Recommendations

Get informed with these recommended books, movies and videos, news and commentary sources, blogs and online magazines, and progressive infrastructure organizations.

Books

These books are available from the Commonweal Institute Bookshelf at Powell's online bookstore.

Barnes, Peter Capitalism 3.0: A Guide to Reclaiming the Commons

Brock, David The Republican Noise Machine: Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy

Brown, Lester Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, Third Edition

Callahan, David The Cheating Culture

De Zengotita, Thomas Mediated: How the Media Shapes Your World and the Way You Live in It

Frank, Thomas The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule

Friedman, Thomas L. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century

Gore, Al The Assault on Reason

Hawken, Paul Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History is Restoring Grace

Heifetz, Ronald A. Leadership without Easy Answers

Homer-Dixon, Thomas The Upside of Down

Kelly, Eamonn Powerful Times

Klein, Naomi The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Liu, Eric and Hanauer, Nick The True Patriot (Seattle: Sasquatch Books, 2007)

McKibben, Bill Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future

McKibben, Bill The End of Nature

Moyer, Bill (NOT Moyers), JoAnn McAllilster, Mary Lou Finley, Steve Soifer Doing Democracy

Pollan, Michael The Omnivore’s Dilemma

Sirota, David The Uprising

Ward, Peter D. Under a Green Sky: Global Warming, the Mass Extinctions of the Past, and What They Can Tell Us about Our Future (NY: Collins, 2007)

Westen, Drew The Political Brain

Reviews of books

Firedog Lake's Book Salon

Movies and Videos

The Century of the Self - series of four videos about propaganda, public relations, and their effects on society)

This Brave Nation - documentary series featuring progressive activists talking about their views of the positive options for the future

Planet Green section of the Discovery Channel; an example of their offerings is Greensburg (a town wiped out by a tornado in 2007 that decided to rebuild completely green)

Good Night and Good Luck - broadcast journalist looks to bring down Senator Joseph McCarthy

Brave New Films (Robert Greenwald et al) – a source of many progressive documentary movies and opinion videos, long and short, on a variety of topics. Examples are Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism, Uncovered:The War on Iraq, and Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price.

Ironweed Films - a subscription film club for progressive documentary films on a wide range of topics

Study/Action Course for Progressive Activists

START (Study, Think, Act, Respond Together) is a free, web-based course oriented towards progressive activists. It addresses a variety of interrelated problems facing society and promising positive aproaches to solving them. The START site has process guidelines and a list of the reading materials needed for a 24-session self-study course suitable for small groups. Through group participation in a START course, participants can learn important skills for working cooperatively with other activists to bring about change consistent with progressive aims of democracy, cooperation, freedom, social and economic justice, and peaceful resolution of conflict.

The START readings, all freely accessible online, are also useful for individuals who are not part of a study group.

The START materials can easily be adapted for use by college professors, church groups, service organizations, labor unions, peace and social justice organizations, etc. The study guide and exercises can also be used with your own reading materials.