Social Science | Self-Publishing Review

Winning Numbers by Jeff Copetas

A comprehensive plunge into the enigmatic world of the lottery, Winning Numbers: A Deep Dive Into the Lottery & Luck by Jeff Copetas is an eye-opening and entertaining exposé on winning big.

Balancing statistical pragmatism against human nature and the alluring dream of winning it all, Copetas’ narrative highlights the dramatic and double-edged power of sudden wealth in America. Told through a blend of anecdotal accounts and academic analyses, this informative read bounces from bank robberies and Lamborghini parades to taxation policies for the poor and the Pandora’s Box of capitalism.

More than a behind-the-scenes peek at some lottery winners […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-12-04T16:06:53+02:00December 4th, 2023|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Social Science|

Across the Kentucky Color Line by Lee Durham Stone

Exploring racial dynamics in the context of Kentucky’s complex history, Across the Kentucky Color Line: Cultural Landscapes of Race from the Lost Cause to Integration by Lee Durham Stone is a brilliant work of sociological study.

From the color-blind struggle of miners and the gruesome history of public hangings to manifested visions of emancipation and the generations of psychic damage enacted on people of color in America, this is a relentless account of prejudice, trauma, and resilience at the dark heart of the American Dream. Interrogating the whitewashed legacy of an oppressed people through the lens of personal anecdotes, historical […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-11-21T14:09:14+02:00November 21st, 2023|Categories: New Releases|Tags: History, Social Science|

Review: Where Martyrs Rise Snowflakes Don’t Fall by Albert M. Jabara

A fictional manifesto plumbing the lyrical depths of spirituality, the horrors of history, and the contradictions of human existence, Where Martyrs Rise Snowflakes Don’t Fall by Albert M. Jabara is a confident and belief-challenging read, offering an eye-opening blend of religious theory, philosophical narrative, poetic exploration, and historical analysis.

Yunus Nef’i is the main protagonist of this novel – a philosopher, scholar, poet, journalist, and author – who has spent his life fighting for the oppressed and overlooked, examining the faults of the world with his caustic and fearless pen. Some chapters read as a memoir, digging into Yunus’ experiences […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-09-06T16:05:17+02:00July 30th, 2023|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction, Religion, Social Science|

Intelligent Digital Ecosystems by Janak Alford

Brilliantly dissecting the mind-opening potential and dire existential threat that technology simultaneously represents, Janak Alford delivers a critical and thought-provoking thesis on the future with his book Intelligent Digital Ecosystems: How Rethinking Technology Will Expand Your Mind and Change Your World.

Recognizing our increasing and ironic social isolation via digital tools and devices, while acknowledging what a unifying and monumental force those same tools could represent if used wisely, this book seeks to define and defend a vision of what could be for the human race. By asking questions regarding our species’ codependency with technology, Alford artfully unpacks the […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-06-12T12:15:19+02:00June 8th, 2023|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Science, Social Science|

Review: Happily Hippie-American by Paul Dougan

Bringing the free love diaspora out of the shadows and into the modern conversation, author Paul Dougan delivers a generation-spanning revelation with his latest book Happily Hippie-American.

Celebrating the achievements and legacies of hippies, Dougan’s book aims to remind readers that the message of peace and love is still thriving today, and much of the hippie ethos has never gone away. The hippie demographic is tightly linked to the end of the 1960s and 1970s, but the echoes of that belief system continue to define and guide millions of people around the world. More than a fashion trend or […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-12-14T19:48:29+02:00October 26th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Social Science|

Review: Reclaiming the Sacred by Jeff Golden

With the masterful pen of a mystic scholar, Jeff Golden delivers a profound assessment of the modern world and a bold schematic for salvation in Reclaiming the Sacred: Healing Our Relationships with Ourselves and the World.

To explain the discipline of a book like this, it is perhaps easiest to use the author’s own words – “The science of happiness, abundance, and belonging.” Explaining the instability and corruptibility of today’s world, as well as the path that led us here, Golden attempts to redirect the course of society through positive adaptation and intentional shifts in our belief structures, artfully […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-10-31T18:37:08+02:00September 29th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Social Science|

Review: Person to Person by Joeri Torfs and Pim Ampe with Greta Myers

Authors Joeri Torfs and Pim Ampe with Greta Myers delve into a possible better path forward for our world in Person to Person: Change Your Life and Fix the World.

Examining the present day through a sparkling lens of technological knowledge, sociological insight, and philosophical foundations, these authors ask cutting-edge existential questions that are relevant for everyone. Partially inspired by a rare opportunity to breathe new life into an old space in southern France, this book blends a quartet of fictional characters with the speculative yet sober dreams of the authors.

Driven by the idea of creating a “heterotopia,” they […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-06-13T06:36:14+02:00June 12th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Social Science|

Review: The Southern Character by Mario Fabbri

A fascinating dive into anthropology, history, genetics, philosophy, and culture, The Southern Character by Mario Fabbri presents a strong argument and compelling explanations behind a fundamental “divide” – both geographic and genetic – of our species. In short, Fabbri proposes that those people residing near the equator are distinct from their northern counterparts in terms of personality, behavior, traditions, and ambitions. Importantly, he doesn’t argue that this results from any inferiority of culture or intelligence, but rather informed our collective genetic and migrational history.

In an effort to avoid criticism as being reductionist, prejudicial, or lacking in nuance, Fabbri begins […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-04-21T05:28:59+02:00March 25th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Mario Fabbri, Social Science|