Showing results by narrator "Deanna Anthony" in All Categories

Former congressional staffer turned George Washington University grad school professor Casey Burgat leads a diverse team of officials, academics, and experts from both sides of the aisle to expose the lies at the heart of our political dysfunction. They debunk talking points about term limits, lobbyists, money in politics, and more—offering real-world insights into how our government actually works.

After four years at the country’s top culinary school and several years as head chef in her mother’s restaurant, Rowan Townsend has built a notable reputation. Her farm-to-table collard greens have long been bringing everyone to the yard, but limits on the restaurant’s size have led to long waits. Looking to expand the restaurant, she enters a televised chef competition. The problem? Her infuriatingly talented nemesis from culinary school also enters.

You already know Mr. Darcy—at least you think you do! The romantic hero of Pride and Prejudice, Darcy initially insults and ignores the witty heroine but eventually succumbs to her charms. It’s a classic enemies-to-lovers plot and one that has profoundly influenced our cultural ideas about courtship. But what if this classic isn’t just a grand romance but a horror novel about how scary love and marriage can be for women? In The Darcy Myth, literature scholar Rachel Feder unpacks Austen’s Gothic influences and how they have led us to a romantic ideal that is halfway to being a monster story.

The sash. The tears. The glittering crown. And of course, that soaring song. For all of its pomp and kitsch, the Miss America pageant is indelibly written into the American story of the past century. From its giddy origins as a summer’s-end tourist draw in Prohibition-era Atlantic City, it blossomed into a televised extravaganza that drew tens of millions of viewers in its heyday and was once considered the highest honor that a young woman could achieve.

Every generation inherits the problems created by the ones before them, but no generation will inherit as many problems—as many crises—as the current generation of young people. From the devastations of climate change to the horrors of gun violence, from rampant transphobia to the widening wealth gap, from the lack of health care to the lack of housing, the challenges facing the next generation can feel insurmountable. But change, even revolution, is possible; you just have to know where to start.

Society was not built with the needs of Black women in mind. As a result, we learn that the only way to feel good about ourselves is to prioritize everyone else's needs over our own. We find our value in being the perfect partner, mother, daughter, employee, and friend. But that is exhausting. Instead of feeling good about how dope we are, we only feel good about what we do for others. In Drink Water and Mind Your Business, Dr. Donna Oriowo helps listeners understand the basic foundations of self-esteem and offers real, meaningful solutions.

Joining the ranks of Evicted and The New Jim Crow, a former caseworker’s searing, clear-eyed investigation of the child welfare system—from foster care to incarceration—that exposes the deep-rooted biases shaping the system, witnessed through the lives of several Black families.

When was the last time you cried? Was it because you were sad? Or happy? Overwhelmed, or frustrated? Maybe from relief or from pride? Was it in public or in private? Did you feel better afterwards, or worse? The reasons that we cry—and the circumstances in which we shed a tear—are often surprising and beautiful. Sad Happens is a collective, multi-faceted archive of tears that captures the complexity and variety of these circumstances.

Titan Valentino has been offered a job they can’t refuse. Tai, a gender-neutral courtesan, receives a scandalous proposition: seduce an actor’s virgin fiancée. The money is enough to pay off Tai’s crushing medical debt, a tantalizing prospect. Too bad Aisha Malik isn’t the easy target they expect. A standoffish historian who hates to be touched, she’s laser-focused on her career, and completely unaware that her marriage has been arranged behind her back. This could be the one instance where Tai’s charm and charisma fail them. Then an accidental heist throws them together as partners in crime.

The second edition of this pathbreaking, widely taught book offers five new chapters, on breastfeeding and Black infant health; Black birthing during COVID; Black doulas rethinking birthing practices; the recent buildup of a US national movement; and expanding the global movement for sexual and reproductive wellbeing. Other chapters are updated throughout. Birthing Justice puts black women's voices at the center of the debate on what should be done to fix the broken maternal care system.

