Elite Class

The end of the second semester is near, and Ryuuen's manhunt for Class D's mastermind is only getting more aggressive. When he and his goons decide to torture an answer out of Karuizawa, Ayanokouji decides it's finally time to step forward--if, that is, Karuizawa doesn't break under the pressure first!

Class D has conquered the midterms, but their celebration is cut short when three Class C students falsely accuse Sudou of assaulting them! With their friend facing expulsion, and the class’s points on the line, Ayanokoji, Horikita, and Kikyou must team up to gather evidence to prove his innocence.

The special exam on an uninhabited island has begun! For two weeks, students will do their best to visit checkpoints and complete challenges to gain points with their groups. Well, except for Ayanokouji, who has opted to tackle this exam on his own... or has he? Nanase, a first-year student from Class D, breaks off from her own group and asks to tag along with him, but there doesn't seem to be anything in it for her. Just what is this under-classman's goal?

Still reeling from the shock of their first expulsion, the first-years head into the last special exam of the year--a seven-event gauntlet that sees Class A facing off against Class C, and Class B against Class D. With each class's elected commander facing expulsion if they lose, Ayanokouji volunteers for the role to quell his classmates' suspicion about the events of the last exam. And with Sakayanagi captaining Class A, making this the right place and right time for their long-anticipated personal showdown--he might just need that Protection Point before too long.

The third semester kicks off in high gear with a special boot camp deep in the mountains. Forcibly separated into groups along grade and gender lines, the first, second and third years alike must work together to survive the rugged terrain. Even worse? The leader of the group that comes in last will be expelled. Can Class D make it back to campus intact, or is this where they finally say goodbye to one of their own?

There's upheaval in the air as another special exam approaches and Nagumo officially replaces Horikita Manabu as student council president. Meanwhile, Ryuuen is out for blood, and he's set his sights on Horikita Suzune as the next possible candidate for Class D's mysterious mastermind!

School may be on vacation, but the scheming never stops! Christmas draws near, and Karuizawa and Satou compete for Ayanokouji's affections while new student council president Nagumo makes his first sinister moves.

It's spring, and for the first time in the school's history, no one has been expelled after the third semester exams. As a result, the Advanced Nurturing High School sets a cruel test--each class must choose one of their own members to be expelled. Chaos consumes the first-years as Hirata tries and fails to keep the class from turning on each other, Ichinose strikes a costly bargain with Nagumo, and Ryuuen's classmates seem ready to throw him to the wolves. Can Class C make it out of this unscathed--or will they be undone by traitors within?

The second half of the special summer test finds the students duking it out aboard a luxurious cruise ship. Divided into 12 groups patterned after the signs of the Zodiac, all four classes are faced with a devilishly difficult test of their thinking skills. They may have survived the island, but they're not out of hot water yet!

Despite the school's tampering, Class C made it through the special exam without anyone being expelled. Now, they face the final event of their first year--the graduation ceremony. Horikita struggles to decide what to say to her brother before he leaves, while Ayanokouji puts in motion his plan to deal with Tsukishiro, seeking allies in the form of the other homeroom instructors. Meanwhile, his classmates' suspicions about him grow--including one girl who might be getting a little too fascinated by him.

Getting in is only half the battle. The Privileged Poor reveals how - and why - disadvantaged students struggle at elite colleges and explains what schools can do differently if these students are to thrive. The Ivy League looks different than it used to. College presidents and deans of admission have opened their doors - and their coffers - to support a more diverse student body. But is it enough just to admit these students? In The Privileged Poor, Anthony Jack reveals that the struggles of less privileged students continue long after they've arrived on campus.

Sakayanagi puts her plan to crush Ichinose into motion, spreading rumors of her alleged criminal history through the school like wildfire. With Class B at a loss, and Ichinose herself uncharacteristically reluctant to fight back, can Ayanokouji step in to save her reputation? Meanwhile, Kushida makes contact with student council president Nagumo in what might prove to be a very dangerous alliance, indeed.

As one of the most prestigious high schools in the nation, St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, has long been the exclusive domain of America's wealthiest sons. But times have changed. Today, a new elite of boys and girls is being molded at St. Paul's, one that reflects the hope of openness but also the persistence of inequality. In Privilege, Shamus Khan returns to his alma mater to provide an inside look at an institution that has been the private realm of the elite for the past 150 years.

It is an axiom of American life that advantage should be earned through ability and effort. Even as the country divides itself at every turn, the meritocratic ideal - that social and economic rewards should follow achievement rather than breeding - reigns supreme. Both Democrats and Republicans insistently repeat meritocratic notions. Meritocracy cuts to the heart of who we are. It sustains the American dream.

Society has never been more egalitarian—in theory. Prejudice is taboo, and diversity is strongly valued. At the same time, social and economic inequality have exploded. In We Have Never Been Woke, Musa al-Gharbi argues that these trends are closely related, each tied to the rise of a new elite—the symbolic capitalists.

The selection began with 35 girls. Now, with the group narrowed down to the Elite, the competition to win Prince Maxon's love is fiercer than ever. The closer America gets to the crown, the more she struggles to figure out where her heart truly lies. Each moment she spends with Maxon is like a fairy tale, filled with breathless, glittering romance. But whenever she sees her first love, Aspen, standing guard, she's swept up in longing for the life they'd planned to share.

In both Europe and North America, populist movements have shattered existing party systems and thrown governments into turmoil. The embattled establishment claims that these populist insurgencies seek to overthrow liberal democracy. The truth is no less alarming but is more complex: Western democracies are being torn apart by a new class war. In this controversial and groundbreaking new analysis, Michael Lind, one of America’s leading thinkers, debunks the idea that the insurgencies are primarily the result of bigotry and reveals the real battle lines.

Former New York Times columnist Anand Giridharadas takes us into the inner sanctums of a new gilded age, where the rich and powerful fight for equality and justice any way they can--except ways that threaten the social order and their position atop it.

Americans are taught to believe that upward mobility is possible for anyone who is willing to work hard, regardless of their social status. Yet it is often those from affluent backgrounds who land the best jobs. Pedigree takes listeners behind the closed doors of top-tier investment banks, consulting firms, and law firms to reveal the truth about who really gets hired for the nation's highest-paying entry-level jobs, who doesn't, and why.

Malcolm Gladwell has long relished the opportunity to skewer the upper echelons of higher education, from the institution of U.S. News & World Report’s Best College rankings to the LSATs to the luxe Bowdoin College cafeteria. I Hate the Ivy League: Riffs and Rants on Elite Education, upends the traditional thinking around how education should work and tries to get to the bottom of why we often reward the wrong people.