Other books that might interest you

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  Beauty in the Escape

  Lena Nguyen

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  Hailing from a small village in the beautiful land of Vietnam, young Lena enjoys living out her simple existence. Her world revolves around her grandma, siblings, school, and all her village friends, until one day, when a detonating bomb announced the beginning of a devastation that would go down in history—The Vietnam War. Having never known her father and being estranged from her mother, who resides in the US with her American husband, she soon finds herself fighting the treacherous waters of the sea in a small boat, seeking refuge from the war with a daunting task glowering down at her—starting a new life in a foreign land, under the care of her estranged mother no less. Lena recounts all her doubts, insecurities, and challenges, including her near brush-ins with death itself in this book, hoping to motivate others through her story of sheer grit and determination to survive all odds and build a better life.

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  Democracy - A Guided Tour

  Jason Brennan

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  In this short, accessible book, leading democratic theorist Jason Brennan guides listeners through the evolution of the concept of democracy and actual democratic practice over time to help them understand the foundations of this longstanding and yet newly fragile political system. 
   
   
   
  In his wide-ranging tour of the concept, Brennan will examine what democracy meant to the Greeks who first developed the concept before examining how it changed throughout European and later Western history. This will open up rich and perplexing questions. Over time, democracy shifted from being a fringe idea to the gold standard of political institutions: how did this change occur? How did the question of who counts as part of the ruling "people" change over time? As monarchies were replaced with democracies, what did theorists think the promises and perils of republican democracy were? How did actual democratic practice change the debates? What have we learned about how democracy functions—and in some cases, doesn't function—and what does this mean for future philosophical or empirical work? Brennan provides a curated, guided tour of the most important arguments for and against democracy, looking through the core values of stability, virtue, wisdom, freedom, and equality. The goal is to help listeners understand what is really at stake in democracy and its alternatives.

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  Off-White - The Truth About...

  Rachel Shabi

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  Why can't we talk about antisemitism? 
   
   
   
  As claims of antisemitism continue to distort our politics at home and abroad, it has become almost impossible to talk about constructively, even in private. Instead, we find ourselves in a storm of misinformation, political mudslinging, and bad-faith accusations. 
   
   
   
  There is, however, a way to deliberate more honestly. Looking beyond our polarizing headlines and interrogating the reasons racism takes hold, Off-White offers urgent analysis of one of the most divisive issues of our time. Taking in the contingency of whiteness, Judeo-Christian mythmaking, pro-Israel antisemitism, and the Palestinian struggle against colonialism, Rachel Shabi lights a hopeful way forward.

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  Hereafter - The Telling Life of...

  Vona Groarke

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  A lyrical portrait of a young Irish woman reinventing herself at the turn of the twentieth century in America. 
   
   
   
  In July 1882, Ellen O'Hara stepped off a ship from the West of Ireland to begin a new life in New York. What she encountered was a world of casual racial prejudice that characterized her as ignorant, dirty, and feckless, the butt of many jokes. From the slim range of jobs available to her she, like, many of her kind, found a position as a domestic servant, working long hours and living in to save on rent and keep. After an unfortunate marriage, Ellen determined to win financial security on her own, and eventually opened a boarding house where her two children were able to rejoin her. 
   
   
   
  Vona Groarke builds this story from historical fact, drawing from various archives for evidence of Ellen. However, she also considers why lives such as Ellen's seem to leave such a light trace in such records and fills in the gaps with memory and empathetic projection. Ellen—scrappy, skeptical, and straight-talking—is the heroine of Hereafter, whose resilience animates the story and whose voice shines through with vivid clarity. Hereafter is both a compelling account of an incredible figure and a reflection on how one woman's story can speak for more than one life.

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  150 Year Laurie Problem (Little...

  Niina Niskanen, Emily Lau

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  Emily and I combined our powers and had an in-depth chat about Laurie Lawrence, his character arc and the lack of it in every-single-little-women adaptation. In the novel, Laurie starts out as a very idle and sometimes pretty misogynistic figure and it is thanks to Amy he becomes a better person, but these elements of him are not in the adaptations. 
  Friedrich Bhaer is based on philosopher Henry David Thoreau. Louisa was in love with him and he appears in literal disguise in all of her novels. He is also based on Alcott's favourite writer, the German poet Goethe. Unlike Greta Gerwig lies to millions of people, Jo and Friedrich never argue in the book, and Friedrich is the one who helps her to become a writer. Laurie is partially based on Alcott's ex, Laddie Wisniewski, and her friend Alf Whitman. She had a maternal relationship with both of these men who were younger than she. One of the goals of the Little Women podcast is to examine these relationships, and how Little Women adaptations ignore their significance. 150 year Laurie problem was the first episode of the Little Women podcast and it has become one of my most downloaded episodes. I am very humbled and happy about this. I do think it is imporant that film industry would pay more attention to his character. I hope you enjoy this chat between Emily and I. 
  Please notice that this is a short-form book, based on a podcast episode. 
  Little Women Podcast is an ongoing series of video essays, articles and podcast episodes that examines the intersections in Louisa May Alcott´s Little Women. 
  Hosted by Alcott essayist Niina Niskanen. Regular visits from literal scholars and Little Women fans.

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  The Dreamkeepers - Successful...

  Gloria Ladson-Billings

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  Discover how to give African American children the education they deserve with this updated new resource 
   
   
   
  In the newly revised Third Edition of The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children, distinguished professor Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings delivers an encouraging exploration of the future of education for African American students. She describes eight exemplary teachers, all of whom differ in their personal style and methods, who share an approach to teaching that affirms and strengthens cultural identity. 
   
    
   
  In this mixture of scholarship and storytelling, you'll learn how to create intellectually rigorous and culturally relevant classrooms that have the power to improve the lives of all children. This important book teaches: what successful teachers do, don't do, and what we can learn from them; why it's so important for teachers to work with the unique strengths each student brings to the classroom; and how to improve educational outcomes for African American children across the country. Perfect for teachers, parents, school leaders, and administrators, The Dreamkeepers will also earn a place in the libraries of school boards, professors of education, and urban sociologists, as well as anyone with an interest in issues of race and education.

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