Audiobooks narrated by Byron Wagner

Conscious Living, Conscious Aging: Claiming the Gifts of Elderhood

"In this newly revised and updated edition of Conscious Living, Conscious Aging, you will find an empowering guide with practical tools to help live a passionate, fulfilling, growth-oriented life. The baby boomer generation is reaching retirement age with unprecedented good health and resources, and is no longer satisfied with their parents' approach to aging. Many older adults are seeking an empowering vision for their future but find that hard to come by in a world that glorifies youth and has largely forgotten the gifts that can accompany the life stage of elderhood. With this expanded and updated 10th anniversary edition of Conscious Living, Conscious Aging, you will find a contemporary manual filled with practices and tools to help you navigate your elder years with purpose and clarity. Ron Pevny's provocative model of "conscious eldering" opens the door to the rich possibilities of intentionally growing into elderhood, as contrasted with merely growing old. Through advice, practices, and personal stories, this book will help you distill wisdom from your many years of life experience, navigate loss and grief, identify new passions and goals, and remain engaged and relevant as you enter life's later chapters, creating a lasting legacy and a healthier world for the generations to follow. It's time to engage with family, community, your spiritual source, and the world, which needs your talents. Don't just grow old. Aim high and claim the gifts of elderhood."

Ron Pevny (Author), Byron Wagner (Narrator)

Audiobook

On Liberalism: In Defense of Freedom

"A much-needed defense of liberalism—what it is, why it is under threat, and why we need it more than ever—from one of our most important political thinkers today. More than at any time since World War II, liberalism is under pressure, even siege. On the right, some have given up on liberalism. They hold it responsible for the collapse of the family and traditional values, rampant criminality, disrespect for authority, and widespread immorality. On the left, some are turning their backs on liberalism. They think that it lacks the resources to handle the problems posed by entrenched inequalities, racism, sexism, corporate power, and environmental degradation. But those opposed to liberalism do not depict it accurately; they offer a caricature, and they neglect its history. In On Liberalism, former advisor to Presidents Obama and Biden and New York Times bestselling author Cass Sunstein offers a timely and clear understanding of liberalism—of its core commitments, of its breadth, of its internal debates, of its evolving character, of its promise, and why we need it more than ever. He also shows how and why liberalism has been, and should be, appealing to both left and right. The book begins with a manifesto on behalf of liberalism, and then goes on to explore the central idea of "experiments of living," to which a liberal constitutional order gives pride of place. From there, it discusses John Stuart Mill and Friedrich Hayek, defining liberal thinkers; the rule of law as liberals understand it; freedom of speech (including the place of lies and falsehoods within that freedom); free markets, economic liberty, and regulation; Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Second Bill of Rights, with its social and economic guarantees; and finally, the concept of opportunity. Never more urgently needed, On Liberalism moves the conversation well beyond the reductive and inflammatory political sound bites of our moment and advances a compelling argument on behalf of liberalism as the foundation of freedom and self-government."

Cass R. Sunstein (Author), Byron Wagner (Narrator)

Audiobook

Climate Justice: What Rich Nations Owe the World—and the Future

"The social cost of carbon: The most important number you've never heard of—and what it means. If you're injuring someone, you should stop—and pay for the damage you've caused. Why, this book asks, does this simple proposition, generally accepted, not apply to climate change? In Climate Justice, a bracing challenge to status-quo thinking on the ethics of climate change, renowned author and legal scholar Cass Sunstein clearly frames what's at stake and lays out the moral imperative: When it comes to climate change, everyone must be counted equally, regardless of when they live or where they live—which means that wealthy nations, which have disproportionately benefited from greenhouse gas emissions, are obliged to help future generations and people in poor nations that are particularly vulnerable. Invoking principles of corrective justice and distributive justice, Sunstein argues that rich countries should pay for the harms that they have caused and that all of us are obliged to take steps to protect future generations from serious climate-related damage. He shows how "choice engines," informed by artificial intelligence, can enable people to save money and to reduce the harms they produce. The book casts new light on the "social cost of carbon," the most important number in climate change debates—and explains how intergenerational neutrality and international neutrality can help all nations, above all the United States and China, do what must be done."

