Taking It Big

C. Wright Mills (1916–1962) was a pathbreaking intellectual who transformed the independent American Left in the 1940s and 1950s. Often challenging the established ideologies and approaches of fellow leftist thinkers, Mills was central to creating and developing the idea of the "public intellectual" in postwar America and laid the political foundations for the rise of the New Left in the 1960s. Written by Stanley Aronowitz, a leading sociologist and critic of American culture and politics, Taking It Big reconstructs this icon's formation and the new dimension of American political life that followed his work. Aronowitz revisits Mills's education and its role in shaping his outlook and intellectual restlessness. Mills defined himself as a maverick, and Aronowitz tests this claim (which has been challenged in recent years) against the work and thought of his contemporaries. Aronowitz describes Mills's growing circle of contacts among the New York Intellectuals and his efforts to reenergize the Left by encouraging a fundamentally new theoretical orientation centered on more ambitious critiques of U.S. society. Blurring the rigid boundaries among philosophy, history, and social theory and between traditional orthodoxies and the radical imagination, Mills became one of the most admired and controversial thinkers of his time and was instrumental in inspiring the student and antiwar movements of the 1960s. In this book, Aronowitz not only reclaims this critical thinker's reputation but also emphasizes his ongoing significance to debates on power in American democracy.

Was there ever such a family? Fired from his job at the University for letting all the mice free from their cages in the biology labs, Mr Delahay went home to find that his house was falling into the river. Moving into his mother's large, old house proved no solution. His equally large family -- two girls and four boys, three of them triplets -- were too mischievous and troublesome for his mother to stand. So she banished most of them to British Columbia where they had adventures with Sasquatches and a carwash owner named Buck whose life's dream it was to capture one of these Wild Men of the Woods. Returning to their home town in Ontario, the Delahays find that their having a home again depends on the oldest boy's skill at telling a story that will keep an eccentric old lady so interested she will let them stay with her yet one more night until she finds out how the story ends. Well, eventually, the story does have to end, but not before a great deal of hilarity and a great deal of wild adventures involving a motorbiker, a confidence woman masquerading as a baby sitter, and a leap through a Suicide Door. This is a different kind of story, filled with unexpected turns that even include a story within the story that you can try finishing yourself!

Frustrated by the time it takes to do the things she wants to do, Loonette the clown finds that patience is a virtue and that good things come to those who wait.

A manifesto for the workplace feminist that moved Oscar winner Jane Fonda to exclaim “Please, please, please. All working women must read this book!” Enough about “breaking the glass ceiling.” Here are blueprints for a redesign of the entire building, ground up, to benefit women and men—as well as the bottom line. In Taking on the Big Boys, longtime labor activist Ellen Bravo explores workplace environments in both business and government. She recounts women’s testimonies from offices, assembly lines, hospitals, and schools, unmasking the patronizing, trivializing, and minimizing tactics employed by “the big boys” and their surrogates, such as portraying feminism as women against men, and dismissing demands for pay equity, family leave, and flex time as outrageous. Also included are practical tips on everything from dealing with a sexual harasser to getting family members to share chores—and build equal relationships. In this “smart, kind, funny, and very effective” Gold Medal Winner of ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award for Women’s Issues, Bravo argues for feminism as a system of beliefs, laws, and practices that value women and work associated with women, while detailing activist strategies to achieve a society where everybody—women and men—reach their potential (Gloria Steinem, feminist icon).

THE BIG DEAL... shows how to develop a stronger relationship with God and more effective spiritual lifestyle by taking small steps that lead to big changes. Been running for Jesus a long time (I'm not tired yet) Been singing for Jesus a long time (I'm not tired yet) Been running by day and praying by night (I'm not tired yet) I've gotta get going, it's a mighty hard fight (No...I'm not tired yet) I've been serving God a long time (I'm not tired yet) I've been living for God a long time (I'm not tired yet) I've been praying to the Lord a long time (I'm not tired yet) It's an uphill journey but all I've got to say is (I'm not tired yet) The old spiritual song lifts you, but you are tired. Or maybe you're bored. You're still going to church. You're still praying. You're still serving. You're still giving. Deep within you, faith remains. But you feel a longing. You're not seeking fireworks. You're not a pew-sitter, safe in some spiritual comfort zone, looking for a thrill from the Lord. Your trust in God is secure. But you feel a longing for something more, deeper, fresher. If you've ignored these innermost feelings thinking they're no big deal, this basic yet dynamic program that Bishop Vashti McKenzie has implemented in more than two hundred churches with astounding results is for you. Individuals who have had many years of Christian life discovered a renewed sense of calling and purpose. Even new believers were invigorated in their faith-building process. Bishop McKenzie prescribes very small changes-such as adding a mere thirty seconds of prayer daily-that lead to radical closeness to God. And building an enjoyable, meaningful relationship with the Almighty doesn't mean striving for perfection. Small steps-but meaningful steps-collectively evolve into intimacy with God. And the big deal result is greater ability to biblically address life challenges. The big deal is that you're even more available to serve family, church, and community: truly in "no ways tired." Increasing spirituality is incremental, not monumental. Mustard-seed-like increases in positive actions (and corresponding decreases in negative ones) yield mountain-moving growth!

