Our series concludes with an examination of the state with the most electoral-college votes: Pennsylvania. It is <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/09/19/pennsylvania-the-crucial-battleground-in-americas-election?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">practically a must-win</a> for either candidate—and it is on a knife-edge. As more and more people become influencers, fame is becoming more fickle and the entire economics of influencers <a href="https://www.economist.com/business/2024/10/29/too-many-people-want-to-be-social-media-influencers?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">is shifting</a> (10:43). And how Gen Z is <a href="https://www.economist.com/culture/2024/10/31/goth-culture-has-returned-from-the-dead?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">resurrecting</a> goth culture (17:25). Get a world of insights by <a href="https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">subscribing to Economist Podcasts+</a>. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our <a href="https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQs page</a> or watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gczo71bg1uY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">our video</a> explaining how to link your account. <hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Turn up the PA: the last in our swing-state series

In this angsty debut from BookTok's @ChamberofSecretBooks, a wedding forces one university student to return to her small town where she must finally face the long-buried secrets and heated tension between her and her brother's best friend.

Once close to her big family, Magdalen Savoy is now paralyzed with anxiety every time she’s tempted to leave her safe haven at the University of Oxford and return to her Italian village. But when Magdalen receives an invitation to her sister’s wedding, she has no choice but to pack her bag for what is sure to be a long summer with the man she still can’t forget.

After seven years, Theo finds himself back in Chivasso, where nothing changes. But upon seeing his best friend’s little sister, it's obvious that the sweet Maggie from his childhood is long gone. He can barely recognize the young woman with walls built around her heart and scars she tries to keep hidden. He knows he should stay away, yet he can’t ignore the electricity he feels at her slightest touch.

Their close proximity as neighbors definitely doesn’t help during weeks of wedding preparations. Searching for each other in every room and dancing a little too close soon makes it hard to convince everyone else—and themselves—that there’s nothing between them. But long-buried secrets threaten to tear their families apart—and could possibly separate them forever . . .

I'll Look for You Everywhere By Cameron Capello Read By Cam Wilder and Grace Blyth

Our human nervous system has the power to cope with high stress but not when it's been ground down by the relentless stimuli of today’s world. Over time, these persistent demands leave us burnt out because our nervous system is stuck in survival mode. In this mode, we have reduced capacity for rational thinking and less capacity to care. It becomes hard to make decisions, rest, solve problems, be mindful and set boundaries. We withdraw from the people and activities that used to light us up. We slip into autopilot, making us prone to mistakes, and toxic behaviors that impact professional and personal relationships.

Drawing on polyvagal theory and her professional insights as a trauma therapist working with clients experiencing anxiety, trauma and burnout, Clinical Psychologist Dr. Claire Plumbly will help you understand:

Why stress is different from burnout

How burnout stifles your ability to interact, think clearly and be productive or creative.

Why you get stuck in burnout and cannot ‘think’ your way out of it or engage in activities you know could help you.

Cultural beliefs and psychological patterns that cause burnout

How to soothe your nervous system back to full capacity using techniques and compassion.

By the end of this book, you will have tools to thrive amidst the challenges of modern life, at work, at home and through positive interactions and relationships.

The Trauma of Burnout By Dr. Claire Plumbly Read By Rebecca Courtney

Breasts, clitoris, hymen, and womb. Across history, these body parts have told women who they are and what they should do. Although knowledge of each part has changed through time, none of them tells a simple story. The way they work and in some cases even their existence have been debated. They can be seen as powerful or as disgusting, as relevant only to reproduction or as sources of sexual pleasure.

In Immaculate Forms, classicist and historian Helen King explores the symbiotic relationship between religion and medicine and their twinned history of gatekeeping over these key organs that have been used to define “woman,” illustrating how conceptions of women’s bodies have owed more to imagination and myth than to observation and science. Throughout history, the way we understand the body has always been debated, and it is still shaped by human intervention and read according to cultural interpretations.

