Title search results
Showing 1 - 20 of 1246 items
The Routledge Handbook of Mega-Sporting Events and Human Rights (Routledge International Handbooks)
By William Rook, Daniela Heerdt, Shubham Jain. 2024
The Routledge Handbook of Mega-Sporting Events and Human Rights is the first book to explore in depth the topic of…
mega-sporting events (MSEs) and human rights, offering accounts of adverse human rights impacts linked to MSEs while considering the potential for promoting human rights in and through the framework of these events.Drawing on the contributions of an international group of leading researchers, practitioners and advocates, the book introduces key concepts in human rights and considers how they relate to ethical, social, managerial and governance issues in contemporary MSEs, from inclusion and welfare to corruption and sustainability. It examines the role of key stakeholders in the delivery of MSEs, including organising committees, sport governing bodies, governments, athletes, sponsors and broadcasters, as well as the role of activists and advocates, and presents historical and contemporary case studies of human rights as an active issue in MSEs. The book provides new perspectives on human rights as a lens for understanding modern sport and as a guiding principle for responsible sport that protects the interests of individuals and communities, as well as offering guidance on best practice.It is essential reading for all advanced students, researchers, practitioners, policymakers and stakeholders with an interest in organisation and delivery of MSEs, as well as general sport management, sport policy, sport governance, the ethics of sport, event management, political science, development studies, ethical business or the significance of sport in wider society.Always Faithful: A Story of the War in Afghanistan, the Fall of Kabul, and the Unshakable Bond Between a Marine and an Interpreter
By Thomas Schueman, Zainullah Zaki. 2022
Band of Brothers meets Argo in this dramatic and heartfelt dual memoir of the war in Afghanistan told by two men from opposite…
worlds. Always Faithful entwines the stories of Marine Major Tom Schueman, and his friend and Afghan interpreter, Zainullah “Zak” Zaki, as they describe their parallel lives, converging paths, and unbreakable bond in the face of overwhelming danger, culminating in Zak and his family’s harrowing escape from Kabul. In August of 2021, just days shy of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, America ended its longest war. The speed of the Afghanistan’s fall was so stunning that thousands of Afghan citizens who had helped American forces over the course of two decades—and had been promised visas in return—were suddenly stranded, in extreme, imminent danger. As the world watched the shocking scenes of desperation at the Kabul airport in the final two weeks of August, Maj. Tom Schueman fought—both behind the scenes and through a social media campaign—to get his friend and former Afghan interpreter, Zak, out of Afghanistan before he and his family were discovered by the Taliban. When Zak and his family finally took off from the airport mere days before the US left the country, the years-long effort to get Zak to America culminated in two simple words on Instagram: “Wheels up.”Now in Always Faithful, Tom and Zak tell the full story of the divergent paths that led them to Afghanistan, the dangerous road they walked together in service to America, and how their commitment to each other ended up saving them both. Brilliantly told in Tom’s and Zak’s alternating first person voices, Always Faithful tracks the parallel lives of these two men who each spent their childhoods in fear, peril, and poverty, and turned to war in attempt to build a meaningful future. On an inevitable course towards each other, their lives dovetail in Afghanistan’s deadly Helmand Valley, where they formed a brotherhood that transcends even the most overwhelming of odds, eventually culminating in Zak’s harrowing, eleventh-hour rescue.The end result is an intensely personal and uniquely ground-level account of Tom and Zak’s experience, Always Faithful gives readers a 360-degree view of the war. At once provocative and heart pounding, their stories together form a microcosm of the complicated and lasting effects of America’s longest war. Through their eyes and their experiences, they challenge readers to explore the legacy of the war for American and Afghan citizens alike, as we all collectively seek to understand whether twenty years of war was worth the price.Rick Steves Best of Italy
