-
What's Prison For?
- Punishment and Rehabilitation in the Age of Mass Incarceration (Columbia Global Reports)
- Narrated by: Landon Woodson
- Length: 3 hrs and 56 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.
What's Prison For?
Buy for $11.25
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Are Prisons Obsolete?
- By: Angela Y. Davis
- Narrated by: Angela Y. Davis
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 82
With her characteristic brilliance, grace, and radical audacity, Angela Y. Davis has put the case for the latest abolition movement in American life: the abolition of the prison. As she quite correctly notes, American life is replete with abolition movements, and when they were engaged in these struggles, their chances of success seemed almost unthinkable. In Are Prisons Obsolete?, Professor Davis seeks to illustrate that the time for the prison is approaching an end. She argues forthrightly for "decarceration," and argues for the transformation of the society as a whole.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Buying the paperback now too
- By Theresa Frey on 03-14-23
By: Angela Y. Davis
-
The Persuaders
- At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy
- By: Anand Giridharadas
- Narrated by: Anand Giridharadas
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 331
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 284
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 280
The lifeblood of any free society is persuasion: changing other people’s minds in order to change things. But America is suffering a crisis of faith in persuasion that is putting its democracy and the planet itself at risk. Anand Giridharadas takes us inside these movements and battles, seeking out the dissenters who continue to champion persuasion in an age of polarization. As the book’s subjects grapple with how to call out injustices while calling in those who don’t agree with them but just might one day, they point a way to healing, and changing, a fracturing country.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Everyone should read this book
- By bluephoenix515 on 11-24-22
-
Of Boys and Men
- Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It
- By: Richard V. Reeves
- Narrated by: Richard V. Reeves
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 772
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 662
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 651
The father of three sons, a journalist, and a Brookings Institution scholar, Richard V. Reeves has spent twenty-five years worrying about boys both at home and work. His new book, Of Boys and Men, tackles the complex and urgent crisis of boyhood and manhood. Reeves looks at the structural challenges that face boys and men and offers fresh and innovative solutions that turn the page on the corrosive narrative that plagues this issue. Of Boys and Men argues that helping the other half of society does not mean giving up on the ideal of gender equality.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Regretful of My Knee-jerk Reaction To This Title 😔
- By Hazel Winters on 10-13-22
-
Recoding America
- Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better
- By: Jennifer Pahlka
- Narrated by: Jennifer Pahlka
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 117
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 106
A bold call to reexamine how our government operates—and sometimes fails to—from President Obama’s former deputy chief technology officer and the founder of Code for America.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very good, minimally partisan.
- By Samuel Mebane on 11-25-23
By: Jennifer Pahlka
-
Tyranny of the Minority
- Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point
- By: Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 197
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 179
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 179
America is undergoing a massive experiment: It is moving, in fits and starts, toward a multiracial democracy, something few societies have ever done. But the prospect of change has sparked an authoritarian backlash that threatens the very foundations of our political system. Why is democracy under assault here, and not in other wealthy, diversifying nations? And what can we do to save it?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Tyranny of the Minority
- By orders on 10-07-23
By: Steven Levitsky, and others
-
Newjack
- Guarding Sing Sing
- By: Ted Conover
- Narrated by: Ted Conover
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 484
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 356
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 357
As he struggles to be a good officer, Ted Conover angers inmates, dodges blows, works to balance decency with toughness, and participates in prison rituals - strip frisks, cell searches, cell "extractions" - that exact a toll on inmates and officers alike. The tale begins with the corrections academy and ends with the flames and smoke of New Year's Eve on Conover's floor of the notorious B-Block. Along the way, Conover also recounts the history of Sing Sing.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
THE BEST BOOK ON PRISON LIFE I HAVE EVER READ!!!
- By Steve on 06-27-09
By: Ted Conover
-
Are Prisons Obsolete?
