Entertainment Science

Universal Studios never really wanted to get into the theme park business. They wanted to be the anti-Disney. But when forced to do so, they did it in a big way. Despite the fits and starts of multiple owners, the parks have finally gained the momentum to mount a serious challenge to the Walt Disney Company. How did this happen? Who made it happen? What does this mean for the theme park industry?

Thirteen-year-old Jack Buckles is great at finding things. Not just a missing glove or the other sock but things normal people have long given up on ever seeing again. If only he could find his father, who has disappeared in London without a trace. But Jack's father was not who he claimed to be. It turns out that he was a member of a secret society of detectives that has served the crown for centuries - and membership into the Lost Property Office is Jack's inheritance.

Franchesca Ramsey didn't set out to be an activist. Or a comedian. Or a commentator on identity, race, and culture, really. But then her YouTube video "What White Girls Say...to Black Girls" went viral. Faced with an avalanche of media requests, fan letters, and hate mail, she had two choices: Jump in and make her voice heard or step back and let others frame the conversation. After a crash course in social justice and more than a few foot-in-mouth moments, she realized she had a talent and passion for breaking down injustice in America in ways that could make people listen and engage.

This audiobook brings you more of Scott's thought-provoking short stories from his 10 plus years of weekly storytelling, as well as a brand-new "Kissyman" tale. Stories in Fire Is Orange include: "Dale & Mabel", "Splashing Contest", "Laundry Demon", "Puppet Master", "Complex God", "Mr. Double M", "Fifth Girl", "Reunion", "Pink Torpedo", and "Hippo".

The world's most unusual thief faces her greatest challenge -- stealing a soul from the depths of Hell. When a member of her crew is dragged to Hell by a demon, Zoey plans the most dangerous heist of her career. With her team at her side, Zoey intends to sneak onto the Hell plane and steal Sarah back.

An excellent jumping-on point for new listeners... Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor starts another phase of his adventures with a brand new companion (Lucie Miller - played by the award-winning Sheridan Smith) and an all-star supporting cast. Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 7.

My name is Kaidance Monroe, and sometimes when I touch people, I see how they die. After I saw my little brother's death but failed to stop it, my parents abandoned me to a juvenile detention facility. I don't let people touch me anymore. Not my fingertips, not my skin, not my heart. Just before I turned 18, I got a visit from a cute guy, who tricked me into giving up my secrets. He said I was special, but he wasn't the only one searching for me. I barely escaped with my life. Now I'm learning how to control my abilities - abilities so powerful, even the gods are jealous.

Raised in a family of circus performers, Helena's always dreamed of leading a more ordinary life. But when haunting music draws her into a strange and magical realm, one where anything can happen, her real life is stolen by a runaway from the other side. Helena must rescue the realm from chaos in order to win back her own not-so-ordinary life.

When Charlie Eggleston stumbles out of Mr. Elives' Magic Shop clutching the skull of truth, he has no idea the grisly object will force him to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. That would be trouble enough for a kid who has been a chronic liar since second grade. Stir in a pair of talking rats, the fact that the skull itself is a real chatterbox, and the appalling discovery that the truth curse is infecting his entire family, and you can see why Charlie's life is getting more complicated by the minute.

Alcatraz, the Maze, Rikers, Bangkwang, Sabaneta, ADX Florence - the names alone can chill the blood. Along with La Santé, Diyarbakir, Tadmor, and Carandiru, these are 10 of the toughest prisons in the world. Their walls have housed those guilty of some of the most heinous crimes in history - and frequently served as virtual torture chambers for those whose only crime is to fight for their political beliefs. Some have been the scene of massacres and other atrocities, while others house their inmates in conditions judged inhumane and degrading.

Scarlet remembers. Everything. Her past lives, Tristan, Gabriel, Nate; she remembers it all - including how to get to the Fountain of Youth. But time is running out. Heather and Gabriel have been kidnapped by Raven, while the curse that has plagued Scarlet and Tristan for centuries has shifted, putting the star-crossed lovers in more danger than ever before. Water from the Fountain of Youth is the only thing that can save Scarlet and her loved ones. But the water comes at a price. With lives - and hearts - at stake, Scarlet leads her friends on a dangerous journey.

Before Amy Gumm lands in Oz in Dorothy Must Die, Dorothy Gale rules a twisted land where the Good have become truly Wicked - and it's up to the Wicked to stop her reign. Follow your favorite witches from Dorothy Must Die as they form an elusive, secretive group known as the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked and begin training their own army to defeat Dorothy.

Violet MacRae is one of the aimless millions crowding northern Scotland. In the year 2330, where war is obsolete and only brilliant minds are valued, she emerges into adulthood with more brawn than brains and a propensity for violence. People dismiss her as a relic, but world peace is more fragile than they know. Branded from childhood as a useless barbarian, Violet is about to learn the world needs her exactly as she is.

In a desolate Cornish landscape littered with relics of prehistoric man, the Doctor and Evelyn uncover a catalogue of mysteries. What is the secret of the fog? Can the moor be haunted by a demonic host of imps? And what is Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart doing in Pengriffen? Teaming up with his old friend, the Doctor realises that an ancient conflict is nearing its conclusion - and Lanyon Moor is set to be the final battleground. Written and directed by Nicholas Pegg.

Forged in the fires of the Bronx and Kingston, Jamaica, hip-hop became the Esperanto of youth rebellion and a generation-defining movement. In a post-civil rights era defined by deindustrialization and globalization, hip-hop crystallized a multiracial, polycultural generation's worldview and transformed American politics and culture. But that epic story has never been told with this kind of breadth, insight, and style.

For ten years, Calvin and Hobbes was one the world's most beloved comic strips. And then, on the last day of 1995, the strip ended. Its mercurial and reclusive creator, Bill Watterson, not only finished the strip but withdrew entirely from public life. In Looking for Calvin and Hobbes, Nevin Martell sets out on a very personal odyssey to understand the life and career of the intensely private man behind Calvin and Hobbes.

The dead are walking. The dead are screaming. The dead are killing. Opening the Necropolis of Wati was a mistake. Undead hordes are streaming from the tombs, causing terror in the streets. Zombies. Ghouls. Mummies. Soon the dead will outnumber the living. Valeros, Ezren, Harsk and Merisiel must find the Mask of the Forgotten Pharaoh. But can they trust anyone - including themselves?

As she closes the door on her stunningly successful television show, Rosie O' Donnell opens her heart to share the amazing experience that changed her life forever. "An enormously powerful story," says Publishers Weekly, "about how forces strong enough to shatter one person can make another shine like a diamond."

Being a black woman in America means contending with old prejudices and fresh absurdities every day. Comedian Phoebe Robinson has experienced her fair share over the years: She's been unceremoniously relegated to the role of "the black friend", as if she is somehow the authority on all things racial; she's been questioned about her love of U2 and Billy Joel ("isn't that...white people music?"); she's been called "uppity" for having an opinion in the workplace; and yes, people do ask her whether they can touch her hair all. The. Time.

Investigative journalist Lee Smith's The Plot Against the President tells the story of how Congressman Devin Nunes uncovered the operation to bring down the commander-in-chief. While popular opinion holds that Russia subverted democratic processes during the 2016 elections, the real damage was done not by Moscow or any other foreign actor. Rather, this was a slow-moving coup engineered by a coterie of the American elite, the "deep state," targeting not only the president, but also the rest of the country.