'Will Storr is one of our best journalists of ideas ... The Status Game might be his best yet' James Marriott, Books of the Year, The Times What drives our political and moral beliefs? What makes us like some things and dislike others? What shapes how we behave, and misbehave, in groups? What makes you, you? For centuries, philosophers and scholars have described human behaviour in terms of sex, power and money. In The Status Game, bestselling author Will Storr radically turns this thinking on its head by arguing that it is our irrepressible craving for status that ultimately defines who we are. From the era of the hunter-gatherer to today, when we exist as workers in the globalised economy and citizens of online worlds, the need for status has always been wired into us. A wealth of research shows that how much of it we possess dramatically affects not only our happiness and wellbeing but also our physical health - and without sufficient status, we become more ill, and live shorter lives. It's an unconscious obsession that drives the best and worst of us: our innovation, arts and civilisation as well as our murders, wars and genocides. But why is status such an all-consuming prize? What happens if it's taken away from us? And how can our unquenchable thirst for it explain cults, moral panics, conspiracy theories, the rise of social media and the 'culture wars' of today? On a breathtaking journey through time and culture, The Status Game offers a sweeping rethink of human psychology that will change how you see others - and how you see yourself.

“There's no writer alive like de Botton” (Chicago Tribune), and now this internationally heralded author turns his attention to the insatiable human quest for status—a quest that has less to do with material comfort than love. Anyone who’s ever lost sleep over an unreturned phone call or the neighbor’s Lexus had better read Alain de Botton’s irresistibly clear-headed new book, immediately. For in its pages, a master explicator of our civilization and its discontents explores the notion that our pursuit of status is actually a pursuit of love, ranging through Western history and thought from St. Augustine to Andrew Carnegie and Machiavelli to Anthony Robbins. Whether it’s assessing the class-consciousness of Christianity or the convulsions of consumer capitalism, dueling or home-furnishing, Status Anxiety is infallibly entertaining. And when it examines the virtues of informed misanthropy, art appreciation, or walking a lobster on a leash, it is not only wise but helpful.

Status is ubiquitous in modern life, yet our understanding of its role as a driver of inequality is limited. In Status, sociologist and social psychologist Cecilia Ridgeway examines how this ancient and universal form of inequality influences today’s ostensibly meritocratic institutions and why it matters. Ridgeway illuminates the complex ways in which status affects human interactions as we work together towards common goals, such as in classroom discussions, family decisions, or workplace deliberations. Ridgeway’s research on status has important implications for our understanding of social inequality. Distinct from power or wealth, status is prized because it provides affirmation from others and affords access to valuable resources. Ridgeway demonstrates how the conferral of status inevitably contributes to differing life outcomes for individuals, with impacts on pay, wealth creation, and health and wellbeing. Status beliefs are widely held views about who is better in society than others in terms of esteem, wealth, or competence. These beliefs confer advantages which can exacerbate social inequality. Ridgeway notes that status advantages based on race, gender, and class—such as the belief that white men are more competent than others—are the most likely to increase inequality by facilitating greater social and economic opportunities. Ridgeway argues that status beliefs greatly enhance higher status groups’ ability to maintain their advantages in resources and access to positions of power and make lower status groups less likely to challenge the status quo. Many lower status people will accept their lower status when given a baseline level of dignity and respect—being seen, for example, as poor but hardworking. She also shows that people remain willfully blind to status beliefs and their effects because recognizing them can lead to emotional discomfort. Acknowledging the insidious role of status in our lives would require many higher-status individuals to accept that they may not have succeeded based on their own merit; many lower-status individuals would have to acknowledge that they may have been discriminated against. Ridgeway suggests that inequality need not be an inevitable consequence of our status beliefs. She shows how status beliefs can be subverted—as when we reject the idea that all racial and gender traits are fixed at birth, thus refuting the idea that women and people of color are less competent than their male and white counterparts. This important new book demonstrates the pervasive influence of status on social inequality and suggests ways to ensure that it has a less detrimental impact on our lives.