By Rick Steves. 0310
Hit Italy's can't-miss art, sights, and bites in two weeks or less with Rick Steves Best of Italy!Strategic advice from…
Rick Steves on what's worth your time and money Two-day itineraries covering Venice, the Cinque Terre, Florence, the Hill Towns of Central Italy, Rome, Naples, Sorrento, and the Amalfi Coast Rick's tips for beating the crowds, skipping lines, and avoiding tourist traps The best local culture, flavors, and more, including insightful walks through museums, historic sights, and atmospheric neighborhoods Trip planning strategies like how to link destinations and design your itinerary, what to pack, where to stay, and how to get around Over 500 full-color pages with detailed maps and vibrant photos throughout Suggestions for day trips to Milan, Lake Como, Pisa, Verona, and Padua Experience Italy's Old World romance and New World excitement for yourself with Rick Steves Best of Italy! Planning a longer trip? Pick up Rick Steves Italy, an in-depth guide perfect for spending more than two weeks exploring Italy.Rick Steves Best of Europe (Rick Steves Travel Guide)
By Rick Steves. 1982
Hit Europe's can't-miss art, sights, and bites with Rick Steves Best of Europe!Expert advice from Rick Steves on what's worth…
your time and money Itineraries for one to four days in the top destinations in England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and SwitzerlandRick's tips for beating the crowds, skipping lines, and avoiding tourist traps The best of local culture, flavors, and haunts, including walks through the most interesting neighborhoods and museums Trip planning strategies like how to link destinations and design your itinerary, what to pack, where to stay, and how to get around Over 100 full-color maps and vibrant photosCoverage of London, Paris, Provence, the French Riviera, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, the Swiss Alps/Berner Oberland, Munich, Rothenberg and the Romantic Road, the Rhine Valley, Berlin, and Amsterdam Experience the best of Europe with Rick Steves!Building Urban Resilience: Singapore’s Policy Response to Covid-19 (Routledge Research in Sustainable Planning and Development in Asia)
By J. J. Woo, Debbie R. Loo. 2024
This is one of the first few books to discuss the Covid-19 crisis as an urban phenomenon and illustrates this…
through the case of Singapore and its pandemic response efforts.The book describes the implications and impacts of the pandemic on Singapore’s urban landscape, economy, and society. It also assesses the urban interventions that have emerged in response to the pandemic. It examines the spatial implications and challenges of delineating safe distancing in various public and commercial spaces and evaluates the effectiveness of these interventions. The book also explains how Singapore’s smart city capabilities help with its Covid-19 response.This book will be of great interest to urban planners, healthcare professionals, and policymakers across the world, particularly those who are hoping to learn from the success and limitations of Singapore’s Covid-19 responses.How Migrants Choose their Destinations: Factors Influencing Post-EU Accession Choices and Decisions to Remain (ISSN)
By Dominika Pszczółkowska. 2024
This book reveals how decisions regarding where to migrate are made, what factors are considered, how these change over time…
and why some destinations are more attractive to certain categories of people.Based on rich existent, and new data, the book explains the destination choices of Polish migrants to the four most frequently chosen destinations countries: the UK, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands. Examined through a sophisticated theoretical framework allowing for the incorporation of factors resulting from several fields – economics, public policies, demography – and migration theories, it paints a nuanced and balanced picture of European migration.This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of migration studies, Central and Eastern European politics, and more broadly to sociology, political science, social geography and international relations.Catherine the Great (Profiles In Power Ser.)
