-
Why We're Polarized
- Narrated by: Ezra Klein
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: History, Americas
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $16.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
How Democracies Die
- By: Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Donald Trump's presidency has raised a question that many of us never thought we'd be asking: Is our democracy in danger? Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt have spent two decades studying the breakdown of democracies in Europe and Latin America, and they believe the answer is yes. Democracy no longer ends with a bang - in a revolution or military coup - but with a whimper: the slow, steady weakening of critical institutions, such as the judiciary and the press, and the gradual erosion of long-standing political norms.
-
-
Connecting the Dots
- By Sharon F on 02-06-18
By: Steven Levitsky, and others
-
Twilight of Democracy
- The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism
- By: Anne Applebaum
- Narrated by: Anne Applebaum
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the United States and Britain to continental Europe and beyond, liberal democracy is under siege, while authoritarianism is on the rise. In Twilight of Democracy, Anne Applebaum, an award-winning historian of Soviet atrocities who was one of the first American journalists to raise an alarm about antidemocratic trends in the West, explains the lure of nationalism and autocracy. In this captivating essay, she contends that political systems with radically simple beliefs are inherently appealing, especially when they benefit the loyal to the exclusion of everyone else.
-
-
Reductive and simplistic
- By Erik C on 08-16-20
By: Anne Applebaum
-
One Billion Americans
- The Case for Thinking Bigger
- By: Matthew Yglesias
- Narrated by: Matthew Yglesias
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would actually make America great: more people. From one of our foremost policy writers, One Billion Americans is the provocative yet logical argument that if we aren’t moving forward, we’re losing. Vox founder Yglesias invites us to think bigger, while taking the problems of decline seriously. What really contributes to national prosperity should not be controversial: supporting parents and children, welcoming immigrants and their contributions, and exploring creative policies that support growth.
-
-
Novelty and Vision
- By Andrew on 09-16-20
By: Matthew Yglesias
-
Forward
- Notes on the Future of Our Democracy
- By: Andrew Yang
- Narrated by: Andrew Yang
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Despite being written off by the media, Andrew Yang’s shoestring 2020 presidential campaign - powered by his proposal for a universal basic income of $1,000 a month for all Americans - jolted the political establishment, growing into a massive, diverse movement. Now, in Forward, Yang reveals that UBI and the threat of job automation are only the beginning, diagnosing how a series of cascading problems within our antiquated systems keeps us stuck in the past - imperiling our democracy at every level.
-
-
MAGA reviews Yang
- By S on 10-05-21
By: Andrew Yang
-
Evil Geniuses
- The Unmaking of America: A Recent History
- By: Kurt Andersen
- Narrated by: Kurt Andersen
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During the 20th century, America managed to make its economic and social systems both more and more fair and more and more prosperous. A huge, secure, and contented middle class emerged. All boats rose together. But then the New Deal gave way to the Raw Deal. Beginning in the early 1970s, by means of a long war conceived of and executed by a confederacy of big business CEOs, the superrich, and right-wing zealots, the rules and norms that made the American middle class possible were undermined and dismantled.
-
-
So Many Words!
- By Ember Rose Baker on 08-24-20
By: Kurt Andersen
-
Surviving Autocracy
- By: Masha Gessen
- Narrated by: Masha Gessen
- Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the run-up to the 2016 election, Masha Gessen stood out from other journalists for the ability to convey the ominous significance of Donald Trump's speech and behavior, unprecedented in a national candidate. Within 48 hours of Trump's victory, the essay "Autocracy: Rules for Survival" had gone viral, and Gessen's coverage of Trump's norm-smashing presidency became essential reading for a citizenry struggling to wrap their heads around the unimaginable.
-
-
Good But . . .
- By Carnal Flower on 06-02-20
By: Masha Gessen
-
How Democracies Die
- By: Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Donald Trump's presidency has raised a question that many of us never thought we'd be asking: Is our democracy in danger? Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt have spent two decades studying the breakdown of democracies in Europe and Latin America, and they believe the answer is yes. Democracy no longer ends with a bang - in a revolution or military coup - but with a whimper: the slow, steady weakening of critical institutions, such as the judiciary and the press, and the gradual erosion of long-standing political norms.
