-
Rocking in the Free World
- Popular Music and the Politics of Freedom in Postwar America
- Narrated by: Derek Dysart
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Rocking in the Free World
Buy for $17.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Jay-Z
- Made in America
- By: Michael Eric Dyson, Pharrell - foreword
- Narrated by: Michael Eric Dyson, Nick Cannon
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,577
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,356
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,349
Jay-Z: Made in America is the fruit of Michael Eric Dyson’s decade of teaching the work of one of the greatest poets this nation has produced, as gifted a wordsmith as Walt Whitman, Robert Frost and Rita Dove. But as a rapper, he’s sometimes not given the credit he deserves for just how great an artist he’s been for so long.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
No Surprises for Fans
- By Tim & Ty on 12-22-19
By: Michael Eric Dyson, and others
-
The Nineties
- A Book
- By: Chuck Klosterman
- Narrated by: Chuck Klosterman, Dion Graham
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,869
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,623
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,613
It was long ago, but not as long as it seems: The Berlin Wall fell and the Twin Towers collapsed. In between, one presidential election was allegedly decided by Ross Perot while another was plausibly decided by Ralph Nader. Landlines fell to cell phones, the internet exploded, and pop culture accelerated without the aid of technology that remembered everything. It was the last era with a real mainstream to either identify with or oppose. The ’90s brought about a revolution in the human condition, and a shift in consciousness, that we’re still struggling to understand.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A Very White Middle-class Take On The Nineties
- By Umar Lee on 02-10-22
By: Chuck Klosterman
-
Liberation Through Hearing
- By: Richard M. Russell
- Narrated by: Richard Russell
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 24
For almost 30 years as label boss, producer and talent conductor at XL Recordings, Richard Russell has discovered, shaped and nurtured the artists who have rewritten the musical dictionary of the 21st century, artists like The Prodigy, The White Stripes, Adele, M.I.A., Dizzee Rascal and Giggs. Growing up in north London in thrall to the raw energy of 80's US hip hop, Russell emerged as one part of rave outfit Kicks Like a Mule in 1991 at a moment when new technology enabled a truly punk aesthetic on the fledgling free party scene.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Mandatory Lit for the Music Industry
- By Jake Reuter on 02-15-23
-
The Butterfly Effect
- How Kendrick Lamar Ignited the Soul of Black America
- By: Marcus J. Moore
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 36
Kendrick Lamar is at the top of his game. The 13-time Grammy Award-winning rapper is just in his early 30s, but he’s already won the Pulitzer Prize for Music, produced and curated the soundtrack of the megahit film Black Panther, and has been named one of Time’s 100 Influential People. But what’s even more striking about the Compton-born lyricist and performer is how he’s established himself as a formidable adversary of oppression and force for change.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing Read and or listen
- By Domonique on 04-01-24
By: Marcus J. Moore
-
Goth
- A History
- By: Lol Tolhurst
- Narrated by: Lol Tolhurst, Budgie
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
GOTH is an entertaining and engaging historical memoir, and a journey through Goth music and culture, exploring creative giants like The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Joy Division, and many more great bands that offered a place of refuge for the misfits of the ‘80s and ever since. Written by Lol Tolhurst, co-founder of The Cure, this book offers a riveting retrospective of the genre’s iconic movers and shakers, infused with stories from Tolhurst’s personal trove of memories.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Love Lol
- By Sue MacQ on 03-21-24
By: Lol Tolhurst
-
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties
- By: Jonathan Leaf
- Narrated by: Rick Silversmith
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 104
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 104
In this blast from the past, Leaf exposes the lies and busts the myths propagated by the liberal establishment. Did you know that the civil-rights movement did little to improve the lives of average African Americans and that most Americans actively supported the Vietnam War and the draft?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Biased reviews much?