By Simon Dixon. 2002
“[A] superb biography….Scholarly, refreshing, commonsensical, and compelling, vividly portraying the charismatic Empress and her times.”—Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of SashenkaSimon…
Dixon’s Catherine the Great is a complete and revealing portrait of an extraordinary leader, chronicling her rise to power and her remarkable reign as empress of Russia. Catherine Merridale, author of Ivan’s War, calls this definitive history, “attractive, engaging, and very intelligent….Established fans of the Russian empress will find plenty of new material and those who are meeting her for the first time will be dazzled.”Crossing Lines: Cross-Ethnic Coalitions in India and Prospects for Minority Representation
By Madhavi Devasher. 2024
This book explains why, how, and where ethnic political parties unexpectedly seek votes from non-coethnics and when voters support non-coethnic…
parties. It draws on case studies of three Indian states (Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan) and of Indian national elections to demonstrate how differences in party systems impact political party strategies and voter choices. It shows that multipolar party systems encourage political parties to provide physical security, representation, and economic benefits for minorities, especially Muslims, in India and as a result, foster cross-ethnic links between parties and voters. However, as political arenas become dominated by two or even one party, advocacy for the interests of marginalized groups declines, weakening cross-ethnic linkages. The book thus explains why representation and advocacy for Muslims in Uttar Pradesh and at the national level has alternated dramatically in the 21st century. Based on original fieldwork and supplemented by existing surveys and secondary sources from the 1990s to the present day, the book addresses critical themes such as inclusion and substantive representation in a democracy, caste and minority politics, ethnic violence, and inter-ethnic linkages between politicians and voters. Demonstrating why political parties support and protect the interests of marginalized ethnic groups in certain political conditions but not others, the volume also speaks to larger questions of the health of multiethnic democracies and democratic backsliding around the world.Cover Up: What the Government Is Still Hiding About the War on Terror
By Peter Lance. 2004
Ever since 9/11, investigative reporter Peter Lance has been leading the fight to expose the intelligence gaps that led to…
9/11. Now, in the follow-up to his bestselling 1000 Years for Revenge, he returns with devastating new evidence that the government has been covering up its own counterterror failures since the mid-1990s -- and continues today.In Cover Up, Lance shows how the government chose again and again to sacrifice America's national security for personal motives and political convenience. In its first half, he unveils shattering new evidence that terror mastermind Ramzi Yousef ordered the bombing of TWA 800 from his prison cell in order to effect a mistrial in his own terror bombing case. Astonishingly, the FBI was alerted to Yousef's plans in advance by a prison informant who even passed along his detailed sketch of a bomb-trigger device -- a document seen here for the first time. And Lance reveals the shocking reason the Justice Department suddenly ruled the crash anaccident despite overwhelming evidence of the bombing -- throwing away its best chance to penetrate the cell that was already planning 9/11.And the outrage doesn't stop there. In Part II, Lance offers an unofficial "minority report" on the 9/11 Commission, critiquing it as the incomplete, highly politicized "Warren Commission of our time." He explores potential conflicts of interest among its members, from the staff director who wrote a book with Condoleezza Rice, to the former Clinton deputy attorney general who participated in a critical meeting that upended the TWA probe. He exposes the report's false contention that the 9/11 plan was conceived in 1996, when the FBI had knowledge that the plot was in motion as early as 1994. And, in a heart-stopping, minute-by-minute chronicle of the attacks, he asks dozens of unanswered questions about the defense failures of that day -- from why fighter jets weren't scrambled for almost an hour after the hijackings, to why the president and several of his top military advisers remained virtually incommunicado for more than half an hour after it was clear that America was under attack.At a time when America feels no safer than ever, Cover Up will lend new eyes to readers who want the full story behind the 9/11 attacks -- and inspire us all to keep demanding the truth.The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics
By Steve Benen. 2020
NATIONAL BESTSELLER, updated with a new afterword“This is the definitive account of what has gone wrong in our two-party system,…
