William MacAskill | Avery, 2015 | Book
Most of us want to make a difference. We donate our time and money to charities and causes we deem worthy, choose careers we consider meaningful, and patronize businesses and buy products we believe make the world a better place. Unfortunately, we often base these decisions on assumptions and emotions rather than facts. As a result, even our best intentions often lead to ineffective — and sometimes downright harmful — outcomes. How can we do better?
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Anchor, 2007 | Book
With effortless grace, celebrated author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie illuminates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra's impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in southeastern Nigeria during the late 1960s.
Jeremy N. Smith | Harper Wave, 2015 | Book
Medical doctor and economist Christopher Murray began the Global Burden of Disease studies to gain a truer understanding of how we live and how we die. While it is one of the largest scientific projects ever attempted — as breathtaking as the first moon landing or the Human Genome Project — the questions it answers are meaningful for every one of us: What are the world’s health problems? Who do they hurt? How much? Where? Why?
Eula Biss | Graywolf Press, 2014 | Book
Upon becoming a new mother, Eula Biss addresses a chronic condition of fear-fear of the government, the medical establishment, and what is in your child's air, food, mattress, medicine, and vaccines. She finds that you cannot immunize your child, or yourself, from the world. In this bold, fascinating book, Biss investigates the metaphors and myths surrounding our conception of immunity and its implications for the individual and the social body.
Bjorn Lomborg | Cambridge University Press, 2012 | Book
Thirty years after the identification of the disease that became known as AIDS, humanitarian organizations warn that the fight against HIV/AIDS has slowed, amid a funding shortfall and donor fatigue. In this book, Bjørn Lomborg brings together research by world-class specialist authors, a foreword by UNAIDS founding director Peter Piot and perspectives from Nobel Laureates and African civil society leaders to identify the most effective ways to tackle the pandemic across sub-Saharan Africa.
