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Mindfulness Made Easy: Be more mindful in your daily life
by Martha LangleyMindful meditation has been around for thousands of years, and is used by top therapists as a highly effective way of overcoming anxiety, depression and a number of other emotional difficulties. It has also caught the popular imagination as a wonderful way of living in the moment and increasing one's enjoyment of life.If you are suffering from low moods, feeling anxious, or just want to learn an amazing technique for gaining control of your mind and feelings, this book is a clear and approachable introduction to the power of mindfulness.The most straightforward guide available, it gives practical step-by-step instructions on how to integrate mindful thinking into your daily life using a variety of different exercises, and shows how to use mindfulness to overcome almost anything, from depression and anxiety to over-eating and relationship difficulties.Discover how to be mindful in your daily life, and find a new, more peaceful path to walk every day.
Mindfulness Made Easy: Teach Yourself
by Martha LangleyMindful meditation has been around for thousands of years, and is used by top therapists as a highly effective way of overcoming anxiety, depression and a number of other emotional difficulties. It has also caught the popular imagination as a wonderful way of living in the moment and increasing one's enjoyment of life.If you are suffering from low moods, feeling anxious, or just want to learn an amazing technique for gaining control of your mind and feelings, this book is a clear and approachable introduction to the power of mindfulness.The most straightforward guide available, it gives practical step-by-step instructions on how to integrate mindful thinking into your daily life using a variety of different exercises, and shows how to use mindfulness to overcome almost anything, from depression and anxiety to over-eating and relationship difficulties.Discover how to be mindful in your daily life, and find a new, more peaceful path to walk every day.
Minding Miss Manners: In an Era of Fake Etiquette
by Judith MartinThe etiquette expert and &“authentic comic genius&” guides us through the Age of Incivility (Chris Buckley, New York Times-bestselling author of Has Anyone Seen My Toes?). We seem to be entering a new era, liberated from oppressive, old-fashioned rules of etiquette. We&’re finally free! Free to shout insults at strangers on the street! Free to pressure people to give us money! Free to use all sorts of offensive language! In this book, New York Times-bestselling author Judith Martin, aka Miss Manners, reminds us that living in an etiquette-free paradise is not all it&’s cracked up to be. In wise, witty commentary and responses to letters, she addresses vexing problems in the workplace, at the wedding, on the web, and beyond, in hopes of saving civilization. But fear not, Gentle Reader—she also allows us some important exceptions. For example, despite the rampant oversharing that social media has encouraged, you can politely refuse to answer nosy questions. And you are decidedly not obliged to respond to every inane post; stay on the phone with a telemarketer; or hug your colleagues. &“An extremely useful philosopher . . . I consult her frequently, in order to behave better.&” —Daniel Handler in TheNew York Times
Mindreader: The New Science of Deciphering What People Really Think, What They Really Want, and Who They Really Are
by David J. LiebermanTired of guessing what they&’re really thinking? Read people in every situation—in person, on a screen, or in writing—using the new science of psycholinguistics, from a New York Times bestselling author and consultant to the FBI, CIA, and NSA. &“A treasure trove of concepts, ideas, and tools that we can all master to be safer and happier. It&’s a must-read!&”—Joe Navarro, author of Dangerous Personalities What did your boss mean in that email? Is your mechanic stretching the truth? Whether you&’re engaged in a casual conversation or a high-stakes negotiation, it&’s critical to understand the subtext of a situation. But with so much interaction happening on screens—via email, texts, or video chat—we are losing the ability to interpret expressions and cues. Furthermore, since many are now savvy about the meaning of body language, it&’s become even harder to discern someone&’s true thoughts or intentions.A leading lie-detection expert who instructs the FBI and other security agencies, noted psychotherapist David Lieberman, PhD, takes &“people reading&” to a whole new level. Drawing on the latest research in psycholinguistics—the cues embedded in spoken and written speech—he shows you how to apply his cutting-edge methods to countless everyday situations, including: • Detecting the messaging behind passive language, personal or impersonal descriptions, and level of detail.• Determining whether someone&’s account of any incident is the truth or a work of fiction.• Finding out whether a potential hire, dating app match, or new babysitter is trustworthy or hiding something. Nobody wants to be played a fool. Mindreader will help us identify who can be trusted, and who may be out to get us.