- By Thomas G on 12-06-20
By: Jonathan Leaf
-
Jay-Z
- Made in America
- By: Michael Eric Dyson, Pharrell - foreword
- Narrated by: Michael Eric Dyson, Nick Cannon
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,577
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,356
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,349
Jay-Z: Made in America is the fruit of Michael Eric Dyson’s decade of teaching the work of one of the greatest poets this nation has produced, as gifted a wordsmith as Walt Whitman, Robert Frost and Rita Dove. But as a rapper, he’s sometimes not given the credit he deserves for just how great an artist he’s been for so long.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
No Surprises for Fans
- By Tim & Ty on 12-22-19
By: Michael Eric Dyson, and others
-
The Nineties
- A Book
- By: Chuck Klosterman
- Narrated by: Chuck Klosterman, Dion Graham
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,869
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,623
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,613
It was long ago, but not as long as it seems: The Berlin Wall fell and the Twin Towers collapsed. In between, one presidential election was allegedly decided by Ross Perot while another was plausibly decided by Ralph Nader. Landlines fell to cell phones, the internet exploded, and pop culture accelerated without the aid of technology that remembered everything. It was the last era with a real mainstream to either identify with or oppose. The ’90s brought about a revolution in the human condition, and a shift in consciousness, that we’re still struggling to understand.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A Very White Middle-class Take On The Nineties
- By Umar Lee on 02-10-22
By: Chuck Klosterman
-
Liberation Through Hearing
- By: Richard M. Russell
- Narrated by: Richard Russell
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 24
For almost 30 years as label boss, producer and talent conductor at XL Recordings, Richard Russell has discovered, shaped and nurtured the artists who have rewritten the musical dictionary of the 21st century, artists like The Prodigy, The White Stripes, Adele, M.I.A., Dizzee Rascal and Giggs. Growing up in north London in thrall to the raw energy of 80's US hip hop, Russell emerged as one part of rave outfit Kicks Like a Mule in 1991 at a moment when new technology enabled a truly punk aesthetic on the fledgling free party scene.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Mandatory Lit for the Music Industry
- By Jake Reuter on 02-15-23
-
The Butterfly Effect
- How Kendrick Lamar Ignited the Soul of Black America
- By: Marcus J. Moore
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 36
Kendrick Lamar is at the top of his game. The 13-time Grammy Award-winning rapper is just in his early 30s, but he’s already won the Pulitzer Prize for Music, produced and curated the soundtrack of the megahit film Black Panther, and has been named one of Time’s 100 Influential People. But what’s even more striking about the Compton-born lyricist and performer is how he’s established himself as a formidable adversary of oppression and force for change.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing Read and or listen
- By Domonique on 04-01-24
By: Marcus J. Moore
-
Goth
- A History
- By: Lol Tolhurst
- Narrated by: Lol Tolhurst, Budgie
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
GOTH is an entertaining and engaging historical memoir, and a journey through Goth music and culture, exploring creative giants like The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Joy Division, and many more great bands that offered a place of refuge for the misfits of the ‘80s and ever since. Written by Lol Tolhurst, co-founder of The Cure, this book offers a riveting retrospective of the genre’s iconic movers and shakers, infused with stories from Tolhurst’s personal trove of memories.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Love Lol
- By Sue MacQ on 03-21-24
By: Lol Tolhurst
-
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties
- By: Jonathan Leaf
- Narrated by: Rick Silversmith
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 104
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 104
In this blast from the past, Leaf exposes the lies and busts the myths propagated by the liberal establishment. Did you know that the civil-rights movement did little to improve the lives of average African Americans and that most Americans actively supported the Vietnam War and the draft?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Biased reviews much?
