A cultural catalog of everyday things rapidly turning into rarities—from landlines to laugh tracks. So many things have disappeared from our day-to-day world, or are on the verge of vanishing. Some we may already think of as ancient relics, like typewriters (and their accompanying bottles of correction fluid). Others seem like they were here just yesterday, like boom boxes and CDs. We may feel fond nostalgia for certain items of yore: encyclopedias, newspapers, lighthouses. Other items, like MSG, not so much. But as the pace of change keeps accelerating, it’s worth taking a moment to mark the passing of the objects of our lives, from passbooks and pay phones to secretaries and skate keys. And to reflect on certain endangered phenomena that may be worth trying to hold on to—like privacy, or cash. This thoughtful alphabetized compendium invites us to take a look at the many things, ideas, and behaviors that have gone the way of the subway token—and to reflect on what is ephemeral, and what is truly timeless.

Black Mirror meets Dead Poets Society, OBSOLETE is a thrilling adventure set in the not so distant future, where technology is invisibly engrained in every aspect of life, even finding a home inside of us. Crime, Disease, and Poverty are all but extinct. Democracy is decided in real-time with lightning-fast ease. Holographic projections are at everyone's fingertips, swallowing them in in a world of constant entertainment and communication. There's just one problem: the kids are all becoming hyperactive, disconnected screen-addicts. The America Learns Initiative, a federal program under the Department of Restructure, has a solution: The Success Spheres! Championing the mantra, "Do nothing and learn!" this state of the art technology promises to save the failing school system, its students, and teachers, once and for all. After an unauthorized history lesson, Professor T is reassigned to one of the worst performing schools around. There, unlikely allies and hidden threats lead T to revelations about a conspiracy with sinister roots. What T discovers could threaten to overturn the ALI's Success Sphere program and the very foundations of society, itself.

With her characteristic brilliance, grace and radical audacity, Angela Y. Davis has put the case for the latest abolition movement in American life: the abolition of the prison. As she quite correctly notes, American life is replete with abolition movements, and when they were engaged in these struggles, their chances of success seemed almost unthinkable. For generations of Americans, the abolition of slavery was sheerest illusion. Similarly,the entrenched system of racial segregation seemed to last forever, and generations lived in the midst of the practice, with few predicting its passage from custom. The brutal, exploitative (dare one say lucrative?) convict-lease system that succeeded formal slavery reaped millions to southern jurisdictions (and untold miseries for tens of thousands of men, and women). Few predicted its passing from the American penal landscape. Davis expertly argues how social movements transformed these social, political and cultural institutions, and made such practices untenable. In Are Prisons Obsolete?, Professor Davis seeks to illustrate that the time for the prison is approaching an end. She argues forthrightly for "decarceration", and argues for the transformation of the society as a whole.

The world needs changing – that much is clear. But how best to do it? Change how you vote? Get out and protest? Have an argument? The fact is that the power sits in your pocket. Changing how we spend our money has more potential to change the world than almost anything else we can do with our time on this planet. Consumer spending accounts for over 60% of GDP across the world and it will hit a staggering $77 trillion a year by 2029. But the vast majority of this money currently goes to businesses that are fuelling problems, through their packaging, formulations and practices, the same companies making huge profits and resisting change. But if we moved just 1% of spending to brands that are making a positive impact on our planet, this would amount to $700 billion every year. And the good news is that it's already happening. A rising tide of 'Change Brands' are emerging across the world and acting as powerful catalysts to tackle some of the biggest problems facing humanity. These Change Brands, such as Tony's Chocolonely, Oatly, Vinted, and Liquid Death, are putting legacy brands under pressure by winning consumers' hearts, minds and their spending. As this movement gathers pace, many legacy brands and business models will be in danger of becoming obsolete in the next decade if they don't radically reconsider how they do things. Chris Baker explains why one of the best ways to change the world is to create a brand and provides clear steps on how to accomplish this. The book includes guidance to help legacy brands introduce Change Brand thinking into their own business and provides unique insight from within big companies battling to come to terms with a changing world via a secret agent on the inside, 'Agent Change'.

Caribbean nations, in particular SIDS, have been traditionally vulnerable to the entry of potentially harmful, unregistered and unregulated pesticides. In many of these countries, the legislation and regulations for managing pesticides are fragmented and at various stages of development. Under the overall objective to promote sound management of pesticides in the Caribbean, the project kick-started various activities covering pesticide life-cycle management in the region, drafted a regional model pesticide legislation and facilitated different vital elements. It specifically contributed to the collection and shipment of obsolete pesticides (319 tonnes) from all 11 project countries and polychlorinated biphenyls (54 tonnes) from four countries. However, it has not been able to successfully replicate, scale up nationally and build capacities with government stakeholders evenly across all countries. Further follow-up and support are required to ensure sustainability and impact in the region and the project countries and thus the engagement of the private sector and civil society organizations will be critical.