Spying in America

The following is a piece from Ronald A. Marks, author of Spying in America in the Post 9/11 World: Domestic Threat and the Need for Change:

Since 9/11, the United States has engaged in an unprecedented amount of spying within the American homeland. An enemy who recognizes no borders, recruits individuals and small groups, and is ruthless in its desire to kill civilians has prompted the effort. We have engaged our spy community, our military, and our law enforcement community to stop these attacks. The record is now up for review.

In the 12 years since the attack on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, we have spent nearly half a trillion dollars on homeland security alone. The Federal government has established deep information and law enforcement relationships with the 17,600 state, local and tribal law authorities. It has reached out in unprecedented ways to the business and public for information. It has intruded into our personal lives every time we travel, every time we remove our shoes in an airport or get wanded entering a public building.

Authorities say some 50 terrorist plots have been stopped. But, the Boston Bombings this year made Americans uneasy over the effectiveness of what is being done to stop terrorism. The exposure of the super-secret, extensive, and legally approved effort by the National Security Agency (NSA) to take in and mine unprecedented volumes of information from innumerable private and public sources has stunned the country and forced the questions: are we doing too much and how much should we, the public, need to know about it?

Contained in the DNA of America’s citizens is their concern over big government. We neither like nor trust it. The U.S. Constitution, the very essence of our political identity, splits the power between three separate, co-equal branches of Federal government.  Additionally, it allows for state’s rights and specifically lays out individual freedom in the Bill of Rights. 

So the time has come to debate our actions publicly– whither America in its war on terror within America.  The challenge the U.S. Government will have making its case lie in the secret methods it has used to build up our defenses. Government officials argue for not tipping our hand to the terrorists—the traditional argument of sources and methods. And, unlike other times in our history such as the anti-communist hunts of the 1950s and 1960s, our government has gone through extraordinary measures to make sure its actions were legal and reviewed. 

In the past few weeks, prompted by an unlikely so-called whistleblower from NSA, the average American has been exposed to the issue of FISA courts, and the Patriot Act, and Presidential Executive Orders designed to check and double check surveillance programs.  The problem lies not in the court of law, but in the court of public opinion.

Americans are a tolerant people if things are explained to them; if they are vetted into the process and reasoning behind our Government protection. That public “light” has been not been shined.  The public “security” boards set up under law years ago to provide this insight and outside government protection are only now being filled and put into action. 

It is up to the U.S. Government to make its case for spying in America to its citizens. It is up to its citizens to determine how much they want or are willing to tolerate. That is what America’s Constitution calls for and what should be done.

Ronald A. Marks is senior fellow at George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute, Washington, DC, and a former CIA senior official. Marks has written about intelligence and homeland security issues for the last ten years.

Prophylactic Mastectomy: Angelina Jolie Opens a Door on a World of Challenging Decisions

Angelina Jolie’s brave announcement in the New York Times last week that she has undergone a prophylactic mastectomy and reconstruction because of her high hereditary risk of breast and ovarian cancer has resonated loudly with other women who come from families with high cancer rates. Being a carrier of a deleterious mutation in a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene means that a woman faces a 56-87% risk of developing breast cancer and a 20-60% risk of developing ovarian cancer, both rates far above those faced by women in the general population. Many of the breast cancers occur at unusually early ages, so breast screening in women at high risk is recommended to begin at age 25 and women in screening programs are also advised to consider prophylactic mastectomy and prophylactic oophorectomy when they complete their childbearing.

 As the Cancer Genetics and Prevention Clinic Director of Psychology Research and Clinical Services and the author of Prophylactic Mastectomy: Insights from Women who Chose to Reduce Their Risk (Praeger, 2012), I have heard many women’s stories about how they came to the same decision Angelina made and how they have coped with the physical and psychological challenges which surgery created. The vast majority of women feel as Angelina said she did, grateful for the chance to avoid cancer and to be able to reassure her children that they would not lose her to that disease. Having lost a parent to cancer at a young age and having small children are two of the most common motivations for women to choose prophylactic mastectomy. What Angelina could not cover in her letter were the many dilemmas, challenges, decisions, problems and adaptations which a woman opting for prophylactic mastectomy faces along the way to her successful surgery and recovery. The 21 women I interviewed for the book talked openly about difficulties finding sympathetic doctors, countering well-meaning relatives who opposed the surgery, confronting innermost feelings about their breasts, figuring out how to explain this surgery to small children (one woman told her young children her surgery was like when their stuffed animals needed new stuffing!), and adjusting to a changed sexual experience and body image. The road to “saving my own life” or “feeling safe within my body” is often a bumpy one, leading to a good place, but sometimes requiring support from family, friends, and professionals along the way. Hats off to Angelina, for pointing the GPS down that road! She has made it much easier for other women to follow.

Andrea Farkas Patenaude, PhD, Director of Psychology Research and Clinical Services, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Author, Prophylactic Mastectomy: Insights from Women Who Chose to Reduce Their Risk (Praeger, 2012) 

Praeger Security International makes the list of Top 150 Books on Terrorism and Counterterrorism

The academic journal Perspectives on Terrorism has recently released its list of "Top 150 Books on Terrorism and Counterterrorism".  Reviewer Joshua Sinai states: “This listing is intended to provide an overview of many of the discipline’s pre-eminent books.” 


ABC-CLIO is proud to announce the inclusion of the following titles from Praeger Security International: 

Edward E. Mickolus and Susan I. Simmons, The Terrorist List (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Security International, 2011), 1333 pages, $464.95.  [Hardcover]  This five-volume set is an authoritatively-produced encyclopedic compilation of biographical information about individuals who were involved in terrorist activities, whether domestic or international, dating back 35 years. The terrorist biographies are arranged by their continent of origin, and provide detailed information regarding the incidents they were involved in, including their outcomes. As explained by the authors, “The list is designed to serve as a directory of leaders, perpetrators, financiers, defendants, detainees, persons of interest, conspirators, and aliases in the regions” in which they are listed. Each volume includes a separate index of the terrorists listed in that particular geographical volume.

