Human Life

Shyima Hall was born in Egypt on September 29, 1989, the seventh child of desperately poor parents. When she was eight, her parents sold her into slavery. Shyima then moved two hours away to Egypt's capitol city of Cairo to live with a wealthy family and serve them eighteen hours a day, seven days a week. When she was ten, her captors moved to Orange County, California, and smuggled Shyima with them. Two years later, an anonymous call from a neighbor brought about the end of Shyima's servitude - but her journey to true freedom was far from over.

Our brains are the most complex machines known to humankind, but they have an Achilles heel: The very molecules that allow us to exist can also sabotage our minds. Here are true accounts of unruly molecules and the diseases that form in their wake, from total loss of inhibitions to florid psychosis to compulsive lying.

Nobel Peace Prize winner and New York Times best-selling author Malala Yousafzai introduces some of the people behind the statistics and news stories we read or hear every day about the millions of people displaced worldwide.

Are you ready to unlock the wisdom and treasures that exist in your inner spiritual realm and that are awaiting a connection with you now? You can manifest the life you long for, expand your awareness and definition of self, and realize your full potential and ability to create a more peaceful world.

In Sex in the Brain, Amee Baird explores memorable cases of brain injuries and disease that have effected significant changes in sexual behavior and reveals what these exceptional stories have to say about human sexuality. Each chapter includes striking personal accounts, many from individuals Baird has met in her clinical practice, of unexpected changes in sexuality. Until now these fascinating, frightening, and funny stories have been hidden in medical journals or untold outside of the clinical setting. This book offers unique insight into how the brain controls sex life.

There is an awesome human within every single one of us. The Awesome Human Project is the essential guidebook to help you embrace your awesome human and become the best version of yourself - with courage and compassion.

In How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life, Roberts examines Smith’s forgotten masterpiece, and finds a treasure trove of timeless, practical wisdom. Smith’s insights into human nature are just as relevant today as they were 300 years ago. What does it take to be truly happy? Should we pursue fame and fortune or the respect of our friends and family? How can we make the world a better place?

“You know what people really need? Somebody who will listen hard and then find a way to tell them, ‘It’s not all your fault. It’s going to work out fine. Don’t give up.’” So advice columnist ‘Dear Lily’ Brown deeply believes. But Lily could write a letter to herself, asking what to do about an ex-husband who still wants her dating advice, how to redecorate the family home she’s kept exactly the same since her parents died tragically young, how to move on with her strangely becalmed life...and what to do when your wild-child estranged sister storms back into town.

When Deirdre Fishel and Diana Holtzberg began work on their documentary Still Doing It, they knew they were catching a wave. The women of the baby-boom generation who had been so outspoken about sexuality and freedom were about to turn sixty, yet no one was talking about the revolution in aging. Nor was anyone letting on about the big dark secret that women born before the boomers, even way before, were a hell of a lot more vital than the images we were getting, and many were still having sex-and loving it!

Exogenesis: Hybrid Humans offers a deep dive into the strongest ever scientific evidence that supports the popular belief that Earth has been visited in prehistory, but goes even further, concluding that there is also compelling evidence of alien involvement with the human genome. The broader history of possible extraterrestrial contact is explored alongside a look at current events in the subject of alien disclosure with the result of highlighting evidence of a contact continuum that has continued since the dawn of humanity.

In 1997, Yiannis Kouros ran 188 miles in 24 hours. In 1984, at age 42, Maria Moreira gave birth to her 10th set of twins. In 1973, Terry Tao learned to read when he was two years old. Tao started college at age nine, and at 24 was appointed a full-time professor at UCLA. What does it feel like to be exceptional? And what does it take to get there? Why can some people achieve greatness when others can’t, no matter how hard they try? Just how much potential does our species have? Evolutionary biologist Rowan Hooper has the answers.

Even if we've never had direct contact with one, we will have seen one, or at the very least, heard one. For those of us who live in the Western world, it is more than likely that one sleeps in our house, possibly even on our bed. I'm talking, of course, of the dog. Yet, this animal, which lives alongside 500 million of us all over the world - as an invaluable partner and a trusted confidant - presents us with one great unsolved mystery: how did this relationship - the most complex and enduring of any between human and animal - start in the first place?

When A Beauty That Hurts first appeared in 1995, Guatemala was one of the world’s most flagrant violators of human rights. An accord brokered by the United Nations brought a measure of peace after three decades of civil war, but the country’s troubles are far from over. W. George Lovell revisits Guatemala to grapple once again with the terror inflicted on its Maya peoples by a military-dominated state.

This anthology of interdisciplinary writings looks at the integration of mind, body, and spirit as it plays out in the workplace—whether in birth coaching, teaching parents, assisting the terminally ill, or working in the military, the classroom, or the corporation. These essays reveal what gets in the way of our humanity in the work world and how to rediscover that humanity.

A fascinating look at the evolution of behavioral science, the revolutionary way it's changing the way we live, and how nurturing environments can increase people's well-being in virtually every aspect of our society, from early childhood education to corporate practices. If you want to know how you can help create a better world, listen to this book.

Becoming fully human is a lifelong journey. It can also be an incredible adventure. Here internationally respected depth psychologist, spiritual guide, and personal transformation coach David Benner explores the mysteries of human being and becoming. Drawing on insights from science, philosophy, and forty years of experience integrating psychology and spirituality, he presents concrete steps for living in ways that move us toward wholeness.

Ritual is one of the oldest, and certainly most enigmatic, threads in the history of human culture. It presents a profound paradox: people ascribe the utmost importance to their rituals, but few can explain why they are so important. Apparently pointless ceremonies pervade every documented society, from handshakes to hexes, hazings to parades. Before we ever learned to farm, we were gathering in giant stone temples to perform elaborate rites and ceremonies. Dimitris Xygalatas leads us on an enlightening tour through this shadowy realm of human behavior.

We’ve come a long way. The earliest human had a brain as small as a child’s fist; ours are four times bigger, with spectacular abilities and potential we are only just beginning to understand. This is How the Mind Changed, a seven-million-year journey through our own heads, packed with vivid stories, groundbreaking science, and thrilling surprises. Discover how memory has almost nothing to do with the past.

"Life Insurance and Slavery: The Dark History of Profit and Human Commodification" by Elvin Lee Blake Thompson is a revealing exploration of the disturbing intersection between the financial industry and the transatlantic slave trade. This meticulously researched work uncovers how several prominent American insurance companies played a pivotal role in perpetuating and profiting from the institution of slavery by insuring the lives of enslaved individuals and the ships that transported them.

Internationally-known actress and dog mom Anjali Bhimani (Ms. Marvel, Overwatch, Apex Legends, Modern Family), I Am Fun Size, and So Are You! is a series of essays—part memoir, part life map— all combined to lead you through your own personal challenges and toward a fuller, bigger life.