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Conspiracy : The Greatest Plots, Collusions and Cover-Ups

Who killed JFK? What happened to Malaysian Airways plane MH370, the flight 'that disappeared'? Who poisoned ex-KGB man Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive polonium? How did the body of GCHQ codebreaker Gareth Williams end up in a sports bag? What really happened to Jeffrey Epstein? Featuring government cover-ups, secret societies, unsolved mysteries and brazen experiments, Conspiracy explores the range of conspiracy theories from the most outlandish to the most plausible, and gets to the bottom of what really happened. Whether discussing strange goings on at CERN or the meetings of the Bilderberg Group, authors Charlotte Greig and Mike Rothschild examine the facts with a clear and critical eye and tell you what it is we really need to worry about.

The Love of Baseball : Essays by Lifelong Fans

Written by and for baseball fans (or those trying to live with one), this collection of essays joins a perennial conversation all fans have--'Why do we love baseball?' Thirty contributors share personal narratives of how they found an abiding passion for the sport and how their relationship to it changed over the years. Tracing the thematic arc of a typical season, the essays begin with stories of spring training optimism, followed by the guts and grind of the regular season, and ending with the glory (or heartbreak) of the playoffs.

Playing with the Guys : Masculinity and Relationships in Video Games

A lot of work has been done talking about what masculinity is and what it does within video games, but less has been given to considering how and why this happens, and the processes involved. This book considers the array of daily relationships involved in producing masculinity and how those actions and relationships translate to video games. Moreover, it examines the ways the actual play of the games maps onto the stories to create contradictory moments that show that, while toxic masculinity certainly exists, it is far from inevitable. Topics covered include the nature of masculine apprenticeship and nurturing, labor, fatherhood, the scapegoating of women, and reckoning with mortality, among many others.

Young People and Social Media: Contemporary Children’s Digital Culture

Rather than just describing the social construction of childhood or an understanding of children's lives, this collection seeks to encapsulate not only how young people exist on social media but also how their physical lives are impacted by their presence on social media. One of the aims of this volume in exploring youth interaction with social media is to unpack the structuring of digital technologies in terms of how young people access the technology to use it as a means of communication, a platform for identification, and a tool for participation in their larger social world. During longstanding and continued experience in the broad field of youth and digital culture, we have come to realize that not only is the subject matter increasing in importance at an immeasurable rate, but the amount of textbooks and/or edited collections has lagged behind considerably. There is a lack of sources that fully encapsulate the canon of texts for the discipline or the rich diversity and complexity of overlapping subject areas that create the fertile ground for studying young people's lives and culture. The editors hope that this text will occupy some of that void and act as a catalyst for future interdisciplinary collections.

A Story to Save Your Life : Communication and Culture in Migrants' Search for Asylum

A young woman flees violence in Mexico and seeks protection in the United States—only to be trafficked as a domestic worker in the Bronx. A decorated immigration judge leaves his post when the policies he proudly upheld capsize in the wake of political turmoil. A Gambian translator who was granted asylum herself talks with other African women about how immigration officers expect victims of torture to behave. A border patrol officer begins to question the training that instructs him to treat the children he finds in the Arizona desert like criminals.Through these and other powerful firsthand accounts, A Story to Save Your Life offers new insight into the harrowing realities of seeking protection in the United States. Sarah C. Bishop argues that cultural differences in communication shape every stage of the asylum process, playing a major but unexamined role. Migrants fleeing persecution must reconstruct the details of their lives so governmental authorities can determine whether their experiences justify protection. However, Bishop shows, many factors influence whether an applicant is perceived as credible, from the effects of trauma on the ability to recount an experience chronologically to culturally rooted nonverbal behaviors and displays of emotion. For asylum seekers, harnessing the power of autobiographical storytelling can mean the difference between life and death.