Minefields: A life in the news game - the bestselling memoir of Australia's legendary foreign correspondent
by Hugh RimintonMinefields is a compelling exploration of a foreign correspondent's life - proof of Hugh's belief that 'if you go looking for trouble, you'll probably find it'.Over nearly forty years as a journalist and foreign correspondent, Hugh Riminton has been shot at, blown up, threatened with deportation and thrown in jail. He has reported from nearly fifty countries, witnessed massacres in Africa, wars and conflicts on four continents, and every kind of natural disaster.It has been an extraordinary life. From a small-town teenager with a drinking problem, cleaning rat cages for a living, to a multi-award-winning international journalist reporting to an audience of 300 million people, Hugh has been a frontline witness to our times. From genocide in Africa to the Indian Ocean tsunami, from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to slave-buying in Sudan, Hugh has seen the best and worst of human behaviour. In Australia, he has covered political dramas, witnessed the Port Arthur massacre and the Thredbo disaster and broken a major national scandal. His work helped force half a dozen government inquiries. His story is entertaining, deeply personal and quietly wise.'An impressive career. His story is a triumph of substance over style.' Sydney Morning Herald'Hugh is an icon of Australian journalism' Michael Ware, former Iraq correspondent for TIME and CNN
Minimal Languages in Action
by Cliff GoddardThis edited book explores the rising interest in minimal languages – radically simplified languages using cross-translatable words and grammar, fulfilling the widely-recognised need to use language which is clear, accessible and easy to translate. The authors draw on case studies from around the world to demonstrate how early adopters have been putting Minimal English, Minimal Finnish, and other minimal languages into action: in language teaching and learning, ‘easy language’ projects, agricultural development training, language revitalisation, intercultural education, paediatric assessment, and health messaging. As well as reporting how minimal languages are being put into service, the contributors explore how minimal languages can be adapted, localised and implemented differently for different purposes. Like its predecessor Minimal English for a Global World: Improved Communication Using Fewer Words (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), the book will appeal to students and scholars of applied linguistics, language education and translation studies, as well as to professionals in any field where accessibility and translatability matter.
Mining Social Media: Finding Stories in Internet Data
by Lam Thuy VoBuzzFeed News Senior Reporter Lam Thuy Vo explains how to mine, process, and analyze data from the social web in meaningful ways with the Python programming language.Did fake Twitter accounts help sway a presidential election? What can Facebook and Reddit archives tell us about human behavior? In Mining Social Media, senior BuzzFeed reporter Lam Thuy Vo shows you how to use Python and key data analysis tools to find the stories buried in social media.Whether you're a professional journalist, an academic researcher, or a citizen investigator, you'll learn how to use technical tools to collect and analyze data from social media sources to build compelling, data-driven stories.Learn how to: • Write Python scripts and use APIs to gather data from the social web • Download data archives and dig through them for insights • Inspect HTML downloaded from websites for useful content • Format, aggregate, sort, and filter your collected data using Google Sheets • Create data visualizations to illustrate your discoveries • Perform advanced data analysis using Python, Jupyter Notebooks, and the pandas library • Apply what you've learned to research topics on your ownSocial media is filled with thousands of hidden stories just waiting to be told. Learn to use the data-sleuthing tools that professionals use to write your own data-driven stories.
