Reading List
Fareed Zakaria
Journalist & CNN Host
Fareed Zakaria is a journalist, author, and television host who has become one of America’s most prominent explainers of global affairs. Born in India and educated at Yale and Harvard, he edited Newsweek International and Foreign Affairs before hosting CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS. His books take the long view on democracy, globalization, and the shifting balance of world power, written for readers trying to make sense of a turbulent age.
The Power of Habit
Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
by Charles Duhigg · 2014 · Nonfiction
“Here's something lighter — ideas you can use! Duhigg's examination of how people get caught in loops of frequently counterproductive behavior is entertaining and can help you develop good habits. Who doesn't need that?” — via Article
The End of History and the Last Man
by Francis Fukuyama · 2006 · Nonfiction
“This book grew out of a celebrated 1989 essay, published as the Cold War was ending. Fukuyama's ideas are often caricatured, mischaracterized, and misunderstood, but his basic point here still holds. We have witnessed the end of a great centuries-old ideological debate over the right way to organize societies, especially economies. We are still living in the world Fukuyama described.” — via Article
Civilization
The West and the Rest
by Niall Ferguson · 2012 · History
“I love big, sweeping history, and this account of the West's rise to global dominance is one of the best recent examples. As always with Ferguson, you can disagree with him and still admire his work for being smart, provocative, and well written.” — via Article
The Righteous Mind
Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
by Jonathan Haidt · 2013 · Nonfiction
“A brilliant mixture of political philosophy and sociology. According to Haidt, two reasonable people can find themselves on opposite ends of the political spectrum based on the relative importance each assigns to just six values. The book explains why we embrace certain ideologies better than any other I've read.” — via Article
Thinking, Fast and Slow
by Daniel Kahneman · 2011 · Economics
“Most "idea books" are bloated essays; this one, from a Nobel Prize–winning economist, is worth reading all the way through. Kahneman offers a fascinating set of ideas about how human beings think and reason, for better and worse.” — via Article
The Better Angels of Our Nature
Why Violence Has Declined
by Steven Pinker · 2012 · History
“A monumental achievement. Pinker, a Harvard psychology professor, draws on 5,000 years of historical evidence to explain in fascinating detail how violence has declined across human history. More broadly, he shows that human beings have learned to treat each other better in general.” — via Article
