Nonfiction

As a female Jewish physicist in Berlin during the early 20th century, Lise Meitner had to fight for an education, a job, and equal treatment in her field, like having her name listed on her own research papers.

Meitner made groundbreaking strides in the study of radiation, but when Hitler came to power in Germany, she suddenly had to face not only sexism, but also life-threatening anti-Semitism as well. Nevertheless, she persevered and one day made a discovery that rocked the world: the splitting of the atom. While her male lab partner was awarded a Nobel Prize for the achievement, the committee refused to give her any credit.

Arrested? For teaching? John Scopes’s crime riveted the world, and crowds flocked to the trial of the man who dared to tell students about a forbidden topic—evolution. 

The year was 1925, and discussing Darwin’s theory of evolution was illegal in Tennessee classrooms. Lawyers wanted to challenge the law, and businessmen smelled opportunity. But no one imagined the firestorm the Scopes Trial would ignite—or the media circus that would follow. 

As reporters, souvenir-hawking vendors, angry protestors, and even real monkeys mobbed the courthouse, a breathless public followed the action live on national radio broadcasts. All were fascinated by the bitter duel between science and religion, an argument that boiled down to the question of who controls what students can learn—an issue that resonates to this day. 

This in-depth portrait showcases the complex bond between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, revealing how Malcolm helped mold Cassius Clay into Muhammad Ali and influenced his rise as an international symbol of Black pride and Black independence. Yet when Malcolm was expelled from the Nation of Islam for criticizing the conduct of its leader, Elijah Muhammad, Ali turned his back on Malcolm, a choice that some believe tragically contributed to the minister's assassination in February 1965.

Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X is the story of how Ali redefined what it means to be a Black athlete in America, informed by Malcolm's leadership. An extraordinary portrait of love, friendship, and power as well as deceit and betrayal, here is a window into the public and private lives of two national icons, and the tumultuous period in the American Civil Rights Movement that they helped to shape.  

"You are to report to Station X at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, in four days time....That is all you need to know." 

This was the terse telegram hundreds of young women throughout the British Isles received in the spring of 1941, as World War II raged. 

Bletchley Park was a well-kept secret during World War II, operating under the code name Station X. The critical work of code-cracking Nazi missives that went on behind its closed doors could determine a victory or loss against Hitler’s army. Amidst the brilliant cryptographers, flamboyant debutantes, and absent-minded professors working there, it was teenaged girls who kept Station X running. Some could do advanced math, while others spoke a second language. They ran the unwieldy bombe machines, made sense of wireless sound waves, and sorted the decoded messages. They were expected to excel in their fields and most know how to keep a secret.

Over the last half-billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us.

It is 1944. A teenager named Rudolph (Rudi) Vrba decides to escape Auschwitz. Rudi knows that the murders in the concentrations camps won’t stop until he reveals the truth to the world—and that each day that passes means more lives are lost.

This is the true story of one of the most famous whistleblowers in the world, and how his death-defying escape helped save over 100,000 lives.