Showing results by narrator "Kevin Stillwell" in All Categories

Today, orphanages are common in many parts of the world. But a look at young people who spent their childhoods in institutions in Romania reveals just how developmentally damaging such places can be.

In spite of Oneida's heroic stand against the Chinese steamroller, foreign armies are poised along the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, preparing for the final assault and America's inevitable defeat. For John, turning back the tide will mean going deep behind enemy lines and organizing the very insurgency he fought so hard against in Iraq. But more than that, it'll mean coming to terms with the brutality of war and the realization that sometimes the deepest scars are the ones that can't be seen.

A Southern gambler hunts a killer in the thick of the first great battle of the Civil War. It's July 1861, and both the Union and Confederate armies expect to win the war within 24 hours. For Harrison Raines, a Southern dandy ensconced in DC society, it's time to choose a side. Though Raines loves Virginia, he hates slavery with a passion. And joining either army would mean leaving Washington and deserting the beautiful Caitlin Howard.

What's fascinating about Dani Shapiro's story "Supernova" is "its focus on the minor catastrophe that is Shenkman, a relatively prosperous man whose minor shortcomings feel, to him alone, monumental and impossible to overlook," writes Benjamin Samuel, co-editor of Electric Literature, in his introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading. "Despite rowing every day, obsessively racing against an old rival in a computerized simulation, nobody even knows Shenkman is still competing."

Twelve years ago Matthew "the Rocket" Rising had it all. Married to his high school sweetheart and one of the winningest quarterbacks in the history of college football, he was the number one NFL draft pick. But on the night of the draft, he plummeted from the pinnacle of esteem. Falsely accused...

The Millennium Development Goals are due to expire at the end of 2015, and debate has turned to what should come next, with hundreds of new targets already proposed. Governments need to focus carefully and decide which goals offer the greatest returns on investment.

A hundred years after World War I, new accounts of the drama help listeners navigate the intricacies of European politics and the political and diplomatic maneuverings that kicked off the war. Yet there is still no consensus on its origins or lessons.

In 1971, the Pakistani government orchestrated a brutal military crackdown against the Bengali population in East Pakistan - while the United States stuck by its ally Pakistan. Gary Bass' new book spotlights the "significant complicity" of U.S. President Richard Nixon and his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, in this "forgotten genocide".

 Investing in Resources: How to Profit from the Outsized Potential and Avoid the Risks details how history and fortunes will be made in another extraordinarily rare investment opportunity that's happening right now. The opportunity that will enable today's savvy investor to realize incredible long-term profits is in commodities.

Commercialization and globalization, coupled with a decline in U.S. Defense spending, have ushered in a new era for the U.S. Defense industry. The Pentagon is off to a slow start, however, in weathering the current transition.

The president of the Philippines talks to Foreign Affairs about economic reform, political corruption, and Chinese aggression.

Two days before the collapse of Hosni Mubarak's regime in Egypt, one man gathered the courage to tell the president the truth: he would be killed in his palace if he did not step down. What came next revealed the bitter power struggles atop the most populous country in the Middle East at its most vulnerable moment in six decades. This is the inside story of the final days of Egypt's modern day pharaoh, who ruled with near autocratic powers for three decades before being forced to resign on February 11, 2011.

It's been years since Harrison Raines set foot in Richmond. Although a proud Virginian, he fled the South before the Civil War, unable to bear the evil of slavery. In 1862, battles rage on all sides of the Confederate capital, but Raines is not here as a soldier - he comes as a spy. Union intelligence, led by the formidable Allen Pinkerton, has sent him to steal the plans for a rumored Confederate superweapon: a seagoing ship clad entirely in iron that could break the Union blockade and turn the war around.

In the century ahead, U.S. strategic interests will align closely with those of India, and so keeping the U.S.-India relationship strong is crucial. The Obama administration needs to make Delhi a higher priority.

Austin joins Dallas and Houston in Akashic's deep dive into the Lone Star State's darkest dimensions. Featuring brand-new stories by: Gabino Iglesias, Ace Atkins, Amanda Moore, Jeff Abbott, Scott Montgomery, Richard Z. Santos, Alexandra Burt, Lee Thomas, Miriam Kuznets, Jacob Grovey, Chaitali Sen, Molly Odintz, Amy Gentry, and Andrew Hilbert.

Harrison Raines is caught in no-man's-land - and suspected of murder. The messenger finds Harrison Raines in one of the finest gambling halls in Washington. As usual, Raines is losing. Union intelligence demands his presence immediately - it's a matter that could affect the outcome of the Civil War - but Raines delays. He's holding four eights, and as a Southern dandy who renounced his family to serve the Union government as a secret agent, Raines can't resist a bet.

Venture capitalist Michael Moritz talks to Foreign Affairs about predicting success, investing globally, and why Google’s original business model was a failure.

Far from being a "First World problem", mental illness is a global scourge that affects people of all incomes and backgrounds. By 2030, mental disorders will cost the global economy around $6 trillion a year - more than heart disease.

Sweden's Feminist Initiative party aims to put gender issues squarely at the top of Sweden's political agenda. By contrast, many U.S. feminists have turned the personal-is-political mantra of second-wave feminism on its head, taking a marked turn toward lifestyle issues, with a new focus on empowering women within the political and economic frameworks that already exist.

The Ghost Lab tells the astonishing story of the wild ecosystem of paranormal profiteers and consumers. But it also reveals how the twin scourges of declining scientific literacy and eroding trust in institutions have created space for armies of pseudoscientists to step into the minds of an increasingly credulous public.