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A Debt Against the Living
- An Introduction to Originalism
- Narrated by: Ilan Wurman
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
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A Debt Against the Living
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Publisher's summary
Thomas Jefferson famously wrote that the earth belongs to the living. His letter to James Madison is often quoted for the proposition that we should not be bound to the "dead hand of the past", suggesting that the constitution should, instead, be interpreted as a living, breathing document. Less well-known is Madison's response, in which he said the improvements made by the dead - including the US Constitution - form a debt against the living who benefit from them.
In this illuminating book, Ilan Wurman introduces Madison's concept of originalism to a new generation and shows how it has shaped the US Supreme Court in ways that are expected to continue, following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the theory's leading proponents.
This audiobook should be listened to by anyone seeking a better understanding of originalism and its ongoing influence on the constitutional jurisprudence of the Supreme Court.
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-
Story5 out of 5 stars 94
The Constitution of Liberty is considered Hayek's classic statement on the ideals of freedom and liberty, ideals that he believes have guided - and must continue to guide - the growth of Western civilization. Here, Hayek defends the principles of a free society, casting a skeptical eye on the growth of the welfare state and examining the challenges to freedom posed by an ever-expanding government.
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5 out of 5 stars
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very detailed and important
- By Big Kyle 570 on 06-17-20
By: Ronald Hamowy - Edited by, and others
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The Bill of Rights Primer
- A Citizen's Guidebook to the American Bill of Rights
- By: Akhil Reed Amar, Les Adams
- Narrated by: Tim Lundeen
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 66
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 59
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 59
Many Americans reference the Bill of Rights, a document that represents many of the freedoms that define the United States. Who doesn’t know about the First Amendment’s freedom of religion or Second Amendment’s right to bear arms? In this succinct volume, Akhil Reed Amar and Les Adams offer a wealth of knowledge about the Bill of Rights that goes beyond a basic understanding.The Bill of Rights Primer is an authoritative guide to all American freedoms. Uncluttered and well-organized, this audiobook is perfect for those who want to study up on the Bill of Rights without needing a law degree to do so.
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5 out of 5 stars
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At this length, basic; but at that, great
- By Philo on 06-10-15
By: Akhil Reed Amar, and others
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The Founders' Key
- The Divine and Natural Connection Between the Declaration and the Constitution and What We Risk by Losing It
- By: Dr. Larry Arnn
- Narrated by: Van Tracy
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 20
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 18
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Story5 out of 5 stars 18
Dr. Arnn, president of Hillsdale College, reveals this integral unity of the Declaration and the Constitution. Together, they form the pillars upon which the liberties and rights of the American people stand. United, they have guided history's first self-governing nation, forming our government under certain universal and eternal principles. Unfortunately, the effort to redefine government to reflect "the changing and growing social order" has gone very far toward success.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Beautiful Reaffirmation of the Forgotten Principles of the American Founders
- By Jonathan on 03-14-23
By: Dr. Larry Arnn
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The Nation That Never Was
- Reconstructing America's Story
- By: Kermit Roosevelt
- Narrated by: Kermit Roosevelt III
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
We face a dilemma these days. We want to be honest about our history and the racism and oppression that Americans have both inflicted and endured. But we want to be proud of our country, too. In The Nation That Never Was, Roosevelt shows how we can do both those things by realizing we’re not the country we thought we were. Reconstruction, Roosevelt argues, was not a fulfillment of the ideals of the Founding but rather a repudiation: we modern Americans are not the heirs of the Founders but of the people who overthrew and destroyed that political order.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A beacon of hope...
- By Kindle Customer on 04-15-24
By: Kermit Roosevelt
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The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787
- By: Gordon S. Wood
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 24 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 76
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 61
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 61
This classic work explains the evolution of American political thought from the Declaration of Independence to the ratification of the Constitution. In so doing, it greatly illuminates the origins of the present American political system.
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1 out of 5 stars
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This Audible book is NOT for a popular audience!
- By BigWally on 11-22-18
By: Gordon S. Wood
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The Constitution
- An Introduction
- By: Michael Stokes Paulsen, Luke Paulsen
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 125
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 110
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 112
From war powers to health care, freedom of speech to gun ownership, religious liberty to abortion, practically every aspect of American life is shaped by the Constitution. This vital document, along with its history of political and judicial interpretation, governs our individual lives and the life of our nation. Yet most of us know surprisingly little about the Constitution itself, and are woefully unprepared to think for ourselves about recent developments in its long and storied history.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Constitution-A must reading for All Americans
- By Robert on 06-12-15
By: Michael Stokes Paulsen, and others
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Hitler's American Model
- The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law
- By: James Q. Whitman
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 233
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 200
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 199
Nazism triumphed in Germany during the high era of Jim Crow laws in the United States. Did the American regime of racial oppression in any way inspire the Nazis? The unsettling answer is yes. James Whitman presents a detailed investigation of the American impact on the notorious Nuremberg Laws, the centerpiece anti-Jewish legislation of the Nazi regime.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Did not we suspect this?
- By dessa on 11-04-18
By: James Q. Whitman
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The Idea of America
- By: Gordon S Wood
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
The preeminent historian of the American Revolution explains why it remains the most significant event in our history
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5 out of 5 stars
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Sophisticated analyses
- By Roger on 01-25-12
By: Gordon S Wood
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On Liberty
- By: John Stuart Mill
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 4 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 668
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 574
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 569
First published in 1859, John Stuart Mill's On Liberty is an exhaustive exploration of social and civic liberty, its limits, and its consequences. Mill's work is a classic of political liberalism that contains a rational justification of the freedom of the individual in opposition to the claims of the state.
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5 out of 5 stars
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should be read by liberals and conservatives
- By Jim Hennessy on 09-13-18
By: John Stuart Mill
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Making Our Democracy Work
- A Judge’s View
- By: Justice Stephen Breyer
- Narrated by: Luis Moreno
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 64
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 45
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer delivers an impassioned argument for the proper role of America’s highest judicial body. Examining historic and contemporary decisions by the Court, Breyer highlights the rulings that have bolstered public confidence as well as the missteps that have triggered distrust. What emerges is a unique approach - certain to be admired for years to come - to interpreting the Constitution.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Timely
- By Don on 05-17-17
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The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution
- By: Bernard Bailyn
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 72
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
To the original text of what has become a classic of American historical literature, Bernard Bailyn adds a substantial essay, "Fulfillment", as a postscript. Here he discusses the intense nationwide debate on the ratification of the Constitution, stressing the continuities between that struggle over the foundations of the national government and the original principles of the Revolution.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Bernard Bailyn is a genius!
- By John M. Crean on 04-21-19
By: Bernard Bailyn
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A Short History of Ethics
- By: Alasdair MacIntyre
- Narrated by: Tim Dalgleish
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
A Short History of Ethics is a significant contribution written by one of the most important living philosophers. It remains an important work, ideal for all students interested in ethics and morality.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great philosopher made ridiculous by accents
- By Olivia Walling on 10-04-17
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The Original Argument
- The Federalists' Case for the Constitution, Adapted for the 21st Century
- By: Glenn Beck, Pat Gray
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 369
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 280
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 276
Glenn Beck revisited Thomas Paine’s famous pre-Revolutionary War call to action in his #1 New York Times bestseller Glenn Beck’s Common Sense. Now he brings his historical acumen and political savvy to this fresh, new interpretation of The Federalist Papers.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A must for Freedom lovers
- By Danny on 06-16-11
By: Glenn Beck, and others
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Corruption in America
- From Benjamin Franklin's Snuff Box to Citizens United
- By: Zephyr Teachout
- Narrated by: Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 102
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 89
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 88
For two centuries, the Framers' ideas about political corruption flourished in the courts, even in the absence of clear rules governing voters, civil officers, and elected officials. In the 1970s, the U.S. Supreme Court began to narrow the definition of corruption, and the meaning has since changed dramatically. No case makes that clearer than Citizens United.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Law Review+
- By Ben P. on 01-02-17
By: Zephyr Teachout
What listeners say about A Debt Against the Living
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Michael
- 03-14-22
Incredible Introduction to Modern Originalism
Professor Wurman takes an interpretational philosophy that is often-times intentionally misunderstood and maligned by undisciplined judicial theorists and makes it easily digestible for those who are interested in actually understanding the Originalist view.
Even if you don't come out the other side a converted Originalist, the book is worth the short time investment, presenting a logical, methodical counter to the undisciplined judicial activism that runs rampant through American courts today, while simultaneously rebutting the idea that modern law is utterly bound by 18th-century social structures. Professor Wurman describes the inherent brilliance of the Constitution as a document both for change and for constraining the tyranny of the majority, and the superiority of the Originalist view for fully realizing that goal.
Highly recommended.
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