Showing results by narrator "Peter Lerman" in All Categories

By placing the reader at the heart of the American counterinsurgency effort, Grindle reveals little-known incidents, including the failure of expensive aid programs to target local needs, the slow throttling of local government as official funds failed to reach the districts, and the United States’ inexplicable failure to empower the Afghan local officials even after they succeeded in bringing the people onto their side. Grindle presents the side of the hard-working Afghans who won the war and expresses what they really thought of the U.S. military and its decisions. Written by a former field officer for the U.S. Agency for International Development, this story of dashed hopes and missed opportunities details how America’s desire to leave the war behind ultimately overshadowed its desire to sustain victory.

An amusing story about two elderly men who stumble upon an unusual way to make money by creating a new religion. Jack and David are the main characters--both about 80 years old. Their unique plan to get rich unfolds one morning when they're sitting on their beach chairs in Florida lamenting the limited income they receive from Social Security and want more.

The hate is deep. The death is slow. The cause is silent. You know that Atlanta PD has given up on a case when they call in Dr. Damon Keane. The sleuth scientist is quietly famous in forensic circles for unraveling the most daunting technical puzzles, but this case is bewildering. Two people are already dead. The third victim, a priest, is dying by inches in an Atlanta hospital, and the cause is a complete mystery to doctors and detectives alike.

I'm here to tell you that manipulation is an important social tool that can bring you immense benefits. That is exactly what I want to talk to you about in this book. Manipulation can be incredibly helpful, and I can show you how to use it and why, as well as open your eyes to the malicious manipulation of others and teach you how to deal with it.

Race has provided the rationale and excuse for some of the worst atrocities in human history. Yet, according to many biologists, physical anthropologists, and geneticists, there is no valid scientific justification for the concept of race. To be more precise, although there is clearly some physical basis for the variations that underlie perceptions of race, clear boundaries among "races" remain highly elusive from a purely biological standpoint.

Career paths are often determined by what is available in the job market, leaving people unsatisfied with their careers. Tiger in the Office: How to Capitalize on Opportunity and Launch Your Career puts to use lessons learned by entrepreneurs in order to push you towards your next step, rediscover buried career goals, and learn to take action towards them and pursue not just professional success, but true professional fulfillment.

In Saving Our Cities, William W. Goldsmith shows how cities can be places of opportunity rather than places with problems. With strongly revived cities and suburbs, working as places that serve all their residents, metropolitan areas will thrive, thus making the national economy more productive, the environment better protected, the citizenry better educated, and the society more reflective, sensitive, and humane.

One of the biggest problems with modern democracy is that most of the public is usually ignorant of politics and government. Many people understand that their votes are unlikely to change the outcome of an election and don't see the point in learning much about politics. This creates a nation of people with little political knowledge and little ability to objectively evaluate what they do know.

Strategically situated at the gateway to the Mississippi River yet standing atop a former swamp, New Orleans was from the first what geographer Peirce Lewis called an "impossible but inevitable city". How New Orleans came to be, taking shape between the mutual and often contradictory forces of nature and urban development, is the subject of An Unnatural Metropolis.

He was raised in a liberal Jewish home with a strong emphasis on civil rights and social justice. So to Glen Feigman, there was no question that Dr. King's speech would be the catalyst for a brighter future; one in which children would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Now, in the year 2011, Glen is an out gay man living in the city of Chicago. But when he, along with his elderly mother, witnesses one of many violent attacks plaguing his hometown, he begins reflecting on his past and childhood...

For decades the suburbs have been where art happens despite: despite the conformity, the emptiness, the sameness. Time and again, the story is one of gems formed under pressure and that resentment of the suburbs is the key ingredient for creative transcendence. But what if, contrary to that, the suburb has actually been an incubator for distinctly American art, as positively and as surely as in any other cultural hothouse?

Scrutinizing house dust and air samples with a microscope, indoor-air-quality expert Jeffrey C. May has spent his career helping people identify what's causing their chronic health problems. In this thoroughly revised edition of My House Is Killing Me! Jeff and Connie May draw on the dramatic personal stories of their clients' suffering and relief to help listeners understand the links between environmental factors and human health.

George Washington is remembered for leading the Continental Army to victory, presiding over the Constitution, and forging a new nation, but few know the story of his involvement in the establishment of a capital city and how it nearly tore the United States apart. In George Washington's Final Battle, Robert P. Watson brings this tale to life, telling how the country's first president tirelessly advocated for a capital on the shores of the Potomac.

Early Americans were suspicious of centralized authority and executive power. Casting away the yoke of England and its king, the founding fathers shared in this distrust as they set out to pen the Constitution. Weighing a need for consolidated leadership with a demand for states' rights, they established a large federal republic with limited dominion over the states. This Very Short Introduction audiobook provides a concise overview of federalism, from its origins and evolution to the key events and constitutional decisions that have defined its framework.

Don't Forget Me tells the story of Steve's two sons, Chris and Kelly, who took distinctly different paths to the same outcome: death by overdose. Steve reveals not only a highlight reel of the things he got right but takes an honest look at the mistakes he made along the way to help other parents avoid those same mistakes. Don't Forget Me offers time-tested, practical suggestions to assure family members of those struggling with substance abuse they have not lost their mind and encourages them to find hope-even on the darkest days.

While certainly flawed in many aspects - the New Deal was implemented by a Democratic Party still beholden to the segregationist South for its majorities in Congress and the Electoral College - the New Deal was instated at a time of mass unemployment and the rise of fascistic government models and functioned as a bulwark of American democracy in hard times. This book looks at how this legacy, both for good and ill, informs the current debates around governmental responses to crises.

Thanks to the popularity of personal genetic testing services, it's now easier than ever to get information about our own unique DNA - but who does this information really benefit? And, as genome editing and gene therapy transform the healthcare landscape, what do we gain - and what might we give up in return?

Ballot box voting is often considered the essence of political freedom. But it has two major shortcomings: individual voters have little chance of making a difference, and they also face strong incentives to remain ignorant about the issues at stake. "Voting with your feet", however, avoids both of these pitfalls and offers a wider range of choices. In Free to Move, Ilya Somin explains how broadening opportunities for foot voting can greatly enhance political liberty for millions of people around the world.

The essential handbook for doing historical research in the 21st century, The Princeton Guide to Historical Research provides students, scholars, and professionals with the skills they need to practice the historian's craft in the digital age, while never losing sight of the fundamental values and techniques that have defined historical scholarship for centuries.

In today's corporate world, 87 percent of companies fail to successfully execute the strategy they set for any given year. In this book, CEO mentor and coach Dan Prosser tells you how to make your company one of the other 13 percent. In the process, he explains that the true challenge of building a great company - one that consistently executes its strategy - is understanding the real nature of human interaction and the key to success: connectedness.