Abolishing State Violence : A World Beyond Bombs, Borders, and Cages

An urgent and accessible analysis of the key structures of state violence in our world today, and a clarion call to action for their abolition.Connecting movements for social justice with ideas for how activists can support and build on this analysis and strategy, this book shows that there are many mutually supportive abolition movements, each enhanced by a shared understanding of the relationship between structures of violence and a shared framework for challenging them on the basis of their roots in patriarchy, racism, militarism, settler colonialism, and capitalism.This book argues that abolition is transformative. It is about defunding, demilitarizing, disbanding, and divesting from current structures of violence, but also about imagining new ways to organize and care for each other and our planet, and about building new systems and cultures to sustain ourselves in a more equitable, free, and peaceful way. It shows that change is possible.

Children and Youths’ Migration in a Global Landscape

Currently, there are more than 36 million transnationally mobile children and youth. Featuring the stories of children and youth from places such as Myanmar, India, Hungary, the USA, and Central America, Children and Youths' Migration in a Global Landscape interrogates how transnational mobility shapes the lives of the relatively young. This edited collection addresses questions that encourage us to consider what it means to be a transnationally mobile child or youth in the 21st century. How does transnational mobility affect youths' understanding of their ethnic identity? What is the link between educational attainment and social mobility? How does social class impact the educational trajectories of return migrant children? What impact does the knowledge economy have on new norms and practices related to human capital accumulation? Illustrating that transnationally mobile children and youths'experiences need social enquiry, this book pushes all of us to question our assumptions, challenge well-established theories, and rethink our understanding of the root causes of social inequality.

By Any Media Necessary : The New Youth Activism

There is a widespread perception that the foundations of American democracy are dysfunctional, public trust in core institutions is eroding, and little is likely to emerge from traditional politics that will shift those conditions. Youth are often seen as emblematic of this crisis—frequently represented as uninterested in political life, ill-informed about current-affairs, and unwilling to register and vote. By Any Media Necessary offers a profoundly different picture of contemporary American youth. Young men and women are tapping into the potential of new forms of communication such as social media platforms, spreadable videos and memes, remixing the language of popular culture, and seeking to bring about political change—by any media necessary. In a series of case studies covering a diverse range of organizations, networks, and movements involving young people in the political process—from the Harry Potter Alliance which fights for human rights in the name of the popular fantasy franchise to immigration rights advocates using superheroes to dramatize their struggles—By Any Media Necessary examines the civic imagination at work. Before the world can change, people need the ability to imagine what alternatives might look like and identify paths by which change can be achieved.

Confronting Racial Injustice : Theory and Praxis for the Church

One of the greatest crises facing the church is the crisis of racial injustice that has so long marred the body of Christ in America. Evangelicals have traditionally had a set of biblical, theological, and cultural tools we have used for dealing with questions about race: the necessity of personal responsibility, the possibility of heart renewal through faith in Jesus, the transformative impact of interpersonal relationships, and the bedrock conviction that every human being is made in the image of God and is thus of equal worth and dignity. But in the world after 2020, the evangelical church must now recognize that our theological playbook has been ineffective in rooting out racism from the church and in confronting our own complicity in racial injustice. We must now ask: What other theological convictions are required of us as we consider the image-bearing humanity of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and many others? Confronting Racial Injustice explores theological vistas to aid the church in our pursuit of racial justice.

Cryptocurrencies : Money, Trust and Regulation

The advent of new digital currencies has challenged our notions about money, its function and purpose, and our faith in the financial and banking structures that underpin its legitimacy. Oonagh McDonald charts the spectacular rise of cryptocurrencies over the past decade and considers the opportunities and threats that cryptocurrencies pose to existing fiat currencies. This revised edition includes a new chapter dealing with the high-profile bankruptcies of the recent “crypto winter”. The book considers how regulatory bodies have been slow to respond to a technology that is evading existing regulatory frameworks. Urgent and more robust protection is needed from fraudulent initial coin offerings, scams and hacks. Throughout her analysis, McDonald shows that trust is fundamental to the operation of finance and that this will ultimately protect commercial bank money from the threat of new digital currencies. The book offers readers an insightful appraisal of the future of money and the challenges facing regulatory bodies.