Cass R. Sunstein (Author), Byron Wagner (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Way: A Novel

"Blending Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance with Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, this is the story of a battle-scarred survivor on a desperate, postapocalyptic road trip. In Cary Groner’s vision of the near future, the world has been ravaged by a lethal virus and only the young have survived. Cities and infrastructures have been destroyed, countries no longer exist as they once did, and the natural world has taken over the landscape in surprising ways, with herds of camels roaming the desert and crocodiles glowing in the rivers, the result of some CRISPR experiment gone awry. Against this treacherous backdrop, Will, a former caretaker of a Buddhist monastery in Colorado, receives a mysterious directive: to bring a potential cure to a scientist in California—though he doesn’t know if California still exists. And so Will sets out, haunted by dreams of the woman he once loved. Danger lurks everywhere. A hitman is on his tail. And the only way he’ll make it is with the help of a clever raven, an opinionated cat, and a tough teenage girl who’s grown used to being on her own. Both a page-turning adventure and, ultimately, a love story, Zen and the Art of Apocalypse is an imaginative and inventive novel whose wisdom will stay with readers long after they’ve turned the last thrilling page."

Cary Groner (Author), Byron Wagner (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Suggestible Brain: The Science and Magic of How We Make Up Our Minds

"Neuroscientist Amir Raz shares decades of research and case studies to show how suggestion changes the brain and shapes our behavior-and how we can protect ourselves from and harness suggestibility in our own lives. Suggestions can make cheap wine taste like Château Margaux, warp our perception of time, and alter our memories-and in an age where disinformation has impacted our personal lives and our politics, the power of suggestion is worth even more attention. In The Suggestible Brain, world-renowned expert on the science of suggestion Amir Raz, PhD, brings together cognitive aspects of psychology, sociology, and anthropology with issues in our contemporary culture, media, alongside a series of case studies of patients with disorders ranging from Tourette's Syndrome to false pregnancies, lactose intolerance, and asthma to show exactly how suggestions can cut deep into our brains, shake our fundamental knowledge, and override our core human values. Some questions include: - Why do placebos work even when people know they are inactive pills-and why do red pills cause stress whereas blue pills feel calm? - Can suggestions effectively treat depression and anxiety? - How do people weaponize suggestion in the form of gaslighting and mental abuse? - Why are we more likely to believe fake news that already aligns with our political beliefs? - How can suggestions help fight racism, hatred, and bigotry? Conversely, how can suggestions backfire and create the opposite effect? Merging Dr. Raz's experiences as a magician and hypnotist with decades' worth of his own neuropsychological research, The Suggestible Brain maps the twilight zone where magic and science coalesce, and shows how easily suggestible and manipulable we all are. Readers will walk away with actionable advice on how to harness the science of suggestion to propel change, protect against manipulative misinformation, and better regulate our internal, mental universe. "Professor Amir Raz is a consummate scientist and former professional magician. His scientific research and writing have made substantial contributions to our understanding of hypnosis, placebo effects, and suggestion. His book will amaze and entertain you, while at the same time being firmly rooted in the scientific data. It is a magical book."--Irving Kirsch, PhD, author of The Emperor's New Drugs: Exploding the Antidepressant Myth "[This book] could have been titled This is Your Brain on Magic. Told from the twin perspectives of a world-renowned cognitive neuroscientist who happens to be a professional magician, you'll never again think about what you see, hear, and experience the same way."-Daniel Levitan, author of This is Your Brain on Music "

Amir Raz (Author), Amir Raz, Byron Wagner (Narrator)

Audiobook

American Vikings: How the Norsemen Sailed Into the Lands and Imaginations of America

"A vivid and illuminating new history—separate fact from fiction, myth from legend—exploring the early Vikings settlements in North America. Vikings are an enduring subject of fascination. The combination of adventure, mythology, violence, and exploration continues to grip our attention. As a result, for more than a millennium the Vikings have traveled far and wide, not least across the turbulent seas of our minds and imaginations. The geographical reach of the Norse was extraordinary. For centuries medieval sagas, first recorded in Iceland, claimed that Vikings reached North America around the year 1000. This book explores that claim, separating fact from fiction and myth from mischief, to assess the enduring legacy of this claim in America. The search for “American Vikings” connects a vast range of different areas; from the latest archaeological evidence for their actual settlement in North America to the myth-making of nineteenth-century Scandinavian pioneers in the Midwest; and from ancient adventurers to the political ideologies in the twenty-first century. It is a journey from the high seas of a millennium ago to the swirling waters and dark undercurrents of the online world of today. No doubt, the warlike Vikings would have understood how their image could be “weaponized.” In the same way, they would probably have grasped how their dramatic, violent, passionate, and discordant mythologies could appeal to our era and cultural setting. They might, though, have been more surprised at how their image has been commercialized and commodified. A vivid new history by a master of the form, American Vikings explores how the Norse first sailed into the lands, and then into the imaginations, of America."

