From obsessively taking selfies to tweaking what you look like with filters and apps, it seems that technology has played a role in muddying the waters of what’s acceptable, beautiful and desirable. Not to mention, society’s never-ending struggle with defining what’s too fat, too thin, perfect and problematic is a topic that everyone has an opinion about. Even before anything was available for folks to read, Kristan Higgins’ novel https://www.amazon.com/Good-Luck-That-Kristan-Higgins/dp/045148939X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1andkeywords=Good+Luck+With+Thatandqid=1618191228ands=booksandsr=1-1 (Good Luck With That) was causing quite a stir online as she challenged readers to think about their views of weight and body image.

As a child, Eric Borsuk wanted to be an FBI agent. But, he wound up becoming a criminal instead. Disillusioned with his freshman year of college, along with two of his childhood friends they were determined to escape from their mundane Middle-American existences. The three hatched a plan to steal millions of dollars’ worth of art work and rare manuscripts from a university museum. Sounds like something out of a Hollywood heist movie. Truth, as they say, is stranger than fiction, as you'll read in Eric's book, https://www.amazon.com/American-Animals-True-Crime-Memoir/dp/168442450X (American Animals: A True Crime Memoir).

Can you imagine living in thirteen houses and five countries by the time you were nine years old? Even that seems excessive for members of the military. You might think it’s unusual, but you don’t question it too much as a child growing up like that because that’s all you’ve ever known. But, when the authorities show up at your house and you find out your family has been living a lie and your name isn’t even your own, you know something isn’t right. Tyler Wetherall writes about the experience of living life on the run and her drug-smuggling Dad’s attempts to stay one step ahead of the law in https://www.amazon.com/No-Way-Home-Memoir-Life/dp/1250112192/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1andkeywords=No+Way+Home%3A+A+Memoir+of+Life+on+the+Runandqid=1618191423ands=booksandsr=1-1 (No Way Home: A Memoir of Life on the Run).

In this country’s first two centuries, only three cases brought before the US Supreme Court required an interpretation on the Second Amendment. But over the three decades since, few debates have proven so persistent and so polarizing. On one end of the issue are those who believe that the Second Amendment champions unfettered access to and use of whatever firearms one chooses. On the other are those who believe our founding document ties gun ownership to participation in a militia, and thereby argue it lawful for government to limit firearms in any way it sees fit. But, Jonathan Hennessey argues that both sides are misunderstanding the intentions of the Founding Fathers in his documentary, You Don’t Understand the Second Amendment. Documentary http://www.2atruth.com/#new_tab (Website Link) Guest https://www.jonathanhennessey.com/ (Website Link)

In 1968, Andy Warhol said, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” It seems with the endless ways of getting attention these days, particularly in the Internet age with the oversaturation of all things media … everyone is constantly sharing a joke or a funny video or a funny meme. It’s like we’re all obsessed with finding the humor life. Is being funny in one way or another at the heart of how many people are striving to achieve that 15 minutes of fame? Author and Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings says everything is getting funnier in his book https://www.amazon.com/Planet-Funny-Comedy-Ruined-Everything/dp/1501100602/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1andkeywords=Planet+Funny%3A+How+Comedy+Took+Over+Our+Cultureandqid=1618191690ands=booksandsr=1-3 (Planet Funny: How Comedy Took Over Our Culture).

It’s common knowledge that the best teams are more than just the people that make up those teams but working together in a collaborative way can be very challenging and so often success is eludes those teams. Studies and stats show passionate, hard working people consistently outperform teams, but there are a small number of Dream Teams that buck those trends and manage to pull off amazing things together, well beyond what any single person can do. How can you be a better team player? Is there a secret sauce? Shane Snow, author of https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Teams-Working-Together-Without/dp/0735217793/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1andkeywords=Dream+Teams%3A+Working+Together+Without+Falling+Apartandqid=1618192016ands=booksandsr=1-3 (Dream Teams: Working Together Without Falling Apart), talks about it on this episode of Conversations.

There’s no doubt that Climate Change is well, changing the climate and we can see that in our own backyard in the Coachella Valley with both winter and summer temperatures less predictable the past few years. Not to mention the effects of the drought that was declared in 2012 in California are still being felt with the huge increase in wildfires across the Golden State just this year in part due to the enormous number of dead trees and other vegetation. But, what can we do, right now, in the landscapes of our own backyards and communities? We discuss all of this with Ginny Stibojt, author of https://www.amazon.com/Climate-Wise-Landscaping-Practical-Actions-Sustainable/dp/0865718881/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1andkeywords=Climate-Wise+Landscaping%3A+Practical+Actions+for+a+Sustainable+Futureandqid=1618189707ands=booksandsr=1-1 (Climate-Wise Landscaping: Practical Actions for a Sustainable Future).

The focus of much of our attention in society and culture continues to put the spotlight on “bad boys.” We embrace and revile them at the same time. From criminal behavior to the glorification of acting out in movies and TV, “boys will be boys” is still the easy way we brush broad strokes across all boys and what it means to be a boy. Why are we stuck with this two-dimensional image and not talking about the complex reality of boy’s lives? In this episode we have a conversation with Dr. Adam Cox, author of https://www.amazon.com/Cracking-Boy-Code-Understand-Talk/dp/0865718768/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1andkeywords=Cracking+the+Boy+Code%3A+How+to+Understand+and+Talk+with+Boysandqid=1618189583ands=booksandsr=1-3 (Cracking the Boy Code: How to Understand and Talk with Boys).

Everyone has good ideas but few of us rarely act on them. Why is that? I’ll bet you can think of at least one example right now of that “one that got away” because…well…why was it that it got away from you? What’s been stopping you from pursuing that inspiration that seems to come out of nowhere? Why did you dismiss it or just ignore it? Did you think you’re not smart enough and that only natural-born geniuses have what it takes to rise above us mere mortals? That kind of thinking is deeply ingrained in our culture and Allen Gannett, author of https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Curve-Develop-Right-Idea/dp/1524761710/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1andkeywords=The+Creative+Curve%3A+How+to+Develop+the+Right+Idea%2C+at+the+Right+Timeandqid=1618190104ands=booksandsr=1-3 (The Creative Curve: How to Develop the Right Idea, at the Right Time), says it’s all just a big fat myth.

The world was in ruin at the end of World War II: from the Blitz in London to the atomic bomb blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A small group of Army soldiers witnessed it all. They also photographed Germany’s last push, the Battle of the Bulge, and they rode into Germany and saw unimagined destruction. They documented the Burma Road, which opened Mainland China to supplies, and saw war atrocities as far away as the Philippines. These soldier photographers are acclaimed for their war photographs, but their work has never been compiled in a book. Richard Cahan and his co-author (Mark Jacob) want to show what total war is really like in their book, https://www.amazon.com/Aftershock-Haunting-Americas-Soldier-Photographers/dp/099154188X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1andkeywords=Aftershock%3A+The+Human+Toll+of+War+Haunting+World+War+II+Images+by+America%E2%80%99s+Soldier+Photographersandqid=1618190604ands=booksandsr=1-1 (Aftershock: The Human Toll of War Haunting World War II Images by America’s Soldier Photographers).