Reality Biographies

Taking unexpected risks, daring to do what no one has done before, that's the reality of Amy Dumas, the remarkable woman behind WWE's Lita. Amy found trainers who saw her determination and her heart. Among them were the two local North Carolina stars who had just signed with WWE, Matt and Jeff Hardy. Amy formed an instant bond with the dynamic Hardy Boyz, whose spectacular style and high-flying bravado inspired her own bold in-ring style.

Her studies in sociology were interrupted, at least as she likes to think, by the onset of schizophrenia and a subsequent hospitalization junior year sojourn in Japan, to a doctoral program at a major midwestern university. Her studies in sociology were interrupted, at least as she likes to think, by the onset of schizophrenia and a subsequent hospitalization. Despite the ongoing, unrelenting somatic symptoms, delusions, and suicidal ideation she experienced, she held down a low-level administrative job in a university for twenty years, all the while keeping her mental health status a secret.

In March 2015, millions worldwide were captivated by news reports of the dramatic rescue of an 18-month-old girl, Lily Groesbeck, who'd somehow survived 14 hours in an overturned car partially submerged in an icy-cold Utah river after her mother apparently lost control of the vehicle. A voice the four responding officers assumed was the child's mother still trapped inside spurred them on: "Help me, help me." Yet once the two victims were recovered, it was clear that the voice could not have come from Lily's mother: She'd been killed on impact.

Rough Beast is Máiría Cahill's harrowing story of her life and of what she went through at the hands of what is now Ireland’s largest and richest party. That story is told here for the first time in full detail and with unsparing honesty. It is a story of unimaginable trauma and political corruption. It brings to life a world of paramilitary secrecy and parallel laws, but above all it is the story of one young woman’s defiance of the power wielded by ex-gunmen inspiring fear and silence, and their influence over elected politicians.

In 2016, Debbie Hayton underwent gender reassignment surgery. Fast forward to today, and Hayton's refusal to validate the standard gender identity orthodoxy has led to excommunication by the trans activist community. What happened? Transsexual Apostate weaves an intimate account of Debbie's story into a forensic critique of trans ideology. Focussing mainly on transwomen, she examines the reality of male autogynephilia and argues that the vast majority of transwomen are men with a psychological disorder that needs to be managed compassionately.

Complete with stories, tips, tricks, and advice from your favorite Bachelor alumni, and filled with all the juicy details Courtney fans and foes alike want to know, I Didn't Come Here to Make Friends is a must-listen for every member of Bachelor nation.

When Lina’s idyllic childhood descends into mental chaos in her teenage years, Lina resorts to recording her thoughts in diaries, online chats, and emails to make sense of her anguish. Through Lina’s heart-wrenching words, the listener steps into her broken inner world to experience firsthand the obsessions, irrationality, angst, and ruthlessness of teenage borderline personality disorder.

Bridging the gap between tech mania and the experience of being inside the human body, Dawn of the New Everything is a look at what it means to be human at a moment of unprecedented technological possibility. Through a fascinating look back over his life in technology, Jaron Lanier, an interdisciplinary scientist and father of the term virtual reality, exposes VR's ability to illuminate and amplify our understanding of our species and gives listeners a new perspective on how the brain and body connect to the world.

At the 2019 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Today show anchor Al Roker had a hilarious run-in with a giant stick of butter that sent social media into a frenzy. With #butterman trending on Twitter, celebrities and noncelebrities alike remarked on the scene, which for many was the highlight of the parade. From that event, Donny Willis (a.k.a. the “Butter Man”) has been featured on the Today show and a variety of other media outlets.

Widely known in the criminal underworld as the 'Black Widow', Linda Calvey spent the first half of her life running with the UK's top gangsters, robbing banks and rubbing shoulders with the Kray twins. That is, until, in 1990, her lover Robbie Cook was murdered at point-blank, and she found herself falsely convicted. Linda was sent away for decades, and would go on to become Britain's longest-serving female prisoner. This is her story of life inside, and how she learnt to survive the many years she spent behind bars.