and how our democracy has to adapt to survive it. I can't say it in strong enough terms: Read. This. Book.” —RACHEL MADDOWThe award-winning producer of The Rachel Maddow Show exposes the Republican Party as a gang of impostors, meticulously documenting how they have abandoned their duty to govern and are gravely endangering AmericaFor decades, American voters innocently assumed the two major political parties were equally mature and responsible governing entities, ideological differences aside. That belief is due for an overhaul: in recent years, the Republican Party has undergone an astonishing metamorphosis, one so baffling and complete that few have fully reckoned with the reality and its consequences.Republicans, simply put, have quit governing. As MSNBC's Steve Benen charts in his groundbreaking new book, the contemporary GOP has become a "post-policy party." Republicans are effectively impostors, presenting themselves as officials who are ready to take seriously the substance of problem solving, but whose sole focus is the pursuit and maintenance of power. Astonishingly, they are winning–at the cost of pushing the political system to the breaking point.Despite having billed itself as the "party of ideas," the Republican Party has walked away from the hard but necessary work of policymaking. It is disdainful of expertise and hostile toward evidence and arithmetic. It is tethered to few, if any, meaningful policy preferences. It does not know, and does not care, about how competing proposals should be crafted, scrutinized, or implemented. This policy nihilism dominated the party's posture throughout Barack Obama's presidency, which in turn opened the door to Donald Trump -- who would cement the GOP's post-policy status in ways that were difficult to even imagine a few years earlier.The implications of this approach to governance are all-encompassing. Voters routinely elect Republicans such as Mitch McConnell and Ted Cruz to powerful offices, expecting GOP policymakers to have the technocratic wherewithal to identify problems, weigh alternative solutions, forge coalitions, accept compromises, and apply some level of governmental competence, if not expertise. The party has consistently proven those hopes misguided.The result is an untenable political model that's undermining the American policymaking process and failing to serve the public's interests. The vital challenge facing the civil polity is coming to terms with the party's collapse as a governing entity and considering what the party can do to find its policymaking footing anew.The Impostors serves as a devastating indictment of the GOP's breakdown, identifying the culprits, the crisis, and its effects, while challenging Republicans with an imperative question: Are they ready to change direction? As Benen writes, "A great deal is riding on their answer."Rice, Noodle, Fish: Deep Travels Through Japan's Food Culture
By Matt Goulding. 2015
Finalist for the 2016 IACP Awards: Literary Food WritingAn innovative new take on the travel guide, Rice, Noodle, Fish decodes…
Japan's extraordinary food culture through a mix of in-depth narrative and insider advice, along with 195 color photographs. In this 5000-mile journey through the noodle shops, tempura temples, and teahouses of Japan, Matt Goulding, co-creator of the enormously popular Eat This, Not That! book series, navigates the intersection between food, history, and culture, creating one of the most ambitious and complete books ever written about Japanese culinary culture from the Western perspective.Written in the same evocative voice that drives the award-winning magazine Roads & Kingdoms, Rice, Noodle, Fish explores Japan's most intriguing culinary disciplines in seven key regions, from the kaiseki tradition of Kyoto and the sushi masters of Tokyo to the street food of Osaka and the ramen culture of Fukuoka. You won't find hotel recommendations or bus schedules; you will find a brilliant narrative that interweaves immersive food journalism with intimate portraits of the cities and the people who shape Japan's food culture.This is not your typical guidebook. Rice, Noodle, Fish is a rare blend of inspiration and information, perfect for the intrepid and armchair traveler alike. Combining literary storytelling, indispensable insider information, and world-class design and photography, the end result is the first ever guidebook for the new age of culinary tourism.The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America
By Jim Acosta. 2019
A New York Times bestseller.From CNN’s veteran Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta, an explosive, first-hand account of the dangers he faces…
