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Bookworms United, a team of people that love to read.

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More than 650,000 prisoners are released every year in the U.S., but no federal agency tracks the unemployment rate for this population. Experts say low reading and technological literacy, as well as reluctance among employers to hire former convicts, means many drop out of the labor force altogether.

But there are a handful of novel initiatives trying to turn that narrative around, by bringing college education and professional training, and even entrepreneurship programs behind bars. Advocates of such programs say by teaching inmates at a higher level, they reduce financial and social costs to society.

One that gets a lot of attention is the Bard Prison Initiative.

College Classes In Maximum Security: ‘It Gives You Meaning’

The numbers, in several cases, are astounding. 350.org, a climate action group, saw donations almost triple in the month after Donald Trump’s election. Since Trump’s win, Planned Parenthood told NPR it’s gained over 600,000 new donors and more than 36,000 new volunteers. And the American Civil Liberties Union has raised more than $80 million since Nov. 8.

Key players in what’s being called “The Resistance” — a vocal and growing progressive backlash to the Trump presidency — have been flooded with, and in some cases overwhelmed by an outpouring of money and volunteer support in the last few months. In many cases, these groups are struggling to keep up.

‘The Resistance’ Faces A New Question: What To Do With All That Money

“A good story can take you on a fantastic journey”

Nick Brandt uses his moody portraits of elephants, giraffes, and lions to call attention to Africa’s vanishing megafauna. His latest series, Inherit the Dust, imagines these beautiful creatures wandering landscapes they’ve long since been driven out of.

The series features life-size portraits of the animals looming in sweeping panoramas of garbage dumps, highway underpasses, railways and construction sites in Kenya. The jarring and powerful imagery is part of Brandt’s lifelong dedication to highlighting the plight of Africa’s increasingly threatened wildlife.

I remember attending Sunday school class one morning at my hometown mosque, sitting at a tiny school desk in a little yellow chair. The teacher said we were ambassadors for Islam, and to behave in a way that made others look favorably upon our faith and upon Muslims everywhere. But I was just 10 years old, 12 at the most. How could I be an ambassador for anything? I shifted in the hard plastic seat that I would soon outgrow.

It’s decades later, and the top Republican contender for president has declared, “Islam hates us.” Those of “us” who are Americans and also Muslim feel trapped. Even so, we can’t help but wonder what we can say or do to make the madness stop. The message is clear: Islam doesn’t belong in America, though one out 100 people living in the U.S. is Muslim, according to the Pew Research Center.

Learning — And Unlearning — To Be An ‘Ambassador’ For Islam

The multitasking hair elixir that fixes everything.

Down with diet books

Diet books are a multimillion-dollar industry, and it’s no surprise, since millions of people struggle with their weight and long for answers about what they can do to slim down. Books can provide valuable tips on healthful patterns of eating. Some are more outlandish than others. But the problem with all of them is what they promise when it comes to weight loss.

No doctor has ever uncovered the solution to weight loss. If someone had found the fix for this immensely vexing and complex problem, we wouldn’t be facing an obesity crisis.

But unfortunately, more and more respected doctors, despite their good intentions, are complicit with the publishing industry in confusing science and obscuring hard truths about obesity to sell diet books. It’s one thing when actress Gwyneth Paltrow tells people to avoid “nightshade vegetables” on an elimination diet, and quite another when a highly trained and credentialed physician sells a weight loss lie.

A Giambattista Valli couture army.

In an essay in this week’s issue, David Sedaris recounts a week spent shamelessly purchasing clothes: “Shopping with my sisters in Japan was like being in a pie-eating contest, only with stuff.”