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Nature and the mind : the science of how nature improves cognitive, physical and social well-being / by Berman, Marc, G.,author.;
"From the acclaimed founder of environmental neuroscience, Dr. Marc Berman, comes a groundbreaking guide that reveals how interacting with nature can be the secret to improved mental and physical health. Dr. Marc Berman, the pioneering creator of the field of environmental neuroscience, has discovered the surprising connection between mind, body, and environment, with a special emphasis on the natural environment. He has devoted his life to studying it. If you sometimes feel drained, distracted, or depressed, Dr. Berman has identified the elements of a "nature prescription" that can boost your energy, sharpen your focus, change your mood, and improve your mental and physical health. He also reveals how central attention is to all of these functions, and how interactions with nature can restore it. Nature and the Mind is both an introduction to a revolutionary new scientific field and a helpful guide to better living. In these pages, he draws on his original research and research from others and shares life-altering findings such as: just eleven more trees on your street can decrease cardio-metabolic disorders like stroke, diabetes, and heart disease; a short walk in nature can improve attention by almost twenty percent, decrease depression symptoms, and make people feel more spiritual and self-reflective; more greenspace around schools and homes is related to better school performance, reduced crime, and improved working memory; and many of these effects can be achieved even if you don't like nature. With an engaging and approachable style, Dr. Berman offers the nature prescription for physical health, mental health, and social health. Importantly, you don't have to pack up your house and move to the country to participate. The nature prescription includes practical ways to bring the outside indoors and to "naturize" our spaces, no matter where you live. The positive effects of nature don't just end at the individual; contact with nature can make people more caring towards one another, promote economic and racial justice, encourage people to care more for the environment, and more. This groundbreaking guide explains why and how nature is good for our brains and bodies and gives us a window into fundamental aspects of our psychology and physiology that can be improved through interactions with nature"--
Subjects: Environmental psychology.; Human ecology; Mind and body.; Nature; Nature; Nature;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The future of capitalism / by Varoufakis, Yanis,panelist.; Brooks, Arthur C.,1964-panelist.; Vanden Heuvel, Katrina,panelist.; Brooks, David,1961-panelist.; Griffiths, Rudyard,editor.;
"In Western societies, the capitalist system is facing a level of distrust not seen in decades. Economic inequality is rampant. Life expectancy is falling. The environment is being destroyed for profit. Political power is wielded by wealthy elites and big business. For capitalism's critics, it is clear that the system is not designed to help average people. Their solution is a top-to-bottom reform of the "free market" along more socialist and democratic lines. For proponents of capitalism, however, this system has been the greatest engine of economic and social progress in history. Not only has capitalism made all of us materially better off, its ideals are responsible for everything from women's rights to a cleaner environment to political freedoms. The answer to society's current ills is more capitalism, more economic freedom, and more free markets. The twenty-fifth semi-annual Munk Debate, held on December 4, 2019, pits editorial director and publisher of the Nation Katrina vanden Heuvel and former finance minister of Greece Yanis Varoufakis against Harvard professor Arthur Brooks and New York Times columnist David Brooks to debate whether the capitalist system is broken."
Subjects: Economics.; Capitalism; Capitalism; Capitalism; Capitalism;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Climate trailblazers [videorecording] : reimagining our future / by Pestana, Mark,film director.; Collective Eye Films,presenter,publisher.;
Exciting technologies have emerged, setting the gears in motion for a new green industrial revolution. Climate Trailbazers: Reimagining Our Future examines the new technologies and practices that decouple social and economic growth from carbon emissions showcasing innovations across the world that provide new and greener ways of producing energy, materials and food. These new technologies, if adopted at scale, could move the needle on climate change. The new tech and business models featured also prove that sustainability can be profitable, while consumers and whole industries alike can play their part in slowing - and reversing - environmental damage and creating a more sustainable future for generations to come. Climate Trailblazers provides a message of hope for those who care about sustainability, and our planet, in what is often characterised as an unavoidable catastrophe.E.Closed-captioned for the hearing impaired.DVD.
Subjects: Documentary films.; Environmental films.; Video recordings for the hearing impaired.; Environmentalism.; Green technology.; Sustainability.; Sustainable development.;
For private home use only.
