-
Creatures of Politics
- Media, Message, and the American Presidency
- Narrated by: Clay Teunis
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 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.
Creatures of Politics
Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Information Wars
- How We Lost the Global Battle Against Disinformation and What We Can Do About It
- By: Richard Stengel
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 174
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 150
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 150
During the final three years of the Obama administration, Richard Stengel, the former editor of Time magazine and an Under Secretary of State, was the single person in government tasked with unpacking, disproving, and combating both ISIS's messaging and Russian disinformation. Then, in 2016, as the presidential election unfolded, Stengel watched as Donald Trump used disinformation himself, weaponizing the grievances of Americans who felt overlooked. In fact, Stengel quickly came to see how all three players had used the same playbook: ISIS sought to make Islam great again....
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Partisan and defeatist at best.
- By Tim on 01-25-20
By: Richard Stengel
-
The Nazi Seizure of Power (Revised Edition)
- The Experience of a Single German Town, 1922-1945
- By: William Sheridan Allen
- Narrated by: Tom Beyer
- Length: 16 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Story0 out of 5 stars 0
In this classic work of twentieth-century history, William Sheridan Allen demonstrates how dictatorship subtly surmounted democracy in Germany and how the Nazi seizure of power encroached from below. Relying upon legal records and interviews with primary sources, Allen dissects Northeim, Germany with microscopic precision to depict the transformation of a sleepy town to a Nazi stronghold. This cogent analysis argues that Hitler rose to power primarily through democratic tactics that incited localized support rather than through violent means.
-
It's Time to Fight Dirty
- How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics
- By: David Faris
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
The American electoral system is clearly falling apart - as evidenced by the 2016 presidential election. In It's Time to Fight Dirty, David Faris offers accessible, actionable strategies for American institutional reform which don't require a constitutional amendment, and would have a lasting impact on our future. With equal amounts of playful irreverence and persuasive reasoning, Faris describes how the Constitution's deep democratic flaws constantly put progressives at a disadvantage, and lays out strategies for "fighting dirty" though obstructionism and procedural warfare.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Voiced frustrations of a long time liberal
- By Penguin on 10-15-18
By: David Faris
-
Hidden Terrors
- The Truth About U.S. Police Operations in Latin America
- By: A. J. Langguth
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 7
A reconstruction of the life and milieu of Dan Mitrione, his work as a US police advisor in Brazil and other South American countries, and his kidnapping and murder by Uruguayan guerrillas.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Too much filler
- By Jack on 12-23-23
By: A. J. Langguth
-
Beyond Contempt
- How Liberals Can Communicate Across the Great Divide
- By: Erica Etelson
- Narrated by: Erica Etelson
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5
Liberal contempt for Trump supporters is exacerbating the political and cultural rift tearing America apart. Beyond Contempt shows progressives how to communicate respectfully and effectively across the great political divide, defusing hostility, building trust, and, just maybe, discovering common ground.
By: Erica Etelson
-
Bad Stories
- What the Hell Just Happened to Our Country
- By: Steve Almond
- Narrated by: Steve Almond
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 18
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 18
Like a lot of Americans, Steve Almond spent the weeks after the 2016 election lying awake, in a state of dread and bewilderment. The problem wasn’t just the election, but the fact that nobody could explain, in any sort of coherent way, why America had elected a cruel, corrupt, and incompetent man to the Presidency. Bad Stories: What the Hell Just Happened to Our Country is Almond’s effort to make sense of our historical moment, to connect certain dots that go unconnected amid the deluge of hot takes and think pieces.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Whatever you do, read this book
- By Taylor Garcia on 11-18-18
By: Steve Almond
-
Information Wars
- How We Lost the Global Battle Against Disinformation and What We Can Do About It
- By: Richard Stengel
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 174
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 150
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 150
During the final three years of the Obama administration, Richard Stengel, the former editor of Time magazine and an Under Secretary of State, was the single person in government tasked with unpacking, disproving, and combating both ISIS's messaging and Russian disinformation. Then, in 2016, as the presidential election unfolded, Stengel watched as Donald Trump used disinformation himself, weaponizing the grievances of Americans who felt overlooked. In fact, Stengel quickly came to see how all three players had used the same playbook: ISIS sought to make Islam great again....