-
-
Connecting the Dots
- By Sharon F on 02-06-18
By: Steven Levitsky, and others
-
Twilight of Democracy
- The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism
- By: Anne Applebaum
- Narrated by: Anne Applebaum
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the United States and Britain to continental Europe and beyond, liberal democracy is under siege, while authoritarianism is on the rise. In Twilight of Democracy, Anne Applebaum, an award-winning historian of Soviet atrocities who was one of the first American journalists to raise an alarm about antidemocratic trends in the West, explains the lure of nationalism and autocracy. In this captivating essay, she contends that political systems with radically simple beliefs are inherently appealing, especially when they benefit the loyal to the exclusion of everyone else.
-
-
Reductive and simplistic
- By Erik C on 08-16-20
By: Anne Applebaum
-
One Billion Americans
- The Case for Thinking Bigger
- By: Matthew Yglesias
- Narrated by: Matthew Yglesias
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would actually make America great: more people. From one of our foremost policy writers, One Billion Americans is the provocative yet logical argument that if we aren’t moving forward, we’re losing. Vox founder Yglesias invites us to think bigger, while taking the problems of decline seriously. What really contributes to national prosperity should not be controversial: supporting parents and children, welcoming immigrants and their contributions, and exploring creative policies that support growth.
-
-
Novelty and Vision
- By Andrew on 09-16-20
By: Matthew Yglesias
-
Forward
- Notes on the Future of Our Democracy
- By: Andrew Yang
- Narrated by: Andrew Yang
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Despite being written off by the media, Andrew Yang’s shoestring 2020 presidential campaign - powered by his proposal for a universal basic income of $1,000 a month for all Americans - jolted the political establishment, growing into a massive, diverse movement. Now, in Forward, Yang reveals that UBI and the threat of job automation are only the beginning, diagnosing how a series of cascading problems within our antiquated systems keeps us stuck in the past - imperiling our democracy at every level.
-
-
MAGA reviews Yang
- By S on 10-05-21
By: Andrew Yang
-
Evil Geniuses
- The Unmaking of America: A Recent History
- By: Kurt Andersen
- Narrated by: Kurt Andersen
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During the 20th century, America managed to make its economic and social systems both more and more fair and more and more prosperous. A huge, secure, and contented middle class emerged. All boats rose together. But then the New Deal gave way to the Raw Deal. Beginning in the early 1970s, by means of a long war conceived of and executed by a confederacy of big business CEOs, the superrich, and right-wing zealots, the rules and norms that made the American middle class possible were undermined and dismantled.
-
-
So Many Words!
- By Ember Rose Baker on 08-24-20
By: Kurt Andersen
-
Surviving Autocracy
- By: Masha Gessen
- Narrated by: Masha Gessen
- Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the run-up to the 2016 election, Masha Gessen stood out from other journalists for the ability to convey the ominous significance of Donald Trump's speech and behavior, unprecedented in a national candidate. Within 48 hours of Trump's victory, the essay "Autocracy: Rules for Survival" had gone viral, and Gessen's coverage of Trump's norm-smashing presidency became essential reading for a citizenry struggling to wrap their heads around the unimaginable.
-
-
Good But . . .
- By Carnal Flower on 06-02-20
By: Masha Gessen
-
Midnight in Washington
- How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could
- By: Adam Schiff
- Narrated by: Adam Schiff
- Length: 17 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The vital inside account of American democracy in its darkest hour, from the rise of autocracy unleashed by Trump to the January 6 insurrection, and a warning that those forces remain as potent as ever - from the congressman who led the first impeachment of Donald J. Trump
-
-
Not what I expected
- By Lynn on 10-18-21
By: Adam Schiff
-
Woke Racism
- How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America
- By: John McWhorter
- Narrated by: John McWhorter
- Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Acclaimed linguist and award-winning writer John McWhorter argues that an illiberal neoracism, disguised as antiracism, is hurting Black communities and weakening the American social fabric.
-
-
Thank You
- By Withacy on 10-26-21
By: John McWhorter
-
Cultish
- The Language of Fanaticism
- By: Amanda Montell
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What makes “cults” so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join - and more importantly, stay in - extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has.
-
-
Get this book ASAP
- By chris boutte on 06-17-21
By: Amanda Montell
-
How Civil Wars Start
- And How to Stop Them
- By: Barbara F. Walter
- Narrated by: Beth Hicks
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Political violence rips apart several towns in southwest Texas. A far-right militia plots to kidnap the governor of Michigan and try her for treason. An armed mob of Trump supporters and conspiracy theorists storms the US Capitol. Are these isolated incidents? Or is this the start of something bigger? Barbara F. Walter has spent her career studying civil conflict in places like Iraq and Sri Lanka, but now she has become increasingly worried about her own country.
