The best history course I've ever taken. Why did some societies thrive while others were decimated? This book teaches us to think critically about this question without taking things at face value.

Audio CD set, to be listened to in 12 half-hour lessons. Ideal for commuters. John McWhorter has a beautiful oration style, and I learned a great deal about linguistic diversity from this lecture series. By the end I sort of had a crush on him.

This book is getting a lot of publicity right now because it's illuminating and fun to read. I enjoyed it very much.

The author of this book, Zainab Salbi, started a nonprofit organization to help women who are victims of war-related rape. This is her story.

Another book that encourages people who feel gripped by ecoanxiety. I read it and reread it in installments.

How did people live before civilization? Elizabeth Marshall Thomas lived among the Ju/wasi in southern Africa, and describes their way of life in a lyrical and readable way. Very different from many books on early humans, which focus largely on fossils and archaeological disputes, this book reads like a narrative and is informative and entertaining at the same time.

A collection of essays on the innate human desire to be close to nature.

If you tend to be anxious about things you cannot change, it is good to be quiet sometimes and accept the present moment as it is. This book may be a helpful tool in finding that place of peace. It's very simple and straightforward, not at all new-agey.