- By Thomas G on 12-06-20
By: Jonathan Leaf
-
Revolver
- How the Beatles Re-Imagined Rock 'n' Roll
- By: Robert Rodriguez
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 24
Acquired wisdom has always put Sgt. Pepper at the head of the class, but it was Revolver that truly signaled The Beatles' sea change from a functional band to a studio-based ensemble. These changes began before Rubber Soul but came to fruition on Revolver, which took an astonishing 300 hours to produce, far more than any rock record before it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Revolver: The Beatles' Peak
- By sabmcd on 02-17-24
By: Robert Rodriguez
-
The Walrus and the Elephants
- John Lennon’s Years of Revolution
- By: James A. Mitchell
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
In late 1971 John Lennon left London behind and moved to New York, eager to join a youth movement rallying for social justice and an end to the Vietnam War. Lennon was quickly embraced by radicals and revolutionaries, the hippies and Yippies at odds with the establishment. Settling in Greenwich Village, the heart of Manhattan's counterculture, the former Beatle was soon on the frontlines of the antiwar movement and championing a range of causes and issues.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
I wish you were still here
- By Kazuhiko on 12-09-13
-
Entertaining Race
- Performing Blackness in America
- By: Michael Eric Dyson
- Narrated by: Michael Eric Dyson
- Length: 21 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
For more than 30 years, Michael Eric Dyson has played a prominent role in the nation as a public intellectual, university professor, cultural critic, social activist and ordained Baptist minister. He has presented a rich and resourceful set of ideas about American history and culture. Now for the first time he brings together the various components of his multihued identity and eclectic pursuits.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
M.E.Dyson Entertaining At His Best
- By Amazon Customer on 11-13-21
-
Jimmy Page
- The Definitive Biography
- By: Chris Salewicz
- Narrated by: Tom McGairl
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 127
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 111
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 111
An in-depth biography of Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page by the acclaimed biographer of Bob Marley and Joe Strummer, based upon the author's extensive research and interviews.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Light & Shade was more "definitive"
- By Forget about it on 03-04-20
By: Chris Salewicz
-
Man in the Music
- The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson
- By: Joseph Vogel
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 24
The first book dedicated solely to exploring his creative work, Man in the Music guides us through an unparalleled analysis of Jackson’s recordings, album by album, from his trailblazing work with Quincy Jones to his later collaborations with Teddy Riley, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Rodney Jerkins. Drawing on rare archival material and on dozens of original interviews with many who helped bring the artist’s music into the world, Jackson expert and acclaimed cultural critic Joseph Vogel reveals what gave rise to an immortal body of work.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Full of inaccuracies, hearsay and sensationalism
- By Carl on 07-14-20
By: Joseph Vogel
-
Otis Redding
- An Unfinished Life
- By: Jonathan Gould
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
In Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life, Jonathan Gould finally does justice to Redding's incomparable musical artistry, drawing on exhaustive research, the cooperation of the Redding family, and previously unavailable sources of information to present the first comprehensive portrait of the singer's background, his upbringing, and his professional career.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
a brilliant musical history lesson
- By John M. Twomey on 03-11-21
By: Jonathan Gould
-
Deliver Me from Nowhere
- The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska
- By: Warren Zanes
- Narrated by: Warren Zanes
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 95
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 74
Without Nebraska, Bruce Springsteen might not be who he is today. The natural follow-up to Springsteen’s hugely successful album The River should have been the hit-packed Born in the U.S.A. But instead, in 1982, he came out with an album consisting of a series of dark songs he had recorded by himself, for himself. But more than forty years later, Nebraska is arguably Springsteen’s most important record—the lasting clue to understanding not just his career as an artist and the vision behind it, but also the man himself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Much more than a “Making of” story…
- By W. Smith on 05-31-23
By: Warren Zanes
-
Stayin' Alive
- The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class
- By: Jefferson R. Cowie
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
A wide-ranging cultural and political history that will forever redefine a misunderstood decade, Stayin' Alive is prize-winning historian Jefferson Cowie's remarkable account of how working-class America hit the rocks in the political and economic upheavals of the 1970s. In this edgy and incisive book, Cowie, with "an ear for the power and poetry of vernacular speech" (Cleveland Plain Dealer), reveals America's fascinating path from rising incomes and optimism of the New Deal to the widening economic inequalities and dampened expectations of the present.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Couldn’t get past “rank and file”
- By A. Arena on 10-13-21
-
Sunny Days
- The Children's Television Revolution That Changed America
- By: David Kamp
- Narrated by: David Sadzin
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
In 1970, on a soundstage on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, a group of men, women, and Muppets of various ages and colors worked doggedly to finish the first season of a children’s TV program that was not yet assured a second season: Sesame Street. They were conducting an experiment to see if television could be used to better prepare disadvantaged preschoolers for kindergarten. What they didn’t know then was that they were starting a cultural revolution that would affect all American kids.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Not What You Expect.
