C-SPAN Reality Checks #2
Explore C-SPAN Reality Checks #2, a curated list of thought-provoking books on history, politics, and society. Discover Alan Weisman’s *The World Without Us*, Stephen Kinzer’s *Overthrow*, and more.
Book
The World Without Us
by Alan Weisman
Weisman, an award-winning journalist, offers readers a penetrating--and sometimes terrifying--take on how the planet would respond without the relentless pressure of the human presence.
Book
Peace be Upon You
by Zachary Karabell
In a narrative spanning 14 centuries, Karabell explores the growing tensions between Islam and the West and traces the rise of Arab nationalism. Evoking the legacy of coexistence, he illuminates a forgotten heritage that shows the possibility of a more stable and secure world.
Book
Talking Right
by Geoffrey Nunberg
Geoffrey Nunberg breaks new ground with this fierce and funny narrative of how the political right has ushered in a new world order, aided unwittingly by the liberal media. Democrats are well known for their "lousy bumper stickers," as Joe Klein puts it. As liberals wade through the semantics of "social security lockbox," "single payer," and other wonky locutions, the right has become harder, meaner and better at getting out the message: the estate tax became the more menacing "death tax" and a contentious education initiative was wrapped in the comforting (and memorable) blanket of "No Child Left Behind." But Nunberg shows that the real story is more subtle than just a bumper sticker war. Conservatives' main goal wasn't to win voters over to their positions on healthcare, education, or the environment. They had a much more dramatic ambition. By changing the meaning of words like "values," "government," "liberal"; "faith," and "freedom," conservatives have shifted the political center of gravity of the language itself to the right. "Whatever our politics," Nunberg observes, "when we talk about politics nowadays, we can't help using language that embodies a conservative world-view."
Book
Overthrow
by Stephen Kinzer
An award-winning author tells the stories of the audacious American politicians, military commanders, and business executives who took it upon themselves to depose monarchs, presidents, and prime ministers of other countries with disastrous long-term consequences.