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Partisan and defeatist at best.
- By Tim on 01-25-20
By: Richard Stengel
-
The Nazi Seizure of Power (Revised Edition)
- The Experience of a Single German Town, 1922-1945
- By: William Sheridan Allen
- Narrated by: Tom Beyer
- Length: 16 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
-
Story0 out of 5 stars 0
In this classic work of twentieth-century history, William Sheridan Allen demonstrates how dictatorship subtly surmounted democracy in Germany and how the Nazi seizure of power encroached from below. Relying upon legal records and interviews with primary sources, Allen dissects Northeim, Germany with microscopic precision to depict the transformation of a sleepy town to a Nazi stronghold. This cogent analysis argues that Hitler rose to power primarily through democratic tactics that incited localized support rather than through violent means.
-
It's Time to Fight Dirty
- How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics
- By: David Faris
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
The American electoral system is clearly falling apart - as evidenced by the 2016 presidential election. In It's Time to Fight Dirty, David Faris offers accessible, actionable strategies for American institutional reform which don't require a constitutional amendment, and would have a lasting impact on our future. With equal amounts of playful irreverence and persuasive reasoning, Faris describes how the Constitution's deep democratic flaws constantly put progressives at a disadvantage, and lays out strategies for "fighting dirty" though obstructionism and procedural warfare.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Voiced frustrations of a long time liberal
- By Penguin on 10-15-18
By: David Faris
-
Hidden Terrors
- The Truth About U.S. Police Operations in Latin America
- By: A. J. Langguth
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 7
A reconstruction of the life and milieu of Dan Mitrione, his work as a US police advisor in Brazil and other South American countries, and his kidnapping and murder by Uruguayan guerrillas.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Too much filler
- By Jack on 12-23-23
By: A. J. Langguth
-
Beyond Contempt
- How Liberals Can Communicate Across the Great Divide
- By: Erica Etelson
- Narrated by: Erica Etelson
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5
Liberal contempt for Trump supporters is exacerbating the political and cultural rift tearing America apart. Beyond Contempt shows progressives how to communicate respectfully and effectively across the great political divide, defusing hostility, building trust, and, just maybe, discovering common ground.
By: Erica Etelson
-
Bad Stories
- What the Hell Just Happened to Our Country
- By: Steve Almond
- Narrated by: Steve Almond
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 18
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 18
Like a lot of Americans, Steve Almond spent the weeks after the 2016 election lying awake, in a state of dread and bewilderment. The problem wasn’t just the election, but the fact that nobody could explain, in any sort of coherent way, why America had elected a cruel, corrupt, and incompetent man to the Presidency. Bad Stories: What the Hell Just Happened to Our Country is Almond’s effort to make sense of our historical moment, to connect certain dots that go unconnected amid the deluge of hot takes and think pieces.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Whatever you do, read this book
- By Taylor Garcia on 11-18-18
By: Steve Almond
-
Powers and Prospects
- Reflections on Human Nature and the Social Order
- By: Noam Chomsky
- Narrated by: Brian Jones
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 17
From the nature of democracy to our place in the natural world, from intellectual politics to the politics of language, Powers and Prospects provides a scathing critique of orthodox views and government policy and outlines other paths that can lead to better understanding and more constructive action.
By: Noam Chomsky
-
Biography of Resistance
- The Epic Battle Between People and Pathogens
- By: Muhammad H. Zaman
- Narrated by: Kyle Tait
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 417
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 352
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 353
In September 2016, a woman in Nevada became the first known case in the US of a person who died of an infection resistant to every antibiotic available. Her death is the worst nightmare of infectious disease doctors and public health professionals. While bacteria live within us and are essential for our health, some strains can kill us. As bacteria continue to mutate, becoming increasingly resistant to known antibiotics, we are likely to face a public health crisis of unimaginable proportions.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent read for a complicated issue
- By Anonymous User on 05-03-20
-
Disloyal: A Memoir
- The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump
- By: Michael Cohen
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,654
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 7,373
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,329
Once Donald Trump’s fiercest surrogate, closest confidant, and staunchest defender, Michael Cohen knows where the skeletons are buried. This is the most devastating business and political horror story of the century. As Trump’s lawyer and “fixer”, Cohen not only witnessed firsthand but was also an active participant in the inner workings of Trump’s business empire, political campaign, and presidential administration.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing Story
- By Krish on 09-09-20
By: Michael Cohen
-
The Big Sort
- Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart
- By: Bill Bishop, Robert G. Cushing
- Narrated by: Paul Brion
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 141
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 127
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 126
In 2004, journalist Bill Bishop coined the term "the big sort". Armed with startling new demographic data, he made national news in a series of articles showing how Americans have been sorting themselves into alarmingly homogeneous communities - not by region or by state but by city and even neighborhood. Over the past three decades, we have been choosing the neighborhoods (and churches and news shows) compatible with our lifestyles and beliefs.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Build the Wall?