Everyone has an opinion on racism. The vast majority of people would vehemently deny that they or those close to them are "racist," yet many of the most common understandings of racism are highly problematic. "If you mean no harm, then it can't be racist." Yes, it can. "There are anti-discrimination laws now, so racism no longer occurs." Incorrect. "Some of my best friends are Black, so I can't be racist." Not true. In this sharp, open-minded, and witty book, sociologist Jennifer Patrice Sims succinctly addresses these problematic perceptions of racism as fallacies.

In Our Brave Foremothers, discover an intergenerational, intercultural bouquet of Black, Brown, Asian, and Indigenous women lifted into the significance that they deserve. From Etel Adnan to Mary Jones, Thelma Garcia Buchholdt to Pura Belpré to Zitkála-Šá, here are 100 women of color who left a lasting mark on United States history. Including both famous and little-known names, the thoughtful profiles and detailed portraits of these women herald their achievements and passions.

Roberto Fratelli is the meanest man in Marthasville, Virginia. So when he puts his antiques store up for sale, the other merchants in town are overjoyed. And now the business has a prospective buyer: local resident and the newly elected mayor's mother, Camille Benson. During a celebration in honor of Camille’s new venture, her best friend, Opal, tells her about finding a letter, purportedly from Sally Fairfax to George Washington, dated 1756, hidden under a chair in the shop. When they return to retrieve the cache, they find Roberto’s lifeless body on the floor—and no letter.

In this updated and revised edition of Take a Lesson: Today's Black Achievers on How They Made It and What They Learned Along the Way, award-winning journalist and author Caroline Clarke once again compels a dynamic list of Black business heroes and role models to openly share their own goals, hits, and misses, exploring what they overcame and what they’re still working to overcome, not just for themselves, but for their peers and would be peers, who the equity odds are still against.

One could argue the story begins the night Allegra Douglass is awarded Distinguished Chair in Philosophy at her top-tier university in New York—the same night her grandmother dies—or before that: the day Allie left Birmingham and never looked back. Or even before that: the day her mother disappeared. But for our purposes Allie’s story begins at the end, when she is finally ready to tell her version of what happened with a white supremacist named Matthew Strong.

A diverse range of community helpers introduce the vehicles they use to keep produce and grow their cities as well as keep their cities clean. In Volume 2 of Finn's Fun Trucks, children will discover an assortment of vehicles, including those that clean and haul stuff, construction vehicles, demolition vehicles, and farm vehicles.

Barack Obama famously said that the purpose of social movements is to get a seat at the table. However, as Deva Woodly argues in Reckoning—a sweeping account of the meaning and purpose of the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL)—the value of such movements is something much more profound: they are necessary for the health and survival of democracy. Drawing from on-the-ground interviews with activists in the movement, Woodly analyzes the emergence of the M4BL, its organizational structure and culture, and its strategies and tactics.

After losing her parents in high school, Ryan Landry grew up fast, solely focusing on supporting her younger twin sisters. With the twins now preparing for college, the financial stakes are raised so Ryan enters a restaurant-manager-of-the-year contest. Her chances for the grand prize are strong—after all, she’s the executive manager of Everheart Bar and Fine Dining, which is as famous for its exemplary service as it is for its mouth-watering food. The only thing standing in her way? The restaurant’s Michelin star patriarch chef.

How often do you wake up and ask yourself: “How can I be better today than I was yesterday?" Black Excellence: 20 Stories About Rising from Ordinary to Extraordinary will inspire you to expand and broaden the range of phenomenal goals you want to achieve in life. Author L. Jeff Shafer II celebrates Black culture through interviews, research, and his personal journey to show there are endless examples of Black excellence today in many different industries.

A diverse range of community helpers introduce the vehicles that help them keep their communities safe while teaching children about what each vehicle was built to do. In volume one of Finn's Fun Trucks, learn about vehicles used by rapid responders, the airlines, the military, the post service, and even those who work in space!