Mining the Social Web: Data Mining Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, GitHub, and More
by Matthew A. RussellWant to tap the tremendous amount of valuable social data in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+? This refreshed edition helps you discover who's making connections with social media, what they're talking about, and where they're located. You'll learn how to combine social web data, analysis techniques, and visualization to find what you've been looking for in the social haystack--as well as useful information you didn't know existed. Each standalone chapter introduces techniques for mining data in different areas of the social Web, including blogs and email. All you need to get started is a programming background and a willingness to learn basic Python tools. Get a straightforward synopsis of the social web landscape Use adaptable scripts on GitHub to harvest data from social network APIs such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ Learn how to employ easy-to-use Python tools to slice and dice the data you collect Explore social connections in microformats with the XHTML Friends Network Apply advanced mining techniques such as TF-IDF, cosine similarity, collocation analysis, document summarization, and clique detection Build interactive visualizations with web technologies based upon HTML5 and JavaScript toolkits "A rich, compact, useful, practical introduction to a galaxy of tools, techniques, and theories for exploring structured and unstructured data." --Alex Martelli, Senior Staff Engineer, Google
Mining the Social Web: Data Mining Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, GitHub, and More
by Matthew A. Russell Mikhail KlassenMine the rich data tucked away in popular social websites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. With the third edition of this popular guide, data scientists, analysts, and programmers will learn how to glean insights from social media—including who’s connecting with whom, what they’re talking about, and where they’re located—using Python code examples, Jupyter notebooks, or Docker containers.In part one, each standalone chapter focuses on one aspect of the social landscape, including each of the major social sites, as well as web pages, blogs and feeds, mailboxes, GitHub, and a newly added chapter covering Instagram. Part two provides a cookbook with two dozen bite-size recipes for solving particular issues with Twitter.Get a straightforward synopsis of the social web landscapeUse Docker to easily run each chapter’s example code, packaged as a Jupyter notebookAdapt and contribute to the code’s open source GitHub repositoryLearn how to employ best-in-class Python 3 tools to slice and dice the data you collectApply advanced mining techniques such as TFIDF, cosine similarity, collocation analysis, clique detection, and image recognitionBuild beautiful data visualizations with Python and JavaScript toolkits
Mining, Modeling, and Recommending 'Things' in Social Media
by Martin Atzmueller Alvin Chin Christoph Scholz Christoph TrattnerThis book constitutes the thoroughly refereed joint post-workshop proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Mining Ubiquitous and Social Environments, MUSE 2013, held in Prague, Czech Republic, in September 2013, and the 4th International Workshop on Modeling Social Media, MSM 2013, held in Paris, France, in May 2013. The 8 full papers included in the book are revised and significantly extended versions of papers submitted to the workshops. The focus is on collective intelligence in ubiquitous and social environments. Issues tackled include personalization in social streams, recommendations exploiting social and ubiquitous data, and efficient information processing in social systems. Furthermore, this book presents work dealing with the problem of mining patterns from ubiquitous social data, including mobility mining and exploratory methods for ubiquitous data analysis.
Ministering Cross-Culturally: A Model for Effective Personal Relationships
by Sherwood G. Lingenfelter Marvin K. MayersWith more than 125,000 copies in print, this model for effective personal relationships in a multicultural and multiethnic world has proven successful for many. <p><p> On the occasion of its thirtieth anniversary, this contemporary classic has been thoroughly updated to reflect Sherwood Lingenfelter's mature thinking on the topic and to communicate with modern readers, helping them minister more effectively to people of different cultural and social backgrounds. It is accessible, practical, and applicable to many ministry situations. An accompanying interactive questionnaire, designed to help students reflect on their own cultural values, is available online through Baker Academic's Textbook eSources.
Ministers of Propaganda: Truth, Power, and the Ideology of the Religious Right
by Scott M. ColeyScott Coley exposes the inner workings of the religious right&’s propaganda—and how Christians can resist it. Good evangelical Christians are Republican. It seems like it&’s always been this way. That means the propaganda is working. Scott Coley trains a critical eye on the fusion of evangelicalism and right-wing politics in Ministers of Propaganda. This timely volume unravels rhetoric and biblical prooftexting that support Christo-authoritarianism: an ideology that presses Christian theology into the service of authoritarian politics. Coley&’s historically informed argument unsettles evangelical orthodoxy on issues like creation science or female leadership—convictions not as unchanging as powerful religious leaders would have us believe. Coley explains that we buy into propaganda because of motivated reasoning, and when we are motivated by perceived self-interest, the Christian message is easily corrupted. But if we recover Jesus&’s commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves, right-wing propaganda will lose its power. Any reader troubled by American evangelicals&’ embrace of racism, misogyny, and other unchristian views will find answers and hope in these pages.
