Michael A. Cohen and Micah Zenko have a radical proposal: The world is getting better, not worse. Their book “Clear and Present Safety” looks beyond sensational and short-term political trends and finds that all global indicators have improved – as a result, Americans need not live in perpetual fear.

Having experienced virtually the most devastating crisis in its history, what can the media do to safeguard democracy, in an increasingly hostile environment? Susan Glasser, staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, analyzes the challenges of the American media in the age of Trump.

Prof. Hanna Yablonka, a historian at Ben-Gurion University, discusses her book “Children By The Book: Biography of a Generation,” painting a collective portrait of a unique generation of Israelis who were born together with the state.

Israel claims it owns his papers, but so does a German archive and an old lady on Spinoza Street in Tel Aviv. Nothing is more Kafka-esque than the story of his papers, chronicled in Benjamin Balint’s “Kafka’s Last Trial: The Case of a Literary Legacy”.

Mustafa Akyol believes that it is high time for Islam to undergo liberalizing reforms and he knows just the person to do it: Mustafa Akyol. In two books along with regular New York Times columns, Akyol articulates an emerging school of liberal Islamic thought and practice.

Mark Lilla, Professor of Humanities at Columbia University, discusses his book, “The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics,” offering insights into the past failures of progressive politics and how the liberal left can reinvent itself.

Who lost Russia? In “The Future is History,” acclaimed author Masha Gessen dove into the heart of the Soviet Union and came up with the root causes of Russia’s trajectory in the decades after communism.

Dr Shay Rabineau, Assistant Professor of Israel Studies at Binghamton University, discusses his forthcoming book “Marking and Mapping the Nation: A history of Israel’s hiking trail network,” analyzing Israel’s unique culture of yediat ha’aretz, educational outdoor activities.