Shit Show: An Unexpected Life in Crisis and Risk Management

Author(s)
Matt Charles
Edition
2
Copyright
2026
Pages
92
Book Type
Academic
Retail

CHOOSE YOUR FORMAT
Help Me Choose

Paperback Book

$27.49

ISBN: 9798319725028
Details: 
Print Product

eBook

$15.40

ISBN: 9798319725035
Details: 
Electronic Delivery EBOOK - 365 days

CHOOSE YOUR FORMAT
Help Me Choose

Paperback Book

$27.49

ISBN: 9798319725028
Details: 
Print Product

eBook

$15.40

ISBN: 9798319725035
Details: 
Electronic Delivery EBOOK - 365 days

A colorful walk through the life and career of a person who has served as a special investigator, nonprofit foundation communications director, university spokesperson, professor and was a high-end EF3 tornado and bus crash survivor, Dr. Matt Charles provides case studies from a guy who generally ends up being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Shit Show provides personal reflections and lessons learned from a one-of-a-kind individual whose life path has set him on a collision course with many crises - so many that colleagues have referred to him as a "shit magnet." From a New York City child fatality case that became a dual-crime scene when a reporter was struck by a vehicle to squashing a uranium mining project in his hometown to the tragic 2017 Unite the Right rally when Nazis and white supremacists stormed Charlottesville, Virginia, and the University of Virginia to the COVID-19 pandemic, Matt lays out compelling first-hand narratives of what happened, how, the impact and response, and what could have been done better.

This book provides an engaging read for crisis students and practitioners alike, as well as a broader readership.

Introduction

Part I: How to Approach Crisis and Plan for Risk

1. Crisis and Risk Management 101

Part II: Lessons from the Field

2. Catastrophic Loss of Industry in Rural Virginia

3. The University of Virginia Final Exercises Balcony Collapse

4. My Work as a NYC Special Investigator: A Mother Trying to Get Her Child Back

5. The 2003 Blackout

6. My Introduction to Crisis Management and Communication: A Duel Crime Scene With

A Child Fatality and NY1 Reporter Struck By a Vehicle

7. The 2008 Housing Crisis

8. Blocking a Uranium Mine in My Hometown

9. The 2017 Unite the Right Rally

10. The 2020 Nashville Tornado

11. The COVID-19 Pandemic and Overnight Rush for Online Learning

12. The Salman Rushdie Assassination Attempt

Part III: Self-Preservation

13. Don’t Let Your Mental Health Become a Casualty

 


 

Matt Charles

Matt Charles is the former deputy spokesperson for the University of Virginia during and after the tragic Unite the Right rally in 2017, and many other crises. Prior to this position, he served the UVA Darden School of Business as director of media relations, helping the school earn a #1 ranking through his reputation management work. A frequent media spokesperson, crisis management/strategic communication professor and former New York City special investigator working sex and drug crimes involving children, he has provided training for the US Department of State, National Criminal Justice Command College and Drug Enforcement Administration, served on a working group for Washington, DC universities (Consortium 120) to combat gun violence, and has received Fulbright support. Professor Charles provides strategic counsel for institutions of higher education, government organizations, nonprofits, corporations, and small businesses and startups. He teaches, or has taught, for Georgetown University, the University of Virginia, American University, Northeastern University, the University of Maryland Global Campus, the University of Iowa, Rutgers University, the University of Florida, the University of Alabama and Purdue University.

 

A colorful walk through the life and career of a person who has served as a special investigator, nonprofit foundation communications director, university spokesperson, professor and was a high-end EF3 tornado and bus crash survivor, Dr. Matt Charles provides case studies from a guy who generally ends up being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Shit Show provides personal reflections and lessons learned from a one-of-a-kind individual whose life path has set him on a collision course with many crises - so many that colleagues have referred to him as a "shit magnet." From a New York City child fatality case that became a dual-crime scene when a reporter was struck by a vehicle to squashing a uranium mining project in his hometown to the tragic 2017 Unite the Right rally when Nazis and white supremacists stormed Charlottesville, Virginia, and the University of Virginia to the COVID-19 pandemic, Matt lays out compelling first-hand narratives of what happened, how, the impact and response, and what could have been done better.

This book provides an engaging read for crisis students and practitioners alike, as well as a broader readership.

Introduction

Part I: How to Approach Crisis and Plan for Risk

1. Crisis and Risk Management 101

Part II: Lessons from the Field

2. Catastrophic Loss of Industry in Rural Virginia

3. The University of Virginia Final Exercises Balcony Collapse

4. My Work as a NYC Special Investigator: A Mother Trying to Get Her Child Back

5. The 2003 Blackout

6. My Introduction to Crisis Management and Communication: A Duel Crime Scene With

A Child Fatality and NY1 Reporter Struck By a Vehicle

7. The 2008 Housing Crisis

8. Blocking a Uranium Mine in My Hometown

9. The 2017 Unite the Right Rally

10. The 2020 Nashville Tornado

11. The COVID-19 Pandemic and Overnight Rush for Online Learning

12. The Salman Rushdie Assassination Attempt

Part III: Self-Preservation

13. Don’t Let Your Mental Health Become a Casualty

 


 

Matt Charles

Matt Charles is the former deputy spokesperson for the University of Virginia during and after the tragic Unite the Right rally in 2017, and many other crises. Prior to this position, he served the UVA Darden School of Business as director of media relations, helping the school earn a #1 ranking through his reputation management work. A frequent media spokesperson, crisis management/strategic communication professor and former New York City special investigator working sex and drug crimes involving children, he has provided training for the US Department of State, National Criminal Justice Command College and Drug Enforcement Administration, served on a working group for Washington, DC universities (Consortium 120) to combat gun violence, and has received Fulbright support. Professor Charles provides strategic counsel for institutions of higher education, government organizations, nonprofits, corporations, and small businesses and startups. He teaches, or has taught, for Georgetown University, the University of Virginia, American University, Northeastern University, the University of Maryland Global Campus, the University of Iowa, Rutgers University, the University of Florida, the University of Alabama and Purdue University.