In a life that saw him evolve from a staunchly religious Hindu to an ecumenical master of Buddhist insight meditation, Satyanārāyaṇ (S. N.) Goenka (1924–2013) emerged as a leader in the spread of lay mindfulness and insight meditation practice on a global scale. A second-generation Burmese of Indian origin, Goenka was a successful businessman before turning to Buddhist meditation for help with crippling migraines. Becoming first a close student and then assistant teacher under the innovati...

By most measures, Daniel Olmes is an ordinary guy—but he’s learned how to live an extraordinary life. In Memoirs of an Ordinary Guy, Daniel asserts that we are all capable of being extraordinary and redefines what it means to be just another ordinary person. He is living proof that extraordinary is there for all of us. It doesn’t mean rich or famous. It doesn’t mean better. To Daniel, “extraordinary” means grateful, honest, happy, loving, fearless, and faithful. Doing extraordinar...

Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov is an honest policeman in a very dishonest post-Soviet Union. He and his team are searching for a serial killer who has claimed at least forty victims. And then there is the problem of protecting a visiting British journalist who is working on a story about a Moscow prostitution ring—in doing so Rostnikov and his team uncover a chain of murders that lead to a source too high to be held accountable if the police want to keep their jobs—or their lives.

Claim your dragon. Claim your truth. An epic adventure awaits!'Eragon’ meets ‘Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda’ in this queer YA fantasy adventure that will leave you breathless until the last page.With war threatening to shatter Ivearth's 500 years of peace, Prince Xavier embarks on a perilous quest to the mystical isle of Hom to claim a dragon and secure his place as king. But a dragon can only bond with someone true to themselves, forcing Xavie...

What is justice? Great political philosophers from Plato to Rawls have traditionally argued that there is a single, principled answer to this question. Challenging this conventional wisdom, David Miller theorized that justice can take many different forms. In Forms of Justice, a distinguished group of political philosophers takes Miller's theory as a starting point and debates whether justice takes one form or many. Drawing real world implications from theories of justice and exam...

An overview of modern Western militaries' response to armed rebellion, from Indochina to Northern Ireland to Iraq.Counterinsurgency—or efforts to defeat and confine a rebellion against a constituted authority—has become a buzzword in recent times, but the term is as old as society itself. This concise history covers the development of modern counterinsurgency over the last two hundred years, from the concept of "small wars" and colonial warfare to the ideas of earl...

Dive into the cornerstone of ethical philosophy with "Utilitarianism" by John Stuart Mill, now available as an enlightening audiobook. In this seminal work, Mill expounds upon the principles of utilitarianism, advocating for the greatest happiness of the greatest number as the foundation of morality.Listeners will be guided through Mill's compelling arguments and nuanced analysis, as he explores the complexities of ethical decision-making and the implications of utilitarian theory ...

Ever since Norman Lear remade the BBC series Till Death Us Do Part into All in the Family, American remakes of British television shows have become part of the American cultural fabric. Indeed, some of the programs currently said to exemplify American tastes and attitudes, from reality programs like American Idol and What Not to Wear to the mock-documentary approach of The Office, are adaptations of successful British shows. Carlen Lavigne and H...

Inspector Rostnikov is a Russian bear of a man, an honest policeman in a very dishonest post-Soviet Russia. Known as "The Washtub," Rostnikov is one of the most engaging and relevant characters in crime fiction, a sharp and caring policeman as well as the perfect tour guide to a changing (that is, disintegrating) Russia. Surviving pogroms and politburos, he has solved crimes, mostly in spite of the powers that rule his world. In People Who Walk in Darkness, Rostnikov travels to Si...

The story of Curt Herzstark, an Austrian industrialist and concentration camp prisoner who was sent by the Nazis to an underground salt mine during the war. While in captivity, he continued his experiments with a device that would eventually become the hand-held calculator.An L.A. Theatre Works full cast recording featuring:Garret Dillahunt as Hermann PisterJoe Spano as Fritz EngelhardJosh Stamberg as Curt HerzstarkDaniel Stewart as Finn ...

In this darkly comic, poignant, and at times surreal play, two couples in Tunisia — one Muslim and one Jewish — share a deep and complicated friendship before the German takeover of their country in World War 2. Now under a brutal regime, they face the truth about their long-simmering feelings about friendship and romance as they struggle to save themselves from a Nazi commandant - named Grandma.Recorded at The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood in September 2022Directed by ...

The epic sweep of Turgenev’s 19th century literary masterpiece is brought to the stage by one of Ireland’s greatest living dramatists. Fathers and Sons captures the ongoing clash of generations and philosophies. Set in a Russian country estate, Friel’s powerful and resonant adaptation examines the inevitable conflict between the urgency of youth and the entrenchment of age.An L.A. Theatre Works full cast performance featuring:James Callis as BazarovHarry Hamlin as Pa...