Robert W. Schaefer, The Insurgency in Chechnya and the North Caucasus: From Gazavat to Jihad (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Security International, 2011), 303 pages, $59.95.  [Hardcover] An insightful overview by a U.S. military expert on the Chechen and North Caucasus insurgencies against Russia and its government’s primarily military response to such terrorist threats. Thematically organized, it examines the origins of the conflict in the North Caucasus, including the influences of different strains of Islamism and al Qaida. It also features a detailed critique of Russia’s counterterrorism campaigns over years. Especially noteworthy is the author’s use of information from the North Caucasus Incident Database (NCID), including terrorist incidents, as well as informative charts that outline aspects of Russia’s counterterrorism campaigns.



Daniel Baracskay, The Palestine Liberation Organization: Terrorism and Prospects for Peace in the Holy Land (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Security International, 2011), 225 pages, $44.95. [Hardcover] This book provides a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the historical events which culminated in the creation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964 and leadership of the Palestinian people for the next three decades. The author’s discussion of the organization’s key leaders, ideology, support base, financial structure, and recruitment strategies, is especially noteworthy. Also discussed are the PLO's activities in neighboring countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, and its evolution from a primarily terrorist organization into a ruling political regime in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, although in recent years its historical rival, Hamas, has succeeded in overtaking it in Gaza.


J. Todd Reed and Diana Raschke, The ETIM: China’s Islamic Militants and the Global Terrorist Threat (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Security International, 2010), 244 pages, $49.95.  [Hardcover]  This volume is an authoritative and comprehensive account of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the most significant Muslim terrorist group in China, which demands an independent Muslim state for the Uyghur ethnic minority in northwest China.  In what is one of the few books on this subject, the authors discuss the group's origins, objectives, ideology, leadership, tactics, and ties to international terrorist networks.  They conclude with an assessment of how other governments view ETIM’s activities and how this has affected their relations with China.



Anna Geifman, Death Orders: The Vanguard of Modern Terrorism in Revolutionary Russia (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2010), 229 pages, $34.95. [Hardcover] With 19th century Russia considered the birthplace of modern terrorism, the author views it as a precursor to the psycho-historical patterns of worldwide terrorist activity that evolved over the next century. Especially noteworthy is the author’s analysis of how terrorists' objectives have degenerated from punishment of individual adversaries and attempts to intimidate political elites to carrying out indiscriminate acts of political violence. Moreover, as the author explains, a group’s stated ideology and rhetoric will invariably be transformed in practice into brutal violence. The author’s examination of such Russian precedents in political violence helps illuminate many of the brutal aspects of current terrorism. 


Kumar Ramakrishna, Radical Pathways: Understanding Muslim Radicalization in Indonesia (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Security International, 2009), 292 pages, $75.00.  [Hardcover]  An important and insightful case study on the pathways to extremism and violent jihad in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, which experienced one of the worst terrorist bombings in Bali in 2002. Specifically, the book explores the factors driving a minority of the country’s Muslim population to turn to violent jihad, and the continuing danger they pose to the country’s political stability. The author, based in Singapore, is one of Southeast Asia’s leading counterterrorism experts. 




James J.F. Forest, editor, Influence Warfare: How Terrorists and Governments Fight to Shape Perceptions in a War of Ideas (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Security International, 2009), 392 pages, $59.95.  [Hardcover] This edited volume focuses on the components involved in the competition for strategic influence between governments and their terrorist adversaries, including ways to neutralize terrorists’ use of the Internet in spreading their propaganda. These issues are further discussed in the volume’s case studies. 






James J.F. Forest, editor, Countering Terrorism and Insurgency in the 21st Century: International Perspectives [Three Volumes] (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Security International, 2007), 2016 pages, $400.00.  [Hardcover] The three volumes bring together contributions by dozens of experts (including this reviewer) to discuss terrorist threats around the world and the components required for governments to defeat them. Volume I covers “Strategic and Tactical Considerations”, Volume II examines “Sources and Facilitators”, and Volume III discusses “Lessons Learned from Combating Terrorism and Insurgency”. 





James J.F. Forest, editor, The Making of a Terrorist: Recruitment, Training, and Root Causes [Three Volumes] (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Security International, 2006), 1280 pages, $315.  [Hardcover] The three volumes bring together contributions by dozens of experts to discuss the central question of how individuals are transformed into becoming a terrorist. The first volume’s chapters cover the recruitment of terrorists, with emphasis on the psychological and religious appeals of joining a terrorist organization. The second volume focuses on how and where terrorists are trained by their groups. The third volume addresses the political, social, and economic root causes that contribute to terrorism globally and within specific countries and regions.




Ronald V. Clarke and Graeme R. Newman, Outsmarting the Terrorists (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2006), 316 pages, $49.95.  [Hardcover]  The authors contend that effective counterterrorism should strive to stop terrorists before they can attack by reducing opportunities for such attacks by protecting likely targets, controlling the weapons likely to be used by terrorists, and removing any vulnerable conditions that might make such attacks possible. The authors believe that such countermeasures are essential because response agencies need to prepare for what the terrorists are likely to do: identify vulnerable targets, analyze their specific weaknesses, consider the weapons needed to be used in an attack, and assess access to the targets. Once these countermeasures are implemented, counterterrorism agencies will then be able to provide appropriate protection, limit accessibility to potential targets, anticipate the response forces that might be required to prevent a potential attack, and be prepared to mitigate the consequences of an attack if it does occur. By employing such a methodology, terrorists can be ‘outsmarted’ and effectively defeated before they strike.   


Donald R. Liddick, Eco-Terrorism: Radical Environmental and Animal Liberation Movements (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2006), 200 pages, $39.95.  [Hardcover]  With eco-terrorism one of the outcomes of radical environmentalism, this is one of the few books published on these violent groups.  The author’s authoritative account discusses how such eco-terrorists engage in arson, such as property destruction, and other types of violence. He discusses the major groups, such as ALF/ELF, as well as less well-known ones, focusing on their history, who they are, their motivations, ideologies, rhetoric, and tactics, and how to respond to their acts of violence. 




For the full list of the Top 150 books on Terrorism and Counterterrorism visit: 


http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/sinai-terrorism-bookshelf/html 

Interview with Jim Elledge, Author of Queers in American Popular Culture

Q: What prompted you to write Queers in American Popular Culture? What "message" do you want to communicate?


