A World Appears By Michael Pollan

Credit: A World Appears

 

Overview

 

When it comes to the phenomenon that is consciousness, there is one point on which scientists, philosophers, and artists all agree: that it feels like something to be us. Yet the fact we have subjective experience of the world remains one of nature’s greatest mysteries. How is it that our mental operations are accompanied by feelings, thoughts, and a sense of self? What would a scientific investigation of our inner life look like, considering we have as little distance and perspective on it as fish do of the sea? In A World Appears, Michael Pollan traces the unmapped continent that is consciousness, bringing radically different perspectives - scientific, philosophical, literary, spiritual and psychedelic - to see what each can teach us about this central fact of life. Read more here. Credit: Michael Pollan.

Imagination Library

Credit: Imagination Library

Celebrating Books and Reading 

 In honor of legendary American singer and artist Ms. Dolly Parton, fans and avid book lovers are welcome to learn more about the Imagination Library. 

Learn more about Dolly Parton here. 

#learning #education #mission #community #global 

#imagination #goals #success 

No One Succeeds Alone

 

Credit: No One Succeeds Alone

Overview

No one expected a dreadlocked fifteen-year-old who cared more about his DJ business than his homework to grow up to become one of the youngest-ever White House fellows, create multiple nonprofits, and found a multibillion-dollar company. But Robert Reffkin, raised by an Israeli immigrant single mother, disowned by his maternal grandparents for being Black, and abandoned by his father, has always defied the odds. Read more here. Credit: Robert Reffkin.

The Banker Who Made America By Richard Vague

 

Credit: The Banker Who Made America

Overview

If you haven't followed the money, chances are you don't know the real story of America and its Revolution. Nothing gives a clearer insight into this history than the life of early America's dominant merchant trader, first bank president, and first central banker, Thomas Willing. In this book, Richard Vague shows how Willing bankrolled, and in the process helped save, the Revolution and then fundamentally shaped the financial architecture of the young Republic. So powerful was Willing that President John Adams complained that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton were governed by him. Yet at a decisive moment in Willing's life he voted against independence, as conflict between Pennsylvania's moneyed elite and the emergent lower and middle classes embroiled the politics of 1776 in bitter class conflict. This dynamic would continue after independence, as Willing and his associates attempted to tame the democratic forces unleashed by revolution and thereby set up a tension that has never stopped shaping US politics. Read more here. Credit: Richard Vague.

Careless People By Sarah Wynn-Williams

 

Credit: Careless People

Overview

From trips on private jets and encounters with world leaders to shocking accounts of misogyny and double standards behind the scenes, this searing memoir exposes both the personal and the political fallout when unfettered power and a rotten company culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative where a few people carelessly hold the world in their hands, this eye-opening memoir reveals what really goes on among the global elite.

Sarah Wynn-Williams's inside story puts you in the room during stumbling encounters with juntas through to the moment Mark Zuckerberg learned of Facebook’s role in Trump’s election and drew an unexpected conclusion. As she grapples with the reality of Facebook's influence on world events, she experiences the challenges and humiliations of working motherhood within a pressure cooker of a workplace, while Sheryl Sandberg urges her and others to “lean in” through it all. Read more here. Credit: Careless People; Sarah Wynn-Williams.

Writing Contest - Hosted By Authors By Sasha

Seasons Ending - Writing Contest

Theme: Endings

Prizes

1 Winner in the Poetry Category - $250

1 Winner in the Flash Fiction Category - $125

Prizes are dispensed in the form of an Amazon Gift Card.

Submission Rules

- Participants must have not published a book

- 1 Author per 1 literary submission

- Literary piece must be original and human written

- Poetry must be no more than 27 lines, double spaced

- Flash fiction must be no more than 150 words, single spaced

- Submission must not be published elsewhere in any capacity

- Genres & Topics Excluded from Consideration:

Politics

Religion

Violence

Suicide 

- Writing is submitted in PDF format with title only -- no author name. 

- There must be no reference to the author name within the document.

(Author name can be disclosed and shared in the submission form).

- Submission Fee: 

Nonrefundable fee of $17 for reading & consideration, not a decision.

Resubmissions due to any errors constitutes an additional $15 processing fee.

Withdrawing a paid submission constitutes an additional $15 processing fee.

- Deadline:  September 30, 2026

Winners will be notified early November 2026

Contact here to learn more about the contest and submission form.

*Sasha Talks Terms of Service and Disclaimers Apply.

The Burden of Bad Ideas By Heather Mac Donald

 

Credit: The Burden of Bad Ideas

Overview

Critics have attacked the foolishness of some of today's elite thought from many angles, but few have examined the real-world consequences of those ideas. In The Burden of Bad Ideas, Heather Mac Donald reports on their disastrous effects throughout our society. At a Brooklyn high school, students perfect their graffiti skills for academic credit. An Ivy League law professor urges blacks to steal from their employers. Washington bureaucrats regard theft by drug addicts as evidence of disability, thereby justifying benefits. Public health officials argue that racism and sexism cause women to get AIDS. America's premier monument to knowledge, the Smithsonian Institution, portrays science as white man's religion. Such absurdities, Ms. Mac Donald argues, grow out of a powerful set of ideas that have governed our public policy for decades, the product of university faculties and a professional elite who are convinced that America is a deeply unjust society. And while these beliefs have damaged the nation as a whole, she observes, they have hit the poor especially hard. Read more at The Burden of Bad Ideas. Credit: Manhattan Institute.

Authors By Sasha & Kreative Circle Welcome Talents

 

Credit: KreativeCircle.com

Hello Authors, Writers and Kreatives!

Authors By Sasha and Kreative Circle are showcasing kreatives within the writing genre for the upcoming season. This is a wonderful opportunity for writers of all kinds to share their expertise and works in text format interviews. Previous select talents who have collaborated, in specific segments and written interviews, with Sasha Talks and Kreative Circle are featured on the site. Inquire more by visiting KreativeCircle.com to learn about these commercial services.

Credit: KreativeCircle.com