Showing results by narrator "Adam Barr" in All Categories

Most ambitious people struggle in at least one of these areas, yet they feel they don’t have the tools to improve their situation. Return on Ambition is the culmination of an ambitious effort to harness insights from recent research in psychology and neuroscience to help people pursue their ambitions more fruitfully. The result is a radical and holistic approach to achievement, growth, and well-being.

In 1913, a Russian ballet incited a riot in Paris at the new Théâtre de Champs-Elysées. A century later, thousands of Ukrainian citizens gathered at Independence Square (Euromaidan) in Kyiv to protest then-President Yanukovych's failure to sign a referendum with the European Union, opting instead to forge a closer alliance with Russia. The peaceful protests turned violent when military police shot into the crowd, killing over a hundred civilians. This novel follows four individuals over the course of a the Ukrainian winter, as their lives are changed forever by the protests.

The Pyrocene tells the story of what happened when a fire-wielding species, humanity, met an especially fire-receptive time in Earth's history. Since terrestrial life first appeared, flames have flourished. Over the past two million years, however, one genus gained the ability to manipulate fire, swiftly remaking both itself and eventually the world. We developed small guts and big heads by cooking food; we climbed the food chain by cooking landscapes; and now we have become a geologic force by cooking the planet.

Fifteen years ago, Hector Lewis’ wife and young daughter vanished without a trace. People have long thought he was responsible, but the man he knows is behind their disappearance still walks free. As a police officer, he is sworn to uphold the law. But he has seen how little justice there is in the world. And when a newcomer’s arrival sparks a harrowing series of crimes, Hector finds himself in a race to catch a man he is convinced is a killer.

What started as an internal whisper, has become a steady rumble. It’s getting louder, feeling heavier the more you try to ignore it. If you’re a white man in America, you have a decision to make: become an agent of change, or a victim of progress. White men have found themselves entrenched in a privileged status quo for centuries. Old patterns and learned behaviors have contributed to their success, but things are changing; our world is evolving. We’re tackling racism and sexism head-on. White masculinity, as we know it, is in the midst of a revolution.

Vince Carver left the CIA with a dead friend and a close call. So much for so-called intelligence work. No longer knowing what he was fighting for, Carver switched to the private sector and swore he'd never go back. Armed with the elite skills of a special operator, he now leads a team of security specialists far from the battlefield. But everything changes when his convoy is ambushed on American soil. The three-letter agencies all want a piece of him, and the CIA is front and center.

Vince Carver is persona non grata. As an asset, he's difficult to control. As an operator, he has no equal. Carver may be on the outs with the CIA, but the feds recognize a value proposition when they see one. Sooner or later, his services are always in demand. He gets a shot at redemption when the son of a Mexican congressman is kidnapped by narcos. A newly hobbled DEA with diminished operational resources needs two things more than ever: a solution, and deniability. With Delta Force experience in hostage rescue and no official government ties, they tap Carver for the mission in Tijuana.

Nuclear power once promised to be the solution to the world's energy crisis, but that all changed in the late twentieth century after multiple high-profile accidents and meltdowns. Power plant workers, finding themselves the subject of public opposition, became leery of reporters. But one plant in Zion, Illinois, allowed unrestricted access to one journalist: the Chicago Tribune's Casey Bukro. Bukro spent two years inside the Zion nuclear plant, interviewing employees, witnessing high-risk maintenance procedures, and watching the radiation exposure counter on his own dosimeter tick up and up.

America has seen the culmination of a long-building war on democracy being waged by a fundamentally violent and antidemocratic far-right movement that unironically calls itself the "Patriot" movement. So how did we get here? Award-winning journalist David Neiwert—who has been following the rise of these extremist groups since the late 1970s, when he was a young reporter in Idaho—explores how the movement was built over decades, how it was set aflame by Donald Trump and his cohorts, and how it will continue to attack American democracy for the foreseeable future.

