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A Monetary and Fiscal History of the United States, 1961-2021 by Alan S. Blinder
From the New York Times bestselling author, the fascinating story of U.S. economic policy from Kennedy to Biden--filled with lessons for today In this book, Alan Blinder, one of the world's most influential economists and one of the field's best writers, draws on his deep firsthand experience to provide an authoritative account of sixty years of monetary and fiscal policy in the United States. Spanning twelve presidents, from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden, and eight Federal Reserve chairs, from William McChesney Martin to Jerome Powell, this is an insider's story of macroeconomic policy that hasn't been told before--one that is a pleasure to read, and as interesting as it is important. Focusing on the most significant developments and long-term changes, Blinder traces the highs and lows of monetary and fiscal policy, which have by turns cooperated and clashed through many recessions and several long booms over the past six decades. From the fiscal policy of Kennedy's New Frontier to Biden's responses to the pandemic, the book takes readers through the stagflation of the 1970s, the conquest of inflation under Jimmy Carter and Paul Volcker, the rise of Reaganomics, and the bubbles of the 2000s before bringing the story up through recent events--including the financial crisis, the Great Recession, and monetary policy during COVID-19. A lively and concise narrative that is sure to become a classic, A Monetary and Fiscal History of the United States, 1961-2021 is filled with vital lessons for anyone who wants to better understand where the economy has been--and where it might be headed.
ISBN: 9780691238388
Publication Date: 2022-10-11
A World History of Women Photographers by Luce Lebart (Editor); Marie Robert (Editor)
A magnificently illustrated showcase of the work of 300 women photographers from all over the world, from the invention of the medium to the dawn of the 21st century. As in many fields of art history, the work of women photographers has often been overlooked, and few of their names are now widely recognized. However, women were closely involved in all major photography movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, and have used the camera as an extraordinary tool for emancipation and experimentation. These are artists who never stopped documenting, questioning and transforming the world, breaking down social boundaries, challenging gender roles and expressing their imagination and sexuality. To capture the diversity of this global body of work, Luce Lebart and Marie Robert have invited 160 international women writers to contribute to this volume, which is a bold and beautifully illustrated manifesto as well as an invaluable work of reference.
ISBN: 9780500025413
Publication Date: 2022-10-25
Accidental Czar by Andrew S. Weiss; Brian "Box" Brown (Illustrator)
This riveting graphic novel biography chronicles Vladimir Putin's rise from a mid-level KGB officer to the autocratic leader of Russia and reveals the truth behind the strongman persona he has spent his career cultivating. In the West's collective imagination, Vladimir Putin is a devious cartoon villain, constantly plotting and scheming to destroy his enemies around the globe and in Ukraine. But how did an undistinguished mid-level KGB officer become one of the most powerful leaders in Russian history? And how much of Putin's tough-guy persona is a calculated performance? In Accidental Czar, Andrew S. Weiss, a former White House Russia expert, and Brian "Box" Brown show how Putin has successfully cast himself as a cunning, larger-than-life political mastermind--and how the rest of the world has played into the Kremlin's hands by treating him as one. They shatter all of these myths and expose the man behind the façade.
ISBN: 9781250760753
Publication Date: 2022-11-08
Acting for the Camera by Peter Allen Stone
Acting for the Camera: Back to One is a "how to" book with practical steps to achieve a professional performance on camera. The book focuses on four distinct areas: how to prepare the character, how to execute the technical responsibilities that will assist the editor in creating the on-camera performance in post-production, tips from industry professionals, and how to create effective self-tape auditions. Part One: The Character's World is packed with tools to analyze the script and fully prepare the character before arriving on set. Part Two: The Actor's World focuses on developing technical acting skills for the camera that assist the pre- and post-production teams to create a dynamic on-screen performance. In Part Three: The Professional World, industry professionals provide tips from inside the film/TV audition room and how to navigate a career in the acting business. The final section, Part Four: Self-Tape Like a Pro, outlines how to build a self-tape studio in the privacy of your own home and submit high-quality self-tape auditions that will help you stand out from the competition. Written for students enrolled in Acting for the Camera courses, Acting for the Camera: Back to One explores techniques that can be practiced and mastered by actors of all levels, from the moment they audition for the part through to when they hear that director call "cut!"
