Ian Manuel, author of My Time Will Come, was sentenced to life without parole at 14 years old. His memoir is a paean to the capacity of the human will to transcend adversity through determination and art—in Manuel’s case, through his dedication to writing poetry. Here is his poem, “Genie in a Bottle”:   I’m

Dr. Paul Farmer, medical anthropologist, physician, and professor at Harvard Medical School, passed away on February 21, 2022, in Butaro, Rwanda. Dr. Farmer was the subject of Tracy Kidder’s 2003 book Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World. The book is an account of the difference

Salt in My Soul is Mallory Smith’s posthumously published memoir, the collected diaries of a remarkable young woman who was determined to live a meaningful and happy life despite her struggle with cystic fibrosis and a rare superbug—from age 15 to her death at the age of 25. Mallory’s story of resilience has resonated in classrooms across

Educated,  now available in paperback, is an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University. One of the most acclaimed books of our time, it has been taught in classrooms across the country and been selected for common

Research shows the benefits incoming students glean from participating in a common academic experience as they join a new campus community (Hunter, 2006; Mintz, 2019). These findings have led many institutions to develop Common Reading programs for new members of their campus communities. These programs, centered around a group of faculty, staff, and students selecting

Benjamine Spencer was convicted of murder in 1987—a crime he did not commit. Due to the tireless advocacy of Centurion Ministries over the past twenty years, his conviction has finally been reevaluated, and he is expected to be released after 34 years. His case is one of several that is profiled at length in Jim

Astronaut Dr. Kathryn Sullivan—author of Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut’s Story of Invention from the MIT Press—has recently added three new accolades to the long list of accomplishments she has earned over the course of her career as scientist and explorer. With her visit this past June to the Challenger Deep at the base of the Mariana Trench, Dr.

Join us on Wednesday, October 21 at 8:00 PM ET on Zoom for a crucial, timely Big Ideas Night on Criminal Justice Reform with a panel of expert authors: Brittany K. Barnett, attorney, entrepreneur, and author of A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom; Emily Bazelon, New York Times Magazine staff writer and author of Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End

Bren Smith, author of Eat Like a Fish: My Adventures Farming the Ocean to Fight Climate Change and executive director of Greenwave gives an inside view of the process of ocean farming and its potential to save the planet in two informative videos. In “This Incredible underwater farm could be the future of food” produced

Author Sharmila Sen discusses the process of assimilation and the significance of race in America. About Not Quite Not White: Winner of the ALA Asian/Pacific American Award for Nonfiction At the age of 12, Sharmila Sen emigrated from India to the U.S. The year was 1982, and everywhere she turned, she was asked to self-report her

By the time he was twenty-seven, Kwame Onwuachi had competed on Top Chef, cooked at the White House, and opened and closed one of the most talked about restaurants in America. Despite his young age, his success wasn’t won overnight: working in Manhattan, he was forced to grapple with just how unwelcoming the world of

Introduced to American movies and pop music while growing up in Somalia, Abdi Nor Iftin fell in love with the idea of America long before he could find the country on a map. As the Somali Civil War broke out, Abdi grew desensitized to the violence around him: avoiding gunfire during his daily trip to