I’ve always been interested in the evolution of how U.S. culture in general perceives the GLBT community, and one of the best ways to track that (I believe) is through the larger culture’s depiction of GLBTs in the popular culture. Interestingly, LGBT persons have been portrayed in popular literature, popular art, and in the various forms of everyday media for many, many decades. That’s why I edited the 3-volume set, Queers in American Popular Culture.


Q: What was the highlight of your research? In the course of your research, what discovery surprised you the most? What surprises readers/others the most about your research?


One of the most interesting moments of gathering together the essays—and there’s a lot of them!—is discovering that the issue of same-sex “marriage” has been around since the 1950s. It was a hot topic among gay men and women in those days, although it was never an issue among members of the larger community until quite recently. Readers have commented to me about any number of essays in the book that explore very unexpected topics, among them: the man considered to be the father of body building, Eugen Sandow, had a boy friend; blaxploitation films of the 1970s depicted gay and lesbian characters; and over the years, a series of cookbooks aimed at lesbians have been published.

Q: How did your research change your outlook on queers and popular culture?


I’m not sure it changed my outlook per se. It certainly broadened my own perception of how the portrayals of the LGBT community have evolved from the 1880s or so until now.


Q: How have people reacted to your book and/or the ideas you set forth? Is it what you hoped for, or is there more work to be done?


There’s always more work to be done because the LBGT community evolves continually and, with it, how it’s depicted in popular culture. I believe Queers in American Popular Culture has done an excellent job accomplishing what I set out to do and in opening the doors for more work.


Q: What's next for you?


My next collection of poetry, entitled H, is due out June or July 2012 from Lethe Press, and I’m finishing up a biography, tentatively entitled Throw-Away Boy: A Life of Henry Darger, which I’ve been at work on for ten years. It’s forthcoming from Overlook Press probably in Fall 2014.

WikiLeaks

By Hamilton Bean

WTF—that’s the acronym of the CIA’s aptly named WikiLeaks Task Force created last month to investigate the impact of WikiLeaks’ remarkable disclosures. The obscure whistleblower website (established in 2006) rocketed to the headlines of newspapers around the world in April 2010 when it posted classified video footage of a controversial U.S. Apache helicopter strike in Iraq in which two Reuters journalists were killed. Within months, the website had posted 76,900 documents related to the war in Afghanistan (“Afghan War Diary”), nearly 400,000 documents concerning the war in Iraq (“Iraq War Logs”), and began releasing a cache of more than 250,000 documents from the U.S. State Department. The alleged leaker, U.S. Army intelligence officer Bradley Manning, was charged on May 29, 2010 with unlawfully downloading classified information onto a personal computer; he is expected to face a court-martial this year. The eventual fate of WikiLeaks’ editor-in-chief, Julian Assange, remains less clear; legal and political ambiguities complicate the U.S. government’s options to prosecute him.

Shifting plot lines, heroes, and villains make this case too complex to capture fully in this brief blog post, but one thing is certain: WikiLeaks underscores how twenty-first century national security stakeholders confront a complex environment characterized by new and unfamiliar technological artifacts and practices, competing cultural and institutional values, and changing assumptions about secrecy. How officials, policymakers, and citizens have grappled with this new environment is the subject of my forthcoming book: No More Secrets: Open Source Information and the Reshaping of U.S. Intelligence (Praeger, 5/2011). For officials, open source information is “publicly available information that anyone can lawfully obtain by request, purchase, or observation.” Open source intelligence, by contrast, is defined as being “produced from publically available information that is collected, exploited, and disseminated in a timely manner to an appropriate audience for the purpose of addressing a specific intelligence requirement.”

While WikiLeaks’ disclosures were not assembled from publicly available information, they nevertheless illustrate the same paradox that characterizes the open source debate; namely, the blurring conceptions of “intelligence” and “information.” The objective of the Director of National Intelligence’s Open Source Center (established in 2005) is to “redefine ‘open source’ as one of the 21st Century’s most important sources of intelligence.” WikiLeaks turns that objective on its head by making intelligence an important source of public information. In the process, WikiLeaks threatens to destabilize conventional notions of intelligence, as well as institutional secrecy, diplomacy, authority, expertise, and control, which leads to the following questions: What are the distinctions between information and intelligence, and how are these distinctions constructed and enforced? What national security information can (and should) be shared with the public? And how are recent technological developments altering the relationship between citizens and their government? These are among the questions that WikiLeaks’ supporters want audiences to consider; No More Secrets illustrates that these are also questions that the leaders of the U.S. intelligence community can no longer ignore.

Hamilton Bean is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado Denver. From 2001 to 2005, he served in management positions for a Washington, DC-based open source contractor that supported organizations within the U.S. intelligence community. Since 2005, he has been affiliated with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), a Center of Excellence of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. His research intersects the fields of organizational communication and national security and appears in Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Intelligence and National Security, and International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence.

Why Should I Watch "The Social Network"?

Well, the highly anticipated movie "The Social Network" finally hits theaters tomorrow (Friday). I admit that I could be classified as a Facebook junkie, but why should I watch this movie? Times are tough, and I have Netflix. In all honesty, I'm not going to spend money on any movie right now unless it's a really special occasion. So, let's just say that it's months down the road, the "The Social Network" is available on Netflix, and I'm updating my queue. Should I add it? Here are the thoughts running through my head:
"No, just because you use Facebook, doesn't mean a movie about it will be interesting."
"Well, it was directed by David Fincher."
"They basically show the whole plot in the preview, so why go sit through it for 2 hours?
"Well, it was directed by David Fincher."

Obviously, I have this re-occurring thought that I should give the movie a chance because it was directed by, you guessed it, David Fincher. He is a very talented filmmaker. Do you recall the chills you felt during  Se7en as Brad Pitt's character is on the phone yelling, "What's in the box?" What about the last scene in Fight Club where Ed Norton and Helena Bonham Carter are holding hands and looking out the window as buildings come crashing down, all while the Pixies', "Where is my Mind?" plays. I mean, wow! I also heard that David Fincher is directing the English remake of the Swedish hit, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. (Have you read that book yet? If not, you really need to.)

All these reasons to love David Fincher and yet I'm still not 100% sure about this movie. I'll probably wait until the hype fades and I hear what others have to say about it. What do you think? Are you excited about this movie? How do you feel about David Fincher and his films? What's your favorite Fincher film? We want to hear from you. Let's talk about it!

