An expert on early Christianity reveals how the early church invented stories of Christian martyrs—and how this persecution myth persists today.According to church tradition and popular belief, early Christians were systematically persecuted by a brutal Roman Empire intent on their destruction. As the story goes, vast numbers of believers were thrown to the lions, tortured, or burned alive because they refused to renounce Christ. But as Candida Moss reveals in T...

From an award-winning biblical scholar, the story of how enslaved people created, gave meaning to, and spread the message of the New Testament, shaping the very foundations of Christianity in ways both subtle and profound.For the past two thousand years, Christian tradition, scholarship, and pop culture have credited the authorship of the New Testament to a select group of men: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul. But hidden behind these named and sainted individua...

This book by Laura Zucconi is an accessible introductory text to the practice and theory of medicine in the ancient world. In contrast to other works that focus heavily on Greece and Rome, Zucconi’s Ancient Medicine covers a broader geographical and chronological range. The world of medicine in antiquity consisted of a lot more than Hippocrates and Galen.Zucconi applies historical and anthropological methods to examine the medical cultures of not only Mesopotamia, Egypt, G...

This book by Laura Zucconi is an accessible introductory text to the practice and theory of medicine in the ancient world. In contrast to other works that focus heavily on Greece and Rome, Zucconi's Ancient Medicine covers a broader geographical and chronological range. The world of medicine in antiquity consisted of a lot more than Hippocrates and Galen.Zucconi applies historical and anthropological methods to examine the medical cultures of not only Mesopotamia, Egypt, G...

This superbly taught course is a must-have for inquisitive Christians.As Christians, we profess to believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come, but what exactly does this mean? In this fundamental course, you will explore the origin, context, and meanings of the Christian beliefs about the afterlife.What happens after we die? Over the centuries, this question has been tackled by theologians, artists, and philosophers alike. In this course you w...

From an award-winning biblical scholar, the story of how enslaved people created, gave meaning to, and spread the message of the New Testament, shaping the very foundations of Christianity in ways both subtle and profound.For the past two thousand years, Christian tradition, scholarship, and pop culture have credited the authorship of the New Testament to a select group of men: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul. But hidden behind these named and sainted individua...

A daring and intimate exploration of how genetics complicates our ideas about blame, punishment, and moral responsibility, from acclaimed psychologist and author of The Genetic Lottery Kathryn Paige Harden.“An extraordinary book, the very best of science writing, because it is about not just science—it is memoir, history, bleeding-edge genetics, and a completely original take on original sin.”—Adam Rutherford, author of A Brief History of Every...

A reporter and abortion access correspondent investigates the secret killers and hidden motives behind the death of abortion rights.They are going to kill people, investigative reporter for The Nation Amy Littlefield knew, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. After a decade covering abortion, she wanted to more deeply understand the motives, means, and opportunities behind the a...

For readers of Annette Gordon-Reed and Nikole Hannah-Jones, the shocking untold story of the British royal family’s centuries-long investment in slavery and continued profiting off its legacy—from Elizabeth I to the present—and the monarchy’s culpability in the racial injustice that gave birth to the United States.Narrated by Allyson Johnson.For centuries, Britain has told itself and the world that it is an abolitionist nation, one that, un...

**A “magnificent” (Science) exploration of how genetics complicates our ideas about blame, punishment, and moral responsibility, from acclaimed psychologist and author of The Genetic Lottery Kathryn Paige Harden.“Not a dry, restrained, contained scientific inquiry but a daring, complex, sometimes confounding and ultimately powerful tapestry of a book.”—The New York Times Book Review**As one of the world’s leading scientists examining how our DNA s...

For readers of Annette Gordon-Reed and Nikole Hannah-Jones, the shocking untold story of the British royal family’s centuries-long investment in slavery and continued profiting off its legacy—from Elizabeth I to the present—and the monarchy’s culpability in the racial injustice that gave birth to the United States.For centuries, Britain has told itself and the world that it is an abolitionist nation, one that, unlike the United States, rejected human bondage and di...

We’re often told that disinformation is everywhere and that it’s endangering our democracy. But what if the war on disinformation itself is really just a weapon to squash any and all legitimate dissent? This program is read by the author.The Information State is an incisive examination of how we reached the point where anything that contradicts the dominan...