Minstrel Traditions: Mediated Blackface in the Jazz Age
by Kevin James ByrneMinstrel Traditions: Mediated Blackface in the Jazz Age explores the place and influence of black racial impersonation in US society during a crucial and transitional time period. Minstrelsy was absorbed into mass-culture media that was either invented or reached widespread national prominence during this era: advertising campaigns, audio recordings, radio broadcasts, and film. Minstrel Traditions examines the methods through which minstrelsy's elements connected with the public and how these conventions reified the racism of the time. This book explores blackface and minstrelsy through a series of overlapping case studies which illustrate the extent to which blackface thrived in the early twentieth century. It contextualizes and analyzes the last musical of black entertainer Bert Williams, the surprising live career of pancake icon Aunt Jemima, a flourishing amateur minstrel industry, blackface acts of African American vaudeville, and the black Broadway shows which brought new musical styles and dances to the American consciousness. All reflect, and sometimes incorporate, the mass-culture technologies of the time, either in their subject matter or method of distribution. Retrograde blackface seamlessly transitioned from live to mediated iterations of these cultural products, further pushing black stereotypes into the national consciousness. The book project oscillates between two different types of performances: the live and the mediated. By focusing on how minstrelsy in the Jazz Age moved from live performance into mediatized technologies, the book adds to the intellectual and historical conversation regarding this pernicious, racist entertainment form. Jazz Age blackface helped normalize new media technologies and that technology extended minstrelsy's influence within US culture. Minstrel Traditions tracks minstrelsy's social impact over the course of two decades to examine how ideas of national identity employ racial nostalgias and fantasias. This book will be of great interest to scholars and researchers in theatre studies, communication studies, race and media, and musical scholarship
Mireles, el rebelde
by J. Jesús LemusMireles, el rebelde es un ensayo periodístico inédito donde Jesús Lemus, autor de Los malditos, construye un perfil del fundador de las autodefensas en México: José Manuel Mireles. En esta obra el autor desarrolla de forma analítica e informada su visión sobre José Manuel Mireles, fundador de las autodefensas en las zona de Michoacán y Guerrero, que sin duda nos ayudará a entender mejor el grave conflicto que se vive en esa zona de México y enriquecerá la discusión acerca de la seguridad nacional y la lucha contra el narcotráfico.En estas páginas el autor describe el momento y las circunstancias que orillaron a los habitantes de las zonas de Guerrero y Michoacán a levantarse en armas liderados por la iniciativa del Doctor Mireles. Sin caer en apologías adulatorias, el autor cuenta paso a paso el desarrollo de un malestar social generalizado que se convirtió en iniciativa de cambio social. El conflicto de las autodefensas en Michoacán es un tema de gran importancia en el ámbito nacional e internacional con repercute en temas como la violencia, la seguridad y el narcotráfico, y es por ese motivo que este ensayo encuentra una importancia fundamental para entender esta situación.
Mis/Disinformation and Democratic Society (Electronic Media Research Series)
by Melissa ZimdarsDrawing on a variety of perspectives and methodologies, this collection explores the intricate relationship between mis- and disinformation and the functioning of democratic society.This book seeks to show how mis- and disinformation is destabilizing our collective confidence in institutions fundamental to the functioning of democratic society, including our electoral processes, our perceptions of trust in government officials and institutions, our healthcare, education, economic, and media systems; and even our communities and interpersonal relationships. Topics covered in this book include the role of Artificial Intelligence in automating deception; how financial crises and journalistic norms in the news industry create favorable conditions for the amplification and laundering of political disinformation; and how our emotional states impact our susceptibility to misinformation. Throughout, the authors provide nuanced definitions of key terms such as “conspiracy theory” and “digital democracy” which help level the field for future research.Mis/Disinformation and Democratic Society is recommended reading for researchers and advanced scholars in this dynamic area of study.