-- Elizabeth Millar, Senior Marketing Coordinator, ABC-CLIO, and former resident blogger for Pop Culture Universe.

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Learn more about David Fincher's films with the new Praeger book, David Fincher: Films That Scar by Mark Browning.

There is a growing critical consensus that David Fincher is one of the most talented filmmakers in contemporary Hollywood. He has reanimated the crime genre, created films that make audiences question the boundaries between art and reality, and challenged Hollywood's crushing commercial drive for narrative closure. What motivates this exceptionally talented stylist?

Film scholar Mark Browning offers the first detailed analysis of the work of David Fincher, director of the critically acclaimed films Se7en, Fight Club, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Hot Topic: Polygamy

I just saw a preview for the new TLC show Sister Wives. At first glance, I thought it was a fictional show, and since I'm a big fan of HBO's Big Love, it kept my attention. As it turns out, however, this is a reality show about a man who lives with his three wives and how they deal with their controversial lifestyle. This got me to thinking: How many folks really live like this? Do I know people who are closet polygamists? Is their lifestyle wrong because it isn't considered 'normal'?

The show is already stirring up controversy and I'm positive there will continue to be strong reactions after the show premieres this weekend, but it is easy for people to pass judgment on lifestyle choices without first knowing the facts.

To learn more about polygamy, check out the new book from Praeger, Polygamy in the Monogamous World: Multicultural Challenges for Western Law and Policy by Martha Bailey and Amy J. Kaufman. This book provides a careful examination of legal polygamy in non-Western countries and plural unions in North America.

It covers such topics as:
• Aboriginal Marriage
• Child Brides
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
• Closed Communities
• Comparative Law
• Gender Equality
• Incidents of Marriage
• Islamic Marriage Laws
• Legal Pluralism
• Marriage Laws
• Multiculturalism
• Muslims
• Plural Unions
• Religious Freedom

We want to hear from you! What are your thoughts on this timely topic?
 
--Elizabeth Millar, Senior Marketing Coordinator, ABC-CLIO

Author Events: Holly Kearl

Holly Kearl, author of Stop Street Harassment: Making Public Places Safe and Welcoming for Women, might be coming to a city near you to speak on the important issues raised in her book.

Did you miss Holly Kearl's guest ABC-CLIO blog post? Read it here!

Schedule of Events

• Oct. 8: Panelist at Santa Clara University Women and Gender Studies 30th anniversary event, 4 p.m.
• Oct. 9-12: TBA events in San Jose, Fresno and Los Angeles with AAUW members
• Oct. 13: Book talk at Village Books, Pacific Palisades, CA, 7:30 p.m.
• Oct. 14: Talk at University of California, Santa Barbara
• Oct. 15 or 16 (TBA): Talk at the University of Anchorage, Alaska
• Oct. 20-26 (TBA): Talks at the University of Iowa
• Oct. 14: Talk at University of California, Santa Barbara
• Oct. 15 or 16 (TBA): Talk at the University of Anchorage, Alaska
• Nov. 11: Workshop co-presenter with SAFER at the National Women's Studies Association Conference, Denver, CO.
• Nov. 22-24 (date TBA): 3rd International Conference on Women's Safety, Delhi, India

For more information on Holly's upcoming appearances, to contact Holly, or to check for updates, please visit her website.

Holly and Stop Street Harassment have also been making headlines. Read more about her book and upcoming appearances below.

TBD.com: "Holly Kearl on getting harassed in the street, and fighting back in print"

The GW Hatchet: "Alum seeks to curb street harassment"

The Women's International Perspective: "Working for Safer Streets for Women Everywhere"

Campus Progress: "The Street Harassment Problem" 

Examiner.com: "Stop Street Harassment Forum and Book Signing, 9-2" 

Interview with author David M. Allen

David M. Allen's new book How Dysfunctional Families Spur Mental Disorders: A Balanced Approach to Resolve Problems and Reconcile Relationships (Praeger, 7/2010) examines various scientific, economic, and cultural forces that have affected the mental health field's viewpoint—and that of society in general—regarding the genesis of some behavioral disorders, and how dysfunctional family dynamics play an often overlooked role.

Q. David, what motivated you to write this book?
A. As someone who specializes in the treatment of patients who engage in repetitive self-destructive behavior but who are not really mentally ill, I became alarmed at the direction that my profession--psychiatry--was moving in. Many mental health professionals have been telling these patients that they have “bipolar II” or “adult ADHD” and need potentially toxic meds, when the real problem is often that their family life is a war zone.

How Dysfunctional Families Spur Mental Disorders is the first book by a psychiatric insider that explains exactly how and why relationship problems have been falsely turned into mental illnesses. Although medication can calm people down and help with depression, family dysfunction cannot be treated with pharmaceuticals. This book tells readers everything they need to know in order to step up and save their families by finding the right kind of help in repairing their important relationships: psychotherapy that addresses recurring problematic family interactions.

Q. What do you hope to get across and what issues do you wish to highlight?
A. The book is meant to make a case for restoring the rightful place of interpersonal and particularly family functioning in the treatment of certain psychiatric disorders, and helping patients to understand the difference between behavior problems and real mental illnesses according to our current level of knowledge. 

In the past, real mental illnesses, like autism and schizophrenia, were unjustly blamed on family problems, but now the field has gone to the other extreme and every behavioral problem has been turned into a brain disease requiring medication. The book describes how family systems issues have been systematically denigrated in mental health by a combination of greedy pharmaceutical and managed care insurance companies, naïve and corrupt experts, twisted science, and guilty parents who would rather label their children as bipolar than to look at their family interactions.

"This volume is essential reading for both consumers and providers alike."
John Rosemond, family psychologist, speaker, and best-selling author 

Q. Who will benefit the most from reading this book?
A. I want to give people with difficult interpersonal issues hope that complex problematic or abusive family behavior can be changed, and to warn them about what sort of mental health treatments and “diagnoses” are not helpful. The book aims to decrease the guilt and self loathing that so often prevents people from seeking the right kind of treatment and to educate potential consumers of mental health services about what to look for. It lets them know in lay terms something about the science involved: what we know, what is conjecture, what we do not know, and what is completely bogus.