-
-
Reveals the limits of a Political Science approach
- By Bill on 01-17-22
-
Peril
- By: Bob Woodward, Robert Costa
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The transition from President Donald J. Trump to President Joseph R. Biden Jr. stands as one of the most dangerous periods in American history. But as number one internationally best-selling author Bob Woodward and acclaimed reporter Robert Costa reveal for the first time, it was far more than just a domestic political crisis. Woodward and Costa interviewed more than 200 people at the center of the turmoil, resulting in more than 6,000 pages of transcripts - and a spellbinding and definitive portrait of a nation on the brink.
-
-
Clear Portrait of Chaotic Presidential Transition
- By Peter W. Kalnin on 09-21-21
By: Bob Woodward, and others
-
The Righteous Mind
- Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
- By: Jonathan Haidt
- Narrated by: Jonathan Haidt
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding. His starting point is moral intuition - the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions feel like self-evident truths, making us righteously certain that those who see things differently are wrong. Haidt shows us how these intuitions differ across cultures, including the cultures of the political left and right.
-
-
Fundamentally changed my thinking
- By Tristan on 10-14-16
By: Jonathan Haidt
-
What You Should Know About Politics...But Don't
- A Nonpartisan Guide to the Issues That Matter
- By: Jessamyn Conrad
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What You Should Know About Politics...But Don't breaks it all down, issue by issue, explaining who stands for what, and why - whether it's the economy, income inequality, Obamacare, foreign policy, education, immigration, or climate change. If you're a Democrat, a Republican, or somewhere in between, it's the perfect audiobook to brush up on a single topic or listen through to get a deeper understanding of the often mucky world of American politics.
-
-
Let me introduce you to the world around you.
- By braxton on 04-09-19
By: Jessamyn Conrad
-
It Was All a Lie
- How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump
- By: Stuart Stevens
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stuart Stevens spent decades electing Republicans at every level, from presidents to senators to local officials. He knows the GOP as intimately as anyone in America, and in this new book he offers a devastating portrait of a party that has lost its moral and political compass. This is not a book about how Donald J. Trump hijacked the Republican Party and changed it into something else.
-
-
A party gone astray
- By Devin on 08-07-20
By: Stuart Stevens
-
Un-Trumping America
- A Plan to Make America a Democracy Again
- By: Dan Pfeiffer
- Narrated by: Dan Pfeiffer
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is nothing more important than beating Donald Trump in 2020, but defeating Trump is just the start of this timely book. Un-Trumping America offers readers three critical insights: first, Trump is not an aberration, but rather the logical extension of the modern Republican Party; second, how Democrats can defeat Trump in 2020; and third, preventing the likes of Trump from ever happening again with a plan to fix democracy.
-
-
If you care about our democracy, listen to this book.
- By kay on 02-25-20
By: Dan Pfeiffer
-
Politics Is for Power
- How to Move Beyond Political Hobbyism, Take Action, and Make Real Change
- By: Eitan Hersh
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Politics Is for Power, pioneering and brilliant data analyst Eitan Hersh shows us a way toward more effective political participation. Aided by political theory, history, cutting-edge social science, as well as remarkable stories of ordinary citizens who got off their couches and took political power seriously, this audiobook shows us how to channel our energy away from political hobbyism and toward empowering our values.
-
-
Fantastically motivating and informative book
- By Zach H on 01-26-20
By: Eitan Hersh
-
Discrimination and Disparities
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discrimination and Disparities challenges believers in such one-factor explanations of economic outcome differences as discrimination, exploitation, or genetics. It is listenable enough for people with no prior knowledge of economics. Yet the empirical evidence with which it backs up its analysis spans the globe and challenges beliefs across the ideological spectrum.
-
-
Hard Pill To Swallow - I’m better for it
- By Charles Abernathy on 01-14-19
By: Thomas Sowell
-
Ship of Fools
- By: Tucker Carlson
- Narrated by: Tucker Carlson
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The host of Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson Tonight offers a blistering critique of the new American ruling class, the elites of both parties, who have taken over the ship of state, leaving the rest of us, the citizen-passengers, to wonder: How do we put the country back on course?