- By Erik Peter Carlson on 03-06-21
By: David Kamp
-
Here We Are Now
- The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain
- By: Charles R. Cross
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
Simply stated, Kurt Cobain changed the cultural conversation in his all-too-brief life, and even after his shattering death. With interviews and commentary from all corners of the pop culture universe, from the people who knew Cobain to those who continue to help his legend grow, Here We Are Now explores what a singular life meant, and how that meaning can be measured, when and if it can be.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An amazing afterword on culture post Cobain
- By Rebecca F. on 06-11-15
By: Charles R. Cross
-
Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me
- What Pop Music Rivalries Reveal About the Meaning of Life
- By: Steven Hyden
- Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 214
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 192
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 193
Music opinions bring out passionate debate in people, and Steven Hyden knows that firsthand. Each chapter in Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me focuses on a pop music rivalry, from the classic to the very recent, and draws connections to the larger forces surrounding the pairing.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Great title but not very good overall
- By Noam on 03-21-19
By: Steven Hyden
-
She Begat This
- 20 Years of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
- By: Joan Morgan
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 76
Released in 1998, Lauryn Hill’s first solo album is often cited by music critics as one of the most important recordings in modern history. Artists from Beyoncé to Nicki Minaj have claimed it as an inspiration, and it was recently included in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, as well as named the second greatest album by a woman in history by NPR (right behind Joni Mitchell’s Blue). Award-winning feminist author and journalist Joan Morgan delivers an expansive, in-depth, and heartfelt analysis of the album and its enduring place in pop culture.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Skipping—audio problems
- By Paula C. Clark on 08-13-18
By: Joan Morgan
Publisher's summary
Progressive and libertarian, anti-Communist and revolutionary, Democratic and Republican, quintessentially American but simultaneously universal. By the late 1980s, rock music had acquired a dizzying array of political labels. These claims about its political significance shared one common thread: that the music could set you free.
Rocking in the Free World explains how Americans came to believe they had learned the truth about rock 'n' roll, a truth shaped by the Cold War anxieties of the fifties, the countercultural revolutions (and counter-revolutions) of the sixties and seventies, and the end-of-history triumphalism of the eighties. How did rock 'n' roll become enmeshed with so many different competing ideas about freedom? And what does that story reveal about the promise—and the limits—of rock music as a political force in postwar America?
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
Music
- A Subversive History
- By: Ted Gioia
- Narrated by: Jamie Renell
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 125
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 106
Histories of music overwhelmingly suppress stories of the outsiders and rebels who created musical revolutions and instead celebrate the mainstream assimilators who borrowed innovations, diluted their impact, and disguised their sources. In Music: A Subversive History, Ted Gioia reclaims the story of music for the riffraff, insurgents, and provocateurs. Gioia tells a 4,000-year history of music as a global source of power, change, and upheaval.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Squeezing cherry-picked facts into a simplistic narrative
- By Erik A. Ritland on 11-24-20
By: Ted Gioia
-
With Amusement for All
- A History of American Popular Culture since 1830
- By: LeRoy Ashby
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 33 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 64
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 64
With Amusement for All is the first comprehensive history of two centuries of mass entertainment in the United States, covering everything from the penny press to Playboy, the NBA to NASCAR, big band to hip hop, and other topics including film, comics, television, sports, and music. Paying careful attention to matters of race, gender, class, economics, and politics, LeRoy Ashby emphasizes the complex ways in which popular culture simultaneously reflects and transforms American culture.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
So Much Fun!
