An early biography paints Pope Francis as 'The Great Reformer' of the Catholic Church

In an increasingly globalized world, we’re more likely to encounter people from other cultures than ever before. This diversity allows for creativity and innovation—but it can also be incredibly confusing. Why doesn't your Japanese colleague ever say what they mean? How come you’re the only person to arrive on time at a meeting in Nigeria?

In The Culture Map, cultural communications expert Erin Meyer presents a framework you can use to analyze how cultures differ from yours as well as practical strategies to mitigate any cultural misunderstandings. She also explains why these cultural differences developed in the first place.

In this guide, we’ll discuss these differences, Meyer’s strategies, and her explanations for how these cultural differences developed. We’ll also supplement Meyer’s ideas with external research—so you can understand exactly how cultural differences affect people and have the studies to back it up.

According to Pope Francis, 15 diseases affect leaders. Because a leader has more influence than the average person, when she gets sick, her organization and people can suffer severely.

A Promised Land is Barack Obama’s memoir of his early political career and the first two years of his presidency. Obama takes us on his journey from relative obscurity as a biracial kid from Hawaii to becoming a transformative figure as the nation’s first African-American president. At every step of his career, Obama was guided by a deep faith in the fundamental unity of Americans; the potential and promise of America; the necessity of compromise and seeking common ground; and above all, the power of the democratic system to heal our divisions and effect real change for ordinary people.

Paul Farmer has worked for decades to provide health care to patients in Haiti and around the world. A doctor and anthropologist by training, Farmer saw the health of a nation’s people as a product of its culture and political history. For Haiti, centuries of political strife—often at the hands of imperialist powers—had left it one of the most impoverished countries in the western hemisphere.

Despite prevailing wisdom that it was too costly to treat patients in poor countries for diseases like drug-resistant tuberculosis and AIDS, Farmer strived to treat everyone who needed care. His multi-pronged approach included prioritizing preventive services, changing international healthcare policy, and lowering the cost of important drugs. His organization’s approach is considered a model for providing treatment to patients in poor countries.

What was the secret that kept ancient Greeks and early Christians from fearing death? In The Immortality Key, attorney and scholar Brian Muraresku argues that the origins of Christianity are rooted in the psychedelic rituals of ancient Greek life and that these rituals allowed people to embrace their mortality.

Presenting a decade’s worth of research and evidence, Muraresku delves into the origins of Christianity, its overlap with pre-existing pagan customs, and its eventual diversion. Along the way, he asks how we might glean some wisdom from those ancient traditions to reconsider the place of psychedelics in the modern world—can a transcendent experience provide a key to our immortality?

In this guide, we’ll discuss the evidence and arguments Muraresku presents about Christianity and its connection to Greek paganism, as well as his questions about what psychedelics have to offer humanity. We’ll also explore current research and varied viewpoints regarding the use of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.

The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein is a study of the history of economic shock therapy, which aims to quickly improve a country’s economy through rapid privatization, deregulation, and severe cuts in government spending. She also describes how it gave rise to the disaster capitalism complex: a privatized system of destruction and rebuilding that funnels billions of dollars into corporate pockets. The book discusses the incredible harm that economic shock therapy and disaster capitalism have caused to millions of people all over the world.

Klein is an award-winning author, filmmaker, and activist. She’s dedicated her life to studying the personal and environmental harms that result from wars and unchecked capitalism.

A Warning is an inside look at the chaotic Trump administration by a senior Trump administration official writing anonymously. It’s a follow-up to the author’s September 5, 2018, New York Times op-ed piece describing internal efforts to control Trump’s impulses. This is no longer working, “Anonymous” writes. The book depicts an impulsive and corrupt president, who puts his self-interest above the country’s interest, in the process undermining the foundations of democracy and putting national security at grave risk.

“Anonymous” describes the increasingly futile efforts of a handful of principled White House officials to stave off disastrous, often illegal actions. The author warns that the “guard rails” have come off—the principled staffers have mostly been driven away and Trump is uncontrollable. If he wins another four years, he may sink the ship of democracy.

What was the secret that kept ancient Greeks and early Christians from fearing death? In The Immortality Key, attorney and scholar Brian Muraresku argues that the origins of Christianity are rooted in the psychedelic rituals of ancient Greek life and that these rituals allowed people to embrace their mortality.

Presenting a decade’s worth of research and evidence, Muraresku delves into the origins of Christianity, its overlap with pre-existing pagan customs, and its eventual diversion. Along the way, he asks how we might glean some wisdom from those ancient traditions to reconsider the place of psychedelics in the modern world—can a transcendent experience provide a key to our immortality?

In this guide, we’ll discuss the evidence and arguments Muraresku presents about Christianity and its connection to Greek paganism, as well as his questions about what psychedelics have to offer humanity. We’ll also explore current research and varied viewpoints regarding the use of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.

What was the secret that kept ancient Greeks and early Christians from fearing death? In The Immortality Key, attorney and scholar Brian Muraresku argues that the origins of Christianity are rooted in the psychedelic rituals of ancient Greek life and that these rituals allowed people to embrace their mortality.

Presenting a decade’s worth of research and evidence, Muraresku delves into the origins of Christianity, its overlap with pre-existing pagan customs, and its eventual diversion. Along the way, he asks how we might glean some wisdom from those ancient traditions to reconsider the place of psychedelics in the modern world—can a transcendent experience provide a key to our immortality?

In this guide, we’ll discuss the evidence and arguments Muraresku presents about Christianity and its connection to Greek paganism, as well as his questions about what psychedelics have to offer humanity. We’ll also explore current research and varied viewpoints regarding the use of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.