Reeves looks at the structural challenges that face boys and men and offers fresh and innovative solutions that turn the page on the corrosive narrative that plagues this issue. Of Boys and Men argues that helping the other half of society does not mean giving up on the ideal of gender equality.

Writing in a clear and comprehensive writing style, [the authors] show how the U.S. political, social, and economic environments make disinformation believable to large numbers of people and difficult to stop or prevent. - Library Journal, Starred Review

Everyone, whether they work in the public sector or are private citizens, will find this book invaluable. - Booklist, Starred Review

Disinformation made possible by rapid advances in cheap, digital technology, and promoted by organized networks, thrives in the toxic political environment that exists within the United States and around the world. In Lies that Kill, two noted experts take readers inside the world of disinformation campaigns to show concerned citizens how to recognize disinformation, understand it, and protect themselves and others. Using case studies of elections, climate change, public health, race, war, and governance, Elaine Kamarck and Darrell West demonstrate in plain language how our political, social, and economic environment makes disinformation believable to large numbers of people.

Karmarck and West argue that we are not doomed to live in an apocalyptic, post-truth world but instead can take actions that are consistent with long-held free speech values. Citizen education can go a long way towards making us more discerning consumers of online materials and we can reduce disinformation risks through digital literacy programs, regulation, legislation, and negotiation with other countries.

The Book that Sparked a National Conversation

A Barack Obama 2024 Summer Reading Selection

An Economist Best Book of 2022

A New Yorker Best Book of 2022

Boys and men are struggling. Profound economic and social changes of recent decades have many losing ground in the classroom, the workplace, and in the family. While the lives of women have changed, the lives of many men have remained the same or even worsened.

In this widely praised book, Richard Reeves, father of three sons, a journalist, and now the president of the American Institute for Boys and Men, tackles the complex and urgent crisis of boyhood and manhood. He argues that our attitudes, our institutions, and our laws have failed to keep up. Conservative and progressive politicians, mired in their own ideological warfare, fail to provide thoughtful solutions.

Reeves looks at the structural challenges that face boys and men and offers fresh and innovative solutions that turn the page on the corrosive narrative that plagues this issue. Of Boys and Men argues that helping the other half of society does not mean giving up on the ideal of gender equality.

Billions of people around the world lack internet access. No one cared until the whole world had to go online.

President Joe Biden has repeatedly said that the United States would close the digital divide under his leadership. However, the divide still affects people and communities across the country. The complex and persistent reality is that millions of residents live in digital deserts, and many more face disproportionate difficulties when it comes to getting and staying online, especially people of color, seniors, rural residents, and farmers in remote areas.

Economic and health disparities are worsening in rural communities without available internet access. Students living in urban digital deserts with little technology exposure are ill prepared to compete for emerging occupations. Even seniors struggle to navigate the aging process without access to online information and remote care.

In this book, Nicol Turner Lee, a leading expert on the American digital divide, uses personal stories from individuals around the country to show how the emerging digital underclass is navigating the spiraling online economy, while sharing their joys and hopes for an equitable and just future.

Turner Lee argues that achieving digital equity is crucial for the future of America's global competitiveness and requires radical responses to offset the unintended consequences of increasing digitization. In the end, Digitally Invisible proposes a pathway to more equitable access to existing and emerging technologies, while encouraging readers to weigh in on this shared goal.

Arming Americans to defend the truth from today's war on facts

In what could be the timeliest book of the year, Rauch aims to arm his readers to engage with reason in an age of illiberalism.
--Newsweek

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

Disinformation. Trolling. Conspiracies. Social media pile-ons. Campus intolerance. On the surface, these recent additions to our daily vocabulary appear to have little in common. But together, they are driving an epistemic crisis: a multi-front challenge to America's ability to distinguish fact from fiction and elevate truth above falsehood.

In 2016 Russian trolls and bots nearly drowned the truth in a flood of fake news and conspiracy theories, and Donald Trump and his troll armies continued to do the same. Social media companies struggled to keep up with a flood of falsehoods, and too often didn't even seem to try. Experts and some public officials began wondering if society was losing its grip on truth itself. Meanwhile, another new phenomenon appeared: cancel culture. At the push of a button, those armed with a cellphone could gang up by the thousands on anyone who ran afoul of their sanctimony.

In this pathbreaking book, Jonathan Rauch reaches back to the parallel eighteenth-century developments of liberal democracy and science to explain what he calls the Constitution of Knowledge--our social system for turning disagreement into truth.

By explicating the Constitution of Knowledge and probing the war on reality, Rauch arms defenders of truth with a clearer understanding of what they must protect, why they must do--and how they can do it. His book is a sweeping and readable description of how every American can help defend objective truth and free inquiry from threats as far away as Russia and as close as the cellphone.

