Richard Powers' new novel 'Playground' is filled with awe for the ocean

The human race has left a mark on our planet, sometimes through carelessness and sometimes by design, but how permanent are the changes we’ve made? In The World Without Us, science journalist Alan Weisman asks what would happen if the human race vanished overnight. What effects, positive or negative, would our disappearance have on the world? Weisman’s goal is to address humanity’s environmental impact by imagining a world in which nature is allowed to flourish. In many ways, the world that follows us would be significantly different than what came before.

In this guide, we’ll examine Weisman’s portrayal of humanity’s footprint and what Weisman claims would happen if we suddenly disappeared. Also, we’ll look at other views on climate change, nature’s resilience, and the human race’s impact. We’ll list suggestions for how our species might adapt to a greener world, as well as scenarios that might cause our extinction.

Though it’s become widely accepted that climate change is real, the questions still remain of what steps we should take to fix the damage and whether they'll be enough. Many scientists and activists believe that the climate has already passed a tipping point and that environmental catastrophe is inevitable. In Apocalypse Never, award-winning science writer Michael Shellenberger says that it’s time to assess the crisis from a rational perspective. He argues that we’re in a much better position to curb climate change than alarmists would have us believe, and that people who bend scientific truth in order to spur environmental action are doing more harm than good.

In this guide, we’ll explain Shellenberger’s argument that environmental alarmists overstate their claims and that there’s ground for hope for our planet’s future. We’ll also look at counter-arguments to Shellenberger’s claims and examine what independent research says about the solutions he suggests. We’ll point to recent developments in industry, agriculture, and the political climate that frame the conversation around climate change.

When two or more people or businesses jostle for dominance and survival, the ones who survive do so because they understand it as an infinite game—constantly evolving and never-ending, with a higher purpose. Those who don’t survive see the game as a finite one—filled with short-term concerns and aimed at a win-or-lose ending point.

In The Infinite Game, Simon Sinek explores the differences between infinite and finite games. He walks you through how to develop an infinite mindset that will put you and your organization on a path for long-term success in business.

In our guide, we’ll review the major points of Sinek’s theories and examine how they compare and contrast to other management books that discuss the same themes. We’ll also look at some specific companies to see how these theories play out in the real world—how they work, and where they might have limitations.

You probably know someone who regularly blows things out of proportion, or who insists on having the same argument over and over, or constantly tries to one-up other people. According to Dr. Eric Berne, a pioneering psychiatrist who broke away from the Freudian tradition, those are just two of the games that people play in work, love, sex, and friendship.

Games People Play is Berne’s 1964 classic about the many ways that we habitually relate to one another through “games.” These aren’t fun, harmless social games, though—they’re subtle, largely unconscious patterns that harm us and our relationships. Berne explains how most of us don’t even notice our games, and how we’re missing out on the fulfillment of game-free living.

In our guide, we’ll explore the foundations of Berne’s theory and build up to an extensive discussion of games, before finishing with his strategies for growing into a fuller way of living. We’ve also added psychological perspectives from Freud to modern-day and updated Berne’s ideas.

You might think of yourself as the hero of a story or a traveler on a journey. But what if it’s more accurate to say that you’re just a player in a game? In The Status Game, journalist Will Storr argues that we experience our social lives as a game, where the goal is to win as much status as we can to fit in with—but also stand out from—the people around us. Storr explains that by learning how these games work, you can better understand why you do what you do and avoid getting caught up in the more toxic aspects of the game.

In this guide, we’ll explore Storr’s theory about how status games shape your interactions with other people. We’ll also examine what happens when status games go wrong, and we’ll compare Storr’s ideas to those of other thinkers who’ve studied our drive for status and its sometimes surprising effects.