-
-
Read if you want to hear about how ridiculous the ruling elite are
- By Sadie K on 03-02-19
By: Tucker Carlson
Publisher's Summary
This New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller shows us that America’s political system isn’t broken. The truth is scarier: It’s working exactly as designed. In this “superbly researched” (The Washington Post) and timely book, journalist Ezra Klein reveals how that system is polarizing us - and how we are polarizing it - with disastrous results.
“The American political system - which includes everyone from voters to journalists to the president - is full of rational actors making rational decisions given the incentives they face,” writes political analyst Ezra Klein. “We are a collection of functional parts whose efforts combine into a dysfunctional whole.”
“A thoughtful, clear and persuasive analysis” (The New York Times Book Review), Why We’re Polarized reveals the structural and psychological forces behind America’s descent into division and dysfunction. Neither a polemic nor a lament, this book offers a clear framework for understanding everything from Trump’s rise to the Democratic Party’s leftward shift to the politicization of everyday culture.
America is polarized, first and foremost, by identity. Everyone engaged in American politics is engaged, at some level, in identity politics. Over the past 50 years in America, our partisan identities have merged with our racial, religious, geographic, ideological, and cultural identities. These merged identities have attained a weight that is breaking much in our politics and tearing at the bonds that hold this country together.
Klein shows how and why American politics polarized around identity in the 20th century and what that polarization did to the way we see the world and one another. And he traces the feedback loops between polarized political identities and polarized political institutions that are driving our system toward crisis.
“Well worth reading” (New York magazine), this is an “eye-opening” (O, The Oprah Magazine) book that will change how you look at politics and perhaps at yourself.
More from the same
Narrator
What listeners say about Why We're Polarized
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tony
- 01-29-20
Good as an intro, skip if you’re a wonk
I’ll admit to being somewhat disappointed that large sections of the book are somewhat common knowledge. For example, have you heard of the backfire effect? What about confirmation bias? That’s a chapter, at least. There’s another chapter that discusses the media and totally fails to highlight the biases that institutions like the New York Times and other national news outlets have toward sensationalism. Felt like that chapter needed a few more threads woven in.
I do agree with the overall thesis of the book though, and it certainly is a nice bundling of concepts that everyone should know — this would be a good read for a mid-level political science student — but none of it would be particularly revelatory for anyone who’s poked their head into the DC bubble for any serious length of time.
Good audiobook production, but I’d expect nothing less from a podcaster.
Overall I’d say it’s good, just not great.
36 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jack Kierig
- 01-29-20
Good book, bad recording
I've listened to Ezra's podcast since the beginning, so was very excited to pick up this book. I loved the content. Very thought-provoking, with a great history on how we got to this point of ultra political polarization.
I have a huge problem with the recording. Ezra seems rushed, and words slur together. He's a much clearer speaker in his podcast. The engineer also seems to have gone way overboard with the de-esser. It sounds like Ezra's mouth is full when he's speaking. The poor audio quality is extremely surprising, coming from a major publisher.
18 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carl A. Gallozzi
- 02-17-20
Reversion to Political Tribes - current analysis
Very readable/listenable book - complete with numerous Sociological Study references backing up - this point or that point. His point is that the 'political amity' of the mid 20th Century America was an anomaly - and that 'the four parties' (Democrats, DixieCrats, Conservative Republicans and Liberal Republicans) - have now 'sorted themselves out' - leading to a sorted set of parties vigorously opposing each other in a political holy war.
One key thought I'm still processing is the thread (espoused by the Author as well as Jill LePore in "These Truths" - that after the fall of the Soviet Union (1991)- the United States needed an 'enemy' - and a Domestic Cold War broke out - between the Democrats and Republicans (Gingrich assumes the Speakership of the House in 1994) - and then starts the "holy war" between the parties which begins the slash-and-burn mentality.
The Republicans have an advantage because they have one special interest group - older whiter Christians. The Democrats have 'n' special interest groups - who live on a political spectrum - and need to 'balance out' their support of the different groups.
Several other points to ponder:
The U.S. Culture represents a time and market approximately 10 years into the future. This time and market is multi-racial and young. Nike markets to the young uses Colin Kapernick.
