#ICYMI: Clint Smith for The Atlantic "The Lifelong Learning of Lifelong Inmates"

Lance leans over his desk, his round belly situating his body tightly between the wooden chair and plastic desk—both too small for someone with his girth. A collection of yellow notepad papers, their edges frayed after being torn from their original binding, wrestle alongside one another in his hands. It is a Saturday morning, and the classroom is small, and silent but for the friction of Lance’s papers and the grinding on the pen he bites out of nervous habit. His large fingers fiddle about the loose sheets, verifying that they’re in order as he mutters to himself, quietly reading his story aloud, restless in the anticipation of sharing with his classmates. Lance is often the first person to arrive in class, having rigorously prepared the entire week, perfecting his assignment so as to leave his peers impressed.

In this way, Lance is not so different from students I previously taught as a high-school teacher in Maryland. He is brimming with the sort of intellectual curiosity all teachers hope to see in their students. What is different is that this isn’t a high-school classroom: It’s a state prison in Massachusetts, and Lance is serving the 46th year of his sentence. Continue reading...

Check out more about Clint Smith and his works here.

 

#ICYMI: Marie Claire's excerpt of Brooke Hauser's "Enter Helen"

A few months before Playboy's April issue hit stands, a young journalist from Ohio applied for one job that Helen Gurley Brown never could have landed, no matter how hard she tried: Playboy Bunny. Even with her wigs, false eyelashes, Pan-Cake, and padded bra, Helen simply didn't look the part. But Gloria Steinem did. Twenty-eight with dark brown hair, kohl eyes, and the killer legs of a Copa Girl, Steinem walked into Hugh Hefner's New York Playboy Club one brisk day in January 1963, carrying her leotard in a hatbox and a newspaper ad hyping the perks of being a Playboy Bunny: celebrity encounters, travel, and "top money.” Continue Reading...

Learn more about Brooke Hauser's writing, Enter Helen and her speaking topics on her page. Enter Helen's new paperback edition releases this month.

#ICYMI: John Jacobs of Life is Good on CNBC discussing the power of Optimism

During the recent election season, Life is Good co-founder John Jacobs joined CNBC to discuss how the brand has continued to transform and adapt as the world evolves and yet tragedies still occur. Nevertheless, people still want something positive to rally around.

Life is Good is using their brand as a way to focus on the power of optimism. Life isn’t easy. Life isn’t perfect. Life is good. Check out John's interview in the video below. Let's kick off 2017 with some positivity!

#ICYMI

To say the world is obsessed with Luvvie Ajayi these days is a bit of an understatement. Comedian, activist, and hugely popular culture blogger at AwesomelyLuvvie.com, Luvvie Ajayi serves up necessary advice for the masses in her hilarious book of essays titled I'm Judging You. This book is already a New York Times best-seller!

Listen here to an excerpt of Luvvie Ajayi's I'm Judging You audiobook, read for you by the author.

With over 500,000 readers a month at her enormously popular blog, AwesomelyLuvvie.com, Luvvie Ajayi is a go-to source for smart takes on pop culture. I'm Judging You is her debut book of humorous essays that dissects our cultural obsessions and calls out bad behavior in our increasingly digital, connected lives—from the importance of the newest Shonda Rhimes television drama to serious discussions of race and media representation to what to do about your fool cousin sharing casket pictures from Grandma's wake on Facebook.

With a lighthearted, razor-sharp wit and a unique perspective, I'm Judging You is the audiobook the world needs, doling out the hard truths and a road map for bringing some "act right" into our lives, social media, and popular culture. It is the Do-Better Manual.