reporting on the current White House while fighting on the front lines in President Trump’s war on truth, featuring new material exclusive to the paperback edition. In Mr. Trump’s campaign against what he calls “Fake News,” CNN Chief White House Correspondent, Jim Acosta, is public enemy number one. From the moment Mr. Trump announced his candidacy in 2015, he has attacked the media, calling journalists “the enemy of the people.”Acosta presents a damning examination of bureaucratic dysfunction, deception, and the unprecedented threat the rhetoric Mr. Trump is directing has on our democracy. When the leader of the free world incites hate and violence, Acosta doesn’t back down, and he urges his fellow citizens to do the same.At Mr. Trump’s most hated network, CNN, Acosta offers a never-before-reported account of what it’s like to be the President’s most hated correspondent. Acosta goes head-to-head with the White House, even after Trump supporters have threatened his life with words as well as physical violence.From the hazy denials and accusations meant to discredit the Mueller investigation, to the president’s scurrilous tweets, Jim Acosta is in the eye of the storm while reporting live to millions of people across the world. After spending hundreds of hours with the revolving door of White House personnel, Acosta paints portraits of the personalities of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Sean Spicer, Hope Hicks, Jared Kushner and more. Acosta is tenacious and unyielding in his public battle to preserve the First Amendment and #RealNews.La gestion migratoire est un imaginaire qui préconise l’ouverture régulée face aux migrations internationales. Il réduit leur complexité pour les…
rendre intelligibles, les gouverner d’une manière dépolitisée et technocratique, et pour perpétuer les flux de la mondialisation. Mais en l’absence d’un régime international de la migration, la gestion migratoire est concurrencée par les imaginaires de la sécurisation et de la libéralisation des migrations. Sa sédimentation durable dépend alors de la construction matérielle de ses interprétations à travers des institutions. Pour comprendre cette évolution de la gestion migratoire de l’interprétation à la construction, cet ouvrage retrace les trois moments de son émergence, de sa sélection et de son maintien au sein de l’Organisation internationale pour la migration (OIM). Cette institution clé de la gouvernance migratoire a été marquée du début des années 2000 à 2018 par l’extension de son rôle et de ses activités à l’aune de la gestion migratoire. Cet ouvrage mobilise une approche qui mêle économie politique culturelle et analyse critique du discours pour examiner l’évolution d’un imaginaire à partir de l’interaction entre production de sens, capacité d’action des acteurs sociaux, structuration du contexte institutionnel, et technologies gouvernementales. Fort de l’analyse de réunions et documents de l’OIM, l’ouvrage révèle comment divers fonctionnaires internationaux, diplomates et experts ont formulé, diffusé, matérialisé ou encore contesté la gestion migratoire. L’étude de cet imaginaire permet de comprendre la transformation de l’OIM et son rôle dans la constitution d’une nouvelle gouvernance migratoire suite à l’adoption en 2018 du Pacte mondial pour les migrations.New from Broadside Books' Voices of the Tea Party. As a child, Mark Lloyd's grandmother always told him that he…
was a descendant of Patrick Henry. Though he's still trying to document the connection, he likes to believe that he is guided by Henry's spirit. As a resident of Campbell County, Virginia—the county of Henry's final homestead—Lloyd follows Henry's example every day, dedicating his life to ensure the liberty Henry fought for would be passed on to his own children and grandchildren. As an active grassroots Tea Party participant in the political elections in Virginia's 2010 Fifth Congressional District, Lloyd describes the Republican primary battles between the tea party and Establishment Republicans, the somewhat awkward General Election alliance between the two, and the challenge of holding the victor of the General Election—an Establishment Republican who defeated an incumbent Democrat only with tea party support—accountable to the principles that brought him to Washington in January of 2011.Grape, Olive, Pig: Deep Travels Through Spain's Food Culture
By Matt Goulding. 2016
Winner of the 2017 IACP Award: Literary or Historical Food WritingGourmand World Cookbook Award Winner: Culinary TravelAmazon Best Book of…
November (2016): Cookbooks, Food and WineFinancial Times Best Books of 2017: Food and Travel"Goulding is pioneering a new type of writing about food. His last book, Rice, Noodle, Fish,took an immersive approach to Japan that combined travel, social observation and food lore. His new book on Spain offers little cooking advice but an inquisitive foodie intellectual's experience." (Financial Times)Crafted in the same “refreshing” (AP), “inspirational” (Publishers Weekly) and “impeccably observed” (Eater.com) style that drove Rice, Noodle, Fish, Roads & Kingdoms again presents a book that will change the way readers eat and travel abroad. The second in their series of unexpected and delightful gastro-tourism books, Grape, Olive, Pig is a deeply personal exploration of a country where eating and living are inextricably linked. As Anthony Bourdain said: “Any reasonable, sentient person who looks to Spain, comes to Spain, eats in Spain, drinks in Spain, they’re gonna fall in love. Otherwise, there’s something deeply wrong with you.”Matt Goulding introduces you to the sprawling culinary and geographical landscape of his adoptive