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A sweeping history of and meditation on humanity's relationship with machines, showing how we got here and what happens next. Faith in technological fixes for our problems is waning. Automation, which promised relief from toil, has reactivated the long-standing fear of job redundancy. Information technology, meant to liberate us from traditional authority, is placing unprecedented powers of surveillance and control in the hands of a purely secular Big Brother. And for the first time, artificial intelligence threatens anthropogenic disaster - disaster caused by our own activities. Scientists join imaginative writers in warning us of the fate of Icarus, whose wings melted because he flew too close to the sun. This book tells the story of our fractured relationship with machines from humanity's first tools down to the present and into the future. It raises the crucial question of why some parts of the world developed a 'machine civilisation' and not others, and traces the interactions between capitalism and technology, and between science and religion, in the making of the modern world. Taking in the peaks of philosophy and triumphs of science, the foundation of economics and speculations of fiction, Robert Skidelsky embarks on a bold intellectual journey through the evolution of our understanding of technology and what this means for our lives and politics. 'Unless we understand technology as a system of ideas rather than as a necessity,' he writes, 'we will be powerless to choose which technology is best suited to our needs and purposes.' -
The most complete and penetrating biography of the rock master, whose stature grows every year. Since his death ten years ago, Lou Reed's living presence has only grown. The great rock-poet presided over the marriage of Brill Building pop and the European avant-garde, and left American culture transfigured. In Lou Reed: The King of New York, Will Hermes offers the definitive narrative of Reed's life and legacy, dramatizing his long, brilliant, and contentious dialogue with fans, critics, fellow artists, and assorted habitues of the demimonde. We witness Reed's complex partnerships with David Bowie, Andy Warhol, John Cale, and Laurie Anderson; track the deadpan wit, street-smart edge, and poetic flights that defined his craft as a singer and songwriter with the Velvet Underground and beyond; and explore the artistic ambition and gift for self-sabotage he took from his mentor Delmore Schwartz. As Hermes follows Reed from Lower East Side cold-water flats to the landmark status he later achieved, he also tells the story of New York City as a cultural capital. The first biographer to draw on the New York Public Library's much-publicized Reed archive, Hermes employs the library collections, the release of previously unheard recordings, and a wealth of recent interviews to give us a new Lou Reed-a pioneer in living and writing about nonbinary sexuality and gender identity, a committed artist who pursued beauty and noise with equal fervor, and a turbulent and sometimes truculent man whose emotional imprint endures. 'A monumental work filled with first-person accounts of the master's life and a dizzying array of never-before heard details' Michael Imperioli, author of The Perfume Burned His Eyes. -
Have you ever relied on the kindness of strangers? What brings people together to find hope and solidarity? What do we owe each other as citizens and comrades? Questions of care, intimacy, education, meaningful work, and social engagement lie at the core of our ability to understand the world and its possibilities for human flourishing. In Lean On Me feminist thinker Lynne Segal goes in search of hope in her own life and in the world around her. She finds it entwined in our intimate commitments to each other and our shared collective endeavours. Segal calls this shared dependence 'radical care'. In recounting from her own life the moments of motherhood, and of being on the front line of second-wave feminism, she draws upon lessons from more than half a century of engagement in left feminist politics, with its underlying commitment to building a more egalitarian and nurturing world. The personal and the political combine in this rallying cry to transform radically how we approach education, motherhood, and our everyday vulnerabilities of disability, ageing, and enhanced needs. Only by confronting head-on these different forms of interdependence and care can we change the way we think about the environment and learn to struggle - together -against impending climate catastrophe. -
In Lani O’Hanlon’s debut collection of poems, dance is, variously, a way for her young mother “to pay the milk bill, the bread bill”, a practical method for friends to come together, and “a homage to the women they called unmarried mothers”. It is, in other words, at the very heart of life. At the heart of O’Hanlon’s poetry is connection and community, and the poems reach towards formative moments in the poet’s childhood as they also offer guidance for the road ahead. Sensual, as one might expect of poems of movement and the body, O’Hanlon’s are brightly perceptive and fully alert to the lives of others who are never reduced to mere bystanders by her often striking and light-footed performances. Landscape of the Body explores love, loss, fellowship and sisterhood with a sense of presence, emotional intelligence and confidence that is difficult not to be moved by. -
