Showing results by narrator "Michael Butler" in All Categories

Beneath the stylized violence and thrilling car crashes, the Mad Max films consider universal questions about the nature of human life, order and anarchy, justice and moral responsibility, society and technology, and ultimately, human redemption. In Mad Max and Philosophy, a diverse team of political scientists, historians, and philosophers investigates the underlying themes of the blockbuster movie franchise, following Max as he attempts to rebuild himself and the world.

When it was finally released, Heaven's Gate failed so completely with reviewers and at the box office that it put legendary studio United Artists out of business and marked the end of Hollywood's auteur era. Or so the conventional wisdom goes. Charles Elton delves deeply into the making and aftermath of the movie and presents a surprisingly different view to that of Steven Bach, one of the executives responsible for Heaven's Gate, who wrote a scathing book about the film and solidified the widely held view that Cimino wounded the movie industry beyond repair.

In this conclusion to his trilogy of authoritative books on Canada's most beloved and successful rock band, Martin Popoff takes us through three decades of "life at the top" for Rush's Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart. Though this era begins with the brisk-selling Roll the Bones and sees throngs of fans sell out international tours, there is also unimaginable tragedy.

Based on news reports, you might think there's a major cybersecurity threat every four to five months. In reality, there's a cybersecurity attack happening every minute of every day. In Cyber Crisis, Eric Cole gives listeners a clear-eyed picture of the information war raging in cyberspace. Drawing on 30 years of experience, Cole offers practical, actionable advice that even those with little technical background can implement, including steps to take on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to protect their businesses and themselves.

Neuroscience-powered GenAI enables massive impact on everything from medicine to marketing, entertainment to education, flavors to fragrances, and much more. Simply by blending cutting edge neuroscience with bleeding edge GenAI. Put humanity back at the center of GenAI. NeuroAI is the master guide for everyone seeking to understand this breakthrough technology; what it is, how it works, and most especially how to put it to work for competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Oleg Konovalov - an acclaimed global thought leader - draws together in one volume in-depth interviews with 19 extraordinary global visionaries that represent a variety of industries and organizations. These leaders explain why a vision is needed, how to implement it, how to communicate a vision effectively, and how to live by it with integrity.

The place: America. The year: 1931. The setting: the transcontinental express train known as the "Flying Pussyfoot." Aboard the train are a gang aiming to make some extra cash, a group of revolutionary terrorists trying to recapture their leader, and a pair of thieves looking to meet up with an old friend in New York City. But drunk on the excitement of their departure, none of them are prepared for what awaits them on the rails.

Everywhere we turn, a new device promises to transfigure our lives. But at what cost? In this urgent and revelatory excavation of our Information Age, leading technology thinker Adam Greenfield forces us to reconsider our relationship with the networked objects, services, and spaces that define us. It is time to re-evaluate the Silicon Valley consensus determining the future. We're told that innovations - from augmented - reality interfaces and virtual assistants to autonomous delivery drones and self-driving cars - will make life easier, more convenient, and more productive.

Soon after his 50th birthday, Steven Petrow began assembling a list of "things I won't do when I get old" - mostly a catalog of all the things he thought his then 70-something-year-old parents were doing wrong. That list became the basis of this rousing collection of dos and don'ts, wills and won'ts that is equal parts hilarious, honest, and practical.

Master Beekeeper Frank Mortimer invites listeners on an eye-opening journey into the secret world of bees and the singular world of his fellow beekeepers. With a swarm of offbeat characters and fascinating facts (did that bee just waggle or festoon?), Frank the Bee Man delivers an informative, funny, and galvanizing book about the symbiotic relationship between flower and bee, and bee and the beekeepers who are determined to protect the existence of one of the most beguiling and invaluable creatures on earth.

The rise of artificial intelligence is nothing short of a technological revolution. AI is poised to completely transform asset management and investment banking, yet its current application within the financial sector is limited and fragmented. Existing AI implementations tend to solve very narrow business issues, rather than serving as a powerful tech framework for next-generation finance. Artificial Intelligence for Asset Management and Investment provides a strategic viewpoint on how AI can be comprehensively integrated within investment finance.

American Revolution for Dummies capitalizes on the recent resurgence of interest in the Revolutionary War period - one of the most important in the history of the United States. From the founding fathers to the Declaration of Independence, and everything that encapsulates this extraordinary period in American history, American Revolution for Dummies is your one-stop guide to the birth of the United States of America. Understanding the critical issues of this era is essential to the study of subsequent periods in American history.

Twenty years after he conquered the underground pool circuit in The Hustler, "Fast" Eddie Felson is playing exhibition matches with former rival Minnesota Fats in shopping malls. With one failed marriage and years of running a pool hall behind him, Eddie is now ready to regain the skills needed to compete in a world of pool that has changed dramatically since he left.

Fight Like a Physicist provides an in-depth, sometimes whimsical look into the physics behind martial arts for sport and self-defense. Whether you are an experienced martial artist or a curious enthusiast, this book can give you an "unfair advantage" by unraveling the complex science of effective fighting techniques and examining the core principles that make them work.

We all know what it’s like to experience the disappointments and sorrows of life. Unexpected circumstances like layoffs, divorce, illness, and death can leave us hurting and isolated. Add to that the unending anxiety we feel at the state of the world—political strife and global upheavals—and we end up with a recipe for . . . joy? Yes, says journalist Steven Petrow, who has lived through all of those things, and arrived at a surprising conclusion: Joy is always present—in our everyday routines, in ties to those we care about, even in our grief.

The drum kit has provided the pulse of popular music from before the dawn of jazz up to the present day pop charts. Kick It, a provocative social history of the instrument, looks closely at key innovators in the development of the drum kit: inventors and manufacturers like the Ludwig and Zildjian dynasties, jazz icons like Gene Krupa and Max Roach, rock stars from Ringo Starr to Keith Moon, and popular artists who haven't always got their dues as drummers, such as Karen Carpenter and J Dilla.

Steeped in tradition based on more than a quarter century of research and practice, A Book of Pagan Prayer teaches us to pray in the ways of our ancestors for very modern times and concerns. A unique collection of nearly 500 prayers written to fulfill the needs of contemporary pagans from a variety of traditions, A Book of Pagan Prayer is a book to turn to again and again.

The Deadball Era (1901-1920) is a baseball fan's dream. Hope and despair, innocence and cynicism, and levity and hostility blended then to create an air of excitement, anticipation, and concern for all who entered the confines of a major league ballpark. Cheating for the sake of victory earned respect, corrupt ballplayers fixed games with impunity, and violence plagued the sport. At the same time, endearing practices infused baseball with lightheartedness, kindness, and laughter.

Few songs have captured the contradictions and ambiguities of the 1960s as memorably as "California Dreamin'," the iconic folk music single that catapulted the Mamas & the Papas into rock and roll history. In All the Leaves Are Brown, author Scott Shea details how John Phillips, Denny Doherty, Michelle Phillips, and "Mama Cass" Elliot became standard-bearers for California counterculture, following their transformation from folk music wannabes to rock sensations and chronicling the tumultuous events that followed their unexpected success.

Based on author Herbie J Pilato's exclusive interviews with Elizabeth Montgomery prior to her death in 1995, Twitch Upon a Star includes insider material and commentary from several individuals associated with her remarkable life and career before, during, and after Bewitched, including her classic feature films The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955), Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed? (1963), and Johnny Cool (1963).