AQ Khan: How to Live Dangerously

Award-winning scientist Richard Feynman is more commonly remembered for his colorful personality and quirky sense of humor than for his achievements in the world of theoretical physics. His scientific discoveries were merely one result of his lifelong love of learning, his spirit of adventure, and his determination to live life to its fullest. His memoir Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! demonstrates his drive to solve puzzles, his joy at new discoveries, and his sense of inquisitive delight.

In this guide, we’ll chart Feynman’s life from his college days to his years on the team that developed the atomic bomb, and finally to his academic career that led to his Nobel Prize. We’ll examine his values of curiosity, persistence, and scientific rigor while comparing Feynman’s personal philosophy with the writings of others on the scientific process, the value of education, and getting the most enjoyment out of life.

According to writers Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin, scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer represents a modern-day Prometheus, the Greek Titan eternally punished for stealing fire from the gods and imparting it to humanity. In American Prometheus, Bird and Sherwin provide a comprehensive biography of Oppenheimer, a historical figure best known for developing the atomic bomb. And although Bird and Sherwin focus on Oppenheimer’s work on the bomb, they also shed light on his personal life, detailing his evolution from adolescent activist to eventual political martyr.

In this guide, we’ll examine Oppenheimer’s life before the bomb, his role in developing the atomic bomb at the Manhattan Project, and the politically motivated security hearing that saw him lose his security clearance in 1954. To conclude, we’ll touch on Oppenheimer’s transformation post-hearing, detailing his exile from the upper ranks of US government. Throughout this guide, we’ll also present further historical context for key events and assess the contemporary impact of Oppenheimer’s work.

In Billion Dollar Whale, Pulitzer finalists Tom Wright and Bradley Hope chronicle the rise and fall of Jho Low, a Malaysian entrepreneur who allegedly stole billions of dollars from his government’s coffers. Low spent his newfound wealth on a decadent lifestyle, hosting parties with celebrities, purchasing yachts, and gambling exorbitantly.

In addition to covering Low’s excesses, Wright and Hope describe the tactics Low used to succeed as a con man. In our guide, we’ll focus primarily on those techniques, detailing how Low manipulated his image to become accepted among the elite, then leveraged those connections to build financial power. We’ll also describe how Low’s focus on his lifestyle and image ultimately caused his scheme to collapse. We’ll provide political and financial context for Low’s scheme, as well as comparing Low to other notable financial fraudsters.

According to Gen. H.R. McMaster, the United States views the world through a self-centered lens, assuming that its policy decisions are the main driving force behind global events. Because of this distorted perspective, the US has lost influence on the global stage at a time when authoritarian aggression is on the rise. In Battlegrounds, McMaster, who was US national security adviser in 2017-18, contends that American leaders must learn to see the world through the eyes of the US's adversaries in order to defend against foreign threats and compete in the modern global landscape.

In this guide, we’ll explore McMaster’s criticism of the assumptions driving US foreign policy, his assessment of the threats America faces, and the steps he believes the US must take. We’ll compare McMaster’s views with those of other experts on diplomacy, while placing his assessments in their larger context and updating some of his information based on events since the book’s publication.

According to Gen. H.R. McMaster, the United States views the world through a self-centered lens, assuming that its policy decisions are the main driving force behind global events. Because of this distorted perspective, the US has lost influence on the global stage at a time when authoritarian aggression is on the rise. In Battlegrounds, McMaster, who was US national security adviser in 2017-18, contends that American leaders must learn to see the world through the eyes of the US's adversaries in order to defend against foreign threats and compete in the modern global landscape.

In this guide, we’ll explore McMaster’s criticism of the assumptions driving US foreign policy, his assessment of the threats America faces, and the steps he believes the US must take. We’ll compare McMaster’s views with those of other experts on diplomacy, while placing his assessments in their larger context and updating some of his information based on events since the book’s publication.

In The Silk Roads, historian Peter Frankopan identifies Central and Western Asia as the crossroads of human civilization, the birthplace of the world’s major religions, the battleground where the great empires of history rose and fell, and the garden from which today’s global economy first sprouted. He argues that understanding the East is crucial to our understanding of the world—particularly for Westerners who have lost this global perspective.

In ancient times, trade routes known as the Silk Roads first brought European merchants to the luxury markets of the East, enabling the flow of both material goods and ideas from East to West. According to Frankopan, the Silk Roads have always been history’s crucial connection point, spreading not just luxury goods like silk and spices, but also technology, religion, languages, cultures, ideologies, and even conflicts and diseases. In this guide, we explore Frankopan’s history of the Silk Roads, while also incorporating insights and feedback from other scholars to supplement his analysis.

Jimmy Carter isn’t remembered as a great president, but he’s come to be revered for his work as a humanitarian. However, in His Very Best, biographer Jonathan Alter presents a fresh perspective on the groundbreaking work Carter did in Washington. Instead of focusing on the hardships America suffered during Carter’s time in office, Alter draws attention to the long-term effects of what Carter accomplished while president. Alter paints Carter as deeply principled yet politically short-sighted in a way that let him achieve great things while undermining his legacy.

In this guide, we’ll show how Carter’s early life shaped his political career and his journey to the presidency. We’ll look at the various roles he’s played—politician, reformer, diplomat, and global humanitarian. We’ll also explore the political context that shaped Carter’s years in the White House, as well as the conflict between Carter’s values and the compromises required of anyone in high office.