of articles. During the succeeding decade, many of Kurzweil's predictions about technological advancements have been borne out, and their viability has become familiar to the public through such now commonplace concepts. In this entirely new book Ray Kurzweil brings a fresh perspective to advances in the singularity.

2 Second Lean will flip your world right-side up. It's a practical way to improve your life every day by making a simple two-second improvement. Join author, business expert, radio show host, and international speaker Paul A Akers, as he takes you on a LEAN journey that will transform every aspect your life - from your home to the office.

Work has recently undergone profound changes, not all for the better. Workplace expert Jennifer Moss, author of The Burnout Epidemic, takes listeners to the front lines of this historic shift. Through extensive interviews, she uncovers why work has changed and highlights the leaders and organizations who have managed to build cultures that everyone really wants.

The people of this land of white summer nights and pristine lakes are famous for their sisu, a form of enterprising stoicism. They are survivors: if you were stranded on a desert island, your ideal companion would be a Finn. Culture Smart! Finland describes the historical, geographical, and cultural influences that have shaped the Finnish psyche, and guides you through the working and social lives of the Finns today, offering you a deeper, more rewarding experience of this beautiful land.