It is often said that America has become culturally diverse only in the past quarter century. But from the country’s beginning, cultural variety and conflict have been a centrifugal force in American politics and a crucial reason for our rise to power.The peopling of the United States is one of the most important stories of the last five hundred years, and in Shaping our Nation, bestselling author and demographics expert Michael Barone illuminates a new an...

The election of 2016 prompted journalists and political scientists to write obituaries for the Republican Party—or prophecies of a new dominance. But it was all rather familiar. Whenever one of our two great parties has a setback, we’ve heard: “This is the end of the Democratic Party,” or, “The Republican Party is going out of existence.” Yet both survive, and thrive.We have the oldest and third oldest political parties in the world—the Democratic Party founded in 1832 to reelect A...

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) with human cognition and creativity is reshaping how society addresses complex global challenges. By moving beyond automation toward human-AI symbiosis, this evolving paradigm enhances our ability to solve problems in fields like healthcare, education, and communication. Human-AI augmentation promotes inclusive innovation, where machines act as cognitive partners rather than replacements, expanding what individuals and communities can achieve...

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into health and human-centric systems reshapes the way care, well-being, and social services are delivered. By leveraging AI technologies like machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision, these systems can better understand, predict, and respond to human needs with accuracy and personalization. From improving diagnostics and patient outcomes in healthcare to enhancing accessibility and support in public services, AI off...

Former LAPD detective Mike Travis returns in a novel of sex, drugs, rock and roll—and murder—from the award-winning author of Roadhouse Blues.The mystery has fascinated the music industry since 1977—the year when some tapes went missing from the Stone Blossoms' final recording session for one of the most anticipated rock albums of all time. The band's charismatic leader committed suicide on the same day.Retired cop Mike Travis learns about the puzz...

"Enjoyable entertainment . . . a mystery/suspense novel with links to classic rock history and mythology" featuring recovering detective Mike Travis (Foreword).After twenty years at the LAPD Homicide Bureau, Mike Travis is finally retiring and starting over on Santa Catalina Island. In the small town of Avalon, he lives and works on his yacht, sailing and chartering scuba diving trips. There, among tourists and quirky locals, he tries to banish the residua...

Bringing together international academics and professionals who are actively researching and working in the field, this pioneering scholarly volume covers the issues faced by individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD) in mid and later life.Including a range of personal, academic and clinical perspectives, the book considers historical and contemporary perspectives on autism, including diagnosis, developmental outcomes and life course issues. Attention is given to medical, care ...

Environmental sustainability and human cultural sustainability are inextricably linked. Reversing damaging human impact on the global environment is ultimately a cultural question, and as with politics, the answers are often profoundly local. Cultural Sustainabilities presents twenty-three essays by musicologists and ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, folklorists, ethnographers, documentary filmmakers, musicians, artists, and activists, each asking a particular question or presenting a s...

In this deft, multilayered thriller, a disgraced lawyer trying to revive his tattered career stumbles across a hidden case of cold-blooded murder and discovers that he must pursue justice even though doing so might just cost him what little he has left—possibly even his life.Attorney David Hirsch was the managing partner of one of St. Louis’s most prestigious law firms, until he was convicted of embezzlement and sent to the federal penitentiary for seven years. He emerges from pris...

‘Michael Barone is the perfect person to write this important and thought-provoking book.'Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with DestinyThe Founding Fathers were men of high intellect, steely integrity, and enormous ambition—but they were not all of one mind. They came from particular places in already diverse colonies, and they all sought their futures in different horizons. Without reliable maps of even nearby terrain,...

Tennyson was one of the true great Victorian poets - much of his work is known throughout the world:'Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die''Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all'His genius is expressed through the precision and delicacy of the language of his lyrical poems. Some of his words were engraved in the 2012 Olympic village and his early poetry was a major influence on and inspiratio...

Bribery … coercion … intimidation. Sounds like a movie review of The Godfather, but unfortunately we're talking about your federal government. So says bestselling author David Freddoso. InGangster Government: Barack Obama and the New Washington Thugocracy, Freddoso exposes how the Obama administration bears a closer resemblance to the mob than to a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Laying bare the backdoor deals, threats, and pay-to-play schemes...