Culture Play

From a New York Times bestselling author and investigative journalist comes The Social Network for the video game industry: a riveting examination of Blizzard Entertainment's rise and shocking downfall—"A fast paced thrill ride, perfect for anyone who has ever played a video game" (Ben...

The founders of a respected Silicon Valley advisory firm study legendary category-creating companies and reveal a groundbreaking discipline called category design. Winning today isn t about beating the competition at the old game. It s about inventing a whole new game defining a new market...

A lyrical and groundbreaking exploration of the misun­derstood ways women survive and forever carry trauma from the award-winning New York Times Magazine writer Jen Percy. “Percy’s subject is brutal, but her writing allays some of the impact by being almost impossibly beautiful: crisp...

In Of Dice and Men, David Ewalt recounts the development of Dungeons & Dragons from the game’s roots on the battlefields of ancient Europe, through the hysteria that linked it to satanic rituals and teen suicides, to its apotheosis as father of the modern video-game industry. As he chronicles the surprising history of the game’s origins (a history largely unknown even to hardcore players) and examines D&D’s profound impact, Ewalt weaves laser-sharp subculture analysis with his own present-day gaming experiences.

In this classic evaluation of play that has become a “must-listen” for those in game design, Dutch philosopher Johan Huizinga defines play as the central activity in flourishing societies. Like civilization, play requires structure and participants willing to create within limits. Starting with Plato, Huizinga traces the contribution of Homo Ludens, or “man the player” through medieval times, the Renaissance, and into our modern civilization.

According to the Leisure Studies Department at the University of Iowa, true leisure is “that place in which we realize our humanity.” If that’s true, argues Brigid Schulte, then we're doing dangerously little realizing of our humanity. In Overwhelmed, Schulte, a staff writer for The Washington Post, asks: Are our brains, our partners, our culture, and our bosses making it impossible for us to experience anything but “contaminated time”?

An exuberant, behind-the-scenes look at the designers and the company that brought us Mario, Zelda, Pokémon, and so much more, illuminating Nintendo's singular ethos, its massive cultural impact, and the innovative solutions behind its creative triumphs “Comprehensive but never too dense...

What do we think about when we think about play? A pastime? Games? Childish activities? The opposite of work? Think again: If we are happy and well rested, we may approach even our daily tasks in a playful way, taking the attitude of play without the activity of play. So what, then, is play? In Play Matters, Miguel Sicart argues that to play is to be in the world; playing is a form of understanding what surrounds us and a way of engaging with others. Play goes beyond games; it is a mode of being human.

The ultimate handbook for fostering and cultivating a strong team culture, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Culture Code and The Talent Code. Building a team has never been harder than it is right now. How do you create connection and trust? How do you stay focused on your goals?...

What does it mean to carry a culture in song? From mythic bards and medieval harpers to rebellious ballads, bodhrán beats, and Beyoncé-backed fiddles, A History of Irish Music: Bardds to Bono tells the story of Irish music like never before. This sweeping, lyrical history explores how music shaped—and was shaped by—the Irish people across centuries of joy, sorrow, migration, resistance, and reinvention. Travel from candlelit sessions in County Clare to sold-out stadiums, from sean-nós singers to TikTok trad stars. Learn how the humble fiddle survived famine, how Riverdance took the ...

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train, and the critically acclaimed author of Bird in Hand, comes a novel of love, risk, and self-discovery—includes a special PS section featuring insights, interviews, and more. Angela can feel the clock ticking. She is single in New...

Few television shows revolutionized comedy as profoundly or have had such an enormous and continued impact on our culture as In Living Color. Inspired by Richard Pryor, Carol Burnett, and Eddie Murphy, Keenen Ivory Wayans created a television series unlike any that had come before it. In Living Color shaped American culture in ways both seen and unseen. Now, Homey Don't Play That! reveals the complete, captivating story of how In Living Color overcame enormous odds to become a major, zeitgeist-seizing hit.

This program includes material read by the authors. In User Friendly, Cliff Kuang and Robert Fabricant reveal the untold story of a paradigm that quietly rules our modern lives: the assumption that machines should anticipate what we need. Spanning over a century of sweeping changes, from...

A joyful retelling of the divine adventures of Lord Krishna—from his playful childhood in Vrindavan to his role as a wise guide in the Mahabharata—filled with devotion, charm, and life lessons.

This is a book about the unspoken scoreboard in modern offices: status. If you’ve seen meeting hijacks, “we’ve been thinking” openings, silence treated as consent, or ideas accepted while authors disappear—this is your map. You’ll get five repeatable tools: Pre‑commitment of roles Contemporaneous documentation that makes reality retrievable Public linkage tying names to outcomes Sponsor calibration with reusable phrasing Repair after drift without melodrama Use them to become harder to erase and easier to trust. Not court politics—clean structure. Not applause grabs—...

So, you have decided to learn how to play the Native American Flute. First of all, let me tell you that if you have no music experience, IT’S OK! Some play the flute for The Creator; others play it to calm their spirit in the midst of life’s storms, and others play it professionally. Whatever your reason or passion for learning, if you can breathe, you can learn how to play the Native American Flute. This workbook contains tips, techniques, history, songs, and worksheets to facilitate your ability to learn and start playing in no time.

This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice. After losing her parents and the man she loved during the Covid pandemic, twenty-one-year-old Linda Stevens escapes Seattle carrying nothing but grief and the desperate hope that distance might help her survive it. Puerto Vallarta is supposed to be...

Andy Crouch unleashes a stirring manifesto calling Christians to be culture makers. For too long, Christians have had an insufficient view of culture and have waged misguided "culture wars." But we must reclaim the cultural mandate to be the creative cultivators that God designed us to be. Culture is what we make of the world, both in creating cultural artifacts as well as in making sense of the world around us. By making chairs and omelets, languages and laws, we participate in the good work of culture making.

Since she was a little girl, the wind has dictated every move Vianne Rocher has made, buffeting her from the small French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes to the crowded streets of Paris. Cloaked in a new identity, that of widow Yanne Charbonneau, she opens a chocolaterie on a small Montmartre...

Rush Limbaugh is a way of life for over twelve million avid and devoted listeners. For three hours every day this comic conservative of the airwaves with “talent on loan from God”​​ entertains, provokes and persuades friend sand enemies alike in a no-holds-barred show that is one of the...