As founder and editor of the highly successful magazine Latitudes & Attitudes, he surveys and comments on the good and the bad, the funny and the sad, the practical and the theoretical of the sailing scene. This collection of his editorials and other writings is full of useful advice, keen observations and, yes, some outrageous comments, the way only Bob can put them on paper.

Part-memoir, part girl's guide, Now Accepting Roses is full of never-before-told stories from behind the scenes of one of America's most popular television shows - but this book isn't just for fans of The Bachelor. This book is for anyone navigating the crazy and exciting world of finding real love.

At the Mind's Limits is the story of one man's incredible struggle to understand the reality of horror. In five autobiographical essays, Amery describes his survival - mental, moral, and physical - through the enormity of the Holocaust. Above all, this masterful record of introspection tells of a young Viennese intellectual's fervent vision of human nature and the betrayal of that vision.

Mackenzie McKee has grown up in front of the world as part of MTV's hit reality shows 16 & Pregnant, Teen Mom 3, and Teen Mom OG. Fans have experienced the ups and downs of motherhood and marriage right alongside Mackenzi - from difficult childbirths due to her type 1 diabetes diagnosis, to the untimely death of her beloved mother, Angie Douthit. But through it all, Mackenzie never falters in her deep love of family and God. In her new memoir, Mackenzie proves there is more to her than what the glaring spotlight of fame has shown.

Making films about club kids, royalty, hustlers, and televangelists, and working with icons such as such as Britney Spears, Tammy Faye Bakker, and RuPaul, the book is packed with glorious insider gossip and amazing celebrity stories. These are the riotous tales behind the shows that would make screen-agers of us all.

A tell-all memoir by the star of MTV's The Hills and E4's Made in Chelsea. Stephanie Pratt is the consummate reality star. Since 2007 her life has been lived almost as much on the small screen as off it and constantly analysed in gossip columns. In Made in Reality, Stephanie gives an exclusive insight into the trials and tribulations of life on reality TV, taking us behind the scenes of The Hills, Made in Chelsea and even the Big Brother house.

This is the dramatic and inspirational first-person story of theoretical physicist Dr. Ronald Mallett, who recently discovered the basic equations for a working time machine that he believes can be used as a transport vehicle to the past. Combining elements of Rocket Boys and Elegant Universe, Time Traveler follows Mallett's discovery of Einstein's work on space-time, his study of Godel's work on a solution of Einstein's equation that might allow for time travel.

As enlightening as The Facebook Effect, Elon Musk, and Chaos Monkeys - the compelling, behind-the-scenes story of the creation of one of the most essential applications ever devised, and the rag-tag team that built it and changed how we navigate the world. Never Lost Again chronicles the evolution of mapping technology - the "overnight success 20 years in the making." Bill Kilday takes us behind the scenes of the tech’s development, and introduces to the team that gave us not only Google Maps but Google Earth, and most recently, Pokémon Go.

Could Steve Wright navigate the uneasy intersection between aggression and empathy without losing himself? The answer to this question determined the course of his NFL career and his life. Steve spent over a decade taping his knuckles and preparing for battle with the Cowboys, Colts, and Raiders. It was all part of a day at the office, along with blocking for some of the best in the game, including Tony Dorsett, Bo Jackson, Eric Dickerson, and Marcus Allen. But his journey didn’t begin or end there.

Tyra Banks’s America’s Next Top Model was a cultural phenomenon with over six million weekly viewers at its peak. Over its fifteen-year run, the show captured the glitz of the early aughts as well as its most toxic attitudes—from the glamorous but often questionable photo shoots to the cutting feedback from its highly respected if out-of-touch judges. Watching ANTM now, it feels impossible to imagine a show like this airing today, and as its fans have grown up, they’ve also begun to reckon with the enduring ways that the show has affected their body image and self-esteem.