In this wide-ranging and wickedly entertaining book, "New York Times" bestselling journalist David Sirota takes readers on a rollicking DeLorean ride back in time to reveal how so many of our present-day conflicts are rooted in the larger-than-life pop culture of the 1980s.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Walt Hickey explores exactly how this thing we blithely call "entertainment" has such a tremendous effect on us. Through compelling reporting and research and the creation of dozens and dozens of colorful data visuals, Hickey shows how something like a movie or TV show not only has a direct physical effect on the viewer -- how the chemistry of our breath changes with a movie's ups and downs, or a scary scene can be literally...

Bryson examines closely the events and personalities of the summer of 1927 when America's story was one of brawling adventure, reckless optimism and delirious energy.

America's preeminent columnist presents his penetrating and surprising reflections on everything from embryo research to entitlement reform, from Halley's Comet to border collies, from Christopher Columbus to Martin Luther King, from drone warfare to American decline. Features a special, highly autobiographical introduction.