[close] The story of the young sociologist who studied a Chicago crack-dealing gang from the inside captured the world's attention when it was first described in Freakonomics. Gang Leader for a Day is the fascinating full story of how Sudhir Venkatesh managed to gain entrance into the gang, what he learned, and how his method revolutionized the academic establishment. When Venkatesh walked into an abandoned building in one of Chicago's most notorious housing projects, he was looking for people to take a multiple-choice survey on urban poverty. A first-year grad student hoping to impress his professors with his boldness, he never imagined that as a result of the assignment he would befriend a gang leader named JT and spend the better part of a decade inside the projects under JT's protection, documenting what he saw there. Over the next seven years, Venkatesh got to know the neighborhood dealers, crackheads, squatters, prostitutes, pimps, activists, cops, organizers, and officials. From his privileg [close]

[close] Nick Taylor, author of AMERICAN-MADE: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA: When FDR Put the Nation to Work, discusses the importance of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and his single-volume history of the program by taking viewers on a tour of WPA projects in New York City. http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780553381320 [close]

[close] The Secret of Indigo Moon (Doppleganger Chronicles 2) by G.P. Taylor, published by Tyndale House Publishers [close]

[close] Get more on Taylor Branch at SimonandSchuster.com [close]