- By: Angela Y. Davis
- Narrated by: Angela Y. Davis
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 82
With her characteristic brilliance, grace, and radical audacity, Angela Y. Davis has put the case for the latest abolition movement in American life: the abolition of the prison. As she quite correctly notes, American life is replete with abolition movements, and when they were engaged in these struggles, their chances of success seemed almost unthinkable. In Are Prisons Obsolete?, Professor Davis seeks to illustrate that the time for the prison is approaching an end. She argues forthrightly for "decarceration," and argues for the transformation of the society as a whole.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Buying the paperback now too
- By Theresa Frey on 03-14-23
By: Angela Y. Davis
-
The Persuaders
- At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy
- By: Anand Giridharadas
- Narrated by: Anand Giridharadas
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 331
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 284
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 280
The lifeblood of any free society is persuasion: changing other people’s minds in order to change things. But America is suffering a crisis of faith in persuasion that is putting its democracy and the planet itself at risk. Anand Giridharadas takes us inside these movements and battles, seeking out the dissenters who continue to champion persuasion in an age of polarization. As the book’s subjects grapple with how to call out injustices while calling in those who don’t agree with them but just might one day, they point a way to healing, and changing, a fracturing country.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Everyone should read this book
- By bluephoenix515 on 11-24-22
-
Of Boys and Men
- Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It
- By: Richard V. Reeves
- Narrated by: Richard V. Reeves
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 772
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 662
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 651
The father of three sons, a journalist, and a Brookings Institution scholar, Richard V. Reeves has spent twenty-five years worrying about boys both at home and work. His new book, Of Boys and Men, tackles the complex and urgent crisis of boyhood and manhood. Reeves looks at the structural challenges that face boys and men and offers fresh and innovative solutions that turn the page on the corrosive narrative that plagues this issue. Of Boys and Men argues that helping the other half of society does not mean giving up on the ideal of gender equality.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Regretful of My Knee-jerk Reaction To This Title 😔
- By Hazel Winters on 10-13-22
-
Recoding America
- Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better
- By: Jennifer Pahlka
- Narrated by: Jennifer Pahlka
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 117
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 106
A bold call to reexamine how our government operates—and sometimes fails to—from President Obama’s former deputy chief technology officer and the founder of Code for America.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very good, minimally partisan.
- By Samuel Mebane on 11-25-23
By: Jennifer Pahlka
-
Tyranny of the Minority
- Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point
- By: Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 197
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 179
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 179
America is undergoing a massive experiment: It is moving, in fits and starts, toward a multiracial democracy, something few societies have ever done. But the prospect of change has sparked an authoritarian backlash that threatens the very foundations of our political system. Why is democracy under assault here, and not in other wealthy, diversifying nations? And what can we do to save it?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Tyranny of the Minority
- By orders on 10-07-23
By: Steven Levitsky, and others
-
Newjack
- Guarding Sing Sing
- By: Ted Conover
- Narrated by: Ted Conover
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 484
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 356
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 357
As he struggles to be a good officer, Ted Conover angers inmates, dodges blows, works to balance decency with toughness, and participates in prison rituals - strip frisks, cell searches, cell "extractions" - that exact a toll on inmates and officers alike. The tale begins with the corrections academy and ends with the flames and smoke of New Year's Eve on Conover's floor of the notorious B-Block. Along the way, Conover also recounts the history of Sing Sing.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
THE BEST BOOK ON PRISON LIFE I HAVE EVER READ!!!
- By Steve on 06-27-09
By: Ted Conover
-
Halfway Home
- Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration
- By: Reuben Jonathan Miller
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 94
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 93
Reuben Miller, a chaplain at the Cook County Jail in Chicago and now a sociologist studying mass incarceration, spent years alongside prisoners, ex-prisoners, their friends, and their families to understand the lifelong burden that even a single arrest can entail. What his work revealed is a simple, if overlooked truth: life after incarceration is its own form of prison. The idea that one can serve their debt and return to life as a full-fledge member of society is one of America's most nefarious myths.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Halfway to Nowhere
- By William on 04-19-21
-
The Light We Give
- How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life
- By: Simran Jeet Singh
- Narrated by: Simran Jeet Singh
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 63
The Light We Give lays out how we can learn to integrate ethical living to achieve personal happiness and a happier life. It speaks to those who are inspired to take on positive change but don’t know where to begin. To those who crave the chance to be empathetic but are afraid of looking vulnerable. To those who seek the courage to confront hatred with love and compassion. Singh reaches beyond his comfort zone to practice this deeper form of living and explores how everyone can learn the insights and skills that have kept him engaged and led him to commit to activism.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
As a newcomer to Sikhi this book was perfect!
