Social Reality

At Naysay, Inc., rising star Megan’s job is to whisper negative thoughts straight into the minds of clients in the Real World. It’s all in a day’s dirty work in Naysayland, the parallel reality where your negativity is manufactured and self-doubt is a commodity. But when she is assigned to sabotage a romance between lifestyle influencer Lily and author Jasper, Megan’s carefully constructed reality begins to unravel. The project teams her with Ben, the smug but cute whisperer in the next cubicle.

Organizational consultant Adrian Pei describes key challenges ethnic minorities face in majority culture organizations. He unpacks how historical forces shape contemporary realities and what both minority and majority cultures need to know in order to work together fruitfully.

Congratulations! You’ve been chosen to lead one of your state government’s most critical agencies. But for most state agency leaders, the job is like getting thrown into the deep end. From political landmines to agency processes held together by spreadsheets, the challenges are daunting — but so is the opportunity to make a difference for millions of people. Drawing on insights from over 30 of the country’s top state agency leaders, this Playbook equips you with the strategies, principles, and real-world examples you’ll need to thrive in your new role.

In this murder novel, Sandy Bean is bullied by fellow classmates. A reunion is coming up and he plots revenge. Learning all kinds of viral marketing, Sandy, or as he later names himself, Conan, becomes "The Social Network Killer" as he has learned how to target specific people, and get all kids of information on them.

In Tensions in the American Dream, Melanie and Roderick Bush ask how a "nation of immigrants" pledge inclusion, yet marginalize so many citizens based on race, class, and gender. The authors consider the origins and development of the US nation and empire; the founding principles of belonging, nationalism, and exceptionalism and their lived reality.

In this original, far-reaching, and timely book, Justice Stephen Breyer examines the work of SCOTUS in an increasingly interconnected world, a world in which all sorts of public and private activity - from the conduct of national security policy to the conduct of international trade - obliges the Court to consider and understand circumstances beyond America's borders. At a time when ordinary citizens may book international lodging directly through online sites, it has become clear that judicial awareness can no longer stop at the water's edge.

Reality is the one word that describes everything we live in, everything we know, knew, and will. It represents time, space, and all the other possible dimensions. But what exactly is reality? In his book, The Bitter Truth of Reality, author Mahmoud Elsayed attempts to answer this complex query by taking a journey through physics, biology, human anatomy, history, philosophy, and even religions. Hopefully, by the end of this book, the listener will find an answer to this question that sits at the top of the existential questions list.

In 1972, philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn threw an ashtray at Errol Morris. This book is the result. At the time, Morris was a graduate student. Now we know him as one of the most celebrated and restlessly probing filmmakers of our time, the creator of such classics of documentary investigation as The Thin Blue Line. Kuhn was—and, posthumously, remains—a star in his field and author of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, a landmark book that introduced the concept of "paradigm shifts" to the larger culture. And Morris thought the idea was bunk.

Gaby’s had it with “The Chelsea Show”. So she embarks on her own attention-seeking campaign, and claims the boy on a Survivor-type TV program for teens is her brother. At first this seems like the perfect get-popular-quick scheme. That is, until the boy wins the competition and is awarded the grand prize: a trip to Australia, leaving immediately... WITH HIS ENTIRE FAMILY! Forget popularity - unless Gaby figures out a way to convince her bunkmates that she’s on the next flight out to Australia, she’ll never be able to show her face at Lakeview again.

What does it mean to be human in the 21st century? How do we be real people in a world of online personas and "authentic" simulated experiences? In this innovative examination of our present reality, award-winning writer Laurence Scott charts the ways our traditional mental models of the world have started to fray. Effortlessly applying philosophy to the quotidian, Scott "makes banal things shimmer with meaning" (Guardian).

Terrorism expert Erick Stakelbeck pulls back the curtain on ISIS, the violent terrorist organization spreading death and hate in the Middle East. The rise of ISIS took the White House by complete surprise: President Obama called the group "JV" then was forced to reassess when ISIS began executing innocent American journalists. Now radicalized Americans and Europeans are joining ISIS' ranks.

Young and idealistic, Tori Hogan travels to Kenya as an intern for Save the Children, intent upon doing her part to improve the lives of refugees. But the cynicism of a young African boy changes Tori’s life and sets her on a course to reconsider everything she thought she knew about helping those in need. Years later, Tori returns to Africa and embarks on a journey through Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, searching for the truth about what does and does not work in international aid.

Why have Israelis and Palestinians failed to achieve a two-state solution to the conflict that has cost so much and lasted so long? In Paradigm Lost, Ian S. Lustick brings 50 years as an analyst of the Arab-Israeli dispute to bear on this question and offers a provocative explanation of why continued attempts to divide the land will have no more success than would negotiations to establish a one-state solution.

En la prensa escrita y en la digital, en las redes sociales y en los medios tradicionales, un torrente de mentiras, propaganda e inexactitudes - motivadas por el afán de dinero, notoriedad o poder - se mezcla y confunde con el reporte de hechos reales. Jamás ha sido tan fácil ser engañado: a la censura y el espionaje se han sumado la sobreinformación y las fake news. En este escenario, que parece sacado de una distopía orwelliana, la ética periodística, la confirmación y el rigor parecen reliquias olvidadas.

Fifty years after the sexual revolution, we are told that we live in a time of unprecedented sexual freedom: that if anything, we are too free now. But beneath the veneer of glossy hedonism, millennial journalist Rachel Hills argues, we are controlled by a new brand of sexual convention: one that influences all of us - woman or man, straight or gay, liberal or conservative.

Down to Earth: Busting the Myths of Mars and Venus blasts the lid off the myths of gender roles and stereotypes, and the damage they do to people and our planet. The book also offers strategies for changing the lives of women and men, girls and boys, for the better. Veronica Schwarz tells it like it is, with blistering clarity, anecdotes, statistics and humor, highlighting the points with her own illustrations.

The Asymmetric Warfare Group (AWG) serves as the United States Army’s global scouts. We leverage direct observations of the operational environment, emerging threat capabilities, and friendly gaps to advise the operational force. One of the threats we see on the horizon is that posed by Private Military Companies (PMCs). PMCs are proliferating worldwide and play an increasingly important role in conflict. Specifically, PMCs based in the Russian Federation have been active in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. They are of increasing concern to commanders worldwide.

Despite the high number of programs and their evident popularity, paranormal reality television has to date received little critical attention. Ghost Channels provides an overview of the paranormal reality television genre, its development, and its place in television history. Conducting in-depth analyses of over thirty paranormal television series, author Amy Lawrence suggests these programs reveal much about Americans' contemporary fears.

Second Lives takes us on a revelatory journey through the electronic looking glass as Tim Guest investigates one of the most bizarre phenomena of the 21st century: virtual lives.

Embark on the exploration of 'The Book of Odd,' delving into the intricacies of our small world. Each chapter unfolds to reveal the active role consciousness plays in shaping an ever-evolving universe. This narrative underscores the profound interdependence of life, casting us as co-authors in a grand cosmic story. Beyond contemplation, the tale carries a passionate message about our collective influence on the present moment, Right Now. It champions our ability to shape destinies, turning potential into tangible outcomes and emphasizing the inherent purpose within each of us.