Future Politics

We live in an era of soaring corporate profits and anemic wage gains, one in which low-paid jobs and blighted blue-collar communities have become a common feature of our nation’s landscape. Behind these trends lies a little-discussed problem: the decades-long decline in worker power. Award-winning journalist and author Steven Greenhouse guides us through the key episodes and trends in history that are essential to understanding some of our nation’s most pressing problems.

In the face of unprecedented global change, New York Times best-selling author Alec Ross proposes a new social contract to restore the balance of power between government, citizens, and business.

This Could Be Our Future is about how we got here, and how we change course. While the pursuit of wealth has produced innovation and prosperity, it also established an implicit belief that the right choice in every decision is whichever option makes the most money. The answer isn't to get rid of money; it's to expand our concept of value. By assigning rational value to other values besides money - things like community, purpose, and sustainability - we can refocus our energies to build a society that's generous, fair, and ready for the future.

In this candid and engaging book, Margaret Trudeau, author of the number-one best-selling memoir Changing My Mind, offers women an inspirational and practical approach to creating a healthy, happy, secure, and satisfying future life. From dating and online romance, to health practices and financial planning, The Time of Your Life explores the fundamentals needed for the best future by discussing cornerstone issues such as housing, money, sex, friendship, and children.

When the bloody Chinese Civil War concluded in 1949, two Chinas were born. Mao’s Communists won and took China’s mainland; Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists fled to Taiwan island. Since then, China and Taiwan have drifted into being separate political and cultural entities. Taiwan is now a flourishing democracy and an economic success story: just one of its companies produces over 90 per cent of the semiconductors that power the world’s economy. It is a free and vibrant society.

Dexter Roberts lived in Beijing for two decades working as a reporter on economics, business and politics for Bloomberg Businessweek. In The Myth of Chinese Capitalism, Roberts explores the reality behind today's financially-ascendant China and pulls the curtain back on how the Chinese manufacturing machine is actually powered.

Dickson D. Despommier proposes a visionary yet achievable plan for creating a new, self-sustaining urban landscape. He argues that we can find solutions through the concept of biomimicry: emulating successful strategies found in nature. A better city is possible if we heed the lessons that forests and trees teach about how to store carbon, grow food, collect rainwater, and convert sunlight into energy.

As the world around us increases in technological complexity, our understanding of it diminishes. Underlying this trend is a single idea: The belief that our existence is understandable through computation, and more data is enough to help us build a better world. In reality, we are lost in a sea of information, increasingly divided by fundamentalism, simplistic narratives, conspiracy theories, and post-factual politics. Author James Bridle surveys the history of art, technology, and information systems and reveals the dark clouds that gather over our dreams of the digital sublime.

New York Times best-selling author Newt Gingrich lays out the stakes of the 2020 elections and what the end results could mean for the future of American citizens. Trump and the American Future by Newt Gingrich will lay out the stakes of the 2020 election and provide a clarion call for all Americans on why it is vital to return President Trump to the White House for a second term.

Beyond the fear and chaos of contemporary life, there is good news to share. A new era is at hand: the era of sustainable superabundance. In this era, the positive potential of humanity can develop in truly profound ways. The key to this new era is to take wise advantage of the remarkable capabilities of 21st century science and technology: robotics, biotech, neurotech, greentech, collabtech, artificial intelligence, and much more. This is not a vision of returning to some imagined prior historical period - to some supposed bygone golden age.

Weisman visits an extraordinary range of the world's cultures, religions, nationalities, tribes, and political systems to learn what in their beliefs, histories, liturgies, or current circumstances might suggest that sometimes it's in their own best interest to limit their growth.

In the wake of World War II, four agents were critical in helping build a new organization that we now know as the CIA. Adelaide Hawkins, Mary Hutchison, Eloise Page, and Elizabeth Sudmeier, called the “wise gals” by their male colleagues because of their sharp sense of humor and even quicker intelligence, were not the stereotypical femme fatale of spy novels.

Lurking in our homes, hiding in our offices, and polluting the air we breathe is something sinister. Something we’ve turned a blind eye to for far too long. Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a pediatrician, professor, and world-renowned researcher, tells the story of how our everyday surroundings are making us sicker, fatter, and poorer. Through a blend of narrative, scientific detective work, and concrete information about the connections between chemicals and disease, he reveals what we can do to protect ourselves and our families in the short-term, and how we can help bring the change we deserve.

In 1968, civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer called for Americans to "wake up" if they wanted to "make democracy a reality." Today, as Black communities continue to face challenges built on centuries of discrimination, her plea is increasingly urgent. In this exhilarating anthology of original essays, Keisha N. Blain brings together the voices of major progressive Black women politicians, grassroots activists, and intellectuals to offer critical insights on how we can create a more equitable political future.

A pioneering exploration of four cities where East meets West and past becomes future: St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Mumbai, and Dubai. Every month, five million people move from the past to the future. Pouring into developing-world “instant cities” like Dubai and Shenzhen, these urban newcomers confront a modern world cobbled together from fragments of a West they have never seen. Do these fantastical boomtowns, where blueprints spring to life overnight on virgin land, represent the dawning of a brave new world? Or is their vaunted newness a mirage?

Who knows better about developing the talents of those with autism than Temple Grandin? This updated and expanded third edition of Developing Talents considers the continuing dismal employment statistics for individuals with autism. The authors take an in-depth look at entrepreneurship and many other options.

In a chilling exploration of humanity's potential downfall, 2034: Examining Human Behavioral Developments and Sustainable Futures offers a stark warning about the consequences of unchecked greed, exploitation, and shortsightedness. Set in a near future ravaged by environmental degradation, social inequality, and ethical dilemmas, this provocative novel invites listeners to confront the realities of our world and envision a different path forward.

Human progress has been haphazard and inefficient, driven by chance and marred by wasteful use of resources, conflict, and suffering. Today, billions still live in poverty, and we face existential threats from global catastrophic risks such as climate change, nuclear war, AI mismanagement, and pandemics. The current global order lacks the coordination needed to tackle these threats effectively. This is not acceptable. Humanity's potential is immense, and it is far too soon for us to face our end without striving for more.

In his astonishing New York Times best seller, The Seven Daughters of Eve, Oxford University geneticist Bryan Sykes showed that nearly all Europeans are descended from seven women. Now Sykes tackles what may be the most provocative question geneticists have ever considered: Are we facing a future where men become extinct? Bold, controversial, and endlessly fascinating, Adam’s Curse is certain to spark discussion and provoke debate.

The 20th century witnessed the triumph of democratic capitalism in the industrialized West, with widespread popular support for both free markets and representative elections. Today, that political consensus appears to be breaking down, disrupted by polarization and income inequality, widespread dissatisfaction with democratic institutions, and insurgent populism. Tracing the history of democratic capitalism over the past two centuries, Carles Boix explains how we got here - and where we could be headed.