A detailed and comprehensive contribution to ongoing discussions about the future of the ESA.
A collection of think pieces about the future of the Endangered Species Act in the United States.
Attorney Baier follows up the examination of the ESA from Volume I: The First Fifty Years (2023) with a look toward the future. Since the passage of the comprehensive ESA legislation in 1973, the listing and delisting of different species as endangered has led to discussions, court cases, and political disputes. This volume, over the course of 14 chapters, features figures from academia and government contributing ideas about where the ESA is going and how to improve its impact. One chapter specifically looks at how to “change the culture within the professional wildlife community” to further the goals of conservation. Suggestions include implementing “pay for success” programs, such as those seen with water-quality programs in some states. Another chapter examines lessons from the 2012 conflict over the endangered dusky gopher frog, which numbered just 135 individuals in the entire state of Mississippi. Another engaging chapter is devoted to a practical workshop on the ESA, overseen by the University of Wyoming and Texas A&M University, that and aims “to develop…tangible action items to improve species conservation in the United States at the state and federal level.” Although the use of highly technical terminology tends to be limited, not every chapter will appeal to the casual reader; one, for instance, includes a passage about a resource equivalency analysis allowing “plan proponents to convert estimated take of individual species into equivalent habitat metrics to inform mitigation commitments.” But the book also digs into specifics about the ESA that laypeople might not otherwise encounter, as in the aforementioned discussion of the dusky gopher frog; the authors assert that several lessons can be gleaned by analyzing the fight over frog habitats and the resulting 2018 U.S. Supreme Court case, including “how to best encourage habitat creation and restoration.” Overall, this lengthy work offers insightful views on the importance of wildlife and the means to ensure its appropriate protection.
A detailed and comprehensive contribution to ongoing discussions about the future of the ESA.Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2023
ISBN: 978-1538180143
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.
Words that made a nation.
Isaacson is known for expansive biographies of great thinkers (and Elon Musk), but here he pens a succinct, stimulating commentary on the Founding Fathers’ ode to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” His close reading of the Declaration of Independence’s second sentence, published to mark the 250th anniversary of the document’s adoption, doesn’t downplay its “moral contradiction.” Thomas Jefferson enslaved hundreds of people yet called slavery “a cruel war against human nature” in his first draft of the Declaration. All but 15 of the document’s 56 signers owned enslaved people. While the sentence in question asserted “all men are created equal” and possess “unalienable rights,” the Founders “consciously and intentionally” excluded women, Native Americans, and enslaved people. And yet the sentence is powerful, Isaacson writes, because it names a young nation’s “aspirations.” He mounts a solid defense of what ought to be shared goals, among them economic fairness, “moral compassion,” and a willingness to compromise. “Democracy depends on this,” he writes. Isaacson is excellent when explaining how Enlightenment intellectuals abroad influenced the founders. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Declaration’s “five-person drafting committee,” stayed in David Hume’s home for a month in the early 1770s, “discussing ideas of natural rights” with the Scottish philosopher. Also strong is Isaacson’s discussion of the “edits and tweaks” made to Jefferson’s draft. As recommended by Franklin and others, the changes were substantial, leaving Jefferson “distraught.” Franklin, who emerges as the book’s hero, helped establish municipal services, founded a library, and encouraged religious diversity—the kind of civic-mindedness that we could use more of today, Isaacson reminds us.
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781982181314
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.
Portraits in a post-pandemic world.
After the Covid-19 lockdowns left New York City’s streets empty, many claimed that the city was “gone forever.” It was those words that inspired Stanton, whose previous collections include Humans of New York (2013), Humans of New York: Stories (2015), and Humans (2020), to return to the well once more for a new love letter to the city’s humanity and diversity. Beautifully laid out in hardcover with crisp, bright images, each portrait of a New Yorker is accompanied by sparse but potent quotes from Stanton’s interviews with his subjects. Early in the book, the author sequences three portraits—a couple laughing, then looking serious, then the woman with tears in her eyes—as they recount the arc of their relationship, transforming each emotional beat of their story into an affecting visual narrative. In another, an unhoused man sits on the street, his husky eating out of his hand. The caption: “I’m a late bloomer.” Though the pandemic isn’t mentioned often, Stanton focuses much of the book on optimistic stories of the post-pandemic era. Among the most notable profiles is Myles Smutney, founder of the Free Store Project, whose story of reclaiming boarded‑up buildings during the lockdowns speaks to the city’s resilience. In reusing the same formula from his previous books, the author confirms his thesis: New York isn’t going anywhere. As he writes in his lyrical prologue, “Just as one might dive among coral reefs to marvel at nature, one can come to New York City to marvel at humanity.” The book’s optimism paints New York as a city where diverse lives converge in moments of beauty, joy, and collective hope.
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781250277589
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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