"Subtly altered how I see the world." —Michelle Goldberg, New York Times “[Status and Culture] consistently posits theories I'd never previously considered that instantly feel obvious.” —Chuck Klosterman, author of The Nineties “Why are you the way that you are? Status and Culture explains nearly everything about the things you choose to be—and how the society we live in takes shape in the process.” —B.J. Novak, writer and actor Solving the long-standing mysteries of culture—from the origin of our tastes and identities, to the perpetual cycles of fashions and fads—through a careful exploration of the fundamental human desire for status All humans share a need to secure their social standing, and this universal motivation structures our behavior, forms our tastes, determines how we live, and ultimately shapes who we are. We can use status, then, to explain why some things become “cool,” how stylistic innovations arise, and why there are constant changes in clothing, music, food, sports, slang, travel, hairstyles, and even dog breeds. In Status and Culture, W. David Marx weaves together the wisdom from history, psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, philosophy, linguistics, semiotics, cultural theory, literary theory, art history, media studies, and neuroscience to demonstrate exactly how individual status seeking creates our cultural ecosystem. Marx examines three fundamental questions: Why do individuals cluster around arbitrary behaviors and take deep meaning from them? How do distinct styles, conventions, and sensibilities emerge? Why do we change behaviors over time and why do some behaviors stick around? The answers then provide new perspectives for understanding the seeming “weightlessness” of internet culture. Status and Culture is a book that will appeal to business people, students, creators, and anyone who has ever wondered why things become popular, why their own preferences change over time, and how identity plays out in contemporary society. Readers of this book will walk away with deep and lasting knowledge of the often secret rules of how culture really works.

Charge nurse Erin Quinn escaped personal turmoil to work on the peaceful California coast. But when a hazardous material spill places Pacific Mercy Hospital on disaster status and stresses staff, she’s put to the test. And thrown into conflict with the fire department’s handsome incident commander, who thinks her strategy is out of line. Fire Captain Scott McKenna has felt the toxic effects of tragedy; he’s learned to go strictly by the book to advance his career, heal his family, and protect his wounded heart. When he’s forced to team with the passionately determined ER charge nurse, sparks fly. As they work to save lives, can they handle the attraction kindled between them . . . without getting burned?

Consumers are changing, and the businesses that form around them are principled, purposeful and creative. The next generation of entrepreneurs think differently, and Cult Status will show you how you can too. Enough has been written about huge cult brands founded last century – Nike, Apple, Red Bull. What will the cult companies of tomorrow look like? Who is amassing the kind of passionate community that makes a brand a massive, long-term, sustainable success? Tim Duggan, co-founder of one of Australia's most innovative and awarded new media companies, has studied hundreds of successful entrepreneurs and change makers over the last decade to uncover what they all have in common. Learn from the founders of modern brands like Blake Mycoskie (TOMS), Zoë Foster Blake (Go-To), Tim Brown (Allbirds), Daniel Flynn (Thankyou), Lucy Moss (SIX), Oscar McMahon (Young Henrys) and more. In this book you'll discover: •The 7 Steps to building a business with cult status•The one thing you should do before starting something new•Why every business of the future needs to balance profit and purpose together•How to have just as much impact working inside a company as you can from outside•The leadership trait every new leader needs•How to create a passionate community around you and your work•14 practical exercise you can do today to set up for success tomorrow Armed with this book, anyone from anywhere can help create the next business with serious cult status. "We're at a point in history where we can create what we want the future to look like. This book is a road map to that future." Naomi Simson, Shark Tank investor and Founder of RedBalloon "Tim has extraordinary insight into the evolving relationship between companies and the communities that they serve." Osher Günsberg "Cult Status is like the love child of your savviest BFF and a business sage. This will be the manual for a generation of millennial entrepreneurs." Lorraine Murphy, Entrepreneur and author of Remarkability "This book challenges you to question what impact you want to have, and provides a guide to help you rally people around you to achieve outcomes you are passionate about." Alex Greenwich, Member for Sydney

Marriage. It’s the obvious path for every girl in India. It’s supposed to define us, shape us and give meaning to our life. But does it, really? Figures show that nearly 74.1 million women in India are either divorced, separated, widowed or have never been married. And the number is on the rise. In what promises to be a path-breaking work on female identity, Sreemoyee Piu Kundu, a proud-to-be-single woman herself, spills the beans on what it is like being over 30 and unattached in India, through her own compelling story and the chequered lives and journeys of nearly 3,000 urban single Indian women from all walks of life. Women, whether single by choice or circumstance, are under scathing societal pressure, invasive scrutiny and pervasive criticism. Be it the difficulty in renting an apartment, being character-assassinated by your gynaecologist, or being slut- shamed as having slept your way to the top, even when you’re successful professionally, a single woman’s life choices are the easiest to dissect. From one of the most powerful voices in contemporary Indian writing, comes a passionate narrative of grit and gumption, anger and loneliness and the daily struggle of being single in a country where the highest validation of your gender remains marriage and motherhood. Fiercely honest and painfully vulnerable, Status Single is a book that every woman and man—single or otherwise—must read.