- By Paul on 11-28-13
By: LeRoy Ashby
-
Can't Stop Won't Stop
- A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
- By: Jeff Chang
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 19 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 143
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 119
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 121
Forged in the fires of the Bronx and Kingston, Jamaica, hip-hop became the Esperanto of youth rebellion and a generation-defining movement. In a post-civil rights era defined by deindustrialization and globalization, hip-hop crystallized a multiracial, polycultural generation's worldview and transformed American politics and culture. But that epic story has never been told with this kind of breadth, insight, and style.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Not About Hip Hop Music
- By A. Yerkes on 09-06-19
By: Jeff Chang
-
All Shook Up
- How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America
- By: Glenn C. Altschuler
- Narrated by: Jack Garrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 52
As Glenn Altschuler reveals in All Shook Up, the rise of rock 'n roll--and the outraged reception to it--in fact can tell us a lot about the values of the United States in the 1950s, a decade that saw a great struggle for the control of popular culture. Altschuler shows, in particular, how rock's "switchblade beat" opened up wide fissures in American society along the fault-lines of family, sexuality, and race.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
50's Rock&Roll was more of a force than I thought
- By James on 10-19-11
-
Pure Invention
- How Japan's Pop Culture Conquered the World
- By: Matt Alt
- Narrated by: Matt Alt
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 246
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 213
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 212
Japan is the forge of the world’s fantasies: karaoke and the Walkman, manga and anime, Pac-Man and Pokémon, online imageboards and emojis. But as Japan media veteran Matt Alt proves in this brilliant investigation, these novelties did more than entertain. They paved the way for our perplexing modern lives.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
great book ruined by ending
- By Grant Holder on 06-07-22
By: Matt Alt
-
On the Shoulders of Giants
- My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance
- By: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Raymond Obstfeld
- Narrated by: Richard Allen
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
In On the Shoulders of Giants, indomitable basketball star and best-selling author and historian Kareem Abdul-Jabbar invites listeners on an extraordinarily personal journey back to his birthplace. He leads us through one of the greatest political, cultural, literary, and artistic movements in our history, revealing the tremendous impact the Harlem Renaissance had on both American culture and his own life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The best of both worlds
- By Marianne on 10-06-08
By: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and others
-
Music
- A Subversive History
- By: Ted Gioia
- Narrated by: Jamie Renell
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 125
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 106
Histories of music overwhelmingly suppress stories of the outsiders and rebels who created musical revolutions and instead celebrate the mainstream assimilators who borrowed innovations, diluted their impact, and disguised their sources. In Music: A Subversive History, Ted Gioia reclaims the story of music for the riffraff, insurgents, and provocateurs. Gioia tells a 4,000-year history of music as a global source of power, change, and upheaval.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Squeezing cherry-picked facts into a simplistic narrative
- By Erik A. Ritland on 11-24-20
By: Ted Gioia
-
With Amusement for All
- A History of American Popular Culture since 1830
- By: LeRoy Ashby
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 33 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 64
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 64
With Amusement for All is the first comprehensive history of two centuries of mass entertainment in the United States, covering everything from the penny press to Playboy, the NBA to NASCAR, big band to hip hop, and other topics including film, comics, television, sports, and music. Paying careful attention to matters of race, gender, class, economics, and politics, LeRoy Ashby emphasizes the complex ways in which popular culture simultaneously reflects and transforms American culture.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
So Much Fun!