Libraries Supporting Online Learning : Practical Strategies and Best Practices

Using practical examples from librarians in the field, this book lays out current issues in online learning and teaches librarians how to adapt a variety of library services—including instruction, reference, and collection development—to online education.Recent studies highlighting the challenges faced by online learners show that skills librarians are uniquely qualified to teach, such as information and digital literacy and source evaluation, can improve academic performance in online courses and enhance the online learning experience. Just as embedded librarianship was developed to answer the needs of online courses when they emerged in the early 2000s, online learning librarian Christina Mune now teaches'online librarianship'as a set of realistic strategies for serving a variety of online education models. Each chapter of Libraries Supporting Online Learning addresses a different strategy for supporting online students and/or faculty, with all strategies derived from real-world practices. Librarians will find information on best practices for creating digital literacy tutorials and dynamic content, providing patrons with open access and open educational resources, helping patrons to avoid copyright issues, promoting peer-to-peer learning and resource sharing, posting to social media, and developing scalable reference services.

Mexican Murals in Times of Crisis

Murals have been an important medium of public expression in Mexico since the Mexican Revolution, and names such as Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and José Clemente Orozco will forever be linked with this revolutionary art form. Many people, however, believe that Mexico's renowned mural tradition died with these famous practitioners, and today's mural artists labor in obscurity as many of their creations are destroyed through hostility or neglect. This book traces the ongoing critical contributions of mural arts to public life in Mexico to show how postrevolutionary murals have been overshadowed both by the Mexican School and by the exclusionary nature of official public arts. By documenting a range of mural practices—from fixed-site murals to mantas (banner murals) to graffiti—Bruce Campbell evaluates the ways in which the practical and aesthetic components of revolutionary Mexican muralism have been appropriated and redeployed within the context of Mexico's ongoing economic and political crisis. Four dozen photographs illustrate the text. Blending ethnography, political science, and sociology with art history, Campbell traces the emergence of modern Mexican mural art as a composite of aesthetic, discursive, and performative elements through which collective interests and identities are shaped.

Not Just About Food : Understanding Eating Disorders

In the United States, approximately 30 million people suffer from an eating disorder. The prevalence of disordered eating among teens and young adults makes this a timely, informative, and helpful book for readers. Learn about the causes, symptoms, and diagnosis of eating disorders as well as treatments. Resources for identifying, treating, and recovering from eating disorders are provided in the text.

Libraries and Sanctuary : Supporting Refugees and New Arrivals

Libraries and Sanctuary is a practical guide to how libraries and their staff can support ‘new arrivals'– people who have crossed borders to reach a country. The book looks at the different drivers behind an individual's move, their need for signposting, and at the sorts of barriers that are faced by new arrivals and people seeking sanctuary. Readers will discover the background reasons for migration, the global political context of migration, and the likely impacts of both of these. They will also gain an understanding of just how much work libraries have done so far; learn from practical initiatives, ‘what works'examples and longer case studies; identify gaps in library provision; and find inspiration to start similar initiatives in their own institution. Drawing on the author's decades of work in libraries and social exclusion, this is a book for anyone seeking to create an inclusive and welcoming library community.

The Story of the Rockport-Fulton Art Colony : How a Coastal Texas Town Became an Art Enclave

When Coastal Living Magazine listed Rockport, Texas, among its “Top 10 Coastal Artists'Colonies” with more well-known art communities such as Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, and Monhegan Island, Maine, many art lovers may have been surprised. But Rockport's inclusion represented an emerging Texas Gulf Coast aesthetic and regional school of landscape art that many art historians and collectors had discovered. The area's unique ecosystem, abundance of wildlife and quaint architecture of bait stands and fish houses became a haven for creativity and individuality, beginning in the late forties. Over the years, it became home to influential artists, including the colony founder, Simon Michael, his most famous student, Dalhart Windberg, Jack Cowan, Al Barnes, Herb Booth, and Jesus Moroles. Other prominent artists also came for inspiration, including Buck Schiwetz, Harold Phenix, and Kent Ullberg. Many of the artists were active in early environmental organizations like the Coastal Conservation Association and Ducks Unlimited, working to protect the special habitats. And Steve Russell, a Rockport native, became the legendary mentor and quintessential artist of the colony, inspiring generations of newcomers.

