The book "Redefining Masculinity as Protector and Empath" explores the intersection of masculinity and empathy, and the need to redefine traditional masculinity to incorporate empathy. The book highlights the potential negative impact of toxic masculinity on men's mental health, relationships, and communities, and how this toxic masculinity can be reinforced by concepts like patriotism. The book argues for the importance of men embracing empathy and compassion as a way to build more just and equitable societies. It provides practical examples and strategies for men to develop empathy in their daily lives, such as through active listening, emotional awareness, and community service. The benefits of embracing empathy and redefining masculinity are discussed, including improved mental health, stronger relationships, and the potential for men to become leaders in promoting empathy and building more compassionate societies. The book recognizes the potential conflicts between traditional masculinity and empathy, and provides guidance on how men can navigate these conflicts and continue to develop as empathetic individuals. Overall, the book advocates for a shift away from toxic masculinity and towards a more empathetic, compassionate, and inclusive form of masculinity, which can benefit both individuals and society as a whole.

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “I find myself thinking deeply about what it means to love America, as I surely do.” —Dan Rather “A tonic for our times . . . Rather's writing shows why he has won the admiration of a new generation. In these essays, he gives voice to the marginalized and rips off the journalistic shield of objectivity to ring the alarm bell when he witnesses actions he fears undermine the principles of American democracy. That, undoubtedly, is patriotic. And it takes courage.” —USA Today At a moment of crisis over our national identity, venerated journalist Dan Rather has emerged as a voice of reason and integrity, reflecting on—and writing passionately about—what it means to be an American. Now, with this collection of original essays, he reminds us of the principles upon which the United States was founded. Looking at the freedoms that define us, from the vote to the press; the values that have transformed us, from empathy to inclusion to service; the institutions that sustain us, such as public education; and the traits that helped form our young country, such as the audacity to take on daunting challenges in science and medicine, Rather brings to bear his decades of experience on the frontlines of the world’s biggest stories. As a living witness to historical change, he offers up an intimate view of history, tracing where we have been in order to help us chart a way forward and heal our bitter divisions. With a fundamental sense of hope, What Unites Us is the book to inspire conversation and listening, and to remind us all how we are, finally, one.

Because of the War in Iraq, Hanna's book is more timely than ever. In the final chapter of her book, she wrote, "The lessons of Vietnam must never be ignored or forgotten." To her that lesson was simple: American citizens must always question our government, and we must never again sacrifice our sons and daughters to political rhetoric and unsubstantiated fears. Or lies. But we didn't learn the lesson after all. American citizens, in the name of patriotism, have allowed our government to trap us in a war that has become a nightmare. Peggy's story is one that many Americans today can relate to as she recounts her struggle with patriotism and dissent, with trying to understand why we were at war, and who was telling the truth. Peggy's story breaks the stereotype of the Vietnam anti-war demonstrators. She was a housewife and mother of five small children. The stereotype of crazed hippie college students, created by the media, caused unnecessary pain for our troops because they believed the protestors opposed them. They didn't! They opposed our government's policies, not our troops. Patriotic moms and dads just like Peggy Hanna took to the streets too but never received the media coverage that the college campuses did. She describes how much peace activists cared about our troops - a message that never made it to the soldiers dug into the trenches or to their families at home. That was one lesson that was learned. Today anti-war protestors are making sure the troops understand they are protesting our government's policies, not our troops. Opposing the war in Vietnam or the war in Iraq, does not take away their sacrifice and their honor. As one college professor said, "This is a book that all Americans should read."

Discovered in a treasure-filled parking lot in Leicester, England (next to a pile of bones that didn't look that important), an ancient manuscript proves to be the long-lost first play written by none other than seventeen-year-old William Shakespeare from Stratford. We are totally not completely making this up. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S LONG LOST FIRST PLAY (abridged) is the literary holy grail: an actual manuscript in Shakespeare's own hand showing all his most famous characters and familiar speeches in a brand-new story. But because it's one hundred hours long and contains multiple unwieldy storylines, it was decided, as a public service, to abridge it down to a brief and palatable ninety-minute performance for this lost masterpiece. "Something wickedly funny this way comes!" The New York Times "A breathlessly irreverent, pun-filled romp!" The Washington Post "A top-notch comic deconstruction of Shakespeare!" The Stage--U K

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “I find myself thinking deeply about what it means to love America, as I surely do.” —Dan Rather At a moment of crisis over our national identity, venerated journalist Dan Rather has emerged as a voice of reason and integrity, reflecting on—and writing passionately about—what it means to be an American. Now, with this collection of original essays, he reminds us of the principles upon which the United States was founded. Looking at the freedoms that define us, from the vote to the press; the values that have transformed us, from empathy to inclusion to service; the institutions that sustain us, such as public education; and the traits that helped form our young country, such as the audacity to take on daunting challenges in science and medicine, Rather brings to bear his decades of experience on the frontlines of the world’s biggest stories. As a living witness to historical change, he offers up an intimate view of history, tracing where we have been in order to help us chart a way forward and heal our bitter divisions. With a fundamental sense of hope, What Unites Us is the book to inspire conversation and listening, and to remind us all how we are, finally, one.

Our ability to understand others and help others understand us is essential to our individual and collective well-being. Yet there are many barriers that keep us from walking in the shoes of others: fear, skepticism, and power structures that separate us from those outside our narrow groups. To progress in a multicultural world and ensure our common good, we need to overcome these obstacles. Our best hope can be found in the skill of empathy. In Social Empathy, Elizabeth A. Segal explains how we can develop our ability to understand one another and have compassion toward different social groups. When we are socially empathic, we not only imagine what it is like to be another person, but we consider their social, economic, and political circumstances and what shaped them. Segal explains the evolutionary and learned components of interpersonal and social empathy, including neurobiological factors and the role of social structures. Ultimately, empathy is not only a part of interpersonal relations: it is fundamental to interactions between different social groups and can be a way to bridge diverse people and communities. A clear and useful explanation of an often misunderstood concept, Social Empathy brings together sociology, psychology, social work, and cognitive neuroscience to illustrate how to become better advocates for justice.

From personal loss to phantom diseases, The Empathy Exams is a bold and brilliant collection, winner of the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize A Publishers Weekly Top Ten Essay Collection of Spring 2014 Beginning with her experience as a medical actor who was paid to act out symptoms for medical students to diagnose, Leslie Jamison's visceral and revealing essays ask essential questions about our basic understanding of others: How should we care about each other? How can we feel another's pain, especially when pain can be assumed, distorted, or performed? Is empathy a tool by which to test or even grade each other? By confronting pain—real and imagined, her own and others'—Jamison uncovers a personal and cultural urgency to feel. She draws from her own experiences of illness and bodily injury to engage in an exploration that extends far beyond her life, spanning wide-ranging territory—from poverty tourism to phantom diseases, street violence to reality television, illness to incarceration—in its search for a kind of sight shaped by humility and grace.