home, and offers an intimate portrait of this multifaceted country, its remarkable people, and its complex history. Fall in love with Barcelona’s tiny tapas bars and modernist culinary temples. Explore the movable feast of small plates and late nights in Madrid. Join the three-thousand-year-old hunt for Bluefin tuna off the coast of Cadiz, then continue your seafood journey north to meet three sisters who risk their lives foraging the gooseneck barnacle, one of Spain’s most treasured ingredients. Delight in some of the world’s most innovative and avant-garde edible creations in San Sebastian, and then wash them down with cider from neighboring Asturias. Sample the world’s finest acorn-fed ham in Salamanca, share in the traditions of cave-dwelling shepherds in the mountains beyond Granada, and debate what constitutes truly authentic paella in Valencia. Grape, Olive, Pig reveals hidden gems and enduring delicacies from across this extraordinary country, contextualizing each meal with the stories behind the food in a cultural narrative complemented by stunning color photography. Whether you’ve visited Spain or have only dreamed of bellying up to its tapas bars, Grape, Olive, Pig will wake your imagination, rouse your hunger, and capture your heart.The Seventeen Solutions: Bold Ideas for Our American Future
By Ralph Nader. 2012
Consumer advocate, activist, humanitarian, and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader is arguably the most provocative and important progressive voice in…
America today—a fearless reformer whom The Atlantic named one of the 100 most influential figures in American history. In these troubling times of intractable fiscal and social distress, Nader offers a new program to help rescue America: The Seventeen Solutions. His powerful, paradigm-shifting proposals address some of the most pressing concerns in our country today—from corporate crime to tax reform to health care and housing—and they should find a receptive audience not only among liberals, progressives, disillusioned Democrats, Rachel Maddow fans, and Occupy Wall Street supporters, but all concerned Americans.How the GOP Establishment Is Co-Opting the Freshman Tea Party Class (Voices of the Tea Party)
By Constance Dogood. 2011
New from Broadside Books' Voices of the Tea Party. In this first-hand account of the perils of Washington, Constance Dogood,…
an average American who became an early leader of the Tea Party movement, describes the methods used by the Republican Establishment to co-opt the Freshman members of Congress. Called "the Tea Party Class" because they were propelled into office by a wave of Tea Party support, these 63 new Republican members of Congress face a daunting challenge in the 112th Congress. On the one hand, they need to honor the promises they made to the tea partiers in their districts who helped elect them. On the other hand, they need to learn the ropes of Washington without unnecessarily alienating the Republican Establishment so long entrenched in and around the corridors of power. Constance concludes that the House of Representatives would be well advised to ditch the century old hierarchical party leadership structure and look to the Tea Party movement itself for a superior model of organizing to return the country to its constitutional roots.Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World
By H. R. McMaster. 2020
New York Times BestsellerNow with new text from McMaster addressing the January 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol and recommending how…
citizens across the free world can work together to restore confidence in democratic institutions and processesFrom Lt. General H.R. McMaster, U.S. Army, ret., the former National Security Advisor and author of the bestselling classic Dereliction of Duty, comes a bold and provocative re-examination of the most critical foreign policy and national security challenges that face the United States, and an urgent call to compete to preserve America’s standing and security.Across multiple administrations since the end of the Cold War, American foreign policy has been misconceived, inconsistent, and poorly implemented. As a result, America and the free world have fallen behind rivals in power and influence. Meanwhile threats to security, freedom, and prosperity, such as nuclear proliferation and jihadist terrorism have grown. In BATTLEGROUNDS, H.R. McMaster describes efforts to reassess and fundamentally shift policies while he was National Security Advisor. And he provides a clear pathway forward to improve strategic competence and prevail in complex competitions against our adversaries.Battlegrounds is a groundbreaking reassessment of America’s place in the world, drawing from McMaster’s long engagement with these issues, including 34 years of service in the U.S. Army with multiple tours of duty in battlegrounds overseas and his 13 months as National Security Advisor in the Trump White House. It is also a powerful call for Americans and citizens of the free world to transcend the vitriol of partisan political discourse, better educate themselves about the most significant challenges to national and international security and work together to secure peace and prosperity for future generations.How to Destroy America in Three Easy Steps