ISBN: 9780367497682
Publication Date: 2021-05-31
Algorithms for Dummies by John Paul Mueller; Luca Massaron
Your secret weapon to understanding--and using!--one of the most powerful influences in the world today From your Facebook News Feed to your most recent insurance premiums--even making toast!--algorithms play a role in virtually everything that happens in modern society and in your personal life. And while they can seem complicated from a distance, the reality is that, with a little help, anyone can understand--and even use--these powerful problem-solving tools! In Algorithms For Dummies, you'll discover the basics of algorithms, including what they are, how they work, where you can find them (spoiler alert: everywhere!), who invented the most important ones in use today (a Greek philosopher is involved), and how to create them yourself. You'll also find: Dozens of graphs and charts that help you understand the inner workings of algorithms Links to an online repository called GitHub for constant access to updated code Step-by-step instructions on how to use Google Colaboratory, a zero-setup coding environment that runs right from your browser Whether you're a curious internet user wondering how Google seems to always know the right answer to your question or a beginning computer science student looking for a head start on your next class, Algorithms For Dummies is the can't-miss resource you've been waiting for.
ISBN: 9781119869986
Publication Date: 2022-05-03
American Caliph by Shahan Mufti
One of Publishers Weekly's Best Nonfiction Books of 2022 | A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice The riveting true story of America's first homegrown Muslim terror attack, the 1977 Hanafi siege of Washington, DC. On March 9, 1977, Washington, DC, came under attack. Seven men stormed the headquarters of B'nai B'rith International, quickly taking control of the venerable Jewish organization's building and holding more than a hundred employees hostage inside. A little over an hour later, three more men entered the Islamic Center of Washington, the country's biggest and most important mosque, and took hostages there. Two others subsequently penetrated the municipal government's District Building, a few hundred yards from the White House. When the gunmen there opened fire, a reporter was killed, and city councilor Marion Barry, later to become the mayor of Washington, DC, was shot in the chest. The deadly standoff brought downtown Washington to a standstill. The attackers belonged to the Hanafi movement, an African American Muslim group based in DC. Their leader was a former jazz drummer named Hamaas Abdul Khaalis, who had risen through the ranks of the Nation of Islam before feuding with the organization's mercurial chief, Elijah Muhammad, and becoming Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's spiritual authority. Like Malcolm X, Khaalis paid a price for his apostasy: in 1973, seven of his family members and followers were killed by Nation supporters in one of the District's most notorious murders. As Khaalis and the hostage takers took control of their DC targets four years later, they vowed to begin killing their hostages unless their demands were met: the federal government must turn over the killers of Khaalis's family, the boxer Muhammad Ali, and Elijah's son Wallace so that they could face true justice. They also demanded that the American premiere of Mohammad: Messenger of God--a Hollywood epic about the life of the prophet Muhammad financed and supported by the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddhafi--be canceled and the film destroyed. Shahan Mufti's American Caliph gives the first full account of the largest-ever hostage taking on American soil and of the tormented man who masterminded it. Informed by extensive archival research and hundreds of declassified FBI files, American Caliph tracks the battle for control of American Islam, the international politics of religion and oil, and the hour-to-hour drama of a city facing a homegrown terror assault. The result is a riveting true-crime story that sheds new light on the disarray of the 1970s and its ongoing reverberations.
ISBN: 9780374208585
Publication Date: 2022-11-22
Art History 101 ... Without the Exams by Annie Montgomery Labatt
Why is something a masterpiece? Art History 101 . . . Without the Exams is about revisiting famous works of art that we may have studied in an art history class or seen in a textbook. Each discussion delves into one great masterpiece and asks the questions that help us understand how it has shaped history. What is the piece about? How did the original owner look at this piece? Where was it originally placed? Why is it in this museum now? How did it get famous? From the sixth-century mosaics of Ravenna and the painted bulls of Altamira, Spain, dated 12,500 BCE, to an incense burner from twelfth-century Seljuk Iran, frescoes from a Late Byzantine funerary chapel, and masterworks by Botticelli, Caravaggio, Monet, and Sargent, this book shows readers how to look closely. It welcomes us to the joy of art history--but without the papers, notes, and exams.
ISBN: 9781595348784
Publication Date: 2022-09-06
Bitcoin, Blockchain, and Cryptoassets by Fabian Schar; Aleksander Berentsen
An introduction to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology; a guide for practitioners and students.Bitcoin and blockchain enable the ownership of virtual property without the need for a central authority. Additionally, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies make up an entirely new class of assets that have the potential for fundamental change in the current financial system. This book offers an introduction to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology that begins from the perspective of monetary economics. The book first presents a nontechnical discussion of monetary theory, enabling readers to understand how cryptocurrencies are a radical departure from existing monetary instruments, and provides an overview of blockchain technology and the Bitcoin system. It then takes up technical aspects of Bitcoin in more detail, covering such topics as the Bitcoin network, its communications protocol, the mathematics underpinning decentralized validation, transaction types, the data structure of blocks, the proof-of-work consensus mechanism, and game theory. Finally, the book discusses specific issues and applications, including price volatility, regulatory uncertainty, and central bank cryptocurrencies, as well as such alternative applications as decentralized verification and attestation, tokens, and smart contracts. The concluding chapter offers practical advice on getting started with Bitcoin. End-of-chapter exercises allow readers to test their knowledge. Bitcoin, Blockchain, and Cryptoassets is suitable for classroom use and as a reference for practitioners.
