Showing results by narrator "Richard Davidson" in All Categories

Noted author, war correspondent, and award-winning writer for the Atlantic Monthly, William Langewiesche furnishes a riveting firsthand account of the excavation of the World Trade Center ruins following its destruction on September 11, 2001. American Ground is an inspiring look at the often contentious mixture of personalities, politics, and emotions that fueled this massive effort. It is also a testament to American ingenuity in the aftermath of a great tragedy.

Kurt Vonnegut presents in Fates Worse than Death a veritable cornucopia of his thoughts on what could perhaps best be summed up as "anti-theology", a manifesto for atheism that details Vonnegut's drift from conventional religion, even a tract evidencing belief in the divine held within each individual self--the deity within each individual person present in a universe that otherwise lacks any real order.

"The best way to activate positive-emotion circuits in the brain is through generosity," Davidson, who founded the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at University of Wisconsin, Madison, said in a talk at the Aspen Ideas Festival. "This is really a kind of exciting neuroscientific finding because there are pearls of wisdom in the contemplative tradition - the Dalai Lama frequently talks about this - that the best way for us to be happy is to be generous to others."

With this fascinating audiobook, award-winning journalist Richard Conniff satisfies your cravings for the thrill and horror of formication - that chilling sensation of something crawling across your skin. Blending humor and sophistication, he introduces you to a host of spineless creatures, from moths to leeches, and the extraordinary enthusiasts who study them. For over 20 years, the author has trekked through jungles, oceans, and deserts in search of invertebrates.

Bernard Malamud's second novel, originally published in 1957, is the story of Morris Bober, a grocer in postwar Brooklyn, who "wants better" for himself and his family. First two robbers appear and hold him up; then things take a turn for the better when broken-nosed Frank Alpine becomes his assistant. But there are complications: Frank, whose reaction to Jews is ambivalent, falls in love with Helen Bober; at the same time he begins to steal from the store.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) was a Lebanese American of Assyrian descent, an artist, poet and writer. He was born Gibran Khalil Gibran in Lebanon (at the time a Syrian Province of the Ottoman Empire) and spent much of his productive life in the United States. While most of Gibran's early writings were in Syriac and Arabic, most of his work published after 1918 was in English. Gibran also took part in the New York Pen League, also known as the "immigrant poets" (al-mahjar), alongside other important Lebanese American authors.

Though they had different backgrounds, skills, and ideas, the Founding Fathers came together to forge a new nation and persevered against the odds to achieve America's independence. In this edition, the editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica examine the life and multiple talents of Benjamin Franklin.

The cod has played a vital part in livelihoods, diets, and health in general — as well as roles in national economies and international wars. Drawing on his love of food and food culture, Mark Kurlansky leaps into history and folklore to explore how this innocuous fish had such an impact over the centuries.

Though they had different backgrounds, skills, and ideas, the Founding Fathers came together to forge a new nation and persevered against the odds to achieve America's independence. In this edition, the editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica examine the Declaration of Independence, as well as the lives of 19 of the men who signed this historic document.

Dating back to the Gas House Gang of the 1930s and up to the club’s most recent World Championship in 2006, being a Cardinal has meant a style of play, a level of dedication, and a pride in being a member of a special group. This newly updated edition of Game of My Life: St. Louis Cardinals exhibits not always the best game of someone’s career, but rather, the moment that stands out the most.

The recent credit crisis and the resulting bailout program are unprecedented events in the financial industry. While it's important to understand what got us here, it's even more important to consider how we should get out. While there is little question that immediate action was required to stabilize the situation, it is now time to look for a long-term plan to reform the United States financial industry.

Jay Elliot was hired personally by Steve Jobs, just in time to accompany him on the last of his historic visits to Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, the visits that changed the course of computing. As Senior VP of Apple, Jay served as Steve's right-hand man and trouble-shooter, overseeing all corporate operations and business planning, as well as software development and HR. In Leading Apple with Steve Jobs, Jay details how Steve managed and motivated his people - and what every manager can learn from Jobs about motivating people to do the best work of their lives.

At the dawn of the 20th century, two Italian men arrived in Canada amid waves of immigration. One, Rocco Perri, from southern Italy, rose from the life of a petty criminal on the streets of Toronto to running the most prominent bootlegging operation of the Prohibition era, taking over Hamilton and leading one of the country’s most influential crime syndicates. Perri was feared by his enemies and loved by the press, who featured him regularly in splashy front-page headlines.

The audiobook is anchored by the full text of the provocatively topical title novella that appeared in Harper's, a sometimes farcical, ultimately tragic story about the president of an international lending institution accused of sexually assaulting a housekeeper in a New York hotel. Recalling recent news events with irony and compassion, Kalfus skewers international political gridlock and the hypocrisies of acceptable sexual conduct.

While On Hallowed Ground chronicled the history of the cemetery, Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery is the powerful contemporary biography of a five-acre plot where many of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan have been laid to rest alongside service members from earlier wars.

Every Creeping Thing is a fascinating look at some of nature’s most misunderstood creatures. Traveling the world over, Conniff shatters popular myths and shares extraordinary truths about unfairly maligned animals. For instance, little brown bats help curb mosquito numbers by eating one every six seconds. Despite a reputation as maneaters, sharks ignore all but two or so of the 20 million people who use Hawaiian beaches each year....

Ben Bradlee first came to know John Kennedy well when they were Washington neighbors in 1958. They remained good friends and off-the-record confidants until President Kennedy's death. They also had a more professional relationship governed by Bradlee's job covering the capital for Newsweek. With Kennedy's knowledge, Bradlee kept notes of their intimate conversations. These records are the basis for this behind-the-scenes record of the human side of the JFK presidency.

Critically acclaimed writer Tom Adelman is hailed as a renegade by the Village Voice Literary Supplement for his aggressive, no-holds-barred style. The Long Ball is his dynamic re-telling of baseball's thrilling 1975 season.

Kahlil Gibran, author of The Prophet and one of the 20th century’s most revolutionary, inspiring writers, effortlessly blends his unique perspective on Eastern and Western philosophy in this early collection of work, written when he was just 20 years old. From delicate turns of phrase to strong assertions of equality, delightful rejoicings to frightening prophecies, Gibran’s poetry and prose reveal his eternal hunger for love and beauty. This expanded edition includes key works of social justice such as “The Bride’s Bed” and firmly establishes Gibran’s role as champion of human rights and individual liberty.

It is an exclusive club. So exclusive that it has only 23 members. Not everyone can join. Membership is reserved for only those select few who were able to collect 3,000 hits during their Major League Baseball careers. Babe Ruth did not make it. Neither did Lou Gehrig. Rogers Hornsby won seven batting titles, but is not a member. Neither is Joe DiMaggio. The men who are included were unique in their personalities, yet they all shared two common threads that link them together: durability and consistency.