- By Amazon Customer on 01-23-19
By: Bill Bishop, and others
-
Land
- How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 389
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 327
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 326
Land - whether meadow or mountainside, desert or peat bog, parkland or pasture, suburb or city - is central to our existence. It quite literally underlies and underpins everything. Employing the keen intellect, insatiable curiosity, and narrative verve that are the foundations of his previous bestselling works, Simon Winchester examines what we human beings are doing - and have done - with the billions of acres that together make up the solid surface of our planet.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Audiobook Version is the Best!
- By semarla on 01-31-21
By: Simon Winchester
-
Hiding in Plain Sight
- The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America
- By: Sarah Kendzior
- Narrated by: Sarah Kendzior
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,135
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 967
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 965
The story of Donald Trump’s rise to power is the story of a buried American history - buried because people in power liked it that way. It was visible without being seen, influential without being named, ubiquitous without being overt. Sarah Kendzior’s Hiding in Plain Sight pulls back the veil on a history spanning decades, a history of an American autocrat in the making. In doing so, she reveals how our continual loss of freedom, the rise of consolidated corruption, and the secrets behind a burgeoning autocratic United States have been hiding in plain sight for decades.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not as good as she thinks it is
- By Douglas A. Greenberg on 05-01-20
By: Sarah Kendzior
-
Wounded Knee
- Party Politics and the Road to an American Massacre
- By: Heather Cox Richardson
- Narrated by: Heather Cox Richardson
- Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 17
On December 29, 1890, American troops opened fire with howitzers on hundreds of unarmed Lakota Sioux men, women, and children near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota, killing nearly 300 Sioux. As acclaimed historian Heather Cox Richardson shows in Wounded Knee, the massacre grew out of a set of political forces all too familiar to us today: fierce partisanship, heated political rhetoric, and an irresponsible, profit-driven media.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Forever relevant
- By C. Smith on 11-02-23
-
Propaganda and the Public Mind
- By: Noam Chomsky, David Barsamian
- Narrated by: Brian Jones
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 421
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 360
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 356
Renowned interviewer David Barsamian showcases his unique access to Chomsky's thinking on a number of topics of contemporary and historical import. Chomsky offers insights into the institutions that shape the public mind in the service of power and profit. In an interview conducted after the important November 1999 "Battle in Seattle", Chomsky discusses prospects for building a movement to challenge corporate domination of the media, the environment, and even our private lives.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Letting the Facts Speak for Themselves
- By Susie on 10-01-15
By: Noam Chomsky, and others
-
Anatomy of Malice
- The Enigma of the Nazi War Criminals
- By: Joel E. Dimsdale
- Narrated by: J. Paul Guimont
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 42
When the ashes had settled after World War II and the Allies convened an international war crimes trial in Nuremberg, a psychiatrist, Douglas Kelley, and a psychologist, Gustave Gilbert, tried to fathom the psychology of the Nazi leaders using extensive psychiatric interviews, IQ tests, and Rorschach inkblot tests. Never before or since has there been such a detailed study of governmental leaders who orchestrated mass killings.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
History Lover
- By Tamara on 03-02-17
By: Joel E. Dimsdale
-
White Tears/Brown Scars
- How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color
- By: Ruby Hamad
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 430
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 380
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 378
Called "powerful and provocative" by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, author of the New York Times best-selling How to Be an Antiracist, this explosive book of history and cultural criticism reveals how White feminism has been used as a weapon of white supremacy and patriarchy deployed against Black and Indigenous women and women of color.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Though provoking and Important
- By Gabriella Hernandez on 05-06-21
By: Ruby Hamad
-
Profiles in Ignorance
- How America's Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber
- By: Andy Borowitz
- Narrated by: Andy Borowitz
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 799
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 703
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 698
