Al and Tipper Gore, Joined at the Heart; Al Gore, The Assault on Reason

Description

Al and Tipper Gore, Joined at the Heart: the Transformation of the American Family Joined at the Heart: The Transformation of the American Family is a 2002 non-fiction book authored by Al and Tipper Gore that examines the changing nature of family life in the United States, combining personal anecdotes with broader social analysis. About the Authors Al Gore served as the 45th Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Born in 1948, he grew up in Carthage, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C., the son of former U.S. Senator Albert Gore, Sr. He is an honors graduate of Harvard University and also attended Vanderbilt University Divinity School and Law School, working briefly as an investigative reporter. Following his political career, he became a prominent environmental activist, winning an Academy Award and a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change. Tipper Gore , born Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson in 1948, is an author, photographer, and social issues advocate who served as the second lady of the United States. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and a Master's degree in psychology from George Peabody College. As a photojournalist for The Tennessean , she developed a passion for advocacy, particularly concerning mental health policy, homelessness, and media violence, the latter of which led her to found an organization encouraging the labeling of explicit music lyrics. Al and Tipper Gore met in high school and were married in 1970; they have four children. They separated in 2010 after 40 years of marriage. About the Book In Joined at the Heart , the Gores utilize personal experiences and interviews with a dozen families to explore the myriad ways in which the American family is being redefined by cultural shifts and economic pressures. The book addresses contemporary challenges such as: Balancing work and family life. The impact of technology on communication. The need for affordable and quality childcare. The Gores argue that while traditional "landmarks" have disappeared, change has also opened up new possibilities and an "explosion of new family forms." The Gores share stories from their own lives and introduce a dozen other families to explore the contemporary family landscape. They connect these family experiences to the need for supportive social programs and advocate for policies like family leave and community resources. The central theme is that the need for family endures, and society should support the diverse structures families create. Former Vice President and bestselling author Al Gore collaborates with his wife, Tipper, on a groundbreaking book about the changing face of the American family Al and Tipper Gore have long considered family their bedrock. They've also spent many years studying the American family, and now, in this provocative and personal book, they explore the myriad ways in which the idea of family is being redefined. Over the past two generations, cultural shifts and economic pressures have profoundly affected every family in the nation: balancing work and family now poses a bigger challenge than ever before, day-care and after-school child care programs are too often dangerously inadequate, and new technological advancements have dramatically changed the ways we communicate. But if many of the traditional landmarks by which families formerly steered their course have disappeared, change has also opened up exciting possibilities, yielding an explosion of new family forms and novel solutions to age-old problems. In this penetrating and moving exploration of the contemporary family landscape, the Gores share stories drawn from their own experiences, as well as introduce us to a dozen other families they have come to know over the years. Combining personal insight and expert opinions, historical and global perspectives, Joined at the Heart identifies an emerging reality-and demonstrates that, in the face of unprecedented change, the inherent need for family is stronger than ever. Al Gore, The Assault on Reason A visionary analysis of how the politics of fear, secrecy, cronyism, and blind faith has combined with the degration of the public sphere to create an environment dangerously hostile to reason At the time George W. Bush ordered American forces to invade Iraq, 70 percent of Americans believed Saddam Hussein was linked to 9/11. Voters in Ohio, when asked by pollsters to list what stuck in their minds about the campaign, most frequently named two Bush television ads that played to fears of terrorism. We live in an age when the thirty-second television spot is the most powerful force shaping the electorate's thinking, and America is in the hands of an administration less interested than any previous administration in sharing the truth with the citizenry. Related to this and of even greater concern is this administration's disinterest in the process by which the truth is ascertained, the tenets of fact-based reasoning-first among them an embrace of open inquiry in which unexpected and even inconvenient facts can lead to unexpected conclusions. How did we get here? How much damage has been done to the functioning of our democracy and its role as steward of our security? Never has there been a worse time for us to lose the capacity to face the reality of our long-term challenges, from national security to the economy, from issues of health and social welfare to the environment. As The Assault on Reason shows us, we have precious little time to waste. Gore's larger goal in this book is to explain how the public sphere itself has evolved into a place hospitable to reason's enemies, to make us more aware of the forces at work on our own minds, and to lead us to an understanding of what we can do, individually and collectively, to restore the rule of reason and safeguard our future. Drawing on a life's work in politics as well as on the work of experts across a broad range of disciplines, Al Gore has written a farsighted and powerful manifesto for clear thinking.