Race is once again a contentious topic in America, as shown by the divisive rise of Donald Trump and the activism of groups like Black Lives Matter. Yet, Diversity Explosion argues that the current period of profound racial change will lead to a less divided nation than today's older whites or younger minorities fear. Prominent demographer William Frey sees America's emerging diversity boom as good news for a country that would otherwise become isolated from the rest of world while facing declining growth and rapid aging for years to come.

In this updated and revised edition of his award-winning book, Frey draws lessons from the 2016 presidential election and fresh statistics to paint a clear picture of where America's racial demography is headed--and what it means for the nation's future. His new analysis of election data and the changing electorate shows how Trump's win highlights a major fissure in today's America: a cultural generation gap where many baby boomers and seniors are fearful about the nation's diversifying population, while at the same time younger adults--especially millennials--welcome it. Frey explains how, despite this gap, broad demographic forces will alter the nation's social and political landscape in the not-too-distant future, as older Americans and those living in red states come to absorb and embrace the contributions of multihued generations that are rapidly growing and dispersing. Clearly, the phrase demography is destiny is salient in ways that both political parties need to recognize.

Drawing from the U.S. Census, recent national surveys, and related sources, Frey tells how the rapidly growing new minorities--Hispanics, Asians, and multiracial Americans--along with African Americans and other groups, are transforming and reinvigorating communities from cities to suburbs and from the coasts to the heartland. He discusses their impact on generational change, neighborhood segregation, and interracial marriage, as well as presidential politics.

Diversity Explosion is an accessible, richly illustrated overview of how unprecedented racial change is remaking the United States once again. It is an essential guide for political strategists, marketers, investors, educators, policymakers, and anyone who wants to understand the magnitude, potential, and promise of the new national melting pot in the 21st century.

Former FCC chairman Wheeler brings to life the two great network revolutions, the invention of the movable-type printing press and the telegraph. He puts these past revolutions into perspective of today, when rapid changes in networking are upending nearly every aspect of modern life and are laying the foundation for a third network revolution.

Reviews the strategic geography of the sea lanes from Northeast Asia through the Indian Ocean to Europe since the Middle Ages, noting how changing technology and economic patterns have transformed the global significance of those passage ways, especially since the end of the Cold War.

A vision of a European future of peace and stability despite the present gloom

The world appears to be at another major turning point. Tensions between the United States and China threaten a resumption of great power conflict. Global institutions are being tested as never before, and hard-edged nationalism has resurfaced as a major force in both democracies and authoritarian states. From the European perspective, the United States appears to be abdicating its global leadership role. Meanwhile, Moscow and Beijing eagerly exploit every opportunity to pit European partners against one another.

But a pivot point also offers the continent an opportunity to grow stronger. In World in Danger, Wolfgang Ischinger, Germany's most prominent diplomat, offers a vision of a European future of peace and stability. Ischinger examines the root causes of the current conflicts and suggests how Europe can successfully address the most urgent challenges facing the continent. The European Union, he suggests, is poised to become a more powerful actor on the world stage, able to shape global politics while defending the interests of its 500 million citizens. This important book offers a practical vision of a Europe fully capable of navigating these turbulent times.

Searching for Peace, written by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, offers a riveting inside political story and an unparalleled window into Israeli history, peacemaking, politics, U.S.-Israel relations, and the future of the Middle East.

In the updated paperback edition, Olmert offers his views on the events leading up to and in the aftermath of October 7, including the Israeli government's failure to defend the south and its citizens; the collapse of the government reaction; the Israeli military operation, its achievements, and difficulties; the American reaction; and what is or should be the endgame for this conflict.

Olmert's compelling memoir--originally written from inside a prison cell, after his conviction on bribery charges stemming from his term as mayor of Jerusalem--chronicles his early life, political rise to the highest levels of the Israeli government, near success in negotiating a comprehensive peace plan with the Palestinians, and his inside account of his trial and conviction.

This book reveals the varied motivations for overseas military bases and base access among great powers and offers a valuable window into the nature and scope of the broader great power competition underway in the twenty-first century.

The middle class is the most successful group in world history. Sometime before 2030 the fifth billionth person will join the middle class. What started a little over two hundred years ago as a search for a better life has fueled unprecedented global transformation. In his new book Homi Kharas looks at how this powerful dream captivated generations through history, but its demands have led younger generations to ask if it is all worth it. Can the middle class continue to thrive, or will it falter under the stresses of automation, consumerism, pollution, and political strife?

The Rise of the Global Middle Class traces the history of the middle class from its origins in Victorian England to present day India. Along the way we meet knocker-uppers who have been displaced by alarm clocks. We learn how the Chinese Communist Party drew legitimacy from its ability to enlarge the Chinese middle class.

Kharas proposes a new middle-class manifesto that addresses the pressing issues of inequality, climate change, and technological advances.

Hailed by Publishers Weekly as a potent primer on the need to rein in big tech and Kirkus Reviews as a rock-solid plan for controlling the tech giants, readers will be energized by Tom Wheeler's vision of digital governance.

