History & Culture

When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh.

From a brilliant longtime AI insider with intimate access to the world of Sam Altman's OpenAI from the beginning, an eye-opening account of arguably the most fateful tech arms race in history, reshaping the planet in real time, from the cockpit of the company that is driving the frenzy.

We are approaching a critical threshold in the history of our species. Everything is about to change. Soon you will live surrounded by AIs. They will organize your life, operate your business, and run core government services.

New York Times bestselling author and MSNBC and podcast host Chris Hayes offers a powerful wide-angle reckoning with how the assault from attention capitalism on our minds and our hearts has reordered our politics and the very fabric of our society

From one of tech’s boldest thinkers and his longtime deputy and advisor, a sweeping indictment of Silicon Valley, showing how the West has slid into a culture of complacency, even as we enter a new era of mounting global threats.

Computer scientists Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor reveal what you need to know about AI—and how to defend yourself against bogus AI claims and products.

Science writer Adam Becker investigates how Silicon Valley’s heartless, baseless, and foolish obsessions—with escaping death, emergent AI tyrants, and limitless growth—pervert public discourse and distract us from real social problems.

John Strausbaugh takes us behind the Iron Curtain in this witty, deeply researched history of the surprisingly ramshackle Soviet space program, and how its success was more spin than science....

From the New York Times bestselling author of Midnight in Chernobyl comes the definitive, dramatic, minute-by-minute story of the Challenger disaster, based on fascinating in-depth reporting and new archival research—a riveting history that flows like a thriller.

Part memoir, part history, Burn Book is a necessary chronicle of tech’s most powerful players. This is the inside story we’ve all been waiting for about modern Silicon Valley and the biggest boom in wealth creation in the history of the world....

Minimalism is the art of knowing how much is just enough. Digital minimalism applies this idea to our personal technology. It's the key to living a focused life in a noisy world. Author Cal Newport introduces a philosophy for technology use that has already improved countless lives....

The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has dramatically empowered people in all walks of life, from artists to business executives to policymakers. But as the technology becomes more powerful and more ubiquitous, it is giving rise to urgent questions about the future of humanity.

Today's "machine-learning" systems, trained by data, are so effective that we've invited them to see and hear for us - and to make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Systems cull résumés until, years later, we discover that they have inherent gender biases.

Two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize David McCullough tells the dramatic story behind the story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly....

El esperado nuevo libro de Yuval Noah Harari, uno de los pensadores más innovadores, interesantes y clarividentes de la actualidad, y autor de Sapiens, el fenómeno literario global que ha cautivado a millones de lectores.

Interweaving stories about the science and the people behind it, Artificial Intelligence brims with clear-sighted, captivating, and approachable accounts of the most interesting and provocative modern work in AI, flavored with Mitchell’s humor and personal observations....

Tech visionary and co-founder of Manas AI Reid Hoffman shares his unique insider’s perspective on an AI-powered future, making the case for its potential to unlock a world of possibilities.

Scary Smart is an insider look at the future not only of technology and AI, but of our species, together with an accessible blueprint for what we can do to safeguard ourselves, those we love and the planet itself....

Thunderstruck tells the stories of two men: Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of a seemingly supernatural means of communication....

With nearly two decades of experience as a serial entrepreneur, author, and investor, Rob Walling is one of the world's leading experts in SaaS. In this audiobook, he shares little-known strategies that have been battle-tested by some of today's most successful founders....

The bestselling author of The God Equation takes an exhilarating tour of humanity's next great technological achievement—quantum computing—which may supercharge artificial intelligence, solve some of humanity's biggest problems, like global warming, world hunger, and incurable disease.

From Paleolithic flax to 3D knitting, explore the global history of textiles and the world they weave together in this enthralling and educational guide....

The binge-worthy first Western biography of SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, financial disruptor and personification of the 21st century’s addiction to instant wealth, Gambling Man is an unforgettable character study and alarming true story of twenty-first-century commerce.

In November 2022, a webpage was posted online with a simple text box. It was ChatGPT, and was unlike any app people had used before. Parmy Olson uses her experience covering technology to bring to light the exploitation of the greatest invention in human history, and how it will impact us all.

The answer to our contemporary chaos is to practice a rule of life that aligns our habits to our beliefs. The Common Rule offers four daily and four weekly habits, designed to help us create new routines and transform frazzled days into lives of love for God and neighbor....