People within the mental health professions might also find the book of interest because I also go into detail about how pharmaceutical companies and others with an agenda have successfully hijacked medical education and misled clinicians, both at the trainee and active practitioner levels. As the director of a psychiatric training program myself for over 16 years, I had ample opportunity to watch this first hand.

Q. All families have their problems. So what makes a family "dysfunctional"?
A. I am not talking here about the relatively minor interpersonal difficulties that we all have. Although a general definition of significant family dysfunction is difficult to put in words, it is not subtle at all when you see it.  I think of such things as child abuse, child neglect, domestic violence, absent or totally inconsistent disciplining of children, extreme invalidation of family members’ feelings and opinions, frequent double message giving, substance abuse, and the like. Despite what you may read in some places, none of these problems is rare.

David M. Allen, M.D. is a professor of psychiatry and the former director of psychiatric residency training at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, a position he held for 16 years. Prior to that he was in the private practice in psychiatry in Southern California for 13 years during the advent of managed care health insurance. Additionally, he has done research into personality disorders and is the author of three books for psychotherapists. In his spare time he doubles as a singer and rhythm guitar player in an amateur rock and roll band and as a movie buff.  You can follow him on his blog: http://davidmallenmd.blogspot.com/ or stay in touch with him by joining his Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/David-M-Allen-MD/80658565761?ref=ts

Author Video: Cooking with the Bible

Author Anthony Chiffolo sits down with us at ALA Annual and talks about the food and recipes found in his book, Cooking with the Bible: Recipes for Biblical Meals. To watch more informative author podcasts, visit ABC-CLIO's YouTube Channel: ABCCLIOLive.

Author Guest Post: Matthew Flynn on Counterinsurgency

History and Better Policy
by Matthew J. Flynn

The historian may well be tempted to reflect on the American experience in Afghanistan and say out loud, ‘I told you so.’ As the American build-up there accelerated under the Obama administration, a public debate over how to avoid the ill fate of previous self-declared liberators of that area was largely muted if it occurred at all. Yet, historical analysis would have offered such a warning. Conquerors from Alexander the Great to the Soviet Union struggled to control this region. Such a historical pattern does not ensure a repetition of the past in the present, but some assessment of how those situations do or do not relate to the present may have favorably informed the American policy objective in Afghanistan. One should attempt to reach beyond merely assigning blame for this policy failure. The historical perspective suggested here would not have predicted the adverse results currently in Afghanistan. Instead, policy makers could have used this history to anticipate possible difficulties and weigh the value of continued intervention in Afghanistan. Should the necessity of intervention be justified, then the hardships now encountered would be worth the struggle.

This kind of historical reflection had been done by the US military in at least one respect. Once a greater commitment of US troops to Afghanistan came under consideration, senior commanders carefully analyzed the counterinsurgency (COIN) approach to be waged by this increased force. As a result, at least one historical misstep was avoided, and that was a reliance on conventional forces seeking a battlefield victory to end the insurgency. Rather, the US military prepared for a struggle with the security of the Afghan population foremost in mind, a focus it had applied in Iraq after much trial and error. A better COIN doctrine may now be exposed as inadequate in Afghanistan, but it was consciously attempted, allowing the US military to boast of having learned quickly from any missteps in Iraq.

This success separated the United States from other states that had enjoyed a marked military superiority over the enemy and relied almost exclusively on conventional military force to try and end an insurgency. This counterinsurgency approach inevitably failed, a failure all the more remarkable given that these states often had successfully conducted counterinsurgency operations in the past because they broke free of a reliance on conventional military force. This reality is the topic of my book, Contesting History: the Bush Counterinsurgency Legacy in Iraq (Praeger, 6/2010), a study that also makes it clear how the United States avoided this historical pitfall in Iraq. 

Unfortunately, the region is still a spring board for terrorism exposing the policy designed to mitigate this threat as a failure no matter any tactical successes derived from a COIN doctrine centered on protecting the population. One reason why is that the US experience in Afghanistan has raised the question whether population centric operations at times require conventional military operation as well in order to protect that population. In turn, the issue becomes, can COIN succeed given this tension? The importance of this inquiry again highlights the value of historical perspective for the question immediately rises, is this tension unique to Afghanistan or has it been present in past conflicts? Any response to this point calls attention to the need for historical analysis to play a key role in shaping COIN doctrine.

--Matthew J. Flynn

Matthew J. Flynn, Ph.D., is a specialist in comparative warfare of the United States and the world. Flynn taught history courses at Ohio University and San Diego State University before accepting a position at Arizona State University in 2005. He currently teaches in the international division of the History Department at the United States Military Academy, West Point. He has written extensively on international military history, including a study of preemptive warfare titled, First Strike: Preemptive War in Modern History (May 2008). His first book, China Contested (2006), looks at the permeability of the political borders that Western powers established in China from 1500 to the present.  Flynn is also co-authoring a volume that asks its American reader to weigh side-by-side the venerable George Washington and the unscrupulous Napoleon Bonaparte. The book, Washington and Napoleon, will be published by Potomac Books in mid-2010.

Author Guest Post: Holly Kearl on Stopping Street Harassment

Nearly four years ago when I had to select a master’s thesis topic at George Washington University, I thought about all of the times men I don’t know have harassed me in public.

Men have whistled and honked at me, hissed and made kissing noises, made degrading and sexually explicit comments, followed me, and one man even groped me. The harassment has not been specific to any one location and has included: on a rural road in Oregon, at a gas station in Utah, near the beach in southern California, a block from my college campus in northern California, on the New York City subway, in a park in Virginia, on the mall in Washington, DC, downtown Brugge, Belgium, and in a neighborhood in Lancaster, England.

I thought that dealing with and trying to avoid harassers was my lot in life as a woman. Then I came across websites like HollaBack NYC which empower women to share their harassment stories and call out the men who did it. I realized other women did not like this unwanted attention and harassment. I began researching it and became empowered to realize I did not have to stand for this behavior!

I chose to write my master’s thesis on street harassment, particularly how women were using online methods to deal with harassers in lieu of legal remedies. My thesis struck a chord and was featured on CNN. Soon after that in 2008, I founded the Stop Street Harassment website and blog; women around the world share their stories on the latter. Then I started working on a book and signed a contract with Praeger last year.