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Diet, drugs, and dopamine : the new science of achieving a healthy weight / by Kessler, David A.,1951-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."From the New York Times bestselling author of The End of Overeating comes an illuminating understanding of body weight, including the role of the latest weight loss drugs, and the possibility of changing our health forever. The struggle is universal: we work hard to lose weight, only to find that it slowly creeps back. In America, body weight has become a pain point shrouded in self-recrimination and shame, not to mention bias from the medical community. For many, this battle not only takes a mental toll but also becomes a physical threat: three-quarters of American adults struggle with weight-related health conditions, including high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes. We know that diets don't work, and yet we also know that excess weight starves us of years and quality of life. Where do we go from here? In Diet, Drugs, and Dopamine, former FDA Commissioner Dr. David A. Kessler unpacks the mystery of weight in the most comprehensive work to date on this topic, giving readers the power to dramatically improve their health. Kessler, who has himself struggled with weight, suggests the new class of GLP-1 weight loss drugs have provided a breakthrough: they have radically altered our understanding of weight loss. They make lasting change possible, but they also have real disadvantages and must be considered as part of a comprehensive approach together with nutrition, behavior, and physical activity. Critical to this new perspective is the insight that weight-loss drugs act on the part of the brain that is responsible for cravings. In essence, the drugs tamp down the addictive circuits that overwhelm rational decision-making and quiet the "food noise" that distracts us. Identifying these mechanisms allows us to develop a strategy for effective long-term weight loss, and that begins with naming the elephant in the room: ultraformulated foods are addictive. Losing weight is a process of treating addiction. In this landmark book, one of the nation's leading public health officials breaks taboos around this fraught conversation, giving readers the tools to unplug the brain's addictive wiring and change their relationship with food. Dr. Kessler cautions that drugs, on their own, pose serious risks and are not a universal solution. But with this new understanding of the brain-body feedback loop comes new possibilities for our health and freedom from a lifelong struggle. Eye-opening, provocative, and rigorous, this book is a must-read for anyone who has ever struggled to maintain their weight-which is to say, everyone"-- Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Reducing diets.; Weight loss preparations.; Weight loss;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Commanding hope : the power we have to renew a world in peril / by Homer-Dixon, Thomas F.,author.;
"Calling on history, cutting-edge research, complexity science and even Lord of the Rings, Homer-Dixon lays out the tools we can command to rescue a world on the brink. For three decades, the renowned author of The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization, and The Ingenuity Gap: Can We Solve the Problems of the Future?, has examined the threats to our future security--predicting a deteriorating global environment, extreme economic stresses, mass migrations, social instability and wide political violence if humankind continued on its current course. He was called The Doom Meister, but we now see how prescient he was. Today just about everything we've known and relied on (our natural environment, economy, societies, cultures and institutions) is changing dramatically--too often for the worse. Without radical new approaches, our planet will become unrecognizable as well as poorer, more violent, more authoritarian. In his fascinating long-awaited new book (dedicated to his young children), he calls on his extraordinary knowledge of complexity science, of how societies work and can evolve, and of our capacity to handle threats, to show that we can shift human civilization onto a decisively new path if we mobilize our minds, spirits, imaginations and collective values. Commanding Hope marshals a fascinating, accessible argument for reinvigorating our cognitive strengths and belief systems to affect urgent systemic change, strengthen our economies and cultures, and renew our hope in a positive future for everyone on Earth."-- Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Creative ability.; Environmental responsibility.; Social change.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The Fish Thief. by Lindsey Haskin, Thomas,film director.; Simmons, J.K.,actor.; The Film Sales Company (Firm),dst; Kanopy (Firm),dst;
J.K. SimmonsOriginally produced by The Film Sales Company in 2024.J.K. Simmons narrates THE FISH THIEF, which explores the mystery behind how and why the fish most prized by people nearly disappeared from the largest freshwater ecosystem on Earth: the Great Lakes. The story dramatically illuminates nature’s links to our economic prosperity and quality of life. Since prehistoric times, fishing has been unusually important here. Aboriginal people fished for subsistence and fishing is central to their cultures. European immigrants drove the growth of a booming commercial fishing industry that employed thousands of people in Canada and the United States. Then disaster struck. THE FISH THIEF tells the story of remarkable people who tackled the mystery, first uncovering the cause, then tenaciously searching for a solution. The future of businesses, towns, tribal communities and First Nations hung in the balance. They discovered a problem that menaces ecosystems globally. What they accomplished continues to influence the Great Lakes region’s economic fortunes and sounds a warning about the future of natural resources and the prosperity of millions around the world today.Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subjects: Documentary films.; Science.; Environmental sciences.; Documentary films.; Sustainability.; Marine biology.; Fishes.;