- By Tonneli on 01-24-23
-
White Fear
- How the Browning of America Is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds
- By: Roland S. Martin
- Narrated by: Roland S. Martin
- Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 847
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 738
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 737
For two centuries, the deep-seated fear that many White people feel—of losing power, of losing economic standing, of losing a particular “way of life”—has been the driving force behind American politics and culture. And as we approach a future where White people will become a racial minority in the US, something estimated to occur as early as 2043, that fear is only intensifying, festering, and becoming more visible. Are we destined for a violent clash? What can we do to step into our country’s inevitable future, without tearing ourselves apart in the process?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
an interesting and informative lesson
- By Anonymous User on 09-14-22
By: Roland S. Martin
-
How the South Won the Civil War
- Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America
- By: Heather Cox Richardson
- Narrated by: Heather Cox Richardson
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,471
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,289
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,278
While the North prevailed in the Civil War, ending slavery and giving the country a "new birth of freedom," Heather Cox Richardson argues in this provocative work that democracy's blood-soaked victory was ephemeral. The system that had sustained the defeated South moved westward and there established a foothold. It was a natural fit. Settlers from the East had for decades been pushing into the West, where the seizure of Mexican lands at the end of the Mexican-American War and treatment of Native Americans cemented racial hierarchies....
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing book that wasted such potential.
- By Amazon Customer on 08-07-21
-
Poverty, by America
- By: Matthew Desmond
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 685
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 601
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 600
The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A testimonial based on facts and witness
- By Alonzo Nightjar on 03-27-23
By: Matthew Desmond
-
The Undertow
- Scenes from a Slow Civil War
- By: Jeff Sharlet
- Narrated by: Jeff Sharlet
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 159
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 140
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 140
An unmatched guide to the religious dimensions of American politics, Jeff Sharlet journeys into corners of our national psyche where others fear to tread. The Undertow is both inquiry and meditation, an attempt to understand how, over the last decade, reaction has morphed into delusion, social division into distrust, distrust into paranoia, and hatred into fantasies—sometimes realities—of violence.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I'm just not feeling this one....
- By J. Richmond on 08-04-23
By: Jeff Sharlet
-
Waiting for an Echo
- The Madness of American Incarceration
- By: Christine Montross
- Narrated by: Christine Montross
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 79
Dr. Christine Montross has spent her career treating the most severely ill psychiatric patients. Several years ago, she set out to investigate why so many of her patients got caught up in the legal system when discharged from her care - and what happened to them therein. Waiting for an Echo is a riveting, rarely seen glimpse into American incarceration. It is also a damning account of policies that have criminalized mental illness, shifting large numbers of people who belong in therapeutic settings into punitive ones.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
life changing
- By Diana Kiesel on 08-05-20
-
The Souls of Black Folk
- By: W. E. B. Du Bois
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,085
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,787
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,785
“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line,” writes Du Bois, in one of the most prophetic works in all of American literature. First published in 1903, this collection of 15 essays dared to describe the racism that prevailed at that time in America—and to demand an end to it. Du Bois’ writing draws on his early experiences, from teaching in the hills of Tennessee, to the death of his infant son, to his historic break with the conciliatory position of Booker T. Washington.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Essays of 'life and love and strife and failure'
- By ESK on 02-08-13
By: W. E. B. Du Bois
-
Homegrown
- Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism
- By: Jeffrey Toobin
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Toobin
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 189
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 164
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 164
Timothy McVeigh wanted to start a movement. Speaking to his lawyers days after the Oklahoma City bombing, the Gulf War veteran expressed no regrets: killing 168 people was his patriotic duty. New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin traces the dramatic history and profound legacy of Timothy McVeigh, who once declared, “I believe there is an army out there, ready to rise up, even though I never found it.” But that doesn’t mean his army wasn’t there. With news-breaking reportage, Toobin details how McVeigh’s principles and tactics have flourished in the decades since his death in 2001.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not a great book I’m sorry to say
