With the prevalence of smartphones, massive data storage, and search engines, we might think of today as the height of the information age. In reality, every era has faced its own challenges of storing, organizing, and accessing information. While they lacked digital devices, our ancestors, when faced with information overload, utilized some of the same techniques that underlie our modern interfaces: they visualized and spatialized data, tying it to the emotional and sensory spaces of memo...

A reflection on the evolution of physical media into metaphor, through the history of music curation.Obsolescence makes the heart grow fonder, at least in the case of the mixtape. Not all technologies are so lucky. Some (say, wax cylinders) fade almost completely from cultural memory. A lucky few pass into metaphor: we still "hang up" our smartphones, "cut" film, and "patch" computer code. As digital streaming completes the obsolescence of physical media, what will...

Walter J. Ong’s classic work provides a fascinating insight into the social effects of oral, written, printed and electronic technologies, and their impact on philosophical, theological, scientific and literary thought.This thirtieth anniversary edition – coinciding with Ong’s centenary year – reproduces his best-known and most influential book in full and brings it up to date with two new exploratory essays by cultural writer and critic John Hartley.Hartley provides:

NATIONAL BESTSELLERFinalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard PrizeWinner of a Certificate of Merit from the 2025 ARSC Awards for ExcellenceA New Yorker, GQ, The Daily Telegraph (London), and Library Journal Best Book of 2025A 2025 Washington Post Notable NonfictionAn NPR Books We Love Most pickA...

Did you sleep through Intro to Philosophy? Does Plato leave you in the dark? Fear not! The Very Lazy Intellectual: Philosophy introduces you to both the major thinkers and the fundamentals of philosophical thought. With information on everyone from Socrates to Sartre, and theories from Epicureanism to Empiricism, you’ll have everything you need to solve your existential crises in no time.

In this hilarious and highly practical book, author and professional speaker Scott Berkun reveals the techniques behind what great communicators do, and shows how anyone can learn to use them well. For managers and teachers -- and anyone else who talks and expects someone to listen -- Confessions of a Public Speaker provides an insider's perspective on how to effectively present ideas to anyone. It's a unique, entertaining, and instructional romp through the embarrassments and tri...

This book is a simple guide to theological and philosophical aspects of the thought of the medieval Franciscan, John Duns Scotus. Known as the Subtle Doctor, Scotus has a reputation for intricate and technical reasoning. Ingham provides an insightful and creative introduction to his thought in this book. Philosophical and theological principles are explored with clarity and demonstrated by the use of numerous practical examples. By organizing the book around themes that are both timely and...

**From the #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of Abundance comes a groundbreaking and entertaining investigation into what makes a hit a hit–from films and music to art and design.“Enthralling—full of 'aha' moments about why some ideas soar and others never get off the ground. This book picks up where The Tipping Point left off**." —Adam GrantNothing “goes viral.” If you think a popular movie, song, or app came out of nowhere...

One of The New York Times Book Review's 100 Notable Books of 2022. Named one of the best books of 2022 by The New Yorker, Pitchfork, Vanity Fair and TIME. A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice."On the internet, fandom can be a route toward cyberbullying a baby, or it can be a way of figuring some things out about yourself. Sometimes, it can even forge a writer as funny and perceptive as Kaitlyn Tiffany." —Amanda He...

'One of the best music books of the year' – Neil McCormick, Daily TelegraphWhat if the song that would change your life is already out there – buried somewhere in 100 million tracks, one skipped click away?In You Have Not Yet Heard Your Favourite Song, former Spotify "Data Alchemist" Glenn McDonald opens the black box of music streaming and shows how it is quietly transforming what we hear, how artists earn a living and what music means in...

What exists? How do we know? What are we going to do about it?These three questions are at the heart of philosophical enquiry, an endeavour which has stretched more than two thousand years. It's multiple branches, including ethics, aesthetics, epistemology and theology, have been pondered over by many a philosopher, and this series from The Independent introduces some of these great minds.The ideas of these wide-ranging philosophers will be examined, alongside thei...

In this ninth volume of the Franciscan Heritage Series, Mary Beth Ingham introduces readers to the Franciscan vision and values of Blessed John Duns Scotus (1266-1308). Framed within the context of Franciscan spiritual values, chapters focus on creation and the dignity of each individual being, on cognition and the powers of human knowing, on the proof for God's existence, on the nature of Theology, on the central role of freedom for conversion and the love of friendship, on moral goodness...