I wrote my book Stop Street Harassment: Making Public Places Safe and Welcoming for Women (Praeger, 8/2010) across five months, mainly last August - December. What struck me the most as I wrote was how worldwide this problem is and how many people in just the last five years have started to address it. I corresponded with activists in India, Egypt, Canada, Australia, Mauritius, and Colombia, in addition to activists across the United States in California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington, DC. So much activism was occurring that even though I had most of my research completed when I signed the contract, I had to keep researching and revising to make sure I was as thorough and current as I could be.

Once I turned in my book proposal in January of this year, I lost the ability to be totally current because activism – thankfully – continued to blossom worldwide. The United Nations published a 100 page document about how to make cities safer for women and anti-harassment campaigns took off in England, Wales, Bangladesh, and Lebanon. I am thrilled by their work, but I also regret not being able to include them in my book!

My international take on street harassment and my action-oriented suggestions for ending it make my book unique among the handful that already exists on this topic. While I offer suggestions for large-scale activism, at the end of the day, what I really hope is that everyone who reads it will take at least one form of individualized activism. Every action can make a difference and all the actions together can help change the cultural acceptance of street harassment.

At an individual level, we can all talk and learn about street harassment because problems that are ignored stay problems. Share stories, ask women you know about their stories and how it’s impacted their life. Intervene when you see harassment occurring and report harassers, teach boys to respect women, and empower girls to know how to deal with harassers. No action is too small and the responsibility lies with each of us to make public places safer for everyone.

--Holly Kearl, author of  Stop Street Harassment: Making Public Places Safe and Welcoming for Women

Author Holly Kearl is a national street harassment expert and nonprofit professional based in the Washington, D.C. area. Her work has been cited by the United Nations, CNN, the Guardian, Canada.com, Feministing, and Jezebel. In addition to her book, she runs the website Stop Street Harassment and the companion blog where people from around the world submit their street harassment stories. Kearl has written articles about street harassment for Forbes.com, Huffington Post, Oregonian, and AOL. She also works for the women’s equity nonprofit AAUW.
Follow Holly on Twitter.
Become a fan on Facebook.

Interview: Selena Rezvani on the Next Generation of Women Leaders

Interview with Selena Rezvani, author of The Next Generation of Women Leaders: What You Need to Lead but Won't Learn in Business School (Praeger, 12/2009)


Q: Selena, what is the number one issue women face in today's workplace environment?

A: There’s a commonly held belief that we’ve reached gender parity—particularly because women now make up half the workforce. This is not true. All one needs to do is look at the low numbers of women actually leading businesses―acting as decision makers―to know that progress has stalled. One of the biggest barriers women face is this very misconception. 

Q: What are a few things a woman can do to help her succeed in the workplace?

A: Don’t think that anyone else will ever move your career forward. You need to drive, sculpt, and create your career, taking 100% ownership. Realize that good work does not guarantee rewards. To move up, you need a combination of results and self-advocacy. Good old-fashioned negotiation skills shouldn’t be underestimated. We know that women are four times less likely than men to initiate negotiations, so investing in training in this area early in your career can make all the difference.

Q: So, what makes your book stand out among other books on this topic?

A: No else has written a book on women and leadership that focuses on the woman in the first half of their career. While there are many terrific books on women and leadership, they tend to take a broad-brush approach, treating women at all different stages exactly the same. My book helps a woman get off to the right start, navigating the tricky aspects of having less formal authority and positional power than her more established counterparts.

Selena Rezvani's 5 Need-to-Know Facts for Success

1. Be aware of the verbal and non-verbal language you use to convey your ideas and make sure that you’re not inadvertently diminishing credibility instead of building it. One example is getting rid of buffering your ideas, with phrases such as, “This might be a silly idea…” “Someone else may have already said this…” and “Sorry if this has already been said…” 
2. Consider taking career risks before you feel ready for them. You will often surprise yourself, performing better than you think you would.
3. Create a personal board of directors whom you can go to for different needs, such as help with image, technical skills, or community contacts. Rarely can one mentor satisfy all your needs.
4. Actively create a leadership brand for yourself. Remember that within every single interaction at work, you’re modeling for others what you think of yourself and how you’d like to be treated. 
5. Use your values as a career compass—they will never steer you wrong. 

Selena Rezvani is an author, speaker and consultant focusing on women and leadership. When she’s not working with clients or writing her column for The Washington Post, she’s exploring her favorite city, Philadelphia. To learn more about Selena, visit www.nextgenwomen.com. You can follow her on Twitter @nextgenwomen or join her Facebook fan page to stay in touch. Selena will be a guest speaker for an event through Young Girl's Network in Cherry Hill, NJ on Wednesday, August 18. She will be discussing "5 Strategies for Taking Control of Your Own Success." You can see Selena's full list of upcoming appearances here.

Interview with the Authors: Cooking with the Movies

Anthony Chiffolo and Rayner W. Hesse, Jr. discuss their new book. 

Catch more interviews and author podcasts on ABC-CLIO's YouTube channel, here. And be sure to check out yesterday's author guest post from Anthony Chiffolo for a delicious (and easy!) recipe and a sneak peek at their fun and informative upcoming book: Cooking with the Movies: Meals on Reels.

Author Guest Post: Cooking with the Movies w/Anthony Chiffolo

Following on the success of our previous collaboration, Cooking with the Bible, my co-author, Rayner “Rusty” W. Hesse, Jr., and I decided to embark on a new writing/cooking project: Cooking with the Movies: Meals on Reels (Praeger, 8/2010). Some of our friends—especially those who had seen us prepare dinner for 30 people in our small home kitchen—thought we were crazy. But at the same time, they began to look forward to more of our delicious and interesting meals. After all, our friends were our most important “taste testers.” Somehow, we seem to be “called” to cook! Or at least to entertain. And what better way to entertain than to combine performance (film) with eating (cooking)?

What is Cooking with the Movies? It is most definitely a cookbook. We selected 14 noted films and created recipes that will enable the reader to prepare and serve the very dishes that are featured in the movies. Thus, if one has a hankering for Codornices en Pétalos de Rosas (Quail in Rose-Petal Sauce) as shown in the film Like Water for Chocolate, or Veal Pancetta from Big Night, or a decadent Marshmallow Mermaid Pie from Waitress, the recipes are found right there in the pages of Cooking with the Movies. Just get out your measuring cups, preheat the oven, and begin! We are firm believers in the adage “if you can read, you can cook,” so the recipes are easy to follow and can be made right in your own kitchen.