A delightfully thought-provoking study of why we have sex, from award-winning psychoanalyst Darian Leader. 'It was just sex.' It's a familiar claim. But is it really possible? The old idea that sexuality is a smouldering, animalistic force within us, desperate for release yet restrained by social forces, has little to support it. Bodies aren't just sticks that make fire when you rub them together, and the pain, heartache, and regret that can accompany the highs of sexual excitement show us that much more is at stake. So, what are we really thinking about when we think about sex? And what are we really doing when we do it? As acclaimed psychoanalyst Darian Leader argues, with his trademark clarity, energy and wit, there is no such thing as 'just sex'. It is always about so much more than that - about phantasy, anxiety, guilt, revenge, violence, love - and Leader draws on his analytic experience, historical research and case studies to explore their importance to every aspect of our sexual lives. 'One of our most important contemporary thinkers' Guardian 'Leader is as much a philosopher as a psychoanalyst and his ideas are engrossing and enlightening' Metro If you would rather not use 35 products on your face every morning or watch how-to videos on TikTok, or if you have ever looked in the mirror and found yourself thinking 'Who is that?', then India Knight's Beauty Edit is the book you've been waiting for. It is a glorious and indispensable celebration of how to be old(er) with minimum fuss and a generous helping of grace, confidence and style. 'India Knight is a LEGEND in the beauty industry. I am OBSESSED with her column because you can trust her to get it right every single time!' Charlotte Tilbury -
"With beauty, as with so much else, knowledge is power. Here's all of mine." Why has my favourite eyeliner stopped looking flattering? What can I do about the skin on my neck? Am I too old for contour? What is contour? Every week, tens of thousands of women turn to India Knight's beauty column in the Sunday Times Style Magazine, to be directed to beauty products that really work by someone they can trust - and who understands how much this stuff matters. It matters because looking, and therefore feeling, like yourself at every stage of life is fundamental. In this brilliant, essential, reassuring book, India has distilled her beauty wisdom into practical advice for every part of the face and beyond: from tips for thinning lips and thinning hair, to the best skincare for older faces, to the make-up products that really make a difference, to demystifying the scientific jargon beloved by the beauty industry. If you would rather not use 35 products on your face every morning or watch how-to videos on TikTok, or if you have ever looked in the mirror and found yourself thinking 'Who is that?', then India Knight's Beauty Edit is the book you've been waiting for. It is a glorious and indispensable celebration of how to be old(er) with minimum fuss and a generous helping of grace, confidence and style. 'India Knight is a LEGEND in the beauty industry. I am OBSESSED with her column because you can trust her to get it right every single time!' Charlotte Tilbury -
Brian Dowling and Arthur Gourounlian are among Ireland's most beloved television personalities and social media stars. The internet exploded when the couple announced they were expecting their first child, with Brian's sister Aoife acting as their surrogate. Their daughter, Blake, was born in September 2022. In this book, Brian and Arthur detail their long journeys, separately and together, before finally realising the dream of creating their own very happy family. From births, to deaths, marriage and everything in between this heartfelt and hilarious memoir brings Arthur and Brian's positive and inspiring attitude to the page as they journey towards parenthood. Brian and Arthur's Modern Family reflects on the universal cycles of adversity, love and grief experienced by all of us as we strive to achieve our dreams, sharing what they have learned along the way about what really matters. -
This is a specialist US Import title - please allow 3 weeks for delivery. In this inspirational and insightful book, Steven Pressfield teaches us how to win the inner creative battle and seize the potential of our lives. What keeps so many of us from doing what we long to do? Why is there a naysayer within? How can we avoid the roadblocks of any creative endeavor? Steven Pressfield identifies the enemy that every one of us must face, outlines a battle plan to conquer this internal foe, then pinpoints just how to achieve the greatest success. The War of Art emphasizes the resolve needed to recognize and overcome the obstacles of ambition and then effectively shows how to embrace creative discipline. Whether an artist, writer or business person, this simple, personal, and no-nonsense book will inspire you to seize the potential of your life. -
