Read-Alikes for How to Know a Person

"As David Brooks observes, "There is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization, or the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen--to accurately know another person, to let them feel valued, heard, and understood." And yet we humans don't do this well. All around us are people who feel invisible, unseen, misunderstood. In How to Know a Person, Brooks sets out to help us do better,...

"The light touch of a hairdresser's hands on one's scalp, the euphoric energy of a nightclub, huddling with strangers under a shelter in the rain, a spontaneous snowball fight in the street, a daily interaction with a homeless man--such mundane connections, when we closely inhabit the same space, and touch or are touched by others, were nearly lost to "social distancing." Will we ever again shake hands without a thought? In this deeply rewarding book,...

"Humans are social creatures. Just as we need water, air, food, and shelter, we need community, yet feelings of isolation and loneliness have been on the rise (exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic), even for people who have full social calendars and large networks. Everyone has heard the phrase "It takes a village," but how exactly do we find our village? In Build Your Village, author Florence Ann Romano posits that a successful support system requires...

Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Revisionist History and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Outliers, offers a powerful examination of our interactions with strangers--and why they often go wrong. How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that...