- By Paul on 11-28-13
By: LeRoy Ashby
-
Can't Stop Won't Stop
- A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
- By: Jeff Chang
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 19 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 143
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 119
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 121
Forged in the fires of the Bronx and Kingston, Jamaica, hip-hop became the Esperanto of youth rebellion and a generation-defining movement. In a post-civil rights era defined by deindustrialization and globalization, hip-hop crystallized a multiracial, polycultural generation's worldview and transformed American politics and culture. But that epic story has never been told with this kind of breadth, insight, and style.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Not About Hip Hop Music
- By A. Yerkes on 09-06-19
By: Jeff Chang
-
All Shook Up
- How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America
- By: Glenn C. Altschuler
- Narrated by: Jack Garrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 52
As Glenn Altschuler reveals in All Shook Up, the rise of rock 'n roll--and the outraged reception to it--in fact can tell us a lot about the values of the United States in the 1950s, a decade that saw a great struggle for the control of popular culture. Altschuler shows, in particular, how rock's "switchblade beat" opened up wide fissures in American society along the fault-lines of family, sexuality, and race.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
50's Rock&Roll was more of a force than I thought
- By James on 10-19-11
-
Pure Invention
- How Japan's Pop Culture Conquered the World
- By: Matt Alt
- Narrated by: Matt Alt
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 246
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 213
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 212
Japan is the forge of the world’s fantasies: karaoke and the Walkman, manga and anime, Pac-Man and Pokémon, online imageboards and emojis. But as Japan media veteran Matt Alt proves in this brilliant investigation, these novelties did more than entertain. They paved the way for our perplexing modern lives.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
great book ruined by ending
- By Grant Holder on 06-07-22
By: Matt Alt
-
On the Shoulders of Giants
- My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance
- By: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Raymond Obstfeld
- Narrated by: Richard Allen
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
In On the Shoulders of Giants, indomitable basketball star and best-selling author and historian Kareem Abdul-Jabbar invites listeners on an extraordinarily personal journey back to his birthplace. He leads us through one of the greatest political, cultural, literary, and artistic movements in our history, revealing the tremendous impact the Harlem Renaissance had on both American culture and his own life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The best of both worlds
- By Marianne on 10-06-08
By: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and others
-
The History of Rock & Roll
- Volume 1: 1920-1963
- By: Ed Ward
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 15 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 101
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 99
Ed Ward covers the first half of the history of rock & roll in this sweeping and definitive narrative - from the 1920s, when the music of rambling medicine shows mingled with the songs of vaudeville and minstrel acts to create the very early sounds of country and rhythm and blues, to the rise of the first independent record labels post-World War II, and concluding in December 1963, just as an immense change in the airwaves took hold and the Beatles prepared for their first American tour.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Author's blindspots mar this book
- By Mark Clark on 03-28-17
By: Ed Ward
-
1959
- The Year Everything Changed
- By: Fred Kaplan
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 141
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 97
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 96
Acclaimed national security columnist and noted cultural critic Fred Kaplan looks past the 1960s to the year that really changed AmericaWhile conventional accounts focus on the 60s as the era of pivotal change that swept the nation, Fred Kaplan argues that it was 1959 that ushered in the wave of tremendous cultural, political, and scientific shifts that would play out in the decades that followed.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Facinating look at a neglected moment in history
- By James on 05-25-11
By: Fred Kaplan
-
The Walrus and the Elephants
- John Lennon’s Years of Revolution
- By: James A. Mitchell
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
In late 1971 John Lennon left London behind and moved to New York, eager to join a youth movement rallying for social justice and an end to the Vietnam War. Lennon was quickly embraced by radicals and revolutionaries, the hippies and Yippies at odds with the establishment. Settling in Greenwich Village, the heart of Manhattan's counterculture, the former Beatle was soon on the frontlines of the antiwar movement and championing a range of causes and issues.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
I wish you were still here
- By Kazuhiko on 12-09-13
-
The Nineties
- A Book
- By: Chuck Klosterman
- Narrated by: Chuck Klosterman, Dion Graham
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,869
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,623
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,613
It was long ago, but not as long as it seems: The Berlin Wall fell and the Twin Towers collapsed. In between, one presidential election was allegedly decided by Ross Perot while another was plausibly decided by Ralph Nader. Landlines fell to cell phones, the internet exploded, and pop culture accelerated without the aid of technology that remembered everything. It was the last era with a real mainstream to either identify with or oppose. The ’90s brought about a revolution in the human condition, and a shift in consciousness, that we’re still struggling to understand.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A Very White Middle-class Take On The Nineties
