Understanding the future

Progressive Picks New year, new books! At Truthout, we may be busy covering the new (more diverse!) Congress and the continued government shutdown, but we're also tackling overarching issues such as climate change and social justice with renewed energy. And this month, we've selected a handful of satisfying reads that address some of these important topics: Despite current political comings-and-goings, the urgency of climate change remains. In [The End of Ice]( award-winning Truthout reporter Dahr Jamail embarks on a journey to the geographical front lines of this crisis -- from Alaska to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, via the Amazon rainforest -- in order to discover the consequences to nature and to humans of the loss of ice. A major contributing factor to the world’s loss of ice is the alarming rise in fossil fuel consumption in the last three decades, since scientists confirmed it as the main cause of potentially devastating global warming. In [Burning Up; A Global History of Fossil Fuel Consumption]( historian and researcher Simon Pirani examines exactly how economic, technological and social systems have furthered this consumption and successively, global warming. These very systems are more and more dependent on tech issues such as AI, machine learning and virtual reality. In [Future Politics: Living Together in a World Transformed by Tech]( Susskind breaks down the effects of technology on politics, looking at how these systems will change the way we live together. Last but not least, don’t miss out on our 2-for-1 offer on this year’s [Peace Calendar]( Support Truthout’s independent journalism by ordering any of these Progressive Picks now! Click on any link or image below, or view our full catalog by [clicking here.]( [The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption]( By Dahr Jamail After nearly a decade overseas as a war reporter, Jamail returned to America to renew his passion for mountaineering, only to find that the slopes he had once climbed have been irrevocably changed by climate disruption. Don't miss his brand new book on the state of our planet's wild places, which Kirkus Reviews called "assiduously researched, profoundly affecting, and filled with vivid evocations of the natural world." [Get the book →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Burning Up: A Global History of Fossil Fuel Consumption]( By Simon Pirani With each successive report on the crisis of climate change, the necessity of a rapid and total transformation of our energy systems becomes increasingly apparently. In his newest book, author Simon Pirani argues that the runaway growth in greenhouse gas emissions can only be stopped by deep social and economic transformations of our society. [Get the book →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Future Politics: Living Together in a World Transformed by Tech]( By Jamie Susskind This book confronts one of the most important questions of our time: How will digital technology transform politics and society? The great political debate of the last century was about how much of our collective life should be determined by the state and what should be left to the market and civil society. In the future, the question will be how far our lives should be directed and controlled by powerful digital systems -- and on what terms? [Get the book →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [2019 Peace Calendar]( By Syracuse Cultural Workers Special offer! Get two Peace Calendars for the price of one (while supplies last). This reader-favorite features landmark actions from the year including the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, the Palestinian struggle, #BlackGirlMagic and many more. The calendar also has people’s history annotations, holidays for many faiths, lunar cycles and native moons. [Get the calendar →]( Connect With Us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Donate]( Truthout is a reader-supported, nonprofit organization; donations are tax-deductible. Truthout is a proud member of the Newspaper Guild/CWA, Local 36047. Please add messenger@truthout.org to ensure you receive our messages. [Subscribe]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy](