The Physics You Need

I've often thought "There ought to be a general physics course that goes beyond inclined planes and entropy, that teaches people enough about current physics-related stuff that they won't get demagogued into voting for nonsense."  Turns out, there is such a course currently being taught at Berkley, and here's the textbook.  If you attend Berkley, take the damn course already.
But not everyone goes to Berkley.  If you don't there's still a solution for you, because the textbook's author has an accessible paperback covering much the same material: Physics for Future Presidents: the Science Behind the Headlines.
What's covered?  It's divided into five sections; here we go:

1. Terrorism: Why jet fuel on airliners was so bad on 9/11, why dirty bombs and small nukes are bad but not world-rocking, and what the next attack attempts could be.
2. Energy: Why oil is just freekin' great stuff (to a point), and all about solar power.
3. Nukes: Basics, bombs, fission reactors, what to do with all the waste, and (someday!) fusion reactors.
4. Space: Manned, unmanned, and remote sensing.
5. Global Warming: Hype, hope, evidence, outright propaganda, non-solutions, and what will actually help without wrecking the economy.

Don't be intimidated, it's relatively math-free, and what few numbers are thrown around have been have been heavily rounded to make mental estimates easy.  Jump in, have some fun, get smarter.  I'll be blunt: if there's one book you read this year, make it this one.