- By Umar Lee on 02-10-22
By: Chuck Klosterman
-
Jay-Z
- Made in America
- By: Michael Eric Dyson, Pharrell - foreword
- Narrated by: Michael Eric Dyson, Nick Cannon
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,577
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,356
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,349
Jay-Z: Made in America is the fruit of Michael Eric Dyson’s decade of teaching the work of one of the greatest poets this nation has produced, as gifted a wordsmith as Walt Whitman, Robert Frost and Rita Dove. But as a rapper, he’s sometimes not given the credit he deserves for just how great an artist he’s been for so long.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
No Surprises for Fans
- By Tim & Ty on 12-22-19
By: Michael Eric Dyson, and others
-
Cool Town
- How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture
- By: Grace Elizabeth Hale
- Narrated by: Emily Cauldwell
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
In 1979, the self-titled debut album by the B-52s burst onto the Billboard charts, capturing the imagination of fans and music critics worldwide. The fact that the group had formed in the sleepy southern college town of Athens, Georgia, only increased the fascination. Soon, more Athens bands followed the B-52s into the vanguard of the new American music that would come to be known as "alternative", including R.E.M., who catapulted over the course of the 1980s to the top of the musical mainstream.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I feel like I was there when it happened
- By Joseph Suciu on 01-11-23
-
Here We Are Now
- The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain
- By: Charles R. Cross
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
Simply stated, Kurt Cobain changed the cultural conversation in his all-too-brief life, and even after his shattering death. With interviews and commentary from all corners of the pop culture universe, from the people who knew Cobain to those who continue to help his legend grow, Here We Are Now explores what a singular life meant, and how that meaning can be measured, when and if it can be.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An amazing afterword on culture post Cobain
- By Rebecca F. on 06-11-15
By: Charles R. Cross
-
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties
- By: Jonathan Leaf
- Narrated by: Rick Silversmith
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 104
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 104
In this blast from the past, Leaf exposes the lies and busts the myths propagated by the liberal establishment. Did you know that the civil-rights movement did little to improve the lives of average African Americans and that most Americans actively supported the Vietnam War and the draft?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Biased reviews much?
- By Thomas G on 12-06-20
By: Jonathan Leaf
-
Stayin' Alive
- The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class
- By: Jefferson R. Cowie
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
A wide-ranging cultural and political history that will forever redefine a misunderstood decade, Stayin' Alive is prize-winning historian Jefferson Cowie's remarkable account of how working-class America hit the rocks in the political and economic upheavals of the 1970s. In this edgy and incisive book, Cowie, with "an ear for the power and poetry of vernacular speech" (Cleveland Plain Dealer), reveals America's fascinating path from rising incomes and optimism of the New Deal to the widening economic inequalities and dampened expectations of the present.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Couldn’t get past “rank and file”
- By A. Arena on 10-13-21
-
1965
- The Most Revolutionary Year in Music
- By: Andrew Grant Jackson
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
During 12 unforgettable months in the middle of the turbulent '60s, America saw the rise of innovative new sounds that would change popular music as we knew it. In 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music, music historian Andrew Grant Jackson (Still the Greatest: The Essential Songs of The Beatles' Solo Careers) chronicles a groundbreaking year of creativity fueled by rivalries between musicians and continents, sweeping social changes, and technological breakthroughs.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Seems like a good overview
- By wylie smith on 01-12-23
-
Feminism and Pop Culture
- Seal Studies
- By: Andi Zeisler
- Narrated by: Angela Reed
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
Whether or not we like to admit it, pop culture is a lens through which we alternately view and shape the world around us. When it comes to feminism, pop culture aids us in translating feminist philosophies, issues, and concepts into everyday language, making them relevant and relatable. In Feminism and Pop Culture, author and cofounder of Bitch magazine Andi Zeisler traces the impact of feminism on pop culture (and vice versa) from the 1940s to the present and beyond.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Really needs an update
- By Lori Grossman on 04-05-18
By: Andi Zeisler
-
Dig If You Will the Picture
- Funk, Sex, God and Genius in the Music of Prince
- By: Ben Greenman
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
Ben Greenman, New York Times best-selling author, contributing writer to The New Yorker, and owner of thousands of recordings of Prince and Prince-related songs, knows intimately that there has never been a rock star as vibrant, mercurial, willfully contrary, experimental, or prolific as Prince. Uniting a diverse audience while remaining singularly himself, Prince was a tireless artist, a musical virtuoso and chameleon, and a pop-culture prophet.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Reads like a indepth career review & analysis
- By herb on 05-18-17
By: Ben Greenman