'What defines the car-saddo condition is not being able to recall a time when the toy-car-era of your life actually ended. Because for us sufferers, it never does.' Nobody knows cars like Chris Harris does. He calls it 'unhinged geekery', but the rest of the world call it infectious enthusiasm, adrenalin fuelled escapism and rigorous journalistic integrity. And then there are his famous skills at the wheel, from city cars to rally cars, not forgetting the Guinness World Record 3.4km sideways in an electric car. And now for the first time, Harris takes us down the road of his life-long obssession with the automobile - along surprising diversions, around hazards and obstructions, down the fast lane collecting Gs and back to the lock-up to prep the stock. From the six-year-old who could recite the stats from What Car? magazine to the YouTube car guru whose honest reviews got him banned by Ferrari. From the Scalextric track of his childhood, to podiums as a racing driver out in the world. From behind his garage doors to the floodlit Top Gear studio. Variable Valve Timings brings you an incredibly engaging story of adventure and petrolhead joy, told with wit, warmth and disarming honesty. This book is a true one-off, just like Chris. -
Doing well with money isn't necessarily about what you know. It's about how you behave. And behavior is hard to teach, even to really smart people. Money-investing, personal finance, and business decisions-is typically taught as a math-based field, where data and formulas tell us exactly what to do. But in the real world people don't make financial decisions on a spreadsheet. They make them at the dinner table, or in a meeting room, where personal history, your own unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives are scrambled together. In The Psychology of Money, award-winning author Morgan Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches you how to make better sense of one of life's most important topics. -
Here before you is Joe Wilkinson's brilliantly absurd account of his time on - and briefly off - planet Earth. Through cartoon stories (illustrated by Henry Paker) Joe recounts the defining moments and bizarre encounters of his life - from his schoolboy misfortunes to his formative years on the dating scene, to his money-making schemes and globetrotting adventures. With tall stories including... -Winning 'most nits' at school-That time I threw a turd into a tornado-Becoming the bad boy of fly tipping-The disastrous double date-My car airbag addiction-The time I tunnelled too far out of prison and ended up in the prison next door-The real reason Bigfoot went into hiding...this book is a delightfully absurd journey into the mind of a comic maverick. Hilarious, heart-warming and utterly unique, Joe Wilkinson: My Autobiography is the off-the-wall life story of one of our most beloved and unorthodox comedians. 'Joyfully absurd and hilarious.' ADAM KAY -
'Brutto is actually bellissimo. A perfect cookbook for lovers of true Tuscan food. Simply brilliant.'- STANLEY TUCCI This is the food of Florence - rigorously simple, few ingredients, exceptionally good. Anchovy with cold butter and sourdough; Penne with tomato and vodka; Sausages with braised lentils and mustard; Roasted squash with borlotti bean and salsa verde; Country-style bread and tomato salad; 3-ingredient meringue hazelnut cookies... The food of Florence rests on humble ingredients - not many - brought together in the rough-and-ready style of everyday cooking with flavour at its heart. This stunning brand-new cookbook offers outstanding recipes from Russell Norman's acclaimed new restaurant, Trattoria Brutto, alongside an ode to one of Italy's most beloved cities, Florence, and specifically the bohemian district of Santo Spirito. Including Russell's captivating stories and insider advice, Brutto is a proudly fuss-free recipe book to use every day, wherever you are, and an joyous tribute to Italy's greatest rustic cuisine. -
Following the breakout success of his first cookbook, From Crook to Cook, Snoop Dogg returns with this new collection of recipes in collaboration with his friend and iconic Bay Area rapper E-40. Drawing inspiration from both rappers' musical catalog, Snoop's VH1 show with Martha, and E-40's Filipino food business, Lumpia, here are 65+ crowd-pleasing dishes that range from drinks to main courses to desserts. Also included are suggested menus for celeb-worthy events ranging from Super Bowl Sunday to Father's Day Feast, a 4/20 Potluck, and a Summertime Block Party. A number of Snoop and E-40's well-known industry pals appear in recipe headnotes and in sidebar stories about their most epic dinner parties and nights out. Seriously entertaining, this next-level cookbook is the follow-up that fans are waiting for. Packaged with a series look that gestures to From Crook to Cook but feels fresh with E-40's distinctive influence, this book will draw home cooks who love Snoop Dogg and E-40, as well as the 300,000 people who bought and loved From Crook to Cook and are eager for more recipes straight from these rappers themselves. -
