Greene Science

This essay comes from the NPR series This I Believe, which features brief personal reflections from both famous and unknown Americans. The pieces that make up the series compel listeners to rethink not only what and how they have arrived at their beliefs, but also the extent to which they share them with others.

An imperial family is found butchered. Officers of God are called to investigate. Evidence points to a rebel group trying to seed fear into the very heart of the empire itself. Inspector Khlid takes the case and begins a harrowing hunt for those responsible. But when a larger conspiracy comes to light, will Inspector Khlid be able to trust those working within her own precinct?

After her mother's sudden death, Melaney Carter travels hundreds of miles to deal with the inherited property while seeking solace from her obsessed ex-boyfriend and her dreaded upcoming college exams. The neglected house, a result of her mother's hoarding, demands major work, but Mel is determined to clean it so she can sell it and move on.

Unforeseen and catastrophic, the Reset unleashed a series of events that destroyed the Earth in unimaginable ways. Amidst the ruins, the resilient few must wage a desperate battle for survival, while others hunger for dominion over the remnants. In a relentless race against time, who will emerge triumphant in the ultimate struggle for survival?

After salvaging the Queen’s Jewels from the wreck of the Nuestra Señora Farnese, Buck Reilly’s finally back on top. Once more hailed as a world class archeologist, he’s riding the wave of success…until his past mistakes begin to surface from the depths.

Chapman unknowingly brought the Seventh Precinct to their demise. Now Officer Holden Sanders, known throughout the capital city as the survivor, seeks the truth of how so many he held dear were slaughtered. But, when it comes to light his former mentor might still draw breath, the officer of God is forced to wage war against the Almighty itself.

Coraline Patten enjoys nothing more than facing new challenges, but when she’s asked to evaluate Moonriver’s ruling faction, she worries she’s bitten off more than she can chew. Allasandro Stephans has reigned since she’d been a child, unwavering in his dedication to Moonriver. His heir, Calden, has supported him every step of the way. Together, the shapeshifting widower and his son appear to be the perfect men for the job of preserving and protecting their home.

Steele and his followers retreat before the might of Colonel Jackson's rogue military unit. Jackson is always two steps ahead in their apocalyptic war, and Steele's back is against the ropes. He must find a way to outlast his opponent while holding his loose confederation of allies and former enemies together or face certain annihilation. Back in her small hometown of Hacklebarney, Iowa, Gwen struggles to convince her cautious neighbors to provide refuge for Steele's haggard forces. If she doesn't succeed, Jackson's noose will tighten, and her friends and loved ones will be crushed.

There Is No Me Without You is the story of Haregewoin Tefarra, a middle-aged Ethiopian woman of modest means whose home has become a refuge for hundreds of children orphaned by AIDS. It is a story as much about the power of the bond between children and parents as about the epidemic that every year leaves millions of children, mostly healthy themselves, without family.

In the dark, primal jungles of the Congo Basin, something is ravaging the local population. When protests turn violent in front of the US embassy in Kinshasa, only the foreign policy experts paid attention. Civil war erupts, and people rip each other apart in the streets of the African capital. To avert disaster and preserve its self-image, an overwhelmed State Department dispatches a team of elite counterterrorism agents to bring their besieged people back alive.

Alone, robbed, and injured, Daniel shows up at The Frothy Mug Tavern. Although used to a life of luxury, he learns the value of hard work and duty from the barmaid Sarah. Life as a peasant is hard. The tavern owner is cruel, the kingdom is at threat of war, and Daniel is being hunted. To save himself, he must learn to fight. To save his kingdom, he must learn to sacrifice his desires for duty. To save the one he loves, he must learn to be a hero. The only one who can teach him is the cunning, legendary, leader of the bandits -- the Tiger!

Through the stories of fellow travelers, Greene explores the challenges and opportunities facing the new Russia: a nation that boasts open elections and newfound prosperity yet still continues to endure oppression, corruption, and stark inequality. Set against the wintery landscape of Siberia, Greene’s lively travel narrative offers a glimpse into the soul of 20th century Russia: how its people remember their history and look forward to the future.

A dismembered body in the park.... Grand Rapids Detective Bill DeYoung is an old-timer riding it out until retirement. A ravaged body in the park and a drunken witness are about to change his plans; so is the end of the world. The events happen concurrently with the first novel, End Time, but it can be heard at any point in the series to get exciting additional content on the origin of a main character.

Scottish psychologist Elspeth McGann thinks her patient Lester Rains—a suave, enigmatic man who claims to be have been alive for 2,000 years and to be part of a team of extraterrestrial "farmers" waiting on Earth for an alien harvest—is a delusional schizophrenic.

The hunt is on to find Patient Zero... Both the East and the West Coasts of the United States have collapsed, and the US military is in full retreat. All their attempts to stem the tide of the dead have failed. Former counter-terrorism agent Mark Steele and his fellow survivors have been bushwhacked in the West Virginia hills. The fringe West Virginians are teaching him a valuable lesson in the new rules of the apocalypse. The mountain folk are as resilient as they are ruthless, and Steele must find a way out to save his people.

The northernmost outpost of the eastern flank has gone dark. Captain Steele and the commanders of Operation Homefront shift forces north to find out what happened to the Marines stationed there. But, all is not right at Camp Forge. An outbreak of debilitating illness ravages through the base, forcing Gwen on a journey through Iowa to find medicine to treat the sick, including her niece. Meanwhile, the tension is building between the various factions holding the line against the dead. The dead are gathering across the Mississippi River, waiting for their chance to finish off America.

Space and time form the very fabric of the cosmos. Yet they remain among the most mysterious of concepts. Is space an entity? Why does time have a direction? Could the universe exist without space and time? Can we travel to the past? Greene uses these questions to guide us toward modern science’s new and deeper understanding of the universe.

Rights are a sacred part of American identity. Yet they were an afterthought for the Framers. Only as a result of the racial strife that exploded during the Civil War—and a series of resulting missteps by the Supreme Court—did rights gain such outsized power. Over and again, courts have treated rights conflicts as zero-sum games in which awarding rights to one side means denying rights to others. As eminent legal scholar Jamal Greene shows in How Rights Went Wrong, we need to recouple rights with justice—before they tear society apart.

He's not a monster fighting to be a man. He's a man fighting the monster within. Vampires are among us. They are thirsty. They are monsters. They want to take over! One man stands against them: The Shadow Fighter!

Anna is shattered by the violent death of her son, Alex, and tormented by the question of whether it was an accident or a suicide. Samantha is Alex’s best friend, and the only eyewitness to his death. She keeps returning to the cliff where she watched him either jump or fall, trying to sift through the shards. Aviva is an “upload,” a digital entity composed of the sense memories of a human tether. But she’s “emancipated,” having left her human behind.