Featured on Barack Obama's 11/3/23 list of What I'm Reading on the Rise of Artificial Intelligence

An accessible and visionary book that connects the experiences of the late 19th century's industrial Gilded Age with its echoes in the 21st century digital Gilded Age...

Hailed by Ken Burns as one of the foremost explainers of technology and its effect throughout history, Tom Wheeler now turns his gaze to the public impact of entrepreneurial innovation. In Techlash, he connects the experiences of the late 19th century's industrial Gilded Age with its echoes in the 21st-century digital Gilded Age. In both cases, technological innovation and the great wealth that it created ran up against the public interest and the rights of others. As with the Industrial Revolution and the Gilded Age that it created, new digital technology has changed commerce and culture, creating great wealth in the process, all while being essentially unsupervised.

Warning that today is not the Fourth Industrial Revolution some envision, Wheeler calls for a new era of public interest oversight that leaves behind industrial-era regulatory ideas to embrace a new process of agile, supervised, and enforced code setting that protects consumers and competition while encouraging continued innovation. Wheeler combines insights from his experience at the highest echelons of business and government to create a compelling portrait of the need to balance entrepreneurial innovation with the public good.

Once again, Tom Wheeler makes sense out of the dizzying technological changes that often seem to initially befuddle and beset us before they come into sharper focus, a focus he brings to each page and each new idea. . . it sometimes takes an original thinker to make clearer the mess in front of us. Bravo! -- Ken Burns

The world faces a conflux of powerful forces of change. Digital technologies and advances in artificial intelligence are transforming markets, economies, and societies. Global geopolitics is shifting, and the rise of China is challenging the postwar international order led by the United States. Geopolitical tensions are elevated, and so are political polarization and societal anxieties within countries as change creates winners and losers. Nationalist industrial policies and protectionism are surging. Added to this mosaic of change is climate change, which will have profound effects on global patterns of production, investment, and trade.

New Global Dynamics analyzes the implications of these transformations and addresses the new challenges institutions and policymakers face at national and global levels. It examines how these changes are affecting the global economy, the future of globalization, international power structures, and competition in markets, delving into the shifting dynamics in industry, trade, and finance.

International cooperation has become more daunting, but it is essential in matters ranging from the regulation of new technologies to trade policies to global finance to climate transition. In a more contested world, a rules-based international order has become even more critical

This book reveals the varied motivations for overseas military bases and base access among great powers and offers a valuable window into the nature and scope of the broader great power competition underway in the twenty-first century.

The authors explain commonly-used means of measuring hunger, the assumptions embedded in these measures, and what can and cannot be concluded from the evidence. With many tools in place for combating hunger, the book draws attention to the policies that are working and the individuals, households, and communities that are underserved.

Find out about the 1958 U.S. intervention that succeeded and apply those lessons to today's conflicts in the Middle East

In July 1958, U.S. Marines stormed the beach in Beirut, Lebanon, ready for combat. They were greeted by vendors and sunbathers. Fortunately, the rest of their mission--helping to end Lebanon's first civil war--went nearly as smoothly and successfully, thanks in large part to the skillful work of American diplomats who helped arrange a compromise solution. Future American interventions in the region would not work out quite as well.

Bruce Riedel's new book tells the now-forgotten story (forgotten, that is, in the United States) of the first U.S. combat operation in the Middle East. President Eisenhower sent the Marines in the wake of a bloody coup in Iraq, a seismic event that altered politics not only of that country but eventually of the entire region. Eisenhower feared that the coup, along with other conspiracies and events that seemed mysterious back in Washington, threatened American interests in the Middle East. His action, and those of others, were driven in large part by a cast of fascinating characters whose espionage and covert actions could be grist for a movie.

Although Eisenhower's intervention in Lebanon was unique, certainly in its relatively benign outcome, it does hold important lessons for today's policymakers as they seek to deal with the always unexpected challenges in the Middle East. Veteran analyst Bruce Reidel describes the scene as it emerged six decades ago, and he suggests that some of the lessons learned then are still valid today. A key lesson? Not to rush to judgment when surprised by the unexpected. And don't assume the worst.

The Arctic is a global bellwether for climate change and indigenous peoples' rights and traditions, as well as a health check on the durability of international laws and norms. Red Artic challenges the widely held assumption that the Arctic is headed for strategic meltdown, emerging as a theater for a literal (new) Cold War between Russia and the West.

Buchanan explains that Putin's Arctic strategy relies heavily upon international cooperation with foreign energy firms and injections of foreign capital: conflict will be bad for business. Russia needs a low tension environment to deliver on Russia's critical economic interests.

Red Arctic charts Arctic strategy under Putin from how it is formulated, what drives it, and where it's going. In cautioning against assumptions of expansionist intent in the region, Buchanan calls for informed judgment of the real drivers of Russian Arctic strategy.