Miscommunicating the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Asian Perspective (Routledge Advances in Internationalizing Media Studies)
by Ran Wei Dong Dong Ven-Hwei Lo Yi-Hui Christine Huang Hai Liang Guanxiong Huang Sibo WangThis book tackles the infodemic—the rapid, widespread diffusion of false, misleading, or inaccurate information about the disease and its ramifications—triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. With a focus on four Asian societies, the book compares and analyzes the spread of COVID-19 misinformation and its broad impacts on the public in Beijing, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Singapore. Providing both a comprehensive overview of the phenomenon of misinformation and cross-societal analyses of patterns, the book features in-depth analyses of the prevalence of COVID-19 misinformation and engagement and explores its consequences in an Asian context. The book sheds lights on these key questions: What types of infodemic messages circulate widely on popular social media platforms? What factors account for exposure to and engagement with debunked yet popular COVID-19 misinformation? How does exposure to widely circulated COVID-19 misinformation affect people’s beliefs, attitudes, and adoption of preventive measures to cope with the pandemic? How do macro social differences condition the diffusion and impacts of COVID-19 misinformation? What intervention strategies can counter the misinformation? Presenting scientific insights and empirical findings on the pressing issues about infodemic, this book will be of great interest to students and researchers of communication studies, political science, public health, crisis communication, and Asian Studies, as well as policymakers and practitioners who wish to acquire cutting-edge, evidence-based knowledge about combating misinformation during a global pandemic.
Misinformation Matters: Online Content and Quality Analysis
by Uyiosa Omoregie Kirsti RyallWhat is "misinformation"? Why does it matter? How does it spread on the internet, especially on social media platforms? What can we do to counteract the worst of its effects? Can we counteract its effects now that it is ubiquitous? These are the questions we answer in this book. We are living in an information age (specifically an "algorithmic age") which prioritizes information "quantity" over "quality". Social media has brought billions of people from across the world together online and the impact of diverse platforms, such as Facebook, WeChat, Reddit, LinkedIn, Signal, WhatsApp, Gab, Instagram, Telegraph, and Snapchat, has been transformational. The internet was created, with the best of intentions, as an online space where written content could be created, consumed and diffused without any real intermediary. This empowering aspect of the web is still, mostly, a force for good. People, on the whole, are better informed and online discussion is more inclusive because barriers to participation are reduced. As activity online has grown, however, an expanding catalogue of research reveals a darker side to social media, and the internet generally. Namely, misinformation’s ability to negatively influence our behaviour both online and offline. The solution we provide to this growing dilemma is informed by Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, which examines the relationship between language and reality from a philosophical perspective, and complements Claude Shannon’s Information Quantity Theory, which addresses the quantification, storage and communication of digital information from a mathematical perspective. The book ends by setting out a model designed by us: a "Wittgensteinian" approach to information quality. It defines content published online by clarifying the propositions and claims made within it. Our model’s online information quality check allows users to effectively analyse the quality of trending online content. This approach to misinformation analysis and prevention has been designed to be both easy to use and pragmatic. It upholds freedom of speech online while using the "harm principle" to categorise problematic content.
Misinformation and Society
by Yotam OphirA comprehensive guide to understanding and addressing political and scientific misinformation In our increasingly interconnected world, misinformation spreads faster than ever, influencing public opinion, political outcomes, and personal beliefs. In Misinformation and Society, Yotam Ophir takes an interdisciplinary approach to unravel the complexities of misinformation in its various forms. Offering invaluable insights into the history, psychology, and social impact of misinformation, this timely book provides you with the tools to critically analyze misinformation’s origins, effects, and solutions. From understanding the cognitive processes that make individuals vulnerable to false information, to exploring the societal impact of viral misinformation, Misinformation and Society delivers deep insights into one of the most pressing issues of our time. Drawing on research from fields such as communication, political science, and psychology, Ophir presents in-depth case studies of high-profile events such as Brexit and COVID-19, clearly demonstrating how misinformation has shaped public discourse. Through clear and engaging writing, the author presents evidence-based strategies to address misinformation in a variety of specific real-world contexts, such as conspiracy theories, public health disinformation, fabricated political news, and more. Requiring no previous background in the subject, Misinformation and Society is essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students in Media Studies, Political Science, Communication, and Public Health, as well as journalists, educators, policymakers, and general readers interested in media literacy, information integrity, and the challenges posed by misinformation in the Digital Age.