When AI expert and investigative journalist Karen Hao first began covering OpenAI in 2019, she thought they were the good guys. Founded as a nonprofit with safety enshrined as its core mission, the organization was meant, its leader Sam Altman told us, to act as a check against more purely mercantile, and potentially dangerous, forces. What could go wrong?

In The Optimist, the Wall Street Journal reporter Keach Hagey presents the most detailed account yet of Altman’s rise, from his precocious childhood in St. Louis to his first, failed startup experience; his time as legendary entrepreneur Paul Graham’s protégé and successor as head of Y Combinator, the start-up accelerator where Altman became the premier power broker in Silicon Valley; the founding of OpenAI and his recruitment of a small yet superior team; and his struggle to keep his company at the cutting edge while fending off determined rivals, including Elon Musk.

As an internet culture critic for The New York Times, Amanda Hess had built a reputation among readers as a sharp observer of the seductions and manipulations of online life. But when Hess discovered she was pregnant with her first child, she found herself unexpectedly rattled by a digital identity crisis of her own. In the summer of 2020, a routine ultrasound detected a mysterious abnormality in Hess’s baby. Without hesitation, she reached for her phone, looking for answers.

In How To Think About AI, Richard Susskind draws on his experience of working on AI since the early 1980s. For Susskind, balancing the benefits and threats of artificial intelligence is the defining challenge of our age. He explores the history of AI and possible scenarios for its future. His views on AI are not always conventional. He positions ChatGPT and generative AI as no more than the latest chapter in the ongoing story of AI and claims we are still at the foothills of developments.

This timely book explores the alarming rise of ransomware: malicious software blocking users from their systems or data until they've paid money to regain access or to prevent the release of sensitive information. High-profile British examples of the twenty-first century have targeted national libraries and healthcare organizations; in the US, hackers of Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley Health Network held patient data hostage—when their demands went unmet, they published topless photographs of women with breast cancer.

Written by seasoned tech executive Sandy Carter, AI First, Human Always is your guidebook to the seven hottest trends in AI. This book will recalibrate your approach to the exponential curve of emerging AI solutions for business. It will help you transform today's unstoppable currents of change into tailwinds that propel your organization to great heights.

What kind of fossils will we leave, as relics into the far future? A blizzard of new objects has suddenly appeared on Earth: plastic bottles, ballpoint pens, concrete flyways, chicken bones, cans, teabags, phones, shirts. They're produced for our comfort and pleasure then quickly discarded. This new-made treasure chest underpins our lives. But it is also giving a completely new style of fossilization to our planet. Designed to resist corrosion and decay, many will remain, petrified, as future geology.

Moonshot Moments is a marriage of science, philosophy, history, and futurism. Bestselling author Milan Kordestani chronicles his journey to thrilling and unforeseen frontiers in our understanding of consciousness, the self, and humanity's cosmic destiny. His exploration moves beyond the growing anxiety over rapid AI development to offer a unifying, transhumanist vision for the future of humankind. He delves into the biohacking of human consciousness, exploring how, amid a world offering both suffering and joy, we can cultivate presence and discover meaning in our lives.

Aumenta tu productividad, ahorra tiempo y toma decisiones más inteligentes en el día a día, ¡incluso si nunca antes has trabajado con IA! ¿Sientes curiosidad por la inteligencia artificial (IA), pero no sabes por dónde empezar? ¿Te abruma la jerga compleja y te preocupa no tener los conocimientos técnicos necesarios para entender la IA? ¿Te preguntas si la IA podría simplificar tus rutinas diarias?

Throughout history, when threatened by wildfires our only defense was to pray for rain and run—until aircraft changed the way we fight fires. Beginning with the Canadian "H-Boats" in 1924, aircraft have become indispensable in detecting and extinguishing wildfires. Fire Eaters tells the incredible stories of the Ontario Provincial Air Service, the first government aerial fire suppression organization in history; one of its pilots, Carl Crossley, who invented the water scoop-up and drop-off system; and the Canadair CL-215, the first purpose-built water bomber.

