Nathan Thompson: 5 books

Abraham Lincoln’s sense of humor proved legendary during his own time and remains a celebrated facet of his personality to this day. Indeed, his love of jokes—hearing them, telling them, drawing morals from them—prompted critics to dub Lincoln “the National Joker.” The political cartoons...

On October the third, in the year 2055, two thirds of downtown Chicago suddenly drops dead. With no warning, explanation, or clues, ex-beat cop Jack Reed must piece together what has happened, and why, before the truth is buried forever in an avalanche of online user-generated content. iPads, Smart-phones,...

Our digital world is growing at an astounding pace. The ongoing collection, analysis, and dissemination of vast amounts of data is enriching society's collective knowledge and understanding, its genome, in unprecedented ways. Yet in this golden information age, no person or organization is immune from...

The firefly remembers a time when he didnt have the awesome glow. It was some time ago when he was a little bug, and the others made fun of him. He didnt have any friends. He wasnt invited to birthday parties. They said he wasnt special and wasnt worth anything. For a time, firefly believed...

Despite the increasing number and variety of older characters appearing in film, television, comics, and other popular culture, much of the understanding of these figures has been limited to outdated stereotypes of aging. These include depictions of frailty, resistance to modern life, and mortality....