Misinformation in Referenda
by Sandrine Baume Véronique Boillet Vincent MartenetThe book identifies the impact of misinformation in the context of referenda. While the notion of misinformation is at the centre of current events and is the subject of several studies, it has rarely been addressed in the context of referenda or from a multidisciplinary and comparative perspective. This book fills this gap. Different legal orders have been chosen because of their extensive referendum practices (California and Switzerland); a recent legislative process on the issue of misinformation (Germany, France, and Canada); or recent experience with a vote during which it was considered that false information had been disseminated (Brexit, Catalan independence, and Italian constitutional referendum of 2016). By bringing together authors from the political and legal sciences, the book focuses on combining the expertise of researchers from different backgrounds and origins in order to propose innovative solutions. In this regard, the book is characterized by the fact that it does not aim to combat misinformation per se, but develops suggestions meant to guarantee the conditions of formation of the political will during referenda. The book will be an invaluable resource for legal scholars, political scientists, and specialists of political communication. Outside the world of academia, the book may draw the attention of policy-makers, practitioners, and journalists confronted with the challenges of misinformation or disinformation.
Miss Manners' Guide to Contagious Etiquette (Miss Manners)
by Judith Martin Jacobina Martin Nicolas MartinFrom how to connect when we&’re physically distant to the most effective way to advocate for better public health practices in your community (hint: it is not by yelling at jogging neighbors), Miss Manners guides readers through the unprecedented circumstances of the current global pandemic with humanity and wit.
Missed Information: Better Information for Building a Wealthier, More Sustainable Future
by Jay Schulkin David SarokinInformation is power. It drives commerce, protects nations, and forms the backbone of systems that range from health care to high finance. Yet despite the avalanche of data available in today's information age, neither institutions nor individuals get the information they truly need to make well-informed decisions. Faulty information and sub-optimal decision-making create an imbalance of power that is exaggerated as governments and corporations amass enormous databases on each of us. Who has more power: the government, in possession of uncounted terabytes of data (some of it obtained by cybersnooping), or the ordinary citizen, trying to get in touch with a government agency? In Missed Information, David Sarokin and Jay Schulkin explore information -- not information technology, but information itself -- as a central part of our lives and institutions. They show that providing better information and better access to it improves the quality of our decisions and makes for a more vibrant participatory society.Sarokin and Schulkin argue that freely flowing information helps systems run more efficiently and that incomplete information does just the opposite. It's easier to comparison shop for microwave ovens than for doctors or hospitals because of information gaps that hinder the entire health-care system. Better information about such social ills as child labor and pollution can help consumers support more sustainable products. The authors examine the opacity of corporate annual reports, the impenetrability of government secrets, and emerging techniques of "information foraging." The information imbalance of power can be reconfigured, they argue, with greater and more meaningful transparency from government and corporations.
Missed Information: Better Information for Building a Wealthier, More Sustainable Future
by Jay Schulkin David SarokinHow better information and better access to it improves the quality of our decisions and makes for a more vibrant participatory society. Information is power. It drives commerce, protects nations, and forms the backbone of systems that range from health care to high finance. Yet despite the avalanche of data available in today's information age, neither institutions nor individuals get the information they truly need to make well-informed decisions. Faulty information and sub-optimal decision-making create an imbalance of power that is exaggerated as governments and corporations amass enormous databases on each of us. Who has more power: the government, in possession of uncounted terabytes of data (some of it obtained by cybersnooping), or the ordinary citizen, trying to get in touch with a government agency? In Missed Information, David Sarokin and Jay Schulkin explore information—not information technology, but information itself—as a central part of our lives and institutions. They show that providing better information and better access to it improves the quality of our decisions and makes for a more vibrant participatory society.Sarokin and Schulkin argue that freely flowing information helps systems run more efficiently and that incomplete information does just the opposite. It's easier to comparison shop for microwave ovens than for doctors or hospitals because of information gaps that hinder the entire health-care system. Better information about such social ills as child labor and pollution can help consumers support more sustainable products. The authors examine the opacity of corporate annual reports, the impenetrability of government secrets, and emerging techniques of “information foraging.” The information imbalance of power can be reconfigured, they argue, with greater and more meaningful transparency from government and corporations.