We selected the other films in the book—Tampopo, Babette’s Feast, Goodfellas, Once Upon a Time…When We Were Colored, Titanic, Chocolat, Dinner Rush, What’s Cooking?, Gosford Park, Mostly Martha, and Tortilla Soup—because the food shown “on screen” helps to advance the story and explain the characters; indeed, the food often becomes a central “character” in the movie. We also wanted to represent a variety of cuisines, including Japanese, French, Italian, Southern American, Mexican, Vietnamese, and German Bistro, among others. Finally, we hoped that the splendid food might make people seek out and enjoy a wonderfully made movie or two that they might never have heard of before.

Now, lest we be accused of teasing your palate, here’s one of our favorite recipes from Mostly Martha:

Steamed Asparagus Rolled in Prosciutto

Photo by Anthony Chiffolo

ingredients
2 bundles (approximately 36) asparagus, trimmed
12 pieces of prosciutto
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup truffles or porcini mushrooms, minced
1 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground

directions
Steam the asparagus for about 5 minutes, until al dente (do not overcook). Combine the butter with the mushrooms and pepper. Wrap 3 stalks each in a slice of prosciutto spread with mushroom butter. Arrange in a circular fashion on a plate. Serves 12.

It looks as tasty (and elegant) as it sounds!





A STORY TO SHARE As we were preparing the recipe for Pastel Chabela de Boda (Rosaura’s Wedding Cake) from Like Water for Chocolate, we noted that Laura Esquivel, the author of the book on which the movie is based, had provided the foundations of a recipe but had given the ingredient amounts in grams. No problem, we thought, as we went to the Internet and found the conversion rate for grams to cups. Thus we proceeded to measure out all the ingredients at the same rate. When the batter was prepared, we thought it seemed different from other cake batters we had made, but we poured it into a pan and set it in the oven. It baked to a nice golden brown, but never rose, as we expected it to. When we tried it, it was tasty, but definitely not “cake”—more like a frittata, which was not surprising since we had used 17 eggs. Back to the Internet, we discovered that each ingredient converts at a different rate from metric to English—thus, 25 grams of flour is not the same as 25 grams of sugar (unless they are weighed on a metric scale). So we rewrote the recipe, using the proper conversions, and baked a proper (and wonderful) wedding cake. We served the “failed cake” as an appetizer with salsa, and our guests were clamoring for more! This is how new dishes are created.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS In 2006 we wrote Cooking with the Bible: Biblical Food, Feasts, and Lore, which has been translated into German, Russian, Chinese, and soon, Korean, and is also available in paperback. But we don’t sequester ourselves in the kitchen. Rusty is an Episcopal priest serving a parish in New Rochelle, NY, a certified antique appraiser, and author of Jewelrymaking through History: An Encyclopedia. But he began his career singing cabaret in New York City and performing in Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway stage productions. Anthony is a book publisher, but he is also an accomplished nature photographer, and his photos of glaciers, water lilies, elk, swans, forests, and streams have appeared in books, magazines, and catalogs—and he photographed all the dishes for Cooking with the Movies that appear in the book. But most of our time is occupied with our “menagerie”: four Labrador retrievers, four parrotlets, and several tropical fish tanks. Sometimes it seems that all we do is serve food—whether to our animal companions or our human friends! You can find out more about the book, the authors, and see more photos on our website: www.cookingwiththemovies.com.

--Anthony Chiffolo, co-author of  Cooking with the Movies: Meals on Reels

Glued to Games: How Video Games Draw Us In and Hold Us Spellbound

The ten best-selling video games of 2010 (so far) were recently announced. (If you're curious, see the winners here.)

Why is America so game-crazy? Find out in Glued to Games: How Video Games Draw Us In and Hold Us Spellbound.

This new book from Praeger offers a practical yet powerful way to understand the psychological appeal and strong motivation to play video games.

About the authors:
Scott Rigby, PhD is founder and president of Immersyve, Inc., a research and consulting group specializing in the psychology of virtual worlds and interactive technologies. Richard M. Ryan is a clinical psychologist, and professor of psychology, psychiatry, and education at the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY.

Author Guest Post: Thomas Green on Martial Arts

Looking for a Beating
There were no "Karate Kids” after-school programs in small towns in central Texas in the 1950s. No “Tiny Tigers”. No “Lil’ Dragons”.  I had to make do with Police Jujitsu as Taught to the Law Enforcement Bodies in the United States and Throughout the World … ordered from the back of a comic book.

Finally, I discovered a local elementary school principal with a brown belt in judo. A few weeks of stalking and pleading led to a judo club at the YMCA and delusions of invulnerability. I got my first real martial arts instruction in El Paso, Texas from Ahn, a Vietnamese student who had traded beer smuggled in to the night watchmen at his father’s warehouse in Saigon (now Hochiminh City) for a set of brutal tactics that were too scary for Shaolin.

A mutual friend let me in on Ahn’s secret. Once again, I stalked and nagged until he agreed to teach me. (Ahn, of course, assumed I would quit.) For the next year there was no structured curriculum. There were no belts. The only tuition was pain. Later, I spent two equally rigorous years learning Wing Chun from LeungYee-lap after convincing his grandmother, who was also his kung fu teacher, of my sincerity and character. As a rule, my favorite teachers have charged me the least, demanded from me the most, and hurt me the worst. When I settled on anthropology/folklore as my "day job," I suppose it was inevitable for me write about some of these experiences.

PHOTO: Earl White, chief instructor,
Ijo Ija Academy (left), and author (right), 
Capoeira Batuque, Los Angeles, CA, 2008.

  

Hidden in Plain Sight

While editing Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia (ABC-CLIO, 2001), I discovered how little I knew about the subject in its totality. Fortunately, I had an exceptional editorial board whose members did their best to keep my foot out of my mouth. One particularly good tip I got from Joe Svinth was to give long overdue credit to African martial arts. At that point, I had some exposure to capoeira, so Gene Tausk and I co-authored a preliminary overview. Nine years later, I am grateful for the opportunity to revisit the topic again in the substantially revised Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia of History and Innovation (ABC-CLIO, 2010).

