My first Set

God should ___, if he wants me. God should be a nervous slip of a kid. God should pick up the altar and make flower petals float. God should draw a shaky self-portrait. God shouldnotbe indivisible. That was one word that always curled on my tongue, when i stood with my hand pressed to my chest, my fickle fast skeletal chest, and chanted the words with the other children, and the teacher whose good-natured smile would so swiftly turn solemn, devout. under god, indivisible. under god’s invisible. under this god, in the visible. in the visible world, god is an electric pulse. God should be small and many. God should mill thanklessly about, in search of me. God should wait on line, eavesdropping on the women ahead of them. give me an inch, girl. cut me some slack. take this worn billfold heart into the other room. take it and fold it over again. let it be some bug’s miniature shelter. God never knows what to make of these places. God shifts her feet, which ache because they should after a whole half-hour, and watches balls of light unfurl on the eggshell-orange tile. God’s waiting on a renewal of some sort, and there are way too many forms. 

God was never an enemy, because i knew God better than our families. but God’s still learning how to make friends. God’s still leaning against my wall, wondering if they’re on the outside or in. God’s still ____, trying to figure out how to ______. God should ___, but not for me. God’s knuckles should tremble. God should look up, ask if they got the right door. God should try and learn something from the silence. God should have to guess.

————————————–

Amrita Chakraborty called us from Ithaca, NY.

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"God Should Knock" by Amrita Chakraborty

TOM THORNE IS BACK . . . AND SO IS HIS WORST NIGHTMARE

A gripping, grisly read. Mark Billingham is a terrific crime writer' ----- ANTHONY HOROWITZ


Tom Thorne has it all.

In Nicola Tanner and Phil Hendricks, Thorne has good friends by his side. He finally has a love life worth a damn and is happy in the job to which he has devoted his life...

He has everything to lose.

Hunting the woman responsible for a series of grisly murders, Thorne has no way of knowing that he will be plunged into a nightmare from which he may never wake.

And he'll do anything to keep it.

Finally, Thorne's past has caught up with him and a ruinous secret is about to be revealed. If he wants to save himself and his friends, he must do the unthinkable.


PRAISE FOR MARK BILLINGHAM

'Mark Billingham is a master of psychology'
Ian Rankin

'Fast-paced and twisting'
Paula Hawkins

'At the very least it should reach the shortlist of this year's Booker prize'
The Times

The Murder Book, written and read by Mark Billingham (Audiobook extract)

For all of the West's failings - terrible food, cold weather, and questionable politicians with funny hair to name a few - it has its upsides. Konstantin would know. Growing up in the Soviet Union, he experienced first-hand the horrors of a socialist paradise gone wrong, having lived in extreme poverty with little access to even the most basic of necessities. It wasn't until he moved to the UK that Kisin found himself thriving in an open and tolerant society, receiving countless opportunities he would never have had otherwise.
 
Funny, provocative and unswervingly perceptive, An Immigrant's Love letter to the West interrogates the developing sense of self-loathing the Western sphere has adopted and offers an alternative perspective. Exploring race politics, free speech, immigration and more, Kisin argues that wrongdoing and guilt need not pervade how we feel about the West - and Britain - today, and that despite all its ups and downs, it remains one of the best places to live in the world.

After all, if an immigrant can't publicly profess their appreciation for this country, who can?

An Immigrant's Love Letter to the West, written and read by Konstantin Kisin (Audiobook extract)

A guide to child psychology and development for parents of 0-5-year-olds

BEGINNINGS is  modern month-by-month reference guide for parents of 0-5-year-olds. It will answer all the questions that parents have about their baby, toddler and preschooler's physical and psychological development.