- By H. Winslow on 05-10-23
By: Jeffrey Toobin
-
Adrift
- America in 100 Charts
- By: Scott Galloway
- Narrated by: Scott Galloway
- Length: 3 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 308
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 264
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 263
We are only just beginning to reckon with our post-pandemic future. As political extremism intensifies, the great resignation affects businesses everywhere, and supply chain issues crush bottom lines, we’re faced with daunting questions—is our democracy under threat? How will Big Tech change our lives? What does job security look like for me? America is on the brink of massive change—change that will disrupt the workings of our economy and drastically impact the financial backbone of our nation: the middle class.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Quick & Informative
- By W. Carillion on 10-06-22
By: Scott Galloway
-
These Are the Plunderers
- How Private Equity Runs—and Wrecks—America
- By: Gretchen Morgenson, Joshua Rosner
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 53
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 44
These Are the Plunderers traces the thirty-year history of corporate takeovers in America and private equity’s increasing dominance. Morgenson and Rosner investigate some of the biggest names in private equity, exposing how they buy companies, load them with debt, and then bleed them of assets and profits. All while prosecutors and regulators stand idly by.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Lacks credibility and fact checking
- By Sam Smith on 05-25-23
By: Gretchen Morgenson, and others
-
The Truths We Hold
- An American Journey
- By: Kamala Harris
- Narrated by: Kamala Harris
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,556
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,975
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,956
By reckoning with the big challenges we face together, drawing on the hard-won wisdom and insight from her own career and the work of those who have most inspired her, Kamala Harris offers in The Truths We Hold a master class in problem solving, in crisis management, and leadership in challenging times. Through the arc of her own life, on into the great work of our day, she communicates a vision of shared struggle, shared purpose, and shared values.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great content, read if possible
- By TCamp72 on 03-07-19
By: Kamala Harris
Publisher's summary
What's Prison For? examines the “incarceration” part of mass incarceration. Our prisons remain a shameful waste of lives and money, feeding a pathological cycle of poverty, community dysfunction, crime and hopelessness. What is the alternative? This book makes the case for better rehabilitation and examines attempts to assure that people return from prison better equipped than when they arrived for the challenges life presents.
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
Automating Inequality
- How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor
- By: Virginia Eubanks
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 129
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 103
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 106
Since the dawn of the digital age, decision-making in finance, politics, health, and human services has undergone revolutionary change. Today, automated systems control which neighborhoods get policed, which families attain needed resources, and who is investigated for fraud. While we all live under this new regime of data, the most invasive and punitive systems are aimed at the poor. In Automating Inequality, Virginia Eubanks systematically investigates the impacts of data mining, policy algorithms, and predictive risk models on poor and working-class people in America.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent research, sprinkled with person bias
- By Katie on 12-31-19
By: Virginia Eubanks
-
Locking Up Our Own
- Crime and Punishment in Black America
- By: James Forman Jr.
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 563
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 495
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 491
Today, Americans are debating our criminal justice system with new urgency. Mass incarceration and aggressive police tactics - and their impact on people of color - are feeding outrage and a consensus that something must be done. But what if we only know half the story? In Locking Up Our Own, the Yale legal scholar and former public defender James Forman Jr. weighs the tragic role that some African Americans themselves played in escalating the war on crime.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding Book
- By Andrew on 12-13-17
By: James Forman Jr.
-
Con Job
- How Democrats Gave Us Crime, Sanctuary Cities, Abortion Profiteering, and Racial Division
- By: Crystal Wright
- Narrated by: Crystal Wright
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 94
Black voters have overwhelmingly supported the Democratic Party for the last fifty years - and for their loyalty, black Americans have been rewarded with worsening schools, collapsed families, skyrocketed incarceration rates, disappearing jobs, and rising crime. Crystal Wright, editor of the blog Conservative Black Chick, exposes how the Democratic Party has systematically betrayed black voters.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome!
