Regional Development

Plantas Abuelas es una serie de encuentros con personas en diferentes regiones de México que tienen una identidad ligada a la tierra, con modos diferentes de vivir y habitar el mundo. Es gente que camina su territorio a otro ritmo y con otra mirada; que encuentra en las plantas una compañía, una inspiración y una afinidad que permea en su relación con lo que les rodea. A través de sus historias, leyendas, territorios, desafíos, saberes y aprendizajes descubrimos posibilidades para las generaciones futuras.

For years, Amy Thunig thought she knew all the details about the day she was born, often demanding that the story of her birth be retold. Years later, heavily pregnant with her own first child, she learns what really happened that day. It’s a tale that exemplifies many of the events of her early life, where circumstances sometimes dictated that things be slightly different from how they might seem–including what is meant by her dad being away for ‘work’ and why her legal last name differs from her family’s.

Helene Hadsell was "the woman who won every contest prize she desired". In Contesting: The Name It & Claim It Game, she shares her winning secrets in the vibrant, warm, and folksy manner that was uniquely her.

She is the most prepared person in the room. She is one of the last to be heard. Simple. But Not Easy. is a leadership book that begins where most leadership books end. She is still practicing her face in the parking garage at 7: 51 am. Not too big—too big reads desperate. Not too small—too small reads angry. She's been told she has too much executive presence, and not enough. In the same career. By people who could never explain what either phrase meant. Her name is Ida.

After her husband’s death in 2007, Julie Fergus’ life suddenly feels unrecognizable. Raising two boys on her own, she moves through the disorientation of grief while trying to hold together what remains of their family. Running becomes a way forward. Not to escape the pain, but to move with it. Through miles and memory, she begins to find moments of steadiness—small returns to herself in the midst of what feels broken.

In this memoir, the pseudonymous author, Ruthie Bolton, tells how she overcame tremendous obstacles to find her place in the world. Born into poverty in a rural Southern town, Bolton was abandoned by her 13-year-old mother and raised by her step-grandfather, an abusive tyrant who beat his wife to death and terrorized his children. With remarkable candor yet no trace of self-pity, Bolton describes how she used alcohol and drugs to try to escape her nightmarish existence.

Like the educator who changed his life, Thornton became a classroom teacher. But budget cuts took his job, and he decided to rewrite his story using his artistic talent. Thornton’s artistry and work ethic got him attention at Coca-Cola, both good and bad. He had to figure out a way to navigate this new world, where higher-ups praised him but coworkers reminded him of his “blackness” by drawing a noose in his workstation. He persevered by learning to appreciate and embrace diversity, people resources, and conflicting opinions.

In a deeply personal investigation, award-winning journalist Sadiya Ansari takes us across three continents and back a century as she seeks the truth behind a family secret. Why did her grandmother Tahira abandon her seven children to follow a man from Karachi to a tiny village in Punjab? And though she eventually left him, Tahira remained estranged from her children for nearly two decades. Who was she in those years when she was no longer a wife or mother?

From brass knuckle beatdowns on the schoolyard to showdowns with the SEC on the national news, every second of Deaton’s life has been a fight for survival. This book is the raw, wild John Deaton story, straight from the source. Born in one of the worst neighborhoods in Detroit--the kind of place the city cordoned off with warning signs--and growing up surrounded by hustlers, addicts, abusers, gang bangers, and the downtrodden, Deaton became a fighter, with violence becoming second nature.

In Raised in Silence, Maria Gallucci invites you into the vivid, rarely seen world of growing up as a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults). With humor, heart, and unflinching honesty, she shares what it's like to bridge two cultures from the moment you can walk: the Deaf world of her parents and the hearing world outside their door.

When life gives you lemons make lemonade. We have heard this saying time and time again. We are rarely taught how to make that delicious drink. Lemonade being one of the simplest drinks requiring three ingredients. What do you make when life throws you a rambutan. Well I had never heard of a dragon fruit until about 10 years ago. I wouldn't know what to do with the peculiar looking fruit. Similarly most people have no clue what to do with their challenging life circumstances. So often people view their challenges similar to a walk path covered with prickly fruit.

THE DOOR, With Every Tear... A Little Wisdom... From the moment she was left at the doorstep of an orphanage, Miriam Fernandes faced a life filled with uncertainty, loss, and longing. Yet through every hardship, she discovered an inner strength that refused to be broken. In this deeply moving memoir, Miriam shares her journey from abandonment and adversity to hope, healing, and self-discovery. Guided by the love of an extraordinary woman who became her family, she learns that even the deepest wounds can give way to wisdom, courage, and grace.

American Immigrant What does it really mean to start over from nothing? To leave behind your country, your language, and everything familiar—and step into the unknown with more fear than certainty? American Immigrant is not just a story about moving to the United States. It’s a deeply personal memoir about rebuilding yourself when life strips everything away and forces you to confront who you truly are.

This book allows listeners to dive into a captivating exploration of resilience and personal growth. Through compelling stories and personal insights, you’ll join the author’s parents on a journey through the trials of WWII, the Great Leap Forward, and China’s Reopening to the World. You’ll also join the author on her path from childhood in China to adulthood in the US. These intriguing stories span three generations, two countries, and more than eighty years.

How do you move forward when life doesn’t go as planned? Such is Life?: Framing a Positive "Next" Mindset in the Wake of Life's Setbacks by Bobby Steffens, thoughtfully narrated by Phillip Nathaniel Freeman and Lauren Henry, and produced and published by Audiobook Publishing Services, is a powerful and deeply personal memoir about resilience, healing, and finding purpose after life’s most difficult moments.

What if escaping tyranny was just the beginning of your fight for true freedom? Are you trapped in a life that feels like it was designed by someone else? Do you wonder what it would take to truly break free from the invisible constraints holding you back? Have you ever longed to reinvent yourself but feared the cost would be too great? In this powerful memoir, Ariel Peña-Martínez recounts his harrowing journey from Cuba's repressive regime to building a new life in America.

A remarkable teenager who went from public assistance to a million dollar net worth shares his story and offers nine key principles to success. Farrah Gray is no ordinary teenager. He wears a suit and tie; he has an office on Wall Street and another one in Los Angeles...and he sold his first business at the age of 14 for more than a million dollars.

We Were Strangers is the true story of Magda Preiss, a breathtaking masterpiece of Holocaust literature, composed in her own words upon arriving in America in the 1940s. Lived and told by a beautiful young bride with fearless defiance, Magda’s harrowing experience reveals a character who is larger than life and death. Hers is a love story more complex than any happy-ever-after tale. It recounts the love of culture, beauty, and life itself that fueled Magda’s will to survive.

Ismail Badjie's collection of essays and short stories offers a deeply personal exploration of his life experience as a man straddling two worlds (Africa and the US). Ismail navigates the complexities of his dual identity with wit, candor, and a relentless pursuit of self-discovery. He encourages listeners to step outside their comfort zones, challenge deeply ingrained beliefs, and explore the uncharted territories of their own inner worlds.

In 1972, Patty Bear’s father, Robert Bear, was excommunicated from their church and subsequently shunned by members including Gale, his wife. For Amish and Old Order Mennonites, known as “Plain People”, shunning is a biblical practice meant to bring wayward members back into the community’s fold.