Topics Covered:
*How a baby grows and develops, month by month, during pregnancy
*Physical development, month by month, in the newborn period
*Brain development from birth to five years
*How sleep develops and changes throughout the first five years
*The development of self and personality
*Social development, attachment and peer relationships
*Temperaments and the development of emotion regulation
*The development of memory
*Current and classic theories in child psychology
*Learning to sit, crawl, cruise and walk.
*Language acquisition and early literacy skills
*Early mark making - learning to draw and form letters
*Schemas - how children learn about the world around them.
*Food preferences and eating experiences in early childhood
*Play - including suggestions for entertainment at each age
*How parents and carers can encourage optimal brain development

Beginnings, written and read by Sarah Ockwell-Smith (Audiobook extract)

A lot of people really dislike conflict and have a low opinion of it. They're uncomfortable with disagreements at the office, think there's no room for contention at church, worry that fighting with their partner means their relationship is destined to dissolve, and generally feel that heated arguments tear communities apart.

My guest today, Ian Leslie, used to be one of these conflict-averse people. But as he discovered in researching his new book, Conflicted: How Productive Disagreements Lead to Better Outcomes, conflict not only brings us together, the lack of it, he says, just plain makes us stupider. Today on the show, Ian and I discuss why people get the idea that conflict is unproductive from watching online arguments and why these flame wars aren't actually indicative of the value of arguing offline. We then delve into this surprising value, from the way conflict makes us smarter, to how couples who have heated arguments are actually happier. Ian unpacks some of the myths around difficult conversations, such as the idea that they have to be done in a strictly rational and unemotional way to be fruitful, and he offers ways to approach conflict that will make it more productive, especially remembering to always prioritize the relationship above all.

Resources Related to the Podcast

AoM Article: The Rationality of Emotions
AoM Podcast #559: How to Handle Difficult Conversations
Podcast #648: Lessons in Building Rapport from Experts in Terrorist Interrogation (With Laurence Alison)
reddit — Change My View

Connect with Kevin Maurer

Ian's Website
Ian on Twitter

#799: Getting Along Is Overrated

As the presidents of China and Russia <a href="https://www.economist.com/china/2022/09/08/xi-jinping-will-at-last-venture-abroad-again?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">meet in Uzbekistan</a>, we examine their friendship. They have much in common—but Russia’s prosecution of the war in Ukraine may strain relations. Islamic State and al-Qaeda may be less in the news but their foothold in Africa only keeps <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2022/08/11/how-al-qaeda-and-islamic-state-are-digging-into-africa?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">growing</a>. And why so many young Korean city-slickers are <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/09/01/young-koreans-are-moving-to-the-countryside-to-farm?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">becoming farmers</a> in the countryside.For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <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.

Xi sells sanctuary: a telling Putin meeting

Our correspondent meets with <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2022/10/10/peter-obi-a-man-who-carries-his-own-suitcases-could-be-nigerias-next-president?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Peter Obi</a>, who has a handsome poll lead and an appeal that spans the country’s religions and ethnicities. But his presidential bid still faces obstacles. Myanmar’s ruling junta is doing more than suppressing the country’s people: it is <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/09/15/an-economically-illiterate-junta-is-running-myanmar-into-the-ground?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">battering the economy</a> equally efficiently. And remembering <a href="https://www.economist.com/obituary/2022/10/06/brother-andrew-secretly-carried-bibles-behind-the-iron-curtain?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Brother Andrew</a>, who made daring deliveries behind the Iron Curtain.For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a> <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.

Help them, Obi: one hopeful candidate in Nigeria

Listen to an excerpt from THE LAST CHAIRLIFT by John Irving, read by Jacques Roy featuring a supporting ensemble.

THE LAST CHAIRLIFT Audiobook Excerpt

Steve Kerr - postgame (10/21/22)

In this very special edition of "Ear Biscuits," Rhett & Link, best friends since the 1st grade, see if they can learn anything new about one another's childhood growing up in small town North Carolina. The episode features never-before asked questions, including some from fans. From blood oaths in cow pastures to gangster rap obsessions, to matching butt tattoos, Rhett & Link take you back to their roots. 

Ep. 22 Rhett & Link "Childhood" - Ear Biscuits

Join Rhett and Link, hosts of the popular daily YouTube show Good Mythical Morning and authors of the New York Times bestseller “Book of Mythicality” in a candid weekly conversation for your Internetainment