The U.S. Political Power represents a time approximately 10 years ago - demonstrated by the Republicans holding power supported by older, whiter Christian Americans who feel "their world" under threat. This is Trump's Base.
The Economic Models represent a time about 40-50 years ago. 50 year ago Milton Friedman funded by the then Koch Brothers invented a model to reduce taxes and 'starve' the New Deal. Arthur Laffer took this idea and generated a tax model used by Reagan/Thatcher in the 1980's cutting taxes on the wealthy - with the goal of having these taxes pay for themselves. These tax cuts didn't pay for themselves - generating deficits - also income/wealth inequality became an issue.
Each of the above are on different time cycles and impact cycles.
Cable TV and the news media contributes to this polarization - due to their Business Models - clicks and revenues favoring the most outrages talking points and rebuttals.
The ground rules for today's current set of politicians: Get Elected; Get the Majority; Enact policies favorable to your base.
Book begins with an 'even/balanced tone' - later more of his biases present themselves.
His suggestions for solutions are 'okay' - a variant of getting more centrist candidates elected with the idea of politicians running and governing "from the Center" - similar suggestions made by Michael Porter - American Competitiveness Institute - about an end to GerryMandering (through an independent Commission) - having one, open primary - where the people who get the most votes go on to the general election (could be two republicans/two democrats).
Finally, I didn't hear Ezra Klein "provide a lot of hope" on how this problem would be solved. I heard him say - that the Demographic changes over time 20-24 years could "Turn Texas Blue" - and move the election - [solution through Demographics] but otherwise not a great deal of hope on a solution to this matter. I heard that the current Polarization could be the 'base case' for many years into the future. I'm not sure what this will bode for the U.S. in its Great Power Competition with China, Russia and others.
A very interesting book - some key thoughts and analysis on our reversion to Political Tribes.
A stray thought as I read about the rise of China and the endangerment of the American Empire - is this Polarization associated with the decline of an Empire?
Political junkies would like this book.
Carl Gallozzi
cgallozzi@comcast.net
17 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- AL
- 01-31-20
It's books like this that add to the polarization
A one sided, ignorant piece of work. This author should add his name to the reasons of why this country is polarized.
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jane Hamilton
- 02-02-20
Best political book I've read in the last 10 years
This is the best and most illuminating political book I've read in quite some time. The insights in it are compelling and edifying. Politics is often polemic and partisan, and this book largely avoids that in favor of rigorous analysis.
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Assem K.
- 01-29-20
Incredible. Splendid. Era-defining.
I've listened to hundreds of hours of the Ezra Klein Show, and to be honest, aside from the substance of the book (which I'm sure won't differ that much from what Ezra does on the podcast) the fact that it's recited by the author makes the experience that much more enjoyable to me. I haven't finished it yet, but it's 5 stars right out the gate for me.
Keep up the great work, political polarization whisperer.
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Paul Bunker
- 02-06-20
Save your money.Just another bitter liberal view.
Uninformed. Sore loser. Can't be objective with such negatively focused bias. Regardless of your political views this book is not based on facts, only one bitter loses opinion.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jack Jennaway
- 02-06-20
Good diagnosis; weak proposed solutions.
Klein lays out the history and recent Social Science of polarization well. Some proposed solutions are good while others are quite bad. Very much worth the read.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cleve
- 02-15-20
Some interesting insights
Previously I had thought that getting big money out of politics would be laudable albeit impossible. The following quote is an example of the kind of insights the book provides:
“Institutional donors want government to work, it’s true, but they want it to work in their favor. If individual donors give money as a form of identity expression, institutional donors give money as a form of investment. Individual donors are polarizing but institutional donors, they’re corrupting. American politics thus is responsive to two types of people, the polarized and the rich. ... The Supreme Court, in a series of rulings dating back to the 70s, decided that political spending is constitutionally protected speech. So you can’t regulate it out of politics. But that means that the workable reforms tend to toss us between the plans that amplify the power of small donors, which worsen the problems of polarization, or plans that permit institutional money to flood the system, with all of the attendant corruption.”—Ezra Klein, Why We Are Polarized
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kip
- 02-05-20
good book but just okay narration
I liked the content, but there's definitely something weird going on with the narration. Specifically words running together. At points he sounded drunk.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 02-12-20
Excellent insight and argument
Really fascinating listen to the history of US politics and how they are today. As always love listening to Ezra speak.