- By Tracy on 05-11-16
By: Crystal Wright
-
Chokehold
- Policing Black Men
- By: Paul Butler
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 226
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 199
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 196
Cops, politicians, and ordinary people are afraid of black men. The result is the Chokehold: laws and practices that treat every African American man like a thug. In this explosive new book, an African American former federal prosecutor shows that the system is working exactly the way it's supposed to. Black men are always under watch, and police violence is widespread - all with the support of judges and politicians.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good but not amazing
- By Andrew on 12-16-17
By: Paul Butler
-
Beyond the Messy Truth
- How We Came Apart, How We Come Together
- By: Van Jones
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 330
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 291
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 292
In Beyond the Messy Truth, Jones offers a blueprint for transforming our collective anxiety into meaningful change. Tough on Donald Trump but showing respect and empathy for his supporters, Jones takes aim at the failures of both parties before and after Trump's victory. He urges both sides to abandon the politics of accusation and focus on real solutions. Calling us to a deeper patriotism, he shows us how to get down to the vital business of solving, together, some of our toughest problems.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I never hated anyone before
- By Joanna Bugajska on 11-17-17
By: Van Jones
-
Please Stop Helping Us
- How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed
- By: Jason L. Riley
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,125
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 977
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 971
Why is it that so many efforts by liberals to lift the Black underclass not only fail, but often harm the intended beneficiaries? In Please Stop Helping Us, Jason L. Riley examines how well-intentioned welfare programs are in fact holding Black Americans back. Minimum-wage laws may lift earnings for people who are already employed, but they price a disproportionate number of Blacks out of the labor force. Affirmative action in higher education is intended to address past discrimination, but the result is fewer Black college graduates than would otherwise exist.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Required reading
- By Ken Larsen on 02-15-15
By: Jason L. Riley
-
Automating Inequality
- How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor
- By: Virginia Eubanks
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 129
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 103
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 106
Since the dawn of the digital age, decision-making in finance, politics, health, and human services has undergone revolutionary change. Today, automated systems control which neighborhoods get policed, which families attain needed resources, and who is investigated for fraud. While we all live under this new regime of data, the most invasive and punitive systems are aimed at the poor. In Automating Inequality, Virginia Eubanks systematically investigates the impacts of data mining, policy algorithms, and predictive risk models on poor and working-class people in America.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent research, sprinkled with person bias
- By Katie on 12-31-19
By: Virginia Eubanks
-
Locking Up Our Own
- Crime and Punishment in Black America
- By: James Forman Jr.
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 563
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 495
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 491
Today, Americans are debating our criminal justice system with new urgency. Mass incarceration and aggressive police tactics - and their impact on people of color - are feeding outrage and a consensus that something must be done. But what if we only know half the story? In Locking Up Our Own, the Yale legal scholar and former public defender James Forman Jr. weighs the tragic role that some African Americans themselves played in escalating the war on crime.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding Book
- By Andrew on 12-13-17
By: James Forman Jr.
-
Con Job
- How Democrats Gave Us Crime, Sanctuary Cities, Abortion Profiteering, and Racial Division
- By: Crystal Wright
- Narrated by: Crystal Wright
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 94
Black voters have overwhelmingly supported the Democratic Party for the last fifty years - and for their loyalty, black Americans have been rewarded with worsening schools, collapsed families, skyrocketed incarceration rates, disappearing jobs, and rising crime. Crystal Wright, editor of the blog Conservative Black Chick, exposes how the Democratic Party has systematically betrayed black voters.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome!