“AN IMPORTANT BOOK ABOUT MOTIVATION FROM A PROVEN MOTIVATOR.” —JACK WELCH Yum! Brands CEO David Novak learned long ago that you can’t lead a great organization of any size without getting your people aligned, enthusiastic, and focused relentlessly on the mission. But how do you do that? There are countless leadership books, but how many will actually help a Taco Bell shift manager, a Fortune 500 CEO, a new entrepreneur, or anyone in between? Over his fifteen years at Yum! Brands, Novak has developed a trademarked program—Taking People with You—that he personally teaches to thousands of managers around the world. He shows them how to make big things happen by getting people on their side. No skill in business is more important. And Yum!’s extraordinary success (at least 13 percent growth for each of the last ten years) proves his point. Novak knows that managers don’t need leadership platitudes or business school theories. So he cuts right to the chase with a step-by-step guide to setting big goals, building strong teams, blowing past your targets, and celebrating after you shock the skeptics. And then doing it again and again until consistent excellence becomes a core element of your culture.

Sodas are astonishing products. Little more than flavored sugar-water, these drinks cost practically nothing to produce or buy, yet have turned their makers--principally Coca-Cola and PepsiCo--into a multibillion-dollar industry with global recognition, distribution, and political power. Billed as "refreshing," "tasty," "crisp," and "the real thing," sodas also happen to be so well established to contribute to poor dental hygiene, higher calorie intake, obesity, and type-2 diabetes that the first line of defense against any of these conditions is to simply stop drinking them. Habitually drinking large volumes of soda not only harms individual health, but also burdens societies with runaway healthcare costs. So how did products containing absurdly inexpensive ingredients become multibillion dollar industries and international brand icons, while also having a devastating impact on public health? In Soda Politics, the 2016 James Beard Award for Writing & Literature Winner, Dr. Marion Nestle answers this question by detailing all of the ways that the soft drink industry works overtime to make drinking soda as common and accepted as drinking water, for adults and children. Dr. Nestle, a renowned food and nutrition policy expert and public health advocate, shows how sodas are principally miracles of advertising; Coca-Cola and PepsiCo spend billions of dollars each year to promote their sale to children, minorities, and low-income populations, in developing as well as industrialized nations. And once they have stimulated that demand, they leave no stone unturned to protect profits. That includes lobbying to prevent any measures that would discourage soda sales, strategically donating money to health organizations and researchers who can make the science about sodas appear confusing, and engaging in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities to create goodwill and silence critics. Soda Politics follows the money trail wherever it leads, revealing how hard Big Soda works to sell as much of their products as possible to an increasingly obese world. But Soda Politics does more than just diagnose a problem--it encourages readers to help find solutions. From Berkeley to Mexico City and beyond, advocates are successfully countering the relentless marketing, promotion, and political protection of sugary drinks. And their actions are having an impact--for all of the hardball and softball tactics the soft drink industry employs to maintain the status quo, soda consumption has been flat or falling for years. Health advocacy campaigns are now the single greatest threat to soda companies' profits. Soda Politics provides readers with the tools they need to keep up pressure on Big Soda in order to build healthier and more sustainable food systems.

The celebrated journalist, producer, and bestselling author takes us on a culinary journey from Italy to Afghanistan, from Mexico to Massachusetts, a memoir of travel, food, and personal (mis)adventure. In Vietnam, preconceptions collide with the soup; in France, lust flares with the pâté and dies with the dessert; in Bolivia, a very young missionary finds her food flavored with hypocrisy; while at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, an older woman discovers gorp is good, fear is your friend, and Thai chicken tastes best when you're soaked by rain and the Colorado River.