ISBN: 9780262539166
Publication Date: 2020-09-01
Butts by Heather Radke
"Winning, cheeky, and illuminating....What appears initially as a folly with a look-at-this cover and title becomes, thanks to Radke's intelligence and curiosity, something much meatier, entertaining, and wise." --The Washington Post "Lively and thorough, Butts is the best kind of nonfiction." --Esquire, Best Books of 2022 A "carefully researched and reported work of cultural history" (The New York Times) that explores how one body part has influenced the female--and human--experience for centuries, and what that obsession reveals about our lives today. Whether we love them or hate them, think they're sexy, think they're strange, consider them too big, too small, or anywhere in between, humans have a complicated relationship with butts. It is a body part unique to humans, critical to our evolution and survival, and yet it has come to signify so much more: sex, desire, comedy, shame. A woman's butt, in particular, is forever being assessed, criticized, and objectified, from anxious self-examinations trying on jeans in department store dressing rooms to enduring crass remarks while walking down a street or high school hallways. But why? In Butts: A Backstory, reporter, essayist, and RadioLab contributing editor Heather Radke is determined to find out. Spanning nearly two centuries, this "whip-smart" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) cultural history takes us from the performance halls of 19th-century London to the aerobics studios of the 1980s, the music video set of Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back" and the mountains of Arizona, where every year humans and horses race in a feat of gluteal endurance. Along the way, she meets evolutionary biologists who study how butts first developed; models whose measurements have defined jean sizing for millions of women; and the fitness gurus who created fads like "Buns of Steel." She also examines the central importance of race through figures like Sarah Bartmann, once known as the "Venus Hottentot," Josephine Baker, Jennifer Lopez, and other women of color whose butts have been idolized, envied, and despised. Part deep dive reportage, part personal journey, part cabinet of curiosities, Butts is an entertaining, illuminating, and thoughtful examination of why certain silhouettes come in and out of fashion--and how larger ideas about race, control, liberation, and power affect our most private feelings about ourselves and others.
ISBN: 9781982135485
Publication Date: 2022-11-29
Can't Stop the Grrrls by Lily E. Hirsch; Meshell Ndegeocello (Foreword by); Amy Ray (Afterword by)
"This is a convincing call to action." Publishers Weekly Words and labels can hurt us all. And for many female musicians, the wounds are everywhere. From stars like Britney Spears and Mariah Carey to classic icons like Yoko Ono, female musicians have long been the target of double standards and toxic labels in the media and pop culture: liar, crazy, snake, diva, slut, b*tch. These words hurt-the popular expression "sticks and stones" is wildly wrong. Lily Hirsch confronts the full range of this sexist labeling as well as the repercussions, concentrating on the experiences of Yoko Ono, Courtney Love, Britney Spears, FKA twigs, Taylor Swift, Kesha, Mariah Carey, and Ariana Grande, among many others. While men can make outrageous backstage demands, women like Carey are punished as "divas." A sign of supposed genius for men, "crazy" is a word of condemnation for many women-with legal ramifications in Spears' case. Hirsch dives into the world of these women, looking at their personal lives, relationships and breakups, music, media coverage, public reception, as well as the origins of these toxic labels and how they have caused serious damage. Can't Stop the Grrrls reveals the inner workings of misogyny and invites us to think about these remarkable women on their own terms-showing us how women have fought back too, sometimes reclaiming these words and their own stories through music.
ISBN: 9781538169063
Publication Date: 2023-03-15
Cheap Speech by Richard L. Hasen
An informed and practical road map for controlling disinformation, embracing free speech, saving American elections, and protecting democracy "Hasen puts forth a number of solid recommendations on how to combat disinformation."--Richard Stengel, New York Times "Hasen has written an extraordinary, thorough and fair examination of the impact of misinformation on democracy."--Jeff Kosseff, Lawfare What can be done consistent with the First Amendment to ensure that American voters can make informed election decisions and hold free elections amid a flood of virally spread disinformation and the collapse of local news reporting? How should American society counter the actions of people like former President Donald J. Trump, who used social media to convince millions of his followers to doubt the integrity of U.S. elections and helped foment a violent insurrection? What can we do to minimize disinformation campaigns aimed at suppressing voter turnout? With piercing insight into the current debates over free speech, censorship, and Big Tech's responsibilities, Richard L. Hasen proposes legal and social measures to restore Americans' access to reliable information on which democracy depends. In an era when quack COVID treatments and bizarre QAnon theories have entered mainstream, this book explains how to assure both freedom of ideas and a commitment to truth.
