Showing results by narrator "Matthew Josdal" in All Categories

An eye-opening account of how Congress today really works - and doesn’t - that follows the dramatic journey of the sweeping financial reform bill enacted in response to the Great Crash of 2008. The founding fathers expected Congress to be the most important branch of government and gave it the most power. When Congress is broken - as its justifiably dismal approval ratings suggest - so is our democracy.

In Still Waters, Curt Stager introduces us to the secret worlds hidden within lakes as he travels from the Adirondack wilderness to the wilds of Siberia, from Massachusetts to the Middle East. For him, lakes are both mirrors and windows into history, culture, and our primal connections to all life. Stager fills his narrative with strange and enchanting details about these submerged worlds - diving insects chirping underwater like crickets, African crater lakes that explode, the growing threats to Thoreau's cherished pond - while emphasizing how beautiful and precious our lakes are.

The challenges facing today's sales executives and their organizations continue to grow, but so do the expectations that they will find ways to overcome them and drive consistent sales growth. There are no simple solutions to this situation, but in this thoroughly updated second edition of Sales Growth, experts from McKinsey & Company build on their practical blueprint for achieving this goal and explore what world-class sales executives are doing right now to find growth and capture it - as well as how they are creating the capabilities to keep growing in the future.

It's Christmas Eve in Manhattan. An eminent plastic surgeon slips on the ice, lands on his butt, and sprains his ankle. So far, so good. A woman such as he's never known yanks him to his feet and conjures the miracle of a taxi. Harrison recuperates with Franz Schubert, Bette Davis, and a foundling cat. Then it's back to rhinoplasties, liposuction, and the peccadilloes of his obnoxious colleagues. It is only when he collides again with that strangely helpful woman that things take a wild and revolutionary turn.

Space exploration is as much a story of leadership and teamwork as it is a story of exploration and discovery. Leadership Moments from NASA delves into the organizational culture, leadership styles, and insights of NASA senior executives spanning five decades of human spaceflight, to share the lessons they learned from critical moments where they took on seemingly insurmountable challenges.

Why do we consider incest wrong, even when it occurs between consenting adults unable to have children? Why are words that gross us out more likely to be deemed "obscene" and denied the protection of the First Amendment? In Objection, psychologists Debra Lieberman and Carlton Patrick examine disgust and its impact on the legal system to show why the things that we find stomach-turning so often become the things that we render unlawful.

The Downtown Eastside in Vancouver, Canada, is about as close to urban hell as you can get in the Western Hemisphere. Yet in this cauldron of drugs, shattered dreams, and extreme violence, Tom Bauer and his girlfriend Paulie - both ex-junkies and parents of baby Melody - are trying to make a life for themselves.

Tortured by nightmares about the teens who roughed him up, Steve Mariotti sought counseling. When his therapist suggested that he face his fears, Mariotti closed his small import-export business and became a teacher at the city's most notorious public school - Boys and Girls High in Bed-Stuy. Although his nightmares promptly ceased, Mariotti's out-of-control students rapidly drove him to despair. One day, Mariotti stepped out of the classroom so his students wouldn't see him cry.

Contrary to what is commonly believed, authoritarian leaders who agree to hold elections are generally able to remain in power longer than autocrats who refuse to allow the populace to vote. In this engaging and provocative audiobook, authors Nic Cheeseman and Brian Klaas expose the limitations of national elections as a means of promoting democratization and reveal the six essential strategies that dictators use to undermine the electoral process in order to guarantee victory for themselves.

Join a ragtag group of misfits from Dawson City as they scrap to become the 1905 Stanley Cup champions and cement hockey as Canada's national pastime.

Internationally-acclaimed speaker and founder of the cutting-edge venture capital Amyx Ventures, Scott Amyx, reveals how you can attain real success in your life, your way. His theory of Strive is a challenge to the conventional wisdom that has held so many people back from achieving their goals and enjoying lasting happiness. Scott helps you take stock of your own habits and practices to identify how your routine and misconceptions are holding you back. Insights from throughout history up through today's cutting-edge research show how embracing discomfort fuels lasting success.

Many dream of dropping everything and just traveling around the world. It's a common dream, but few imagine embarking on that journey by bicycle. Exposed to the elements, legs burning, all your possessions strapped to you and your bicycle - it doesn't paint a relaxing picture, but this is just what Pierre-Yves Tremblay did.

On a hot Saturday night in Manhattan, Father Duffy sits in a confessional, growing alarmed as he listens to the voice of a distraught young man who speaks of bloody hair and a dead woman and a compulsion to do things with a hammer that he does not understand. Before the priest can persuade the man to confess to the police, the killer flees, still clutching the hammer.

Renowned risk and finance expert Håkan Jankensgård delivers an extraordinary and startling discussion of how firms should navigate a world of uncertainty and unexpected events. It examines three fundamental, high-level strategies for creating resilience in the face of "black swan" risks, highly unlikely but devastating events: insurance, buffering, and flexibility.

Ziri Mokuru has lived her entire life in the rural village of Arden Hollow on the planet Tersi. While her parents are off having adventures and being Very Important People, she's struggled simply to find a place where she belongs. One night, she investigates a disturbance in her home and discovers an armor-clad man sorting through her belongings. Her first thought is for her parents' safety, not to question why this man is in her home late at night without even the courtesy of knocking.

Big Data Revolution is a guide to improving performance, making better decisions, and transforming business through the effective use of big data. Listeners are guided through tried-and-true methodologies for getting more out of data and using it to the utmost advantage. This audiobook describes the major trends emerging in the field, the pitfalls and triumphs being experienced, and the many considerations surrounding big data, all while guiding listeners toward better decision-making from the perspective of a data scientist.

Data science gets thrown around in the press like it's magic. Major retailers are predicting everything, from when their customers are pregnant to when they want a new pair of Chuck Taylors. It's a brave new world where seemingly meaningless data can be transformed into valuable insight to drive smart business decisions. Data science is little more than using straightforward steps to process raw data into actionable insight. And in Data Smart, author and data scientist John Foreman will teach how you how that's done within the familiar environment of a spreadsheet.

Know how your company can accelerate growth by not only tapping into new growth vectors, but also by adapting its organization, culture, and processes.

Spanning four decades of dramatic advances in astronomy and planetary science, this book tells the story of eleven iconic exploratory missions and how they have fundamentally transformed our scientific and cultural perspectives on the universe and our place in it

Yasmin Olvera has a man problem. Her brother is in jail for murder, her ex-fiance has inconveniently forgotten he dumped her, and someone is leaving dead animals on her stoop. The last thing she needs is another male thrown into the mix, even a strong extra-terrestrial warrior who's crossed the galaxy to aid her.