Social Tests

In his 1997 work Guns, Germs, and Steel, American geography professor and environmental historian Jared Diamond looks to answer the question of why human history unfolded differently on different continents, and why power and wealth became distributed as they are.

Though written around 1513, more than 500 years ago, Italian diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince is still both widely listened to and very influential. Listeners turn to it for its direct advice on the question of how to attain - and retain - power. Machiavelli's answer, in brief: Use any means necessary to make sure the state survives.

Iranian American writer and scholar Hamid Dabashi wrote Iran: A People Interrupted amid the political fallout following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York - his adopted city - in 2001. As US President George W. Bush declared a "war on terror" and named Iran as part of an "axis of evil" that supported terrorism, Dabashi offered an insider's insight into the Iranian psyche.

What really happened when the world's two greatest superpowers went head to head during the Cold War? We Now Know is a major reappraisal of the struggle for political and ideological supremacy between the United States and the Soviet Union from 1945 to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

Published in 1990, The Anti-Politics Machine is American anthropologist James Ferguson's first book. It discusses international development projects: how they are conceived, researched, and put into practice. Importantly, it also looks at what these projects actually achieve. Ferguson is critical of the idea of development and argues that the process does not take enough account of the daily realities of the communities it is intended to benefit.

For anyone preparing for the USCIS Civics Test, "The Concise US Citizenship Test Study Guide Authorized for 2024-2025" is a crucial resource. This thorough reference, which offers succinct, understandable explanations of American history, politics, and civic values, is designed to assist applicants in navigating the challenging process of applying to become citizens of the United States.

In today’s era, we have experienced an epidemic of mumbo-jumbo as we see a rise in cults, gurus, irrational panics, and moral confusion. According to Francis Wheen, this mumbo-jumbo has conquered the world and created a society full of superstition, relativism, and emotional hysteria. We see this in Middle Eastern fundamentalism, the rise of lotteries, astrology and mysticism, poststructuralism, and the Third Way.

The Introductory Sociology CLEP Test Study Guide teaches you what you need to know to pass the CLEP test. This study guide is more than just some sample test questions. Our easy-to-understand study guide will teach you the information. We've condensed what you need to know into a manageable book - one that will leave you completely prepared to tackle the test.

Updated version of the US Citizenship Test Study Guide for 2021, for the USCIS civics naturalization test with all 100 questions and answers. In this audiobook, we will ask you the actual questions from the test. The citizenship test you’ll be taking is verbal, so we simulated the test as closely as possible. We will ask you the question out loud, as in the actual interview. Use this audiobook to study easily and boost your confidence to pass the actual test.

This audio study guide for Becoming a Learner, by Matthew L. Sanders, includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as college as an opportunity and the ability to use positive affirmation. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.

This is an audio summary of Homo Deus, a book that looks through the course of human history to predict future trends.

This audio study guide for The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as reparations for American slavery, white supremacy in the United States, and racial discrimination by the United States government. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.

In the current climate of racial tension and outcries for equality, why does talking about race seem so difficult? In Robin DiAngelo's best-selling book, White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, she takes on this difficult topic. In less than one hour, this summary will help you recall the key ideas if you already listened to the book or quickly grasp the key ideas from White Fragility if you're considering listening to it.

Part self-help guide and part social commentary, this witty expose takes a hard look at America’s obsession with consumerism, how it’s ruining our lives, and how we can eradicate this toxic behavior in ourselves. Employing the term “affluenza” to define our current state of obsession with materialism and the pursuit of wealth, de Graaf and Wann demonstrate how this form of cultural extremism is detrimental not only to our wallets, but to our hearts, relationships, and minds.

In Infinite Powers, Strogatz attempts to show us the link between the universe and calculus. Everything human civilization has created has been based on some form of calculus, including cellphones, radios, HIV drugs, and human genome technology. Strogatz makes a compelling argument that without integral and differential equations, there would be no modern civilization. Infinite Powers is a classic description of the history, development, and future of calculus, as well as the phenomenal mathematicians who mastered it.

Note: This is a summary and analysis of Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope and not the original book. If the world is statistically better off than ever before, then how come everything feels so f*cking terrible? This is the question Manson attempts to answer in his latest best-selling book, Everything Is F*cked.

In Digital Minimalism, author Cal Newport explains how you can experience a massive positive transformation in your life by ruthlessly cutting down on the time you spend online. Learn how to ditch the screen and get your life back.

Author and culture critic Ben Shapiro tells in no uncertain terms how Americans are ruining their nation by forsaking the values and virtues that their Founding Fathers believed in. If the people don’t stop being angry and ungrateful at the country that has offered them so much, then the struggle for America’s soul will be lost forever.

The Right Side of History: How Reason and Moral Purpose Made the West Great (2019) explains how Western nations used philosophical and religious values to create governments that protect individual liberty while encouraging collective action. Author Ben Shapiro argues that countries like the United States became prosperous because they adhered to two primary sources of moral and intellectual thought: Judeo-Christian values and ancient Greek reason...

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, delivered to the public in April 2019, is a lengthy 448 pages and spans two volumes. James Sandrino's summary distills the Mueller Report into its key information and analysis.