Sacred Cyberspaces : Catholicism, New Media, and the Religious Experience

Amid a global crisis of faith and declining levels of religious participation in places around the world, the Catholic Church has likewise come face to face with the challenges and possibilities of new media. Sacred Cyberspaces reveals how long-standing conflicts over power, influence, and legitimacy within religious organizations are being waged in the digital realm. Oren Golan and Michele Martini describe the tensions that arise as religious groups seek to reach the faithful in online spaces where traditional clerical authorities have less expertise and control. Focusing on the Catholic world, they examine the rise of devotional digital entrepreneurship and the roles of lay religious webmasters: the video makers, app developers, and web designers who devote their lives to evangelization and who literally run the show. The book also explores the nature of religious experience as it pivots to online platforms: cyberculture, prayer, ceremonies, pilgrimage, proselytization, and the relation to the transcendental.From live-streaming at world-famous sites in the Holy Land to the Instagram feed of Pope Francis, Sacred Cyberspaces evaluates the contemporary media strategies of the Catholic Church and sheds light on the future of religion online.

The Eucharistic Vision of Laudato Si : Praise, Conversion, and Integral Ecology

No other encyclical has generated as much conversation—both Catholic and non-Catholic—as Laudato si'. Often forgotten in these conversations is the theological heart and eucharistic vision of the encyclical and its integral ecology. Even the title of Laudato si'—“Praised be!”—signals the centrality of right praise in caring for our common home. Using Bernard Lonergan's theology of history, this book unearths the doxological, eucharistic vision that shapes the encyclical's integral presentation of social and ecological conversion. It offers the first book-length study that recovers the eucharistic nature of Laudato si'. In drawing out the eucharistic vision of Laudato si', the book accomplishes several feats for the reader. It roots the eucharistic dimensions of the encyclical in the writings of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, showing how Pope Francis develops their thought in notable ways. It introduces Bernard Lonergan's theology of history, showing how his framework can capture the eucharistic contours of caring for our common home; so too, in light of Laudato si', does the book expand his theology of history to incorporate both ecological concern and the doxological, eucharistic essence of the church.

Policing Pleasure : Sex Work, Policy, and the State in Global Perspective

Mónica waits in the Anti-Venereal Medical Service of the Zona Galactica, the legal, state-run brothel where she works in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Mexico. Surrounded by other sex workers, she clutches the Sanitary Control Cards that deem her registered with the city, disease-free, and able to work. On the other side of the world, Min stands singing karaoke with one of her regular clients, warily eyeing the door lest a raid by the anti-trafficking Public Security Bureau disrupt their evening by placing one or both of them in jail.Whether in Mexico or China, sex work-related public policy varies considerably from one community to the next. A range of policies dictate what is permissible, many of them intending to keep sex workers themselves healthy and free from harm. Yet often, policies with particular goals end up having completely different consequences.Policing Pleasure examines cross-cultural public policies related to sex work, bringing together ethnographic studies from around the world.

University Ethics : How Colleges Can Build and Benefit From a Culture of Ethics

Stories about ethical issues at universities make headlines every day. From sexual violence to racial conflict, from the treatment of adjuncts to cheating, students, professors, and administrators face countless ethical trials. And yet, very few resources exist to assist universities in developing an ethical culture. University Ethics addresses this challenge. Each chapter studies a facet of university life—including athletics, gender, faculty accountability, and more—highlights the ethical hotspots, explains why they occur, and proposes best practices.Professional ethics are a key component of training for numerous other fields, such as business management, medicine, law, and journalism, but there is no prescribed course of study for the academy. Professors and administrators are not trained in standards for evaluating papers, colleagues, boundaries, or contracts.