A humorous and informative guide to surviving history's most challenging threats, from outrunning dinosaurs to making it off the Titanic alive. History is the most dangerous place on earth. From dinosaurs the size of locomotives to meteors big enough to sterilize the planet, from famines to pandemics, from tornadoes to the Chicxulub asteroid, the odds of human survival are slim but not zero - at least, not if you know where to go and what to do. In each chapter of How to Survive History, Cody Cassidy explores how to survive one of history's greatest threats: getting eaten by dinosaurs, being destroyed by the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, succumbing to the lava flows of Pompeii, being devoured by the Donner Party, drowning on board the Titanic, falling prey to the Black Death, and more. Using hindsight and modern science to estimate everything from how fast you'd need to run to outpace a T. rex to the advantages of different body types in surviving the Donner Party tragedy, Cassidy gives you a detailed battle plan for survival, helping you learn about the era at the same time. History may be the most dangerous place on earth, but that doesn't mean you can't visit. You can, and you should. And with a copy of How to Survive History in your back pocket, you just might make it out alive. -
Do you want to make money while making the world a better place? Then this is the book for you. After the bestselling success of Girls Just Wanna Have Funds, the founders of Female Invest are back, and this time they're focusing on impact investing. Cutting through the noise and ditching the jargon, this book teaches you how to build wealth while creating positive change. From understanding investment basics to identifying the ethics behind different assets, you'll learn how to make money while supporting the issues you really care about. By introducing you to important concepts and strategies, and combining them with simple, actionable steps, aligning your investments with your values has never been easier. The good news? You don't need to be rich or an expert to get started. Published 23rd November 2023 - Order Now. -
We're living in a time of amazing innovation, but we're not paying enough attention to one of the most important of all: the innovation to the company itself. Now, bestselling author of The Second Machine Age, Andrew McAfee, explains how engineers and geeks are changing the world of business - with extraordinary results. A new model is being pioneered by geeks; a radical new mindset that has shifted the paradigm entirely on what a business can - and should - be. They do not follow the rules of the Industrial era, with their hierarchies and bureaucratic ways of thinking. They do not follow the principles preached in business schools since the dawn of time. They have all dedicated themselves to approaching business as a geek would: through trial and error, egalitarianism, evidence and stress-testing ideas in a group setting - rather than relying on the boss's instincts. By investigating and surveying the contemporary research in psychology, economics and the behavioural sciences, as well as first-hand accounts from the 'geek' leaders of today, McAfee's groundbreaking exploration of this emerging phenomenon gets to the heart of the tectonic shifts taking place all over the business world. We have entered a new age. And this age will transform how we achieve great things, now and into the future. The future is geek. 'The most compelling analysis I've seen of what Silicon Valley has learned about building more effective organisations' - Adam Grant. -
The more we learn about fungi, the less makes sense without them. They can change our minds, heal our bodies and even help us avoid environmental disaster; they are metabolic masters, earth-makers and key players in most of nature's processes. In Entangled Life, Merlin Sheldrake takes us on a mind-altering journey into their spectacular world, and reveals how these extraordinary organisms transform our understanding of our planet and life itself. The smash-hit Sunday Times bestseller now illustrated with over 100 spectacular full-colour images, showcasing this wondrous and wildly various lifeform as never before. 'Astonishing ... it seems somehow to tip the natural world upside down' Observer 'Completely mind-blowing ... reads like an adventure story' Sunday Times *WINNER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY BOOK PRIZE 2021* *WINNER OF THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION WRITING 2021 -
Drawing People focuses on perfecting how to draw faces, characters and people on the move. This interactive journal features a mix of 100 prompts, playful activities and step-by-step projects on the theme of people to help you explore your creativity. Whether you're new to drawing and want to learn how to sketch or you're an experienced artist in search of inspiration, Drawing People will (re)ignite your love of art. Viktorija's easy techniques and helpful hints will show you how to hone your people drawing skills, add colour to your sketches and develop your own personal style. Drawing People is the springboard to unleashing your creativity and building a unique collection of artwork. Published 23rd November 2023 - Order Now.