What if the smartest machines were not just intelligent but deceptive? In this groundbreaking exploration, Sebastián Barros unpacks one of the most unsettling ideas in artificial intelligence: lying is not a malfunction. It is a built-in feature. From nature’s evolution driven tricks to reward hacking algorithms and bluffing bots, The Perfect Lie reveals how deception emerges naturally in intelligent systems. With a gripping mix of science, real-world cases, and sharp insight, this book exposes the lies AI tells not just to us but to itself. If you thought hallucinations were the limit, ...

The sky always told the truth—if you knew how to listen. Jenny Maddox leaned against the hood of the matte-black Suburban, eyes locked on the gathering mass of dark clouds bruising the western horizon. The wind had shifted. Just a whisper now, but one with teeth. It brushed across her face like a warning. Most people would've taken it as a cue to head for the basement. Jenny? She called it a siren song. Behind her, the mobile Doppler radar unit beeped in steady intervals. On the roof of their secondary vehicle—nicknamed The Jackrabbit, a lifted, reinforced Jeep with steel plating and ...

WCAG × Dharma: A Buddhist Path to Inclusive UX Design By Eric Infanti What if accessibility wasn’t just a guideline—but a sacred vow? In a world where digital products shape human connection, attention, and dignity, the way we design matters more than ever. WCAG × Dharma invites us to reimagine UX accessibility not as a compliance checklist—but as a living practice of compassion, presence, and ethical clarity. Blending the timeless wisdom of Buddhism with the rigor of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2), author Eric Infanti—UX strategist, Buddhist psychologist, and...

The most ambitious RPG in video-game history is now being honoured with the most extravagant book-length appraisal yet, written by beloved Elden Ring lore expert Geoff “SmoughTown” Truscott. Prepare for a comprehensive deep dive into the mythology underpinning Miyazaki’s latest masterpiece.

What if the most honest things your users have to say are the ones they never say to you directly? In Open Source UX, we step beyond the wireframe, beyond the lab, and beyond the product itself—into the open, unfiltered world where users actually live. This is a book about listening where most designers don’t. It’s about transforming UX research through the overlooked power of OSINT: Open Source Intelligence. Rooted in the rigor of intelligence gathering and the presence of mindful design, OSINT reshapes what it means to understand users—not by asking them questions, but by ...

Discover the ultimate guide to transforming your consulting practice with the power of artificial intelligence in "The Future of AI Consulting." This comprehensive eBook is your gateway to understanding how AI is reshaping the consulting landscape and providing innovative solutions for tomorrow's challenges. Begin with an exploration of AI's evolution in the consulting industry, uncovering the profound benefits and hurdles faced during adoption. Dive into the world of key technologies, including machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision, which are driving ...

Dive into the rapidly expanding world of AI consulting with "Navigating the AI Consulting Landscape," your essential guide to mastering AI services across niche markets. Whether you’re a seasoned consultant or a business looking to integrate AI solutions, this book provides a comprehensive roadmap tailored to your needs. Start with a thorough introduction to AI consulting's potential in specialized markets and explore how AI is transforming industry sectors such as healthcare, financial services, and retail. Uncover strategies for developing winning AI initiatives aligned with business ...

Beyond Human Thought: Evolution and History of Artificial Intelligence is a captivating journey through the strange, surprising, and often bewildering world of AI—from its philosophical roots in ancient myths to the mind-bending technology shaping our future. This book unpacks how humans went from dreaming about intelligent machines to actually building them. Beyond Human Thought explores the breakthroughs, the blunders, and the brilliant minds behind one of the most revolutionary forces in human history.

Humanity is racing to create machine intelligence vastly smarter than the human brain. We will succeed. Blending accessible philosophy with the latest in AI developments, Mind Crime: The Moral Frontier of Artificial Intelligence forces listeners to grapple with the moral questions we can no longer afford to ignore. Are we prepared for the consequences of artificial superintelligence? Will humanity's survival be threatened, perhaps within years? Is digital consciousness possible? Are we sleepwalking into horrific moral catastrophe?

Christians generally know that God created “the heavens and the earth” and made human beings in his image. They know that “the earth is the Lord' s and the fullness thereof” — he owns his creations. They know that skilled people create and own marvelous works. But a disconnect often occurs when it comes to God' s communicable attributes of creativity and ownership and that combination' s role in human innovation, technological progress, and practical benefits from human creativity and ownership.