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Burning down the house : how libertarian philosophy was corrupted by delusion and greed / by Koppelman, Andrew,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."A lively history of American libertarianism and its decay into dangerous fantasy. In 2010 in South Fulton, Tennessee, each household paid the local fire department a yearly fee of $75.00. That year, Gene Cranick's house accidentally caught fire. But thefire department refused to come because Cranick had forgotten to pay his yearly fee, leaving his home in ashes. Observers across the political spectrum agreed-some with horror and some with enthusiasm-that this revealed the true face of libertarianism. But libertarianism did not always require callous indifference to the misfortunes of others. Modern libertarianism began with Friedrich Hayek's admirable corrective to the Depression-era vogue for central economic planning. It resisted oppressive state power. It showed how capitalism could improve life for everyone. Yet today, it's a toxic blend of anarchism, disdain for the weak, and rationalization for environmental catastrophe. Libertarians today accept new, radical arguments-which crumble under scrutiny-that justify dishonest business practices and Covid deniers who refuse to wear masks in the name of "freedom." Andrew Koppelman's book traces libertarianism's evolution from Hayek's moderate pro-market ideas to the romantic fabulism of Murray Rothbard, Robert Nozick, and Ayn Rand, and Charles Koch's promotion of climate change denial. Burning Down the House is the definitive history of an ideological movement that has reshaped American politics"--
Subjects: Capitalism; Individualism; Libertarian literature; Libertarianism;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The flag, the cross, and the station wagon : a graying American looks back at his suburban boyhood and wonders what the hell happened / by McKibben, Bill,author.;
Includes bibliographical references.Like so many of us, McKibben grew up believing-knowing-that the United States was the greatest country on earth. As a teenager, he cheerfully led American Revolution tours in Lexington, Massachusetts. He sang "Kumbaya" at church. And with the remarkable rise of suburbia, he assumed that all Americans would share in the wealth. But fifty years later, he finds himself in an increasingly doubtful nation strained by bleak racial and economic inequality, on a planet whose future is in peril. And he is curious: What the hell happened? In this revelatory cri de coeur, McKibben digs deep into our history (and his own well-meaning but not all-seeing past) and into the latest scholarship on race and inequality in America, on the rise of the religious right, and on our environmental crisis to explain how we got to this point. He finds that he is not without hope. And he wonders if any of that trinity of his youth-The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon-could, or should, be reclaimed in the fight for a fairer future.
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; McKibben, Bill.; Christianity and culture; Climatic changes.; Equality; Equality.; Middle class; Patriotism; Race relations; Racism.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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On belonging : finding connection in an age of isolation / by Samuel, Kim,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Humanity is at an inflection point. Stress, disconnection, and increasing environmental degradation have people yearning for more than just material progress, personal freedom, or political stability. We are searching for deeper connection. We are longing to belong. On Belonging is an exploration of the crisis of social isolation and of the fundamental human need to belong. It considers belonging across four core dimensions: in our relationships with other people, in our rootedness in nature, in our ability to influence political and economic decision-making, and in our finding of meaning and purpose in our lives, with lessons on how to create communities centered on human connection. A trailblazing advocate and thought leader on questions of social connectedness, Kim Samuel introduces readers to leaders around the world who are doing the work to cultivate belonging. Whether through sports, medicine, music, business, culture, or advocacy, the people and programs in this book offer us meaningful lessons on building a world where we all feel at home"--
Subjects: Alienation (Social psychology); Belonging (Social psychology); Social integration.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Wasted : how we squander time, money, and natural resources - and what we can do about it / by Reese, Byron,author.; Hoffman, Scott,author.;
"Waste. We spend a great deal of energy trying to avoid it, but once you train your eyes to look for it, you'll see it all around you-in your home, your business, and your everyday life. In Wasted, futurist Byron Reese and entrepreneur Scott Hoffman take readers on a fascinating journey through this modern world of waste, drawing on science, economics, and human behavior to envision what a world with far less of it-or none of it at all-might look like. Along the way, they explore thought-provoking issues such as why the United States got a higher proportion of its energy from renewable sources in 1950 than it does today, whether the amount of gold in unused consumer electronics can be mined for profit, how switching to water fountains on a single flight from Singapore to Newark could prevent the use of 3,400 plastic bottles, whether the amount of money you save buying goods in bulk is offset by the amount you lose when some spoil. Ultimately, the question of reducing waste is scientific, philosophical, and, most of all, complex. According to Reese and Hoffman, the rush toward simple answers has often led to well-meaning efforts that cause more waste than they save. The only way we can hope to make progress is to treat waste as the complicated issue it is. While the authors don't promise easy answers, in this compelling book they take an important step toward solutions by examining the questions at play, giving actionable steps, and ensuring that you'll never see the world of waste the same way again"--
Subjects: Environmental ethics.; Recycling (Waste, etc.); Refuse and refuse disposal;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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