The winner of the first-ever National Press Club award for humor, Andy Borowitz has been called a “Swiftian satirist” (The Wall Street Journal) and “one of the country’s finest satirists” (The New York Times). Millions of fans and New Yorker readers enjoy his satirical news column “The Borowitz Report”. Now, in Profiles in Ignorance, he offers a witty, spot-on diagnosis of our country’s political troubles by showing how ignorant leaders are degrading, embarrassing, and endangering our nation.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating, Familiar and Frightening Tales
- By Shoppy McShopperson on 09-28-22
By: Andy Borowitz
-
Kill Switch
- The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy
- By: Adam Jentleson
- Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 435
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 380
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 377
Every major decision governing our diverse, majority-female, and increasingly liberal country bears the stamp of the US Senate, yet the Senate allows an almost exclusively White, predominantly male, and radically conservative minority of the American electorate to impose its will on the rest of us. How did we get to this point? In Kill Switch, Adam Jentleson argues that shifting demographics alone cannot explain how Mitch McConnell harnessed the Senate and turned it into a powerful weapon of minority rule.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Don't bother, narration intolerable!
- By Joseph on 03-08-21
By: Adam Jentleson
Publisher's summary
It's a common complaint that a presidential candidate's style matters more than substance and that the issues have been eclipsed by mass-media-fueled obsession with a candidate's every slip, gaffe, and peccadillo. This audiobook explores political communication in American presidential politics, focusing on what political insiders call "message". Message, Michael Lempert and Michael Silverstein argue, is not simply an individual's positions on the issues but the craft used to fashion the creature the public sees as the candidate. Lempert and Silverstein examine some of the revelatory moments in debates, political ads, interviews, speeches, and talk shows to explain how these political creations come to have a life of their own. From the pandering "Flip-Flopper" to the self-reliant "Maverick", the authors demonstrate how these figures are fashioned out of the verbal, gestural, sartorial, behavioral - as well as linguistic - matter that comprises political communication.
Critic reviews
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
The Death of Truth
- Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump
- By: Michiko Kakutani
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 3 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 242
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 218
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 213
We live in a time when the very idea of objective truth is mocked and discounted by the occupants of the White House. Discredited conspiracy theories and ideologies have resurfaced, proven science is once more up for debate, and Russian propaganda floods our screens. The wisdom of the crowd has usurped research and expertise, and we are each left clinging to the beliefs that best confirm our biases.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Prescient Account of the Mechanics of Tyranny
- By Brian Price on 07-27-18
By: Michiko Kakutani
-
Language Intelligence
- Lessons on Persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga
- By: Joseph J. Romm
- Narrated by: Drew Birdseye
- Length: 4 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 64
Joseph Romm, one of Rolling Stone magazine’s top "100 Agents of Change", has focused his talents on helping us all to increase our language intelligence and to better understand the art of persuasion. Romm demonstrates that you don't have to be an expert to vastly improve your ability to communicate. He has pulled together the secrets of the greatest communicators in history to show how you can apply these tools to your writing, speaking, blogging - even your Tweeting.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Liberal Propaganda
- By Craig on 02-05-13
By: Joseph J. Romm
-
Why We're Polarized
- By: Ezra Klein
- Narrated by: Ezra Klein
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,487
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,098
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,075
In Why We’re Polarized, Klein 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.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good as an intro, skip if you’re a wonk
- By Tony on 01-29-20
By: Ezra Klein
-
Why the Right Went Wrong
- Conservatism from Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond
- By: E. J. Dionne Jr.
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 259
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 229
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 224
Why the Right Went Wrong offers a historical view of the right since the 1960s. Its core contention is that American conservatism and the Republican Party took a wrong turn when they adopted Barry Goldwater's worldview during and after the 1964 campaign. Since 1968, no conservative administration could live up to the rhetoric rooted in the Goldwater movement that began to reshape American politics 50 years ago.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding, refreshing, inspiring
- By James Adams on 03-19-16
By: E. J. Dionne Jr.