By Ben Shapiro. 2020
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!A growing number of Americans want to tear down what it’s taken us 250 years to…
build—and they’ll start by canceling our shared history, ideals, and culture.Traditional areas of civic agreement are vanishing. We can’t agree on what makes America special. We can’t even agree that America is special. We’re coming to the point that we can’t even agree what the word America itself means. “Disintegrationists” say we’re stronger together, but their assault on America’s history, philosophy, and culture will only tear us apart.Who are the disintegrationists? From Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States to the New York Times’ 1619 project, many modern analyses view American history through the lens of competing oppressions, a racist and corrupt experiment from the very beginning. They see American philosophy as a lie – beautiful words pasted over a thoroughly rotted system. They see America’s culture of rights as a façade that merely reinforces traditional hierarchies of power, instead of being the only culture that guarantees freedom for individuals.Disintegrationist attacks on the values that built our nation are insidious because they replace each foundational belief, from the rights to free speech and self-defense to the importance of marriage and faith communities, with nothing more than an increased reliance on the government. This twisted disintegrationist vision replaces the traditional “unionist” understanding that all Americans are united in a shared striving toward the perfection of universal ideals.How to Destroy America in Three Easy Steps shows that to be a cohesive nation we have to uphold foundational truths about ourselves, our history, and reality itself—to be unionists instead of disintegrationists. Shapiro offers a vital warning that if we don’t recover these shared truths, our future—our union—as a great country is threatened with destruction.Yes, I Can Say That: When They Come for the Comedians, We Are All in Trouble
By Judy Gold. 2020
"No one makes me laugh harder than Judy Gold. If I had to pick one comedian to write a book…
about free speech, it would be Judy." – Amy SchumerFrom award-winning comedian Judy Gold, a concise, funny, and thoughtful polemic on the current assault on comedy, that explores how it is undermining free speech and a fundamental attack against the integrity of the art.From Mae West and Lenny Bruce to Richard Pryor and Howard Stern to Kathy Griffith and Kevin Hart, comedians have long been under fire for using provocative, often taboo subjects to challenge mores and get a laugh. But in the age of social media, comedians are at greater risk of being silenced, enduring shaming, threats, and damaged careers because of angry, censorious electronic mobs. But while comedians’ work has often been used to rile up detractors, a new threat has emerged from the left: identity politics and notions like "safetyism" and trigger warnings that are now creating a cultural and political standard that runs perilously close to censorship. From college campuses to the Oscars, comics are being censured for old jokes, long-standing comedy traditions, unfinished bits and old material that instead of being forgotten, go viral. For comics like Judy Gold, today’s attacks on comics would have Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce "rolling in their graves." "No one has the right to tell comics what they can or cannot joke about. Do you tell artists what they can or cannot paint?" she asks. Freedom of speech is fundamental for great stand-up comedy. Humor is the most palatable way to discuss a subversive or taboo topic, but it better be funny. A comic's observations are deliberately delivered to entertain, provoke, and lead to an exchange of ideas. "We are truth tellers." More important, the tolerance of free speech is essential for a healthy democracy.In addition to offering readers a quick study on the history of comedy and the arts (noting such historical reference points as The Hays Code) and the threats to them, Gold takes readers on a hilarious ride with chapters such as "Thank God Don Rickles is Dead," as well as her singular take on "micro-aggressions," such as:Person: "OMG! You’re a lesbian? I had no idea. I mean you wear make-up. When did you become a lesbian?"Judy Gold: "Coincidently, right after I met you!" (micro-assault!)In this era of "fake news," partisan politics, and heated rhetoric, the need to protect free speech has never been greater, especially for comics, who often serve as the canaries in the coalmine, monitoring the health of our democracy. Yes I Can Say That is a funny and provocative look at how safe spaces are the very antithesis of comedy as an art form—and an urgent call to arms to protect our most fundamental Constitutional right. There's a good reason it was the FIRST amendment.