For centuries, humanists have celebrated and cherished the limitless potential of humankind and its irrepressible spirit. For its efforts to develop rational solutions to human problems rather than invoking supernatural intervention, humanism has been rewarded with a rich and distinguished heritage whose contributors include many of the brightest minds of intellectual history. Advocating reason, critical intelligence, free and objective inquiry, democratic institutions, and moral values based on human experience, humanism stands in steadfast opposition to the moral, political, and social...

Why do billions of people around the world love sports? The popular media is increasingly dedicated to the heated rivalries of sports teams, academic institutions are held in its thrall, sports metaphors are commonplace in our language, and most individuals participate in athletics or follow a team sport in some variation. This entertaining and informative book attempts to find out why--by examining sports in all its facets. The authors provide an overview of the history of sports, with a constant focus upon the social conditions through which sport arises and by which it continues to...

It began as another newspaper assignment, a celebrity profile of the children's television icon. But in Fred Rogers, Texas journalist Tim Madigan found more than a fascinating subject. From their first meeting in 1995, at Rogers' invitation, the two became unlikely friends, a deep and abiding relationship that lasted until Rogers' death in 2003. In that time, Madigan found Rogers to be much more than the calm and compassionate personality of television. He was a person of unique human greatness who embodied love, compassion and wisdom his every waking moment. He was the transcendent being who...

As the "culture of the people," popular culture provides a sense of identity that binds individuals to the greater society and unites the masses on ideals of acceptable forms of behavior. Lessons Learned from Popular Culture offers an informative and entertaining look at the social relevance of popular culture. Focusing on a wide range of topics, including film, television, social media, music, radio, cartoons and comics, books, fashion, celebrities, sports, and virtual reality, Tim Delaney and Tim Madigan demonstrate how popular culture, in contrast to folk or high culture, gives...

In Beyond Sustainability: A Thriving Environment, Delaney and Madigan approach the study of the environment from two academic disciplines - sociology and philosophy. Both sociologists and philosophers have concerns about our environment's ability to not only sustain itself, but also reach a point where it can actually thrive. It is especially important to take an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the environment. In this book we examine the differences between "sustainability" and "thrivability" and discuss such topics as sociological and philosophical environmentalism, the...

A story of the Greatest Generation's hidden anguish. From the killing fields of the Battle of the Bulge, Wendell Smith brought home to Texas horrible memories of the battlefield...and a secret...the one thing he could not confide to the love of his life. The beautiful young woman named Claire had a secret of her own. After a chance meeting, theirs would be an unusual friendship of haunted survivors. But would the bond heal them, or destroy them both?