-
The Making of the President 2016
- How Donald Trump Orchestrated a Revolution
- By: Roger Stone
- Narrated by: BJ Pottsworth
- Length: 14 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 268
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 243
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 242
In the early hours of November 9, 2016, one of the most contentious, polarizing, and vicious presidential races came to an abrupt and unexpected end when heavily favored presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton called Donald J. Trump to concede, shocking a nation that had, only hours before, given little credence to his chances. Donald Trump pulled the greatest upset in American political history despite a torrent of invective and dismissal of the mainstream media.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
behind the scenes
- By Rocker on 04-06-17
By: Roger Stone
-
Big Girls Don't Cry
- The Election that Changed Everything for American Women
- By: Rebecca Traister
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
In the last two years, the United States - its history, assumptions, prejudices, and vocabulary - have all cracked open. A woman won a state presidential primary contest (quite a few of them, actually) for the first time in this country's history. Less than a year later, a vice-presidential candidate concluded her appearance in a national debate and immediately reached for her newborn baby. A few months after that, an African American woman moved into the White House - not as an employee but as the First Lady.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Perfect refresher course in feminism and the media
- By Stacey on 12-16-10
By: Rebecca Traister
-
The Death of Truth
- Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump
- By: Michiko Kakutani
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 3 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 242
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 218
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 213
We live in a time when the very idea of objective truth is mocked and discounted by the occupants of the White House. Discredited conspiracy theories and ideologies have resurfaced, proven science is once more up for debate, and Russian propaganda floods our screens. The wisdom of the crowd has usurped research and expertise, and we are each left clinging to the beliefs that best confirm our biases.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Prescient Account of the Mechanics of Tyranny
- By Brian Price on 07-27-18
By: Michiko Kakutani
-
Language Intelligence
- Lessons on Persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga
- By: Joseph J. Romm
- Narrated by: Drew Birdseye
- Length: 4 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 64
Joseph Romm, one of Rolling Stone magazine’s top "100 Agents of Change", has focused his talents on helping us all to increase our language intelligence and to better understand the art of persuasion. Romm demonstrates that you don't have to be an expert to vastly improve your ability to communicate. He has pulled together the secrets of the greatest communicators in history to show how you can apply these tools to your writing, speaking, blogging - even your Tweeting.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Liberal Propaganda
- By Craig on 02-05-13
By: Joseph J. Romm
-
Why We're Polarized
- By: Ezra Klein
- Narrated by: Ezra Klein
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,487
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,098
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,075
In Why We’re Polarized, Klein 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.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good as an intro, skip if you’re a wonk
- By Tony on 01-29-20
By: Ezra Klein
-
Why the Right Went Wrong
- Conservatism from Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond
- By: E. J. Dionne Jr.
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 259
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 229
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 224
Why the Right Went Wrong offers a historical view of the right since the 1960s. Its core contention is that American conservatism and the Republican Party took a wrong turn when they adopted Barry Goldwater's worldview during and after the 1964 campaign. Since 1968, no conservative administration could live up to the rhetoric rooted in the Goldwater movement that began to reshape American politics 50 years ago.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding, refreshing, inspiring
- By James Adams on 03-19-16
By: E. J. Dionne Jr.
