This book is an in-depth reportage on some of the most defining issues of our time, namely the global refugee crisis, the conflicts displacing these masses of humanity, and the causes behind them. It is also an ode to the vanishing art of the long-form feature or reportage, which is disappearing because many media organisations can no longer afford it, or are unwilling to pay for this kind of time-consuming, on-the-ground journalism. It is essential to keep alive old-school reportage from the field because it provides a human face to the issues challenging our world. It helps pierce the bubble of propaganda with a needle of truth and, beyond the political and human, it is a beautiful art form in its own right. This book showcases a keen eye for the human story and a profound commitment to the human family. By telling the stories detailed here, it helps put a human face on the suffering that is too often viewed statistically and quantitatively.
An urgent, on-the-ground look at some of the “new American radicals” who have laid everything on the line to build a stronger climate justice movement The science is clear: catastrophic climate change, by any humane definition, is upon us. At the same time, the fossil-fuel industry has doubled down, economically and politically, on business as usual. We face an unprecedented situation—a radical situation. As an individual of conscience, how will you respond? In 2010, journalist Wen Stephenson woke up to the true scale and urgency of the catastrophe bearing down on humanity, starting with the poorest and most vulnerable everywhere, and confronted what he calls “the spiritual crisis at the heart of the climate crisis.” Inspired by others who refused to retreat into various forms of denial and fatalism, he walked away from his career in mainstream media and became an activist, joining those working to build a transformative movement for climate justice in America. In What We’re Fighting for Now Is Each Other, Stephenson tells his own story and offers an up-close, on-the-ground look at some of the remarkable and courageous people—those he calls “new American radicals”—who have laid everything on the line to build and inspire this fast-growing movement: old-school environmentalists and young climate-justice organizers, frontline community leaders and Texas tar-sands blockaders, Quakers and college students, evangelicals and Occupiers. Most important, Stephenson pushes beyond easy labels to understand who these people really are, what drives them, and what they’re ultimately fighting for. He argues that the movement is less like environmentalism as we know it and more like the great human-rights and social-justice struggles of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from abolitionism to civil rights. It’s a movement for human solidarity. This is a fiercely urgent and profoundly spiritual journey into the climate-justice movement at a critical moment—in search of what climate justice, at this late hour, might yet mean.
For an increasing number of people, global warming is not an academic and scientific debate, but a matter of survival. As the planet warms at a rate of four degrees Fahrenheit per century, violent storms are increasing in frequency, icebergs are melting, sea level is rising, species are losing their habitats, and temperature records are being broken. Feeling the Heat consists of chapter-length visits by well-known authors to actual world "hot" spots, where people are already coping day-to-day with the consequences of climactic disruption. The locations for the book were strategically chosen because each represents a separate and important global warming impact, such as rising tides, melting glaciers, evolving ecosystems and air pollution. Feeling the Heat takes global warming out of the realm of armchair speculation and arcane scientific debate, revealing the process of climate change to be ongoing, serious and immediate.
"In his scathing and deeply reported examination of the U.S. Border Patrol, Todd Miller argues that the agency has gone rogue since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, trampling on the dignity and rights of the undocumented with military-style tactics … Miller's book arrives at a moment when it appears that part of the Homeland Security apparatus is backpedaling by promising to tone down its tactics, maybe prodded by investigative journalism, maybe by the revelations of NSA leaker Edward Snowden … Border Patrol is quite possibly the right book at the right time … "—Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times "At the start of his unsettling and important new book, Border Patrol Nation, Miller observes that these days 'it is common to see the Border Patrol in places—such as Erie, Pennsylvania; Rochester, New York; or Forks, Washington—where only fifteen years ago it would have seemed far-fetched, if not unfathomable.'”—Barbara Spindel, Christian Science Monitor "Miller’s approach in Border Patrol Nation is to offer a glimpse into the secretive operations of the Border Patrol, reporting with a journalist’s objectivity and nose for a good story. Miller’s book is full of facts, and it’s clear he’s outraged, but he gives voices to people on every side of the issue … Miller’s book is a fascinating read … and bring the work of Susan Orlean to mind."—Amanda Eyre Ward, Kirkus Reviews "Todd Miller's invaluable and gripping book, Border Patrol Nation: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Homeland Security is the story of how this country’s borders are being transformed into up-armored, heavily militarized zones run by a border-industrial complex. It's an achievement and an eye opener."—Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch "What Jeremy Scahill was to Blackwater, Todd Miller is to the U.S. Border Patrol!"—Tom Miller, author, On the Border: Portraits of America's Southwestern Frontier "Todd Miller has entered a secret world, and he has gone deep … Powerful."—Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The Devil's Highway: A True Story "Journalist Miller tells an alarming story of U.S. Border Patrol and Homeland Security's ever-widening reach into the lives of American citizens and legal immigrants as well as the undocumented. In addition to readers interested in immigration issues, those concerned about the NSA’s privacy violations will likely be even more shocked by the actions of Homeland Security."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review Armed authorities watch from a military-grade surveillance tower as lines of people stream toward the security checkpoint, tickets in hand, anxious and excited to get through the gate. Few seem to notice or care that the US Border Patrol is monitoring the Super Bowl, as they have for years, one of the many ways that forces created to police the borders are now being used, in an increasingly militarized fashion, to survey and monitor the whole of American society. In fast-paced prose, Todd Miller sounds an alarm as he chronicles the changing landscape. Traveling the country—and beyond—to speak with the people most involved with and impacted by the Border Patrol, he combines these first-hand encounters with careful research to expose a vast and booming industry for high-end technology, weapons, surveillance, and prisons. While politicians and corporations reap substantial profits, the experiences of millions of men, women, and children point to staggering humanitarian consequences. Border Patrol Nation shows us in stark relief how the entire country has become a militarized border zone, with consequences that affect us all. Todd Miller has worked on and written about US border issues for over fifteen years.
