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Second Chances

You've heard the expression, "when life hands you a lemon, make lemonade"? Well, Michael Gates Gill, How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else made coffee instead. Fired from his high-powered advertising job, he was broke, divorced, and diagnosed with a brain tumor. At the age of 63, he donned the green apron and black cap.

Then ... His oncologist told him to look into hospice care, but Roger Martin, Racing Odysseus: A College President Becomes a Freshman Again beat the cancer. With his new lease on life, he decided to spend a semester attending classes and rowing crew with 18 year olds. At the age of 61, he enrolled as a Freshman at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland.

MG Show commentator Victoria Zackheim on second chances.

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Answering the Call of Duty

Throughout America's history, brave men and women have responded to the call of duty. During World War II, American operatives Stephen Hall and Howard Chappell were dropped behind enemy lines to sabotage Nazi supply lines. Patrick O'Donnell, The Brenner Assignment: The Untold Story of the Most Daring Spy Mission of World War II

"West Point's motto is Duty, Honor, Country, and I came away with a duty to my country as well. And it is to pay attention to these people who are carrying this burden. Whether you supported the war or not. . I think it's important to pay attention to what they're doing and become involved."

- Bill Murphy

Then ... In 2002, at the graduation ceremony at West Point Military Academy, President Bush laid out his argument for pre-emptive war. Bill Murphy, In A Time of War: The Proud and Perilous Journey of West Point's Class of 2002 tells the stories of the first class in a generation to graduate into armed combat.

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Jesus for President: When Politics and Religion Collide

Frank Schaeffer, Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back

Jeff Sharlet, The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power

Stephen Schwartz, The Other Islam: Sufism and the Road to Global Harmony

Ken Silverstein, Turkmeniscam: How Washington Lobbyists Fought to Flack for a Stalinist Dictatorship

Up Close and Personal: Franklin Delano Roosevelt

One of the most beloved Presidents of modern times, FDR lead the country through the Great Depression and World War II. His eldest grandson, Curtis Roosevelt, Too Close to the Sun: Growing Up in the Shadow of my Grandparents, Franklin and Eleanor was three years old when he moved into the White House. He offers a personal view of his famous grandparents.

Then ... When asked what he was reading, Barack Obama said he was reading the book by independent biographer Jean Edward Smith, FDR. With his unique ability to inspire, FDR was a master at politics and became the champion of the common man.

John Gartner, In Search of Bill Clinton: A Psychological Biography