Showing results by narrator "Marguerite Gavin" in All Categories

Are we living the good life - and what defines good, anyway? Americans today are constructing a completely different framework for success than their parents' generation, using new metrics that TEDWomen speaker and columnist Courtney Martin has termed collectively the "New Better Off".

We follow the Socker family through many adventures, from encountering the slobbery mouth of the family dog to meeting Santa as he comes down the chimney on Christmas Eve to helping a fireman save a baby to the most shy Socker going to the school dance for the first time. Thanks to the time-travel opportunities afforded by the spin cycle of the washer, they learn about some of the most important humans in the world.

In this story, we learn about Sudsy landing on the foot of inventor Ben Franklin. Sudsy, the bug-playing boy sock, discovers with Ben Franklin the wonders and dangers of electricity. The book includes safety rules and discussion questions put together by an experienced classroom teacher in helping parents and children respect the power of electricity.

The average attention span of an adult is eight seconds - eight seconds! That is tough news for a presenter. It means you may have a room full of people, but their minds are elsewhere. You're competing with a slew of activities demanding their attention - email, texts, Facebook, YouTube, chats, and apps, in addition to thoughts about their next meetings and projects that are behind schedule. How do you get a message across in a world like that?

Captain Josie Corsino has selected Kyle Richards, a trusted and talented sergeant, to supervise a burglary task force in Hollywood division. While working that special detail, Richards is involved in a fatal shooting. He's reluctant to be candid about his relationship with the man he killed, and that leads not only to uncovering his mysterious past but exposing Josie’s division to notoriety and a fiery assault.

Imagine a country where the right to vote is not guaranteed by the Constitution, where the candidate with the most votes loses, and where paperwork requirements and bureaucratic bungling disenfranchise millions. You're living in it. If the consequences weren't so serious, it would be funny. An eye-opening, fact-filled companion to the forthcoming PBS documentary starring political satirist and commentator Mo Rocca, Electoral Dysfunction illuminates a broad array of issues.

This delightful and interesting account of the Pilgrims is written especially for children. It explores the religious oppression of the Pilgrims in England, their escape to Holland and eventual crossing to America on the Mayflower, and their early days in New England. Based on historical fact, the stories are filled with details of everyday life and vivid characterizations of Pilgrim families as they struggle to maintain their faith in the New World.

The rumor of the flood to come was too terrible to be true, and like most, Re Jana does not believe it. How could a god, anyone's god, determine who deserves to live and who to die?

Unlike many celebrities, Winfrey's is an overwhelmingly positive public persona. Here, religion reporter Marcia Nelson explores the spiritual dimensions that are prevalent in all aspects of the Oprah Winfrey media empire. Though Oprah is rarely explicitly religious on her television show or magazine, Nelson points out that there are several major Christian themes that weave through these aspects of her life and work: confession, redemption, healing, mission, forgiveness, and salvation.

Today, many Americans regard globalization as a significant threat to our work force, and to our very way of life. As unemployment soars, the automotive and manufacturing industries crumble, countless jobs continue to ship overseas, and the retail sector faces the worst slump in decades, cries of "Buy American" have grown louder and louder.

Cheryl Beth Wilson, a nurse at Cincinnati Memorial Hospital, finds a doctor brutally murdered in a secluded office. Wilson had been having an affair with the doctor's husband, a surgeon, and now she is a "person of interest" if not an outright suspect. But someone other than the police is also watching Cheryl Beth.

Twelve-year-old Rory is an artist like her father. Through a hundred drawing lessons, he has guided her hand, trained her eye, taught her how to mix colors and achieve perspective. Together they plan to paint a beautiful mural for Rory's mother, maybe a sunset, because she always misses the real sunset while she's at her job, supporting the family. Rory goes to find her father in his studio so she can show him her sketch for the mural. But when she arrives, she finds him kissing his model.

Using the lessons of Noah's ark, Micheal Levine, founder and owner of Levine Communications, based in Los Angeles, offers a lighthearted approach to the serious business of taking stock, taking control, and transforming calamity into opportunity.

Priscilla Buckley is probably known for her long and admired tenure as managing editor of the conservative political journal National Review, founded in the 1950s by her brother, William F. Buckley, Jr. But in String of Pearls we meet a different Priscilla, young Pitts Buckley, just out of Smith, eager for the next step up from the college paper to "real" journalism.

As a Ziegfeld Follies girl and film actress, Justine Johnstone (1895-1982) was celebrated as "the most beautiful woman in the world." Her career took an unexpected turn when she abruptly retired from acting at 31. For the remainder of her life, she dedicated herself to medical research and social activism. The first full-length biography of Johnstone chronicles her extraordinary success in two male-dominated fields - show business and medical science - and follows her remarkable journey into a fascinating and fulfilling life.

Why do couples break up? In The Commitment Dialogues, best-selling author Matthew McKay dissects a range of typical dialogues gone wrong in order to illustrate how fear sabotages relationships. He introduces listeners to 10 couples struggling with specific issues. As their dialogues unfold, each couple's core problems are revealed. Dr. McKay then shows how his techniques can help heal fractured relationships and get couples working as a team to resolve conflicts over money, children, monogamy, commitment, and more.

Being able to retire securely, with enough income to last - and allow you to enjoy - your post-work life, is a major concern not only for seniors, but for everyone. To make sure you're ready, take the advice of Julie Jason, an internationally recognized authority on retirement savings whose popular column receives fan mail with plenty of questions. Organized in 10 sections, each following a theme, Retire Securely is her accessible, easy-listening collection of need-to-know facts about a process that can be intimidating to even the most knowledgeable investors. 

Renowned executive coaches and global leadership strategists Jane Hyun and Audrey S. Lee offer lessons on the vital skill of “flexing” - the art of switching leadership styles to more effectively lead people who are different from you, allowing managers to successfully manage the multicultural workers of today and tomorrow. Flex offers a proactive strategy for managers to navigate and leverage diversity effectively in this new global economy....

In her book Victory for the Vote, women's history expert Doris Weatherford offers an engaging and detailed narrative history of women's seven-decade fight for the vote, and the continuing current-day struggle for human rights and equality.

When the man who raped Scottsdale private investigator Lena Jones when she was a nine-year-old foster child is released from prison, Lena is waiting for him in the parking lot - with a big knife. "Papa" Brian Wycoff survives their meeting, but the next day, his wife is found dead in their Apache Junction home, shot through both eyes. Terrified he will be next, Wycoff violates his parole and flees north to the small town of Black Canyon City, taking shelter in an RV on his brother-in-law's small ranch.