Decades ago, six children from across the United States disappeared on the same afternoon. Now the only one who can stop it from happening again is the boy who managed to escape. Eric Partin doesn’t understand what happened 30 years ago. All he knows is that he was taken by strangers and locked in a small room for weeks before he escaped his captors.

The Cold War may be over, but Russian unconventional warfare has only grown more sophisticated. Preventing a series of bombings that threaten the security of Europe while babysitting a headstrong girl makes for a dangerous mission. Finding himself on a black op deep behind enemy lines, facing soldiers without uniforms or state affiliation, might just make it Carver's last.

A weaponized virus ravages the U.S. somehow leaving children and young adults unscathed. As hundreds of millions die, for those left, surviving the virus is only the beginning….

Two days after a megaquake and tsunami combine to wreak havoc on the Pacific Northwest, Clint and his daughter are together at last. Instead of retreating to safety, they're on a one-way mission into the heart of the disaster. Chaos on the streets, impassable routes, and the worst of human nature combine to thwart them at every turn. But Mika's mom is missing, and they won't stop until they find her.

German, Czech, and Irish immigrants poured into America in the mid-1800s. They brought their language and traditions with them...and their love of brewing and drinking beer. In 1881, Iowa City was a bustling town full of immigrants. The population was exploding, and that meant two things: Fortunes were being made overnight and trouble was afoot. Three large breweries had taken root, sprouting strong and proud in the "Northside" neighborhood. In one generation the brewers became wealthy and powerful men. They also came to be known as "The Beer Mafia".

In his classic book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni laid out a groundbreaking approach for tackling the perilous group behaviors that destroy teamwork. Here he turns his focus to the individual, revealing the three indispensable virtues of an ideal team player. In The Ideal Team Player, Lencioni tells the story of Jeff Shanley, a leader desperate to save his uncle’s company by restoring its cultural commitment to teamwork. Jeff must crack the code on the virtues that real team players possess, and then build a culture of hiring and development around those virtues.

In Sicily, on March 12, 1909, four gunshots thundered in the night. Two men fled, and investigators soon discovered who they had killed: Giuseppe Petrosino, the legendary American detective whose exploits in New York were celebrated even in Italy. Veteran New York City journalist and historian Paul Moses explores the lives of the nationally celebrated detectives who followed in the slain Petrosino's footsteps as leaders of the New York City investigative squad: Anthony Vachris, Charles Corrao, and Michael Fiaschetti.

Isolationism became one of the most influential political trends in American history. From the founding era until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States shunned strategic commitments abroad, making only brief detours during the Spanish-American War and World War I. Amid World War II and the Cold War, Americans abandoned isolationism; they tried to run the world rather than run away from it. But isolationism is making a comeback. Author Charles Kupchan explores the enduring connection between the isolationist impulse and the American experience.

The Christian church of the early centuries spread throughout much of Asia, Africa, and Europe, spoke many languages, was situated within diverse cultural settings, and had varied worship practices; yet it maintained a vital unity on core teachings. In The Global Church - The First Eight Centuries: From Pentecost through the Rise of Islam, author Donald Fairbairn helps listeners understand both the diversity and unity of the church in this pivotal era.

World-class heart surgeon Dr. Peter Sutter runs his life with the instinctive precision of a master of the universe. But when he leaves the operating room, the only living thing waiting for him is a golden retriever. Then a chance encounter with an enigmatic woman changes everything. Exploring the depths of Rosalind's intoxicating body and captivating spirit, Peter quickly falls under her spell. Miraculously, the feeling is mutual. But fate is waiting just around the corner. And it might be carrying a lead pipe.

Belief and Cult argues that belief isn't uniquely Christian but was central to ancient Roman religion. Drawing on cognitive theory, Jacob Mackey shows that despite having nothing to do with salvation or faith, belief underlay every aspect of Roman religious practices—emotions, individual and collective cult action, ritual norms, social reality, and social power. In doing so, he also offers a thorough argument for the importance of belief to other non-Christian religions.