"HOW TV CAN MAKE YOU SMARTER shows readers the real and numerous emotional and, yes, intellectual benefits of TV. Through a wide selection of diverse examples, author Allison Shoemaker provides the tools to taking advantage of our 24/7 access to this content and how we can rewire our brains to how we engage with TV in order to gain meaningful insights"--

How TV Can Make You Smarter is a lively guide that shows readers the numerous emotional and intellectual benefits of TV. Contrary to conventional wisdom, television can do more than help you veg out, chill, and escape. Author and TV critic Allison Shoemaker rewires our thinking to show readers how to take advantage of our 24/7 access to this ever-evolving medium. • TV is a powerful tool and How TV Can Make You Smarter will teach you how to use it. • Covers a wide selection of diverse genres from scripted comedies, dramas, and classics to reality and beyond • Find acceptance in embracing "bad" TV, and learn to love yourself in the morning. Lessons include learning how to gain empathy (Mad Men), broadening your perspective (Rupaul's Drag Race), and discovering how working within boundaries (Doctor Who) or breaking them apart (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) can be good for you. Part of the HOW series, the accessible and authoritative guides to engaging with the arts the world, and ourselves. • Filled with smart, unintimidating content in a giftable foil-stamped package • Great for TV and movie buffs, Netflix and Hulu subscribers, DVD owners, and anyone who loves to unwind with television • Packed with insightful tips and tricks for making the most out of what you watch • You'll love this book if you love books like Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman, Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter by Steven Johnson, and I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution by Emily Nussbaum.

Featuring a foreword by David Brooks, This Will Make You Smarter presents brilliant—but accessible—ideas to expand every mind. What scientific concept would improve everybody’s cognitive toolkit? This is the question John Brockman, publisher of Edge.org, posed to the world’s most influential thinkers. Their visionary answers flow from the frontiers of psychology, philosophy, economics, physics, sociology, and more. Surprising and enlightening, these insights will revolutionize the way you think about yourself and the world. Contributors include: Daniel Kahneman on the “focusing illusion” Jonah Lehrer on controlling attention Richard Dawkins on experimentation Aubrey De Grey on conquering our fear of the unknown Martin Seligman on the ingredients of well-being Nicholas Carr on managing “cognitive load” Steven Pinker on win-win negotiating Daniel Goleman on understanding our connection to the natural world Matt Ridley on tapping collective intelligence Lisa Randall on effective theorizing Brian Eno on “ecological vision” J. Craig Venter on the multiple possible origins of life Helen Fisher on temperament Sam Harris on the flow of thought Lawrence Krauss on living with uncertainty

From the New York Times bestselling author of How We Got To Now and Farsighted Forget everything you’ve ever read about the age of dumbed-down, instant-gratification culture. In this provocative, unfailingly intelligent, thoroughly researched, and surprisingly convincing big idea book, Steven Johnson draws from fields as diverse as neuroscience, economics, and media theory to argue that the pop culture we soak in every day—from Lord of the Rings to Grand Theft Auto to The Simpsons—has been growing more sophisticated with each passing year, and, far from rotting our brains, is actually posing new cognitive challenges that are actually making our minds measurably sharper. After reading Everything Bad is Good for You, you will never regard the glow of the video game or television screen the same way again. With a new afterword by the author.

Following the huge success of his blockbuster weight-loss program, McKenna has created a groundbreaking new book-and-CD set that reveals the secrets of getting regular, deep, refreshing sleep--and banishing insomnia for good.

How can certain songs carry us through a tough workout, comfort us after a breakup, or unite 50,000 diverse fans? In this fascinating field guide, neuroscientist and opera singer Indre Viskontas investigates what music is and how it can change us for the better—from deep in our neurons to across our entire society. Whether hip-hop fans, classically trained pianists, or vinyl collectors, readers will think about their favorite songs in a whole new way by the end of this book. This is a vibrant and smart gift for any audiophile.

“A riveting look at the birth of a new science.” —Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive When he was eight years old, Dan Hurley was labeled a “slow learner” because he still couldn’t read. Three years later, he had become a straight A student. Until the publication of a major study in 2008, psychologists believed that intelligence is fixed at birth, that IQ is like a number tattooed on the soul. The new study showed that people can increase their “fluid” intelligence through training. Hurley, who grew up to become an award-winning science journalist, first explored the topic in The New York Times Magazine. In Smarter, he digs deeper by meeting with the field’s leading researchers—and becoming a human guinea pig. After just three months of playing computer brain-training games, joining a boot-camp exercise program, learning to play the Renaissance lute, practicing mindfulness meditation and and even getting his brain zapped in the name of science, Hurley improved his fluid intelligence by sixteen percent. With humor and heart, Smarter chronicles the roiling field of intelligence research and delivers practical findings to sharpen the minds of children, young adults, seniors, and those with cognitive challenges.