Showing results by narrator "Sean Pratt" in All Categories

In this volume of the MIT Press's Essential Knowledge series, Nick Montfort argues that the future is something to be made, not predicted. Montfort offers what he considers essential knowledge about the future, as seen in the work of writers, artists, inventors, and designers (mainly in Western culture) who developed and described the core components of the futures they envisioned. Montfort's approach is not that of futurology or scenario planning; instead, he reports on the work of making the future - the thinkers who devoted themselves to writing pages in the unwritten book.

"Hold On with a Bulldog Grip and Chew and Choke as Much as Possible": The Grand Offensive: (May–August 1864): The Spring Offensive is launched. A bogus presidential proclamation calling for volunteers and prayers causes panic throughout the North. Grant and Lee battle for six weeks until severe losses force them to a halt. Congressional Radicals pass a bill that will allow Southern States readmittance to the Union as long as they give an oath that they never supported the Confederacy. Southern leaders spread bogus peace overtures. Lincoln reaffirms his commitment to the Emancipation.

Cameron is replaced by Stanton. The president begins to supervise the army and take charge of his administration. By presidential order, McClellan is goaded into moving from a defensive position to an offensive. Instead of following Lincoln's plan, McClellan chooses an attack on Richmond. McClellan's indecisiveness and tardiness in battle have many pushing for a replacement. The Union suffers a crushing defeat in the Seven Days Battle. During all this, Willie Lincoln dies of fever.

Publishers Weekly describes this book as “the most meticulously researched Lincoln biography ever written." Burlingame's Lincoln comes alive as the author unfolds vast amounts of new research while breathing new life into familiar stories. Publishers Weekly also notes, “The book need not be heard in one sitting. Each part stands alone.” Now Gildan Media brings to you, chapter by chapter, what Doris Kearns Goodwin calls a “…profound and masterful portrait.”

Lincoln's studies lead to him becoming a successful lawyer in Illinois. He is often published anonymously during the political campaign of 1837 and his works include detailed rebuttals against opposing politicians. As a pivotal member of the Whig party, Lincoln openly begins to condemn mob violence and lynching, and begins to publicly denounce slavery in his speeches. This chapter details much of the wrongdoings and disorderly conduct that mark the political landscape of the time.

This point in Lincoln's life is marked by a sudden return to the practice of law. Highly moral and judicious, he often took little or no money for cases, and would not represent a client if he didn't believe in his case. Lincoln tried to settle many cases out of court. He developed a persona of being affable and open, especially to juries, giving him a noted advantage. He also served on the circuit courts, where lawyers had to prepare cases quickly and where lodging was often quite difficult to find.

Film noir is a genre that reached its peak in the 1940s and 1950s. Characterized by dark lighting and inspired by crime fiction, it often features characters such as a tough-guy hero, mysterious beauties who may or may not be on the level, and prominent people with crimes to hide.The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) is a beloved film in this exciting genre, and in this audio adaptation you will experience the same thrill, as the characters come alive in your mind as you hear their voices from the original motion picture.

It’s the mid-2020s. The pandemic is becoming endemic. Alby O’Brien is hiding in his cave-like garage apartment in Southern New Jersey to escape the wrath of terrorists who are after him. Believing he is safe, he supports himself on under-the-table fix-it work with his nephew, Stephen, while wrestling with terrifying nightmares of what happened in Iraq. Now, however, his minimalist existence is about to end with very dire consequences. Alby becomes the unintentional instigator of a major robbery; encounters Ginger, a gorgeous woman; and collides with a killer named Jagger.

While employees may possess the knowledge and skills to do their jobs, they are unaware of what best-selling customer service author Steve Curtin calls job purpose: how their specific tasks contribute to the organization’s reason for being. They understand what to do and how to do it, but not why they do it. Curtin offers a fresh tool to overcome this challenge. Instead of just having assignments to work on, they now have a purpose to work toward. Service quality goes from transactional to exceptional.

He started his life out in the shadows of the steel mills in Gary, Indiana. Instead of home or school being his safe places to learn and grow, Tom Pado found his own ways of learning. All the adventures led him into a life of excitement and success as he pioneered the offshore remotely operated vehicle (ROV) industry for deep-sea oil drilling. His ideas powered the industry that powers the world. In Damn the Pressure, Full Speed Ahead, Pado shares the story of how he made his way across the globe and built a multimillion-dollar company that has truly altered the world.

Scientists have shown bilingualism to be brain-changing. It can also be life-changing. In America's Bilingual Century, author Steve Leveen takes you on a journey of reinvention - of yourself, your children, and the country - that takes place when we embrace bilingualism. Based on a decade of research and hundreds of interviews with experts and successful bilinguals, Steve found that a new America is emerging: One where more and more people are speaking English and another language.

Organizations need to offer customers breakthrough products, services, and solutions to effectively compete in today’s innovation-hungry economy. The challenge is customers often don’t know precisely what they want. As Henry Ford is reputed to have said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

Americans agree on very little these days, but red state conservatives and blue state progressives can agree on one critical point: Wall Street can no longer be trusted. Yet most of us continue to invest our money in the stocks and bonds of Fortune 500 companies, transferring our capital far from where we live and work. Local investing expert Michael Shuman offers another alternative.

Josh Seibert's new book Winning from Failing: Build and Lead a Corporate Learning Culture for High Performance shows company leaders how to harness the natural adult learning progression. His book shows sales leaders (and others) how to create, support, and sustain a workplace learning culture that measurably improves performance.

There are four stages of transition that all of us experience when making a successful adjustment to a new work situation...and eight common, potentially negative consequences that are likely to accompany any organizational change initiative. Leaders who understand these four stages and who understand the human dynamics behind the eight most common challenges can improve their odds of success.

Commonly considered Stephen Crane's greatest accomplishment, The Red Badge of Courage ranks among the foremost literary achievements of the modern era. It is the story of Private Henry Fleming, who goes into the Civil War a hotheaded young patriot with his mind brimful of ideas of glory.

Brokering is as easy as you want it to be. However, our tendency is to overcomplicate. It’s time to regain clarity and focus on your business, and your life, through 17 simple lessons learned through 1,700 “complicated” transactions. Embrace unconventional wisdom, make smart hires, and be an analogue standout in a digital world. Because having the best tech alone won’t get you where you want to be.

Dr. Moshe Finkelman emerges as an expert on Jewish faith in his book God Is Not Dead: Man’s Pursuit of Faith in Judaism. For the first time since the 18th century’s The Path of the Upright of Rabbi Luzzatto, there is a book that describes a system of growth in faith, from the initial level to the ultimate level of knowledge of God, leading to closeness to God. Dr. Finkelman gradually and convincingly takes the listener through steps of growth in faith, leaving no argument unsettled and no subject unexplained.

The problem isn’t that liberal authors present their opinions or interpretations of history from an obvious left-wing bias. Students learn, for example, that the Founding Fathers were elitists who drafted the Constitution in order to protect their own economic interests; that Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation only because he needed black soldiers; that racist groups such as the KKK represented our society in the early twentieth century.

Kit Butler and Lige Turner are weathered trackers—trappers who once lived among the Dakota people as brothers, learning their language, their land, and their way of life. Now, with the fur trade dwindling, they find themselves guides for a wagon train—a group of emigrants leaving behind the comforts of the world they know for the Wild West. The problem is, they have to pass through hostile Dakota Indian territory to reach their destination.