Fences and Windows: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Globalization Debate brings together two years of Naomi Klein’s writings and tracks the globalization conflict from Seattle to September 11th and beyond. Since the publication of No Logo, Naomi Klein has continued tirelessly as a brilliant and informed contributor to contemporary debate. Fences and Windows: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Globalization Debate, intended as a companion to No Logo, includes her most notable essays, speeches and articles on issues from NAFTA to Genetically Modified Organisms to the violence in Genoa. It offers introduction and explanation, looking at where the movement has come from and where it is going. More than any other single voice, Naomi Klein articulates the concerns and complaints of a generation: about economic fundamentalism, the criminalization of dissent and the effects of Free Trade. But this book also reflects on the nature of resistance: the street protests that shocked and energized millions, carnival-style subversion and the apparent disorganization that is anti-globalization’s great strength. Fences and Windows: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Globalization Debate is provocative, intelligent and passionate, a document, in its own right, of a unique time in our history.
A Year of Living Generously follows award-winning journalist Lawrence Scanlan as he volunteers with 12 different charities, among them well-known institutions Habitat for Humanity, the St. Vincent de Paul Society and Canadian Crossroads. Drawing from first-hand experiences - serving in a soup kitchen in Ontario, building houses in post-Katrina New Orleans and teaching at a women’s radio station in Senegal — Scanlan tests the ideas and theories on global aid and philanthropy and makes a compelling case for greater commitment and real connection from us all. The result is an engaging yet informative primer for today’s volunteers, young and old, who are looking to make a meaningful contribution.
China, Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq . . . God is at work. Christians are testifying. The gospel is advancing. In this captivating travelogue, a veteran missions mobilizer leads readers to experience global Christianity, exploring the faith and lives of Christians living in some of the world's most perilous countries. The incredible accounts recorded here—stories that span the globe from the Balkans to Afghanistan—highlight the bold faith and sacrificial bravery of God's people. Ultimately, this book magnifies Christ's saving work in all the earth and encourages Christians to joyfully embrace their role in the gospel's unstoppable advance!
The journalist and author of The Food Revolution offers a collection of essays on food politics, sustainability, and revolution. With words like food additives, GMOs, and Big Food buzzing around, it’s getting harder to choose what to eat. Even the most well-informed eaters could learn a thing or two about real food and the food system. Gathering and updating articles from his Huffington Post column, celebrated food politics journalist John Robbins presents his most recent observations along with never before published material. With commentaries on what we should and shouldn’t eat, Robbins brings us to the frontlines of today’s food revolution. From his undercover investigations of feedlots and slaughterhouses, to the slave trade behind chocolate and coffee, he gives readers a look into the importance of working for a more compassionate and environmentally responsible world. In No Happy Cows, you’ll learn about: · Greed and salmonella · Soy and Alzheimer's · Vitaminwater deception · And much more!
Rainforests have long been recognized as hotspots of biodiversity—but they are crucial for our planet in other surprising ways. Not only do these fascinating ecosystems thrive in rainy regions, they create rain themselves, and this moisture is spread around the globe. Rainforests across the world have a powerful and concrete impact, reaching as far as America’s Great Plains and central Europe. In Rainforest: Dispatches from Earth’s Most Vital Frontlines, a prominent conservationist provides a comprehensive view of the crucial roles rainforests serve, the state of the world’s rainforests today, and the inspirational efforts underway to save them. In Rainforest, Tony Juniper draws upon decades of work in rainforest conservation. He brings readers along on his journeys, from the thriving forests of Costa Rica to Indonesia, where palm oil plantations have supplanted much of the former rainforest. Despite many ominous trends, Juniper sees hope for rainforests and those who rely upon them, thanks to developments like new international agreements, corporate deforestation policies, and movements from local and Indigenous communities. As climate change intensifies, we have already begun to see the effects of rainforest destruction on the planet at large. Rainforest provides a detailed and wide-ranging look at the health and future of these vital ecosystems. Throughout this evocative book, Juniper argues that in saving rainforests, we save ourselves, too.
A healthy young man suddenly loses his memory, making him unable to remember the events of each passing hour. Two patients diagnosed with Lyme disease improve after antibiotic treatment only to have their symptoms mysteriously return. A young woman lies dying in intensive care bleeding, jaundiced, incoherent and none of her doctors know what is killing her. Dr Lisa Sanders, whose hugely popular New York Times column inspired the hit TV show House, M.D., takes us to patients bedsides to witness the process of solving these and other diagnostic dilemmas, providing a first-hand account of the expertise and intuition that lead doctors to make the right decisions. An endlessly fascinating medical detective story, Diagnosis opens up as never before the finer workings of the human body, and celebrates the dedicated physicians who we may all someday need to trust with our lives.