Astute and engaging, Immaculate Forms is for everyone who has wondered what history has to say about today’s raging debates over the human body and who is “really” female.

Immaculate Forms By Helen King Read By Elaine Claxton

Tower of Basel is the first investigative history of the world's most secretive global financial institution. Based on extensive archival research in Switzerland, Britain, and the United States, and in-depth interviews with key decision-makers—including Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve; Sir Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England; and former senior Bank for International Settlements managers and officials—Tower of Basel tells the inside story of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS): the central bankers' own bank.

Created by the governors of the Bank of England and the Reichsbank in 1930, and protected by an international treaty, the BIS and its assets are legally beyond the reach of any government or jurisdiction. The bank is untouchable. Swiss authorities have no jurisdiction over the bank or its premises. The BIS has just 140 customers but made tax-free profits of 1.17 billion in 2011-2012.

Since its creation, the bank has been at the heart of global events but has often gone unnoticed. Under Thomas McKittrick, the bank's American president from 1940-1946, the BIS was open for business throughout the Second World War. The BIS accepted looted Nazi gold, conducted foreign exchange deals for the Reichsbank, and was used by both the Allies and the Axis powers as a secret contact point to keep the channels of international finance open.

After 1945 the BIS—still behind the scenes—for decades provided the necessary technical and administrative support for the trans-European currency project, from the first attempts to harmonize exchange rates in the late 1940s to the launch of the Euro in 2002. It now stands at the center of efforts to build a new global financial and regulatory architecture, once again proving that it has the power to shape the financial rules of our world. Yet despite its pivotal role in the financial and political history of the last century and during the economic current crisis, the BIS has remained largely unknown—until now.

Tower of Basel By Adam LeBor Read By John Mawson

Harris and Trump head into the final day before the election, at least 11 injured after tornado-spawning thunderstorms left a trail of destruction across parts of Oklahoma, and the monochroming of America.

This Morning with Gordon Deal November 04, 2024

Despite persistent claims election fraud is rare in US elections. Ella Lee from The Hill takes a look at the numbers.

Election fraud rare in US elections, despite persistent claims otherwise

Economists think interest rates will be higher under a Donald Trump presidency. Rick Newman from Yahoo! Finance takes us behind the headline.

If Trump wins, expect interest rates to rise

How are schools handling mock elections during such a toxic cycle. April Rubin from Axios has the story.

How toxic politics are affecting schools' mock elections

An ex-con has become a hero. We hear how from Gordon Deal.

Texas Man Who Spent 20 Years In Prison Becomes A Hero Twice Over

‘Stories are what connect us, and remind us that hope is always possible.’ In Stories of Hope, Heather Morris, author of the internationally bestselling novels The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Journey, takes us on an inspirational voyage through some of the defining experiences of her life, including her profound friendship with Lale Sokolov, the tattooist at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Heather’s great talent as a listener – a skill she employed when she first met Lale – led him to entrust Heather with his life story, which she told in her bestselling novel. Now she shares how she learned to really listen to the stories people told her, some of which she has shared with millions of readers in her fiction. An essential companion to The Tattooist of Auschwitz and an inspiring manual for life, Stories of Hope will examine and explore Heather’s extraordinary writing journey, in the form of a series of tales of the remarkable people she has met, the incredible stories they have shared with her, and the lessons they hold for us all.

Can be purchased from Bolinda.com, Audible.com or borrowed from the library using our BorrowBox app

Stories of Hope by Heather Morris

Bolinda, audio publisher of elite literary and commercial talent, is the No. 1 audiobook publisher in the British Commonwealth. For more than 25 years it has created the highest quality collection of audiobooks in the world. Bolinda was born in the library and has been supplying libraries with the world’s greatest audiobooks for over 25 years. 

The company is credited worldwide for reinvigorating the audiobook category. Now Bolinda offers libraries the world’s best digital content via BorrowBox – the award-winning digital lending solution.

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Stories of Hope by Heather Morris

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