Brian Phillips

In 2017, the BHP Foundation launched its Education Equity Global Signature Program to enhance opportunities for disadvantaged young people to access a quality education. The Program invests in efforts to increase the use of evidence to improve education. In this report, researchers develop a framework to evaluate the program, explain methods for assessing progress over five years, and present preliminary results after a year of evaluation.

To understand the relationship between participating in the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (AJROTC) program and longer-term outcomes, the authors analyzed longitudinal student data and Army service member records. A logic model and interviews contextualize study findings of increased attendance and graduation rates but reduced college enrollment rates among those participating in AJROTC for all of high school.

The Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) Reform asked RAND to provide an independent analysis of PPBE-like functions in selected countries and federal agencies. In this report-Volume 5 in a seven-volume set of case studies-RAND researchers analyze the defense budgeting processes of five additional allied and partner nations: France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, and Sweden.

The Department of Defense (DoD) requires estimates of the number of its workers with disabilities to support its strategic goals and compliance with federal regulation. In this report, the authors seek to estimate the potential demand for assistive technology (AT), given projections of the number of DoD civilian employees--and of injured and wounded service members--with disabilities, as well as anticipated requests and costs for AT.

At the request of Congress, RAND researchers assessed the progress that the commercial spaceflight industry has made in adopting voluntary safety standards, the industry's progress in meeting key industry metrics set out by the Federal Aviation Administration in 2017, and whether the industry has reached a level of maturity such that certain areas identified in previous Federal Aviation Administration reports are ready for regulatory action.

Over the past decade, more than 10 billion dollars has been invested in Pittsburgh tech companies, with more than 3.5 billion invested in 2021 alone. With the context of such strong sectoral growth in mind, RAND researchers set out to characterize the science- and technology-focused (STF) workforce ecosystem in the Pittsburgh region and suggest policy changes and investment opportunities to help propel the region's STF sectors in the future.

A vibrant, surprising and thought-provoking collection of essays from an exciting new literary voice who has been compared to John Jeremiah Sullivan, David Foster Wallace and Janet Malcolm

Passenger air travel is at an all-time high. A key question for Congress is whether current levels of spending will be sufficient under existing federal policies to enable commercial service airports to make appropriate and timely infrastructure investments to meet future demand. This report contains a comprehensive review of the role of the federal government in airport infrastructure funding and financing.

"I love Dante almost as much as the Bible. He is my spiritual food, the rest is ballast." -James Joyce"Many authors have taken their readers on fascinating journeys into the afterlife, venturing to heaven, hell, hades, or other spirit worlds. And while such stories are numerous, none of them approach the beauty and influence of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy-an epic poem that has stood the test of time, captured imaginations for centuries, and calls the reader to ponder life's (and death's) most important questions." -From Brian Phillips's IntroductionDante's epic journey to Hell and back is full of grotesque images to rival any horror movie. However, these images are not merely served up to disgust the reader, but to reveal the ugliness and hatefulness of sin. Dante travels through seven circles in which each of the seven deadly sins is punished, but surprisingly none of the inhabitants of hell regret their location. As C.S. Lewis once said, "Hell is locked from the inside."This sulfurous Canon Classic is one of the greatest poems of world literature, and at its heart is a deeply Christian theme. The Canon Classics series presents the most definitive works of Western literature in a colorful, well-crafted, and affordable way. Unlike many other thrift editions, our classics are printed on thicker text stock and feature individualized designs that prioritize readability by means of proper margins, leading, characters per line, font, trim size, etc. Each book's materials and layout combine to make the classics a simple and striking addition to classrooms and homes, ideal for introducing the best of literary culture and human experience to the next generation.This Worldview Edition features an introduction divided into sections on The World Around, About the Author, What Other Notables Said, Setting, Characters, & Plot Summary, Worldview Analysis, and 21 Discussion Questions & Answers.

Sold into captivity, a group of people is transported against their will to a dying city filled with magic, and gods. Dark necromancers collude to collect the treasures of the dying city by bribing these new arrivals with treasures, and perhaps a free ride home. Annah, a hardened swordswoman finds something she never expected in the ruins and begins a conflict that threatens the gods themselves.

The Takers move toward their dark goals. Internal suspicions within the Order create distrust and enmity within their ranks. A Goddess strives to keep her city free of both the Takers, and the necromancers that had sworn to battle them. Miller faces enemies from all directions as he struggles to find some way to fight find and defeat the Takers, while not sacrificing his soul.

Apprenticeship is a tough time in life, but more so when you are apprenticed to a guild of Necromancers. Miller thought that the promise of eternal life sounded like a good idea at first, but maybe not anymore.A terrible enemy of the necromancers, and of mankind, has returned. They move through the land unseen with mysterious powers and a secret agenda, possessing those they encounter. Miller has been ordered to travel the lands and restart an alliance that once overcame this enemy, but the enemy has changed tactics.But is that the entire plan? Or is Miller just bait in a greater game? Journey with young Miller as he strives to carry out the wishes of his Necromancer Mistress while not getting killed by his own order. A Necromancer's Apprentice is a fantasy novel featuring magic, mysteries, and a young man emerging into the world that is already full of deadly challenges.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. SEMI-FINALIST FOR THE PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD FOR ART OF THE ESSAY. One of Amazon, Buzzfeed, ELLE, Electric Literature and Pop Sugar's Best Books of 2018. Named one of the Best Books of October and Fall by Amazon, Buzzfeed, TIME, Vulture, The Millions and Vol. 1 Brooklyn."Hilarious, nimble, and thoroughly illuminating." --Colson Whitehead, author of The Underground Railroad A globe-spanning, ambitious book of essays from one of the most enthralling storytellers in narrative nonfiction In his highly anticipated debut essay collection, Impossible Owls, Brian Phillips demonstrates why he's one of the most iconoclastic journalists of the digital age, beloved for his ambitious, off-kilter, meticulously reported essays that read like novels. The eight essays assembled here--five from Phillips's Grantland and MTV days, and three new pieces--go beyond simply chronicling some of the modern world's most uncanny, unbelievable, and spectacular oddities (though they do that, too). Researched for months and even years on end, they explore the interconnectedness of the globalized world, the consequences of history, the power of myth, and the ways people attempt to find meaning. He searches for tigers in India, and uncovers a multigenerational mystery involving an oil tycoon and his niece turned stepdaughter turned wife in the Oklahoma town where he grew up. Through each adventure, Phillips's remarkable voice becomes a character itself--full of verve, rich with offhanded humor, and revealing unexpected vulnerability. Dogged, self-aware, and radiating a contagious enthusiasm for his subjects, Phillips is an exhilarating guide to the confusion and wonder of the world today. If John Jeremiah Sullivan's Pulphead was the last great collection of New Journalism from the print era, Impossible Owls is the first of the digital age.