On August 29, 2023, the Pew Research Center released survey data about the crossing between religious groups and racial issues. 53 percent of Americans said that people not seeing racial discrimination where it does exist was a bigger problem. 45 percent said the opposite, that people seeing discrimination where it does not exist is a bigger issue. To anyone who has followed American politics in recent years, these results should come as no surprise. After…
Today, when most people hear “security,” they think of protection against hackers on the Internet. Indeed, the explosion of information available online has exposed an almost infinite number of vulnerabilities. However, many forget that every vulnerability starts with a human actor. Understanding that attacker’s psychology, therefore, provides a paramount route of defense. In this book, Maxie Reynolds, a security analyst, seeks to teach readers how to master the attacker mindset so that they can anticipate…
Historically, higher education have encountered difficulties with the community of those with disabilities. Whether from eugenics that tries to cultivate superior offspring or from an ableism that makes the most of a person’s potential skills, universities have not always been the most hospitable to this group of people. Even today, after the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), K-12 American education has many helps for those with unique needs, but those needs are often…
Regular performance reviews are part-and-parcel of just about every managed venture. They mark successes of direct reports while charting next steps towards a future path. Unfortunately, these reviews can sometime turn into routine affairs. In this case, feedback is not always useful; worse is when it doesn’t even strike a chord but instead discourages the employee. In this short book, business professor Steve King suggests a simple method to improve conversations in performance reviews. As…
Feedback comprises a crucial part of leading people under you. Your feedback to them and their feedback to you provide a means to improve. Yet with how it’s conducted in many places, feedback in the form of reviews and grades can induce more anxiety than improvement. Giving effective feedback and receiving effective feedback are separate but vital skills. In this book, Joe Hirsch seeks to make feedback from managers and teachers more effective by unlocking…
Paul Robeson was one of the most dynamic characters in the twentieth century, but is often forgotten today. A pastor’s son, he grew to be a unanimous All-American defensive end at Rutgers, an award-winning scholar, a law student, a stage actor, a musical artist, a polyglot, and a film actor – all in the first forty years of his life and all despite a strong culture of racism in his home country. The second half…
Natalie Goldberg has become a famous name among modern teachers of writing. In this short audiobook, she focuses on her process of writing memoirs. She talks about the delicate process of writing from memories and bringing out essential details that eventually form a narrative structure. The audiobook, narrated by the author, is incredibly short but power-packed at around 150 minutes. Goldberg’s main mode is to start writing first and then piece it together later. Along…
Many scientists and engineers first learn to present by watching others present and mimicking these teachers. This technique helps to convey the basics, but how do collective bad habits get rooted out? Indeed, many weaknesses get passed on from mentor to mentee and from lab to lab. Instead of just floating aimlessly with the masses, those who aspire to greatness can benefit from reading critical commentary from scientific communicators like Michael Alley. This book, first…
Natalie Goldberg’s guide for writers seeks to free authors to engage their own minds in writing. Using Zen Buddhism as a template, she describes the practice of writing as similar to meditation in that an author engages her/his own mind. She seeks to free writers from a persistent “inner critic” who chatters doubts, hangups, and insecurities. She labels this the “monkey mind” in contrast to a “creative mind.” As she does in writing seminars, she…
In the middle of the twentieth century, Paul Robeson was considered the most well-known American in the world. He was a famous singer, football player, and polymath/scholar who advocated for universal equal rights, especially at home in America. However, during the 1950s, he made a statement supportive of the USSR, and he was blacklisted by the US State Department in the Red Scare. Subsequently, he was denied a passport, essential for an international showman. Eventually,…