-
The Making of the President 2016
- How Donald Trump Orchestrated a Revolution
- By: Roger Stone
- Narrated by: BJ Pottsworth
- Length: 14 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 268
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 243
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 242
In the early hours of November 9, 2016, one of the most contentious, polarizing, and vicious presidential races came to an abrupt and unexpected end when heavily favored presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton called Donald J. Trump to concede, shocking a nation that had, only hours before, given little credence to his chances. Donald Trump pulled the greatest upset in American political history despite a torrent of invective and dismissal of the mainstream media.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
behind the scenes
- By Rocker on 04-06-17
By: Roger Stone
-
Big Girls Don't Cry
- The Election that Changed Everything for American Women
- By: Rebecca Traister
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
In the last two years, the United States - its history, assumptions, prejudices, and vocabulary - have all cracked open. A woman won a state presidential primary contest (quite a few of them, actually) for the first time in this country's history. Less than a year later, a vice-presidential candidate concluded her appearance in a national debate and immediately reached for her newborn baby. A few months after that, an African American woman moved into the White House - not as an employee but as the First Lady.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Perfect refresher course in feminism and the media
- By Stacey on 12-16-10
By: Rebecca Traister
-
Slanted
- How the News Media Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism
- By: Sharyl Attkisson
- Narrated by: Sharyl Attkisson
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 645
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 558
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 555
We have reached a state of utter absurdity, where journalism schools teach students that their own personal truth or chosen narratives matter more than reality. In Slanted, Attkisson digs into the language of propagandists, the persistence of false media narratives, the driving forces behind today's dangerous blend of facts and opinion, the abandonment of journalism ethics, and the new, Orwellian definition of what it means to report the news.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Connecting the dots
- By Amy Cox on 11-29-20
By: Sharyl Attkisson
-
Talk Radio’s America
- How an Industry Took Over a Political Party That Took Over the United States
- By: Brian Rosenwald
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 26
Radio hosts form a deep bond with their audience, which gives them enormous political power. Unlike elected representatives, however, they must entertain their audience or watch their ratings fall. Talk radio boosted the Republican agenda in the 1990s, but two decades later, escalation in the battle for the airwaves pushed hosts toward ever more conservative, outrageous, and hyperbolic content. Donald Trump borrowed conservative radio hosts' playbook and gave Republican base voters the kind of pugnacious candidate they had been demanding for decades.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent history of our national demise
- By CommentDante on 02-20-22
By: Brian Rosenwald
-
Bad News
- How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy
- By: Batya Ungar-Sargon
- Narrated by: Batya Ungar-Sargon
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 163
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 149
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 147
Today’s newsrooms are propagating radical ideas that were fringe as recently as a decade ago, including “antiracism,” intersectionality, open borders, and critical race theory. How did this come to be? It all has to do with who our news media is written by—and who it is written for. In Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy, Batya Ungar-Sargon reveals how American journalism underwent a status revolution over the twentieth century—from a blue-collar trade to an elite profession.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Balanced, informative, and insightful
- By J. B. Eibel on 06-06-22
-
Wingnuts
- How the Lunatic Fringe Is Hijacking America
- By: John P. Avlon, Tina Brown - foreword
- Narrated by: John P. Avlon, Tina Brown (foreword)
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 70
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 36
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 36
Whats a wingnut? A wingnut is someone on the far-right or far-left wing of the political spectrum professional partisans, unhinged activists, and paranoid conspiracy theorists. Barack Obama campaigned as an antidote to the politics of polarization, promising to transcend the old divides of left and right, black and white, red states and blue. But in the first year of his presidency, he is presiding over an eruption of hate and hyper-partisanship that threatens to mock the promise upon which he was elected.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Disturbingly disappointing
- By Steven on 02-20-10
By: John P. Avlon, and others
-
Pivotal Tuesdays
- Four Elections That Shaped the Twentieth Century
- By: Margaret O'Mara
- Narrated by: James Killavey
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 36
Pivotal Tuesdays looks back at four pivotal presidential elections of the past 100 years to show how they shaped the 20th century. During the rowdy, four-way race in 1912 between Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Eugene Debs, and Woodrow Wilson, the candidates grappled with the tremendous changes of industrial capitalism and how best to respond to them. In 1932, Franklin Roosevelt's promises to give Americans a "New Deal" to combat the Great Depression helped him beat the beleaguered incumbent, Herbert Hoover.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Important book...especially this year.