- By Tracy on 05-11-16
By: Crystal Wright
-
Chokehold
- Policing Black Men
- By: Paul Butler
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 226
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 199
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 196
Cops, politicians, and ordinary people are afraid of black men. The result is the Chokehold: laws and practices that treat every African American man like a thug. In this explosive new book, an African American former federal prosecutor shows that the system is working exactly the way it's supposed to. Black men are always under watch, and police violence is widespread - all with the support of judges and politicians.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good but not amazing
- By Andrew on 12-16-17
By: Paul Butler
-
Beyond the Messy Truth
- How We Came Apart, How We Come Together
- By: Van Jones
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 330
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 291
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 292
In Beyond the Messy Truth, Jones offers a blueprint for transforming our collective anxiety into meaningful change. Tough on Donald Trump but showing respect and empathy for his supporters, Jones takes aim at the failures of both parties before and after Trump's victory. He urges both sides to abandon the politics of accusation and focus on real solutions. Calling us to a deeper patriotism, he shows us how to get down to the vital business of solving, together, some of our toughest problems.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I never hated anyone before
- By Joanna Bugajska on 11-17-17
By: Van Jones
-
Please Stop Helping Us
- How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed
- By: Jason L. Riley
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,125
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 977
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 971
Why is it that so many efforts by liberals to lift the Black underclass not only fail, but often harm the intended beneficiaries? In Please Stop Helping Us, Jason L. Riley examines how well-intentioned welfare programs are in fact holding Black Americans back. Minimum-wage laws may lift earnings for people who are already employed, but they price a disproportionate number of Blacks out of the labor force. Affirmative action in higher education is intended to address past discrimination, but the result is fewer Black college graduates than would otherwise exist.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Required reading
- By Ken Larsen on 02-15-15
By: Jason L. Riley
-
Viral Justice
- How We Grow the World We Want
- By: Ruha Benjamin
- Narrated by: Ruha Benjamin
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 41
Long before the pandemic, Ruha Benjamin was doing groundbreaking research on race, technology, and justice, focusing on big, structural changes. But the twin plagues of COVID-19 and anti-Black police violence inspired her to rethink the importance of small, individual actions. Part memoir, part manifesto, Viral Justice is a sweeping and deeply personal exploration of how we can transform society through the choices we make every day.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic book!
- By Avie Kearney on 05-21-23
By: Ruha Benjamin
-
Stupid Black Men
- How to Play the Race Card - and Lose
- By: Larry Elder
- Narrated by: Larry Elder
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 363
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 275
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 275
In Stupid Black Men, Larry Elder takes on the mind-set of those people who always capture the most media attention - as well as masses of public money - people who say that racism is the root of all problems and who end up hurting precisely those they claim to be helping.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
New fan
- By Levonne Burris on 07-15-19
By: Larry Elder
-
A Savage Order
- How the World's Deadliest Countries Can Forge a Path to Security
- By: Rachel Kleinfeld
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
From Georgia to Colombia to Ghana and Italy - crime exists in every democratic nation on earth, but in some places, it runs rampant, shaping all aspects of civic life. A Savage Order investigates why and how some places, riddled by inept government and states, are able to recover. Drawing on fifteen years of both academic and firsthand field research, Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld documents the unambiguous measures that societies have taken to empower the strong civic movements, governments, and institutions that protect countries and mitigate atrocities that damage people's lives.
By: Rachel Kleinfeld
-
Fight Like Hell
- The Untold History of American Labor
- By: Kim Kelly
- Narrated by: Em Grosland
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 71
Freed Black women organizing for protection in the Reconstruction-era South. Jewish immigrant garment workers braving deadly conditions for a sliver of independence. Asian American fieldworkers rejecting government-sanctioned indentured servitude across the Pacific. Incarcerated workers advocating for basic human rights and fair wages. The queer Black labor leader who helped orchestrate America’s civil rights movement. These are only some of the heroes who propelled American labor’s relentless push for fairness and equal protection under the law.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Eye Opening
- By Chris Haak on 06-13-23
By: Kim Kelly
-
Disintegration
- The Splintering of Black America
- By: Eugene Robinson
- Narrated by: Alan Bomar Jones
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 103
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 101
The African American population in the United States has always been seen as a single entity: a "Black America" with unified interests and needs. In his groundbreaking book Disintegration, longtime Washington Post journalist Eugene Robinson argues that, through decades of desegregation, affirmative action, and immigration, the concept of Black America has shattered.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Written for Popular Consumption