Missed Translations: Meeting the Indian Parents Who Raised Me
by Sopan DebApproaching his 30th birthday, Sopan Deb had found comfort in his day job as a writer for the New York Times and a practicing comedian. But his stage material highlighting his South Asian culture only served to mask the insecurities borne from his family history. Sure, Deb knew the facts: his parents, both Indian, separately immigrated to North America in the 1960s and 1970s. They were brought together in a volatile and ultimately doomed arranged marriage and raised a family in suburban New Jersey before his father returned to India alone.But Deb had never learned who his parents were as individuals—their ages, how many siblings they had, what they were like as children, what their favorite movies were. Theirs was an ostensibly nuclear family without any of the familial bonds. Coming of age in a mostly white suburban town, Deb&’s alienation led him to seek separation from his family and his culture, longing for the tight-knit home environment of his white friends. His desire wasn&’t rooted in racism or oppression; it was born of envy and desire—for white moms who made after-school snacks and asked his friends about the girls they liked and the teachers they didn&’t. Deb yearned for the same.Deb&’s experiences as one of the few minorities covering the Trump campaign, and subsequently as a stand up comedian, propelled him on a dramatic journey to India to see his father—the first step in a life altering journey to bridge the emotional distance separating him from those whose DNA he shared. Deb had to learn to connect with this man he recognized yet did not know—and eventually breach the silence separating him from his mother. As it beautifully and poignantly chronicles Deb&’s odyssey, Missed Translations raises questions essential to us all: Is it ever too late to pick up the pieces and offer forgiveness? How do we build bridges where there was nothing before—and what happens to us, to our past and our future, if we don&’t?
Missing Class
by Betsy Leondar-WrightMany activists worry about the same few problems in their groups: low turnout, inactive members, conflicting views on racism, overtalking, and offensive violations of group norms. But in searching for solutions to these predictable and intractable troubles, progressive social movement groups overlook class culture differences. In Missing Class, Betsy Leondar-Wright uses a class-focused lens to show that members with different class life experiences tend to approach these problems differently. This perspective enables readers to envision new solutions that draw on the strengths of all class cultures to form the basis of stronger cross-class and multiracial movements. The first comprehensive empirical study of US activist class cultures, Missing Class looks at class dynamics in 25 groups that span the gamut of social movement organizations in the United States today, including the labor movement, grassroots community organizing, and groups working on global causes in the anarchist and progressive traditions. Leondar-Wright applies Pierre Bourdieu's theories of cultural capital and habitus to four class trajectories: lifelong working-class and poor; lifelong professional middle class; voluntarily downwardly mobile; and upwardly mobile. Compellingly written for both activists and social scientists, this book describes class differences in paths to activism, attitudes toward leadership, methods of conflict resolution, ways of using language, diversity practices, use of humor, methods of recruiting, and group process preferences. Too often, we miss class. Missing Class makes a persuasive case that seeing class culture differences could enable activists to strengthen their own groups and build more durable cross-class alliances for social justice.
Missing Each Other: How to Cultivate Meaningful Connections
by Edward Brodkin Ashley PallathraThe ability to connect with another person and truly be in tune with their physical and emotional state is one of the most elusive interpersonal skills to develop. This book shows you how.In our fast-paced, tech-obsessed lives, rarely do we pay genuine, close attention to one another. With all that&’s going on in the world and the never-ending demands of our daily lives, most of us are too stressed and preoccupied to be able to really listen to each other. Often, we misunderstand or talk past each other. Many of us are left wishing that the people in our lives could really listen, understand, and genuinely connect with us.Based on cutting-edge neuroscience research and years of clinical work, psychiatrist Edward Brodkin and therapist Ashley Pallathra take us on a wide-ranging and surprising journey through fields as diverse as social neuroscience and autism research, music performance, pro basketball, and tai chi. They use these stories to introduce the four pillars of human connection: Relaxed Awareness, Listening, Understanding, and Mutual Responsiveness. Accessible and engaging, Missing Each Other explains the science, research, and biology underlying these pillars of human connection and provides exercises through which readers can improve their own skills and abilities in each.