Publisher: Coach House Books
John Lorinc is the Toronto nonfiction editor at Coach House. He is also the recipient of the 2020 Fellowship from the Atkinson Foundation, a prestigious honor from an organization working for social and economic justice.
An astonishing window into the inner world of plants, and the cutting-edge science in plant intelligence. Decades of research document plants' impressive abilities: they communicate with one another, manipulate other species, and move in sophisticated ways. Lesser known, however, is the new evidence that plants may actually be sentient. Although plants may not have brains, their microscopic commerce exposes a system not unlike the neuronal networks running through our own bodies. They can learn and remember, possessing an intelligence that allows them to behave in adaptive, flexible, anticipatory, and goal-directed ways. A leading figure in the philosophy of plant signaling and behavior, Paco Calvo offers an entirely new perspective on plant biology. In Planta Sapiens, he shows for the first time how we can use tools developed in animal cognition studies in a quest to deeply understand plant intelligence. He illuminates how plants inspire technological advancements: from robotics and AI to tackling the ecological crisis. Most importantly, he demonstrates that plants are neither objects nor resources; they are agents in themselves, and for themselves.Show book
Quebec’s political struggle for autonomy, independence, and the protection of its language, culture, and heritage is shrouded in ambiguity. Let us shed some light on the subject for you. Why have the province’s linguistic and cultural tensions dragged on for nearly four hundred years? In what ways does it differ from the rest of Canada? Did indigenous peoples play a key role in shaping the province’s identity and culture? For what reasons did Quebec’s two sovereigntist referendums fail? And what was the Quiet Revolution? The historic rivalry between Britain and France was an intense, long-standing geopolitical struggle. Relations between the empires cooled at the dawn of the modern age. Today, the nations are close allies, but the embers of Franco-Anglo strife still burn at the core of Quebec society. While Francophone nationalists stress the importance of enacting linguistic and cultural protection laws, Quebecois Anglophones and other non-Francophones claim to be increasingly marginalized by the laws and ideologies of a society ravaged by mass cultural anxiety. So, what is the truth? This audiobook seeks to untangle the storied history and complexities of Canada’s rebel province. It attempts to make sense of how a province of one of the world’s most progressive countries continues to ignite conflict between its French- and English-speaking communities. Some of what this audiobook examines includes the following: The early indigenous civilizations and their rapid transformations after establishing European contact;The rise of the cod and fur trade and the eventual integration of the Americas into European trade networks; If you’d like to discover more about Quebec and make sense of Quebecois society, scroll up and click the “add to cart” button!Show book
John Milton is renowned for his poetry, yet during most of his lifetime he was best known as a writer of prose, both celebrated and denounced for his fiery polemics in an era of religious and political controversy, radical pamphleteering and civil war. This annotated edition of his major English prose writings includes Milton's tractates in favour of divorce, on progressive education, in defence of the execution of Charles I and the new Republican state, and Areopagitica, his famous attack on censorship and call for a free press. Rhetorical, powerful, heterodox, these are monuments to the ideals of liberty and free speech from a master of English prose.Show book
This book embarks on a journey into the heart of the American experience, exploring the enduring legacies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X within the complex social and political landscape of contemporary America. While their methods differed dramatically, their shared aspiration for a more just and equitable future for Black Americans remains undeniably powerful. We examine how the philosophies of these two iconic figures offer not only valuable historical insights but also actionable pathways for navigating present-day challenges. The rise of racial tensions under the Trump administration, fueled by divisive rhetoric and policies, serves as a stark reminder of the persistent struggle for racial justice and equality. The book considers how the policies and pronouncements of figures such as Donald Trump and Elon Musk have exacerbated existing inequalities, underscoring the critical need to confront systemic racism. We delve into the ways in which both King's vision of integration and Malcolm X's advocacy for Black empowerment offer complementary yet ultimately convergent strategies to address systemic racism and inequality in 2025 and beyond. This exploration is not simply an academic exercise but a call to action, urging readers to engage with the past in order to forge a more just and equitable future.Show book
What makes sex magnificent? What are the qualities of extraordinary erotic intimacy and what are the elements that help to bring it about? Is great sex the stuff that people remember nostalgically from the "honeymoon" phase of their relationships, or can sex improve over time? Magnificent Sex is based on the largest, in-depth interview study ever conducted with people who are having extraordinary sex. It gathers the nuggets for remarkable sex from the "experts," distilling them into an attainable blueprint for ordinary lovers who want to make erotic intimacy grow over the course of a lifetime. Looking at factors including individual and relational qualities, empathic communication, and the myths and realities of magnificent sex, this book offers accessible and evidence-based guidance for lovers and therapists alike. It is replete with frank and often humorous interviews with straight and LGBTQ individuals and couples, those who are "vanilla" and "kinky," monogamous and consensually non-monogamous and healthy and chronically ill. This illuminating book explores the implications of the findings to develop a model that effectively tackles the common problems of low desire and frequency. The "cure" for low desire is to create desirable sex! Contains mature themes.Show book
An eye-opening exploration of the medical origins of gender in modern US history. Today, a world without “gender” is hard to imagine. Gender is at the center of contentious political and social debates, shapes policy decisions, and informs our everyday lives. Its formulation, however, is lesser known: Gender was first used in clinical practice. This book tells the story of the invention of gender in American medicine, detailing how it was shaped by mid-twentieth-century American notions of culture, personality, and social engineering. Sandra Eder shows how the concept of gender transformed from a pragmatic tool in the sex assignment of children with intersex traits in the 1950s to an essential category in clinics for transgender individuals in the 1960s. Following gender outside the clinic, she reconstructs the variable ways feminists integrated gender into their theories and practices in the 1970s. The process by which ideas about gender became medicalized, enforced, and popularized was messy, and the route by which gender came to be understood and applied through the treatment of patients with intersex traits was fraught and contested. In historicizing the emergence of the sex/gender binary, Eder reveals the role of medical practice in developing a transformative idea and the interdependence between practice and wider social norms that inform the attitudes of physicians and researchers. She shows that ideas like gender can take on a life of their own and may be used to question the normative perceptions they were based on. Illuminating and deeply researched, the book closes a notable gap in the history of gender and will inspire current debates on the relationship between social norms and medical practice.Show book