- By Catherine S. Read on 06-03-11
By: Eugene Robinson
-
The Death of Right and Wrong
- Exposing the Left's Assault on Our Culture and Values
- By: Tammy Bruce
- Narrated by: Tammy Bruce
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 82
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 38
A woman of contradictions, "a gun-toting, lesbian, feminist, voted-for-Reagan activist", Tammy Bruce is standing in line to become the next Ann Coulter. The "left wing" is engaged in an enormous conspiracy to make moral values relative, to undercut pride and patriotism in our country, to destroy Christian ideology at any cost, to pollute the minds of our youth by means of leftist professors who rewrite history, and to hijack the justice system through morally bankrupt trial lawyers.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A thoughtful analytical review of moral relativism
- By Book and Movie Lover on 07-26-04
By: Tammy Bruce
-
Ghetto
- The Invention of a Place, the History of an Idea
- By: Mitchell Duneier
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 148
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 127
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 124
On March 29, 1516, the city council of Venice issued a decree forcing Jews to live in il geto - a closed quarter named for the copper foundry that once occupied the area. The term stuck. In this sweeping and original interpretation, Mitchell Duneier traces the idea of the ghetto from its beginnings in the 16th century and its revival by the Nazis to the present. As Duneier shows, we cannot understand the entanglements of race, poverty, and place in America today without recalling the history of the ghetto in Europe, as well as later efforts to understand the problems of the American city.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Impressive
- By Jean on 12-10-16
By: Mitchell Duneier
-
Angry White Men
- American Masculinity at the End of an Era
- By: Michael Kimmel
- Narrated by: Aaron Williamson
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
One of the enduring legacies of the 2012 Presidential campaign was the demise of the white American male voter as a dominant force in the political landscape. On election night, after Obama was announced the winner, a distressed Bill O'Reilly lamented that he didn't live in "a traditional America anymore". He was joined by others who bellowed their grief on the talk radio airwaves, the traditional redoubt of angry white men. Why were they so angry?
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting book; Wrong reader
- By Carolina A. Miranda on 05-02-18
By: Michael Kimmel
-
Putin Country
- A Journey into the Real Russia
- By: Anne Garrels
- Narrated by: Anne Garrels
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 359
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 312
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 310
In Putin Country: A Journey into the Real Russia, Garrels crafts an intimate portrait of the nation's heartland. We meet ostentatious mafiosos, upwardly mobile professionals, impassioned activists, scheming taxi drivers with dark secrets, and beleaguered steel workers. We discover surprising subcultures, like the LGBT residents of Chelyablinsk who bravely endure an upsurge in homophobia fueled by Putin's rhetoric of Russian "moral superiority" yet still nurture a vibrant if clandestine community of their own.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting dive into Russia today
- By Keith on 03-25-16
By: Anne Garrels
-
Cop Under Fire
- Moving Beyond Hashtags of Race, Crime & Politics for a Better America
- By: David A. Clarke Jr., Sean Hannity, Nancy French - contributor
- Narrated by: David A. Clarke Jr.
- Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 731
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 659
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 662
America has become increasingly divided and polarized in recent years. With growing animosity toward law enforcement professionals, government corruption, disregard for the constitution, and racial tension thanks to the media and hate groups, there seems to be no easy answer in sight. But Sheriff David Clarke knows where we must begin. We must stop blaming others and take ownership of our families, communities, and country.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
WOW! What a marvelous book.
- By Wayne on 07-02-17
By: David A. Clarke Jr., and others
-
To Protect and Serve
- How to Fix America's Police
- By: Norm Stamper
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 47
American policing is in crisis. The last decade witnessed a vast increase in police aggression, misconduct, and militarization, along with a corresponding reduction in transparency and accountability. Nowhere is this more noticeable and painful than in African American and other ethnic minority communities. Racism - from raw, individualized versions to insidious systemic examples - appears to be on the rise in our police departments.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Truth mixed with liberal rhetoric
- By Eric G. on 11-19-16
By: Norm Stamper
-
Locked In
- The True Causes of Mass Incarceration - and How to Achieve Real Reform
- By: John F. Pfaff
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 102
Locked In is a revelatory investigation into the root causes of mass incarceration by one of the most exciting scholars in the country. Having spent 15 years studying the data on imprisonment, John Pfaff takes apart the reigning consensus created by Michelle Alexander and other reformers, revealing that the most widely accepted explanations - the failed War on Drugs, draconian sentencing laws, an increasing reliance on private prisons - tell us much less than we think.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The true causes of Mass Incarceration
- By Ekaterinya Vladinakova on 04-17-20
By: John F. Pfaff
What listeners say about What's Prison For?
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 12-03-22
A new future is possible.
This book should be mandatory reading for all policy makers and the people that enforce them.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!