- By Jim on 07-31-16
By: Margaret O'Mara
-
A Lot of People Are Saying
- The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy
- By: Nancy L. Rosenblum, Russell Muirhead
- Narrated by: Katherine Fenton
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 100
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 89
Conspiracy theories are as old as politics. But conspiracists today have introduced something new - conspiracy without theory. And the new conspiracism has moved from the fringes to the heart of government with the election of Donald Trump. In A Lot of People Are Saying, Russell Muirhead and Nancy Rosenblum reveal how the new conspiracism differs from classic conspiracy theory, why so few officials speak truth to conspiracy, and what needs to be done to resist it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
INSIGHTFUL
- By JaredENH on 04-30-19
By: Nancy L. Rosenblum, and others
-
Gaslighting America
- Why We Love It When Trump Lies to Us
- By: Amanda Carpenter
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 93
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 84
"Can you believe what Donald Trump said?" In Gaslighting America, Amanda Carpenter breaks down Trump's formula, showing why it's practically foolproof, playing his victims, the media, the Democrats, and the Republican fence-sitters perfectly. She traces how this tactic started with Nixon, gained traction with Bill Clinton, and exploded under Trump. Where some people see lies, Trump's fierce followers see something different. A commitment to winning at all costs: There is nothing he could say that would erode their support at long as it's in the name of taking down his political enemies.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Right Winger Whines False Equivalency
- By B. D on 05-03-18
By: Amanda Carpenter
-
A Slobbering Love Affair
- The Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media
- By: Bernard Goldberg
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
According to Bernard Goldberg, the media crossed an important line in the 2008 presidential race, moving from their usual unthinking liberal bias to crass partisanship of the crudest kind, practically acting as spin doctors for the presidential campaign of Barack Obama. In A Slobbering Love Affair, his most provocative book yet, Goldberg demonstrates how the media launched an unparalleled effort to ensure the election of the man they regarded as the One.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
spot on!
- By Eunice on 05-28-09
By: Bernard Goldberg
-
Into the Bright Sunshine
- Young Hubert Humphrey and the Fight for Civil Rights (Pivotal Moments in American History Series)
- By: Samuel G. Freedman
- Narrated by: Mike Lenz
- Length: 17 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 10
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 9
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9
During one sweltering week in July 1948, the Democratic Party gathered in Philadelphia for its national convention. The most pressing and controversial issue facing the delegates was not whom to nominate for president—the incumbent, Harry Truman, was the presumptive candidate—but whether the Democrats would finally embrace the cause of civil rights and embed it in their official platform. On the convention's final day, Hubert Humphrey, the relatively obscure mayor of the midsized city of Minneapolis, ascended the podium.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Civil Rights for All not just limited segments of society.
- By Patricia A Gustafson on 06-02-24
-
The Road to Camelot
- Inside JFK's Five-Year Campaign
- By: Thomas Oliphant, Curtis Wilkie
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
A behind-the-scenes, revelatory account of John F. Kennedy's wily campaign for the White House, beginning with his bold failed attempt to win the vice presidential nomination in 1956. A young and undistinguished junior plots his way to the presidency and changes the way we nominate and elect presidents. John F. Kennedy and his young warriors invented modern presidential politics.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Absolutely excellent
- By TexasLonghorn on 08-22-20
By: Thomas Oliphant, and others
-
The Silencing
- How the Left Is Killing Free Speech
- By: Kirsten Powers
- Narrated by: Kristin Watson Heintz
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 348
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 312
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 311
Life-long liberal Kirsten Powers blasts the Left's forced march towards conformity in an exposé of the illiberal war on free speech. No longer champions of tolerance and free speech, the "illiberal Left" now viciously attacks and silences anyone with alternative points of view. Powers asks, "Whatever happened to free speech in America?"
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Audible censors fantastic book on free speech
- By Steven on 06-07-15
By: Kirsten Powers
-
Fault Lines
- A History of the United States Since 1974
- By: Kevin M. Kruse, Julian E. Zelizer
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 359
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 309
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 300
If you were asked when America became polarized, your answer would likely depend on your age: You might say during Barack Obama’s presidency, or with the post-9/11 war on terror, or the culture wars of the 1980s and 1990s, or the “Reagan Revolution” and the the rise of the New Right. How did the US become so divided? Fault Lines offers a richly told, wide-angle history view toward an answer.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good overview of the past 45 years
- By Adam Shields on 02-26-19
By: Kevin M. Kruse, and others
Love Books? You'll Love Audible.
Transform your day
Replace endless scrolling with endless listening. Chores can be fun.
Listen everywhere
Download titles to listen offline, wherever you are in the world.
Carry your entire Library
Your stories go where you go. Audiobooks don’t weigh a thing.
Listen and learn
Discover stories that can change your mind, your well-being, and your life.
Reach your reading goals
You can’t turn pages while you drive—but you can press play.
Find your niche
WIth thousands of titles to explore, there’s something for everyone.