ISBN: 9780300259377
Publication Date: 2022-03-08
Class Act by Jerry Craft (Illustrator)
New York Times bestselling author Jerry Craft returns with a companion book to New Kid, winner of the 2020 Newbery Medal, the Coretta Scott King Author Award, and the Kirkus Prize. This time, it's Jordan's friend Drew who takes center stage in another laugh-out-loud funny, powerful, and important story about being one of the few kids of color in a prestigious private school. Eighth grader Drew Ellis is no stranger to the saying "You have to work twice as hard to be just as good." His grandmother has reminded him his entire life. But what if he works ten times as hard and still isn't afforded the same opportunities that his privileged classmates at the Riverdale Academy Day School take for granted To make matters worse, Drew begins to feel as if his good friend Liam might be one of those privileged kids. He wants to pretend like everything is fine, but it's hard not to withdraw, and even their mutual friend Jordan doesn't know how to keep the group together. As the pressures mount, will Drew find a way to bridge the divide so he and his friends can truly accept each other And most important, will he finally be able to accept himself New Kid, the first graphic novel to win the Newbery Medal, is now joined by Jerry Craft's powerful Class Act.
ISBN: 9780062885517
Publication Date: 2020-10-06
Comic Book Women by Peyton Brunet; Blair Davis; Trina Robbins (Introduction by)
2023 Ray and Pat Browne Best Single Work by One or More Authors in Popular and American Culture, Popular and American Culture Association (PACA) / Popular Culture Association (PCA) 2023 Ray and Pat Browne Best Edited Reference/Primary Source Work in Popular Culture Award (Honorable Mention), Popular and American Culture Association (PACA) / Popular Culture Association (PCA) 2023 Peter C. Rollins Book Award, Southwest Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Associations (SWPACA) A revisionist history of women's pivotal roles as creators of and characters in comic books. The history of comics has centered almost exclusively on men. Comics historians largely describe the medium as one built by men telling tales about male protagonists, neglecting the many ways in which women fought for legitimacy on the page and in publishers' studios. Despite this male-dominated focus, women played vital roles in the early history of comics. The story of how comic books were born and how they evolved changes dramatically when women like June Tarpé Mills and Lily Renée are placed at the center rather than at the margins of this history, and when characters such as the Black Cat, Patsy Walker, and Señorita Rio are analyzed. Comic Book Women offers a feminist history of the golden age of comics, revising our understanding of how numerous genres emerged and upending narratives of how male auteurs built their careers. Considering issues of race, gender, and sexuality, the authors examine crime, horror, jungle, romance, science fiction, superhero, and Western comics to unpack the cultural and industrial consequences of how women were represented across a wide range of titles by publishers like DC, Timely, Fiction House, and others. This revisionist history reclaims the forgotten work done by women in the comics industry and reinserts female creators and characters into the canon of comics history.
ISBN: 9781477324110
Publication Date: 2022-01-11
Daughters of the New Year by E. M. Tran
"A daring debut." -New York Times Book Review A MARIE CLAIRE BOOK CLUB PICK A Recommended Read from: Salon * Good Morning America * People Magazine * Electric Lit * Goodreads * Buzzfeed * The Seattle Times * Deep South Magazine * Book Culture * Debutiful A lively, spellbinding tale about the extraordinary women within a Vietnamese immigrant family--and the ancient zodiac legend that binds them together What does the future hold for those born in the years of the Dragon, Tiger, and Goat? In present day New Orleans, Xuan Trung, former beauty queen turned refugee after the Fall of Saigon, is obsessed with divining her daughters' fates through their Vietnamese zodiac signs. But Trac, Nhi and Trieu diverge completely from their immigrant parents' expectations. Successful lawyer Trac hides her sexuality from her family; Nhi competes as the only woman of color on a Bachelor-esque reality TV show; and Trieu, a budding writer, is determined to learn more about her familial and cultural past. As the three sisters begin to encounter strange glimpses of long-buried secrets from the ancestors they never knew, the story of the Trung women unfurls to reveal the dramatic events that brought them to America. Moving backwards in time, E.M. Tran takes us into the high school classrooms of New Orleans, to Saigon beauty pageants, to twentieth century rubber plantations, traversing a century as the Trungs are both estranged and united by the ghosts of their tumultuous history. A "haunted story of resilience and survival" (Meng Jin, Little Gods), Daughters of the New Year is an addictive, high-wire act of storytelling that illuminates an entire lineage of extraordinary women fighting to reclaim the power they've been stripped of for centuries.
ISBN: 9781335429230
Publication Date: 2022-10-11