In the interim, I have had the opportunity to fill in some of the substantial gaps in my knowledge. (Many still remain, naturally.)  Ironically, the information I needed was hidden in plain sight. Africans and their African-American descendants commonly developed combat arts in conjunction with percussive rhythms. As a result, these martial arts often have been written off as ethnic dance. Stick-fighting, wrestling, and pugilism continue to hold a place in festival and similar cultural performances throughout Africa and in the African-American Diaspora. Vernacular arts such as uprocking, break-dancing, and the urban street-fighting style called the 52 Hand Blocks embody the African aesthetic. Analogues also endure in the modern boxing ring: Muhammad Ali’s shuffle, Archie Moore’s armadillo cover, and Roy Jones, Jr.’s derisive dances. Thanks to my teachers, dancer-fighter-scholars Kilindi Iyi, Thomas Lomax, Daniel Marks, Mestre Preto Velho (Dennis Newsome), and Earl White, for opening the door.  

--Thomas Green

Thomas A. Green  is associate professor of anthropology at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. His published works include the award-winning Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Beliefs, Customs, Tales, Music, and Art (ABC-CLIO, 1997), Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia (ABC-CLIO, 2001), and Martial Arts in the Modern World (Praeger, 2003). He has practiced martial arts since 1972.

Face Transplants: Understanding the Effects on the Mind

Not so long ago, potential face transplants would have struck most of us as little more than an intriguing plot for a Sci-Fi film. But there have been several partial face transplants here in the U.S. recently, and earlier this week the first full face transplant recipient appeared for the first time in public at a press event in Spain. 

It's a brave new surgical world--one that enters psychological territory we've never tread before. When this amazing surgery is complete, how does one feel and what does one think, looking in the mirror to see a face that is not at all like the one he or she had before?

Authors Carla Bluhm and Nathan Clendenin explore the issues in Someone Else's Face in the Mirror: Identity and the New Science of Face Transplants (Praeger, 2009). They review transplant history from heart to genitals, as well as the medicine, literature, film, and media that show just how long humans have dreamed of the day when face transplants would be possible. The authors explain both the medical challenges and the victories along the way to successful face transplants and how in the future the surgery might be used to help more people, including our war-torn soldiers emerging from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The authors, based in the field of psychology, focus on the even less certain science of mental health issues that may arise involving identity. How much does your face matter to how you view yourself? What if your face changed completely? Would your perception of yourself change completely? One of the earliest face transplant recipients lamented, "It will never be me."

Professionals in the field and loved ones can stay one step beyond the fantastic medical science of face transplants, by understanding the relationship between identity and face, and how we may heal not just the body, but also the mind, after our most visible feature is lost and replaced with that of another person.

--Debbie Carvalko
Praeger Senior Acquisitions Editor, psychology and health

Book Club: Outstanding in Their Field

Elizabeth Ghaffari (Author Interview: Elizabeth Ghaffari on Women in the Workplace, 7/20) has developed discussion questions for women who want to read Outstanding in Their Field: How Women Corporate Directors Succeed for their reading group or book club.

A few examples:

1. Has this book changed your thoughts about what women can or cannot accomplish in their personal or professional lives, today? Why or why not?
2. Is there one director in particular that you would like to meet? Do you have a "favorite" director? Why?
3. The author cites six lessons learned, overall, from all her research. Pick one lesson and discuss how any two of the women learned their lessons differently.
4. What do you think were some of the common strong, early influences cited by the women directors?
5. How did the women directors deal with prejudices they encountered during their careers?

For the full list of discussion questions, visit the book's webpage here.

For more information on Outstanding in Their Field, visit ABC-CLIO.com.

CONTEST: Share Your Dreams and Win Free Books!

Wake Up and Tell Us Your Dream!

People all over the country are packing into movie theaters to see Inception, the Sci-Fi blockbuster about a man who extracts secrets from the subconscious of people while asleep in the dream state. But the movie is also sparking a flurry of media attention around the topic of dreams and what we know (and don't know) about them, and two real experts in current dream science are joining the conversation. Professors Deirdre Barrett and Patrick McNamara are the editors of The New Science of Dreaming (2007), a 3-volume set from Praeger and the most authoritative source that exists regarding the biology and psychology of dreaming. And now ABC-CLIO is inviting all of our faithful readers and first-time blog visitors to get involved in the discussion, have some fun, and generate even more thought on the topic of dreams, by taking part in this contest.

Please share with us your most remarkable dream--one that brought you to an "inception," or the beginning of a new personal path or idea. Perhaps it was a dream that made you recognize a problem or set you on the road to a solution. Maybe it was a dream that initiated a later action that changed your life, for better or worse. Or possibly it was a dream that simply moved you to an important insight that nothing in your waking state had--or could have--ever revealed so effectively. Tell us about your dream and what kind of inception it launched for you! Psychologists Barrett and McNamara will choose one winner to receive a free copy of The New Science of Dreaming set AND one single-volume book of your choosing from the collections of ABC-CLIO.

Click here for the link to the contest.

Click here to browse all ABC-CLIO titles.

Rules: All entries must be submitted by Midnight on Friday, July 30. Please submit only one entry per valid email address. One winner will receive a free copy of The New Science of Dreaming and one single-volume title of your choosing from any of ABC-CLIO's imprints (ABC-CLIO, Greenwood, Praeger, Libraries Unlimited, and Linworth). The contest is open to all librarians, teachers, high school and college students, and general readers.

Further Reading on Inception and Dreams

Wall Street Journal article w/Deirdre Barrett: "How to Tame Your Nightmares"
New York Times article w/Patrick McNamara: "Take a Look Inside My Dream"
New York Times article w/Deirdre Barrett: "Winding Through 'Big Dreams' Are the Threads of Our Lives"
Inception review for the International Association for the Study of Dreams by Deirdre Barrett
CNN interview w/Deirdre Barrett: "Can Your Dreams Be Manipulated?"
ABC News article w/Deirdre Barrett: "Inside 'Inception'"
USA Today article w/Deirdre Barrett: "With 'Inception,' Christopher Nolan's Head Games Continue"