A timely and important examination of one of the most essential factors in all successful relationships: trust, by a leading expert in the field of trust, betrayal and redemption, in a debut book that is the result of more than twenty years of research into the science of trust repair.
HOW TRUST WORKS (And The Science of How to Repair It)
by Dr. Peter H. Kim
Flatiron, Publication Date TBD
In HOW TRUST WORKS, Dr. Kim will explain the two most powerful determinants of trust (perceived competence and perceived integrity) and why those determinants can be weighted so unevenly when we are deciding whether to trust or forgive someone—or not. We as humans are bad at determining the trustworthiness of other people, and we are even worse at defending our own trustworthiness when it comes under fire. Yet despite this shortcoming, and the fact that we are all keenly aware of how important trust is in all of our personal and professional relationships, surprisingly little substantive research had been done on the topic before Dr. Kim began his inquiries. In fact, the majority of our institutional knowledge at the time seemed to rely almost entirely on case studies and other anecdotes. Dr. Kim was forced to develop his own set of rigorous scientific tools that would help him analyze how people interact with one another in the face of conflict.
Dr. Kim will illustrate how the patterns he identified in the lab play out in the real world using both recent and infamously public examples of trust violations and attempts at repair. These examples range from why the public was willing to overlook Arnold Schwarzenegger’s sex scandal but never forgave Bill Clinton, to revisiting the 2017 Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville and reactions to the police killing of George Floyd, including an examination of how different cultures can develop very different views about what constitutes an irredeemable transgression.
A Professor of Management and Organization at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business, Dr. Peter H. Kim is a leading expert in the field of trust, betrayal and redemption. His work has been published in leading scientific journals, including the Journal of Experimental Psychology, as well as in popular news outlets such as The New York Times, TIME, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, NPR, and others. Dr. Kim was born in Korea, and his family came to the United States when he was a child. He has given talks in Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Canada, and he hopes to expand his international speaking circuit as soon as it is safe to do so.
Even as millions of Americans suspect they’re suffering from a gastrointestinal disorder, they may spend years in pain before they figure out just what’s going on with their gut. And while irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is commonly diagnosed, SIBO, a disorder with basically all the same symptoms, is not. So, what is SIBO? The acronym stands for Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth, a disorder in which bacteria that usually grow in other parts of the gut start to proliferate and take up residence in the small intestine. This causes a whole confluence of symptoms, ranging from bloating and cramps, to uncontrollable weight gain or weight loss, to even malnutrition when the bacteria eat up vital nutrients from our food. Even though several studies have shown that as many as 84 percent of patients with IBS also tested positive for SIBO, it remains understudied and underdiagnosed. After decades of dealing with debilitating symptoms with no relief, Shivan Sarna’s life changed when she was diagnosed with SIBO. As she eliminated her symptoms one by one through lifestyle changes and help from her physicians, she started to synthesize her personal experiences with Western and naturopathic medicine and dedicate herself to advocating for those suffering from SIBO, or those who think they could be.
The law in Abai—the last known magical kingdom—does not look kindly on street thieves, but for eighteen-year-old orphan Ria, stealing isn’t a choice of convenience: it’s a matter of survival. So when she and her friend Amir devise a plan to steal priceless jewels from the kingdom’s royal palace and use them to bribe their way into a new kingdom, it seems a new life may finally be within reach. Then, while sneaking into the palace, Ria runs into the princess, and everything she knows about herself is turned on its head—because Princess Rani looks exactly like Ria, down to the freckle. Running into her doppelgänger, Princess Rani doesn’t see her long-lost twin or a dangerous, thieving intruder. She sees an opportunity: a chance to escape the tight confines of her gilded prison before her marriage, and a chance to find the wife of her late, beloved tutor, recently executed for treason, so that Rani can give her the valuable possessions he left behind. After Ria and Rani strike a deal to temporarily switch places, Rani discovers that her father’s kingdom is not the place of prosperity she once thought, and that it’s hurtling toward a dangerous war. Living with the Raja and the queen, Ria learns that they—her family?—have their own dangerous secrets, and that there’s a treasonous conspiracy brewing in the royal court. Neither life inside nor outside the palace walls are safe, and Ria and Rani are in a race against the clock to unravel a conspiracy and stop a war with wits and magic—or else allow the kingdom of Abai to sink into ruin.
Eleven-year-old Maybelle Lane collects sounds. She records the Louisiana crickets chirping, Momma strumming her guitar, their broken trailer door squeaking. But the crown jewel of her collection is a sound she didn’t collect herself: an old recording of her daddy’s warm-sunshine laugh, saved on an old phone’s voicemail. It’s the only thing she has of his, and the only thing she knows about him. Until the day she hears that laugh—his laugh—pouring out of the car radio. Going against Momma’s wishes, Maybelle starts listening to her radio DJ daddy’s new show, drinking in every word like a plant leaning toward the sun. When he announces he’ll be the judge of a singing contest in Nashville, she signs up. What better way to meet than to stand before him and sing with all her heart? But the road to Nashville is bumpy. Her starch-stiff neighbor Mrs. Boggs offers to drive her in her RV. And a bully of a boy from the trailer park hitches a ride, too. These are not the people May would have chosen to help her, but it turns out they’re searching for things as well. And the journey will mold them into the best kind of family—the kind you choose for yourself.