Martyn Whittock (Author), Byron Wagner (Narrator)

Audiobook

Big Dogs

"Criminals are on the loose, and Lieutenant JW North will do everything in his power to hunt them down. Join the Lieutenant and his K9 partners, specially trained human scent–detecting and man-trailing German Shepherds, as they chase serial killers and hunt down the brutal rapist and man who shot North a year earlier. Standing quietly at the elevator door to the North Tower of the Ultimo Hotel in Las Vegas, JW watches the numbers go down as the elevator descends to him. He thinks—sixty-five floors? There is a serial killer up there! If the mission is a success, it means a second career chasing serial criminals with a special FBI task force. If not, the Lieutenant will be going home defeated and outsmarted by a warped criminal mind. JW needs this to work; he needs another chance at the man who shot him. The elevator doors open, and the team steps aboard … Is his team ready to face the cruelest criminals? Is he?"

S.L. Ditmars (Author), Byron Wagner (Narrator)

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A Quiet Life

"From the author of A Little Hope--a Read with Jenna Bonus Pick--comes an enormously powerful and life-affirming novel about three individuals whose lives intersect in unforeseen ways. Set in a close-knit Pennsylvania suburb in the grip of winter, A Quiet Life follows three people grappling with loss and finding a tender wisdom in their grief. Chuck Ayers used to look forward to nothing so much as his annual trip to Hilton Head with his wife, Cat--that yearly taste of relaxation they'd become accustomed to in retirement, after a lifetime of working and raising two children. Now, just months after Cat's death, Chuck finds that he can't let go of her things--her favorite towel, the sketchbooks in her desk drawer--as he struggles to pack for a trip he can't imagine taking without her. Ella Burke delivers morning newspapers and works at a bridal shop to fill her days while she anxiously awaits news--any piece of information--about her missing daughter. Ella adjusts to life in a new apartment and answers every call on her phone, hoping her daughter will reach out one day. After the sudden death of her father, Kirsten Bonato set aside her veterinary school aspirations, finding comfort in the steady routine of working at an animal shelter. But as time passes, old dreams and new romantic interests begin to surface--and Kirsten finds herself at another crossroads. In this beautifully crafted and profoundly moving novel, three parallel narratives converge in poignant and unexpected ways, as each character bravely presses onward, trying to recover something they have lost. Emotionally riveting and infused with hope, A Quiet Life celebrates humanity in the midst of uncertainty."

Ethan Joella (Author), Byron Wagner, Melissa Redmond, Stacey Glemboski (Narrator)

Audiobook

Skinwalkers at the Pentagon: An Insider's Account of the Secret Government UFO Program

"Skinwalkers at the Pentagon unmasks the massive scope of the Pentagon’s landmark UFO study that ran from the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, DC. The Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program or AAWSAP investigated the “Tic Tac” and other “nuts and bolts” UFO events, analyzed intrusions of UFOs onto US military bases, as well as probed the plethora of bizarre phenomena that government investigators encountered on Skinwalker Ranch. Written by two program insiders and a respected journalist, Skinwalkers at the Pentagon comes to a conclusion that has never before been revealed! UFOs often led to the “attachment” of strange phenomena to military personnel who visited the Ranch and brought “something” home to their families, resulting in frightening eruptions of paranormal events in their households that terrorized and sometimes injured their children. By the end of the two-year program, more than 100 separate technical reports, some of which ran to hundreds of pages, were delivered to the Defense Intelligence Agency. Among them was a 149-page report on the Soviet (and now Russian) UAP investigation/analysis capability. Another detail is the design and the building of a functional prototype for an autonomous Unidentified Aerial Phenomena surveillance platform. Skinwalkers at the Pentagon has been reviewed by the U.S. Department of Defense and cleared for public release."

Colm A. Kelleher, George Knapp, James T. Lacatski (Author), Byron Wagner (Narrator)

Audiobook

Shitty Sales Leaders: And How to Not Be One

"Most sales leaders struggle to motivate their teams and deliver sustainable results. Great sales leaders make it look easy while others never figure it out. Ineffective sales leaders may resort to desperate tactics that damage careers, wreck team cultures, and scare great people away from leadership opportunities. In Shitty Sales Leaders: And How to Not Be One, sales veteran Adam Apps shares an actionable template to help you gain followership while acquiring, building, and running high-performing sales teams. When armed with the right tools, anyone can be an effective sales leader. Ineffective sales leaders might deliver short-term results at the expense of those around them, but their approach is never sustainable. No one wants to follow that kind of leader. Shitty Sales Leaders: And How to Not Be One equips you with proven best practices from great leaders to elevate your game and become a truly exceptional sales leader."

Adam Apps (Author), Byron Wagner (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hole in the Woods

"July 1989, in a sleepy Michigan town, high school grad Nina Laramie heads out with her friends and is never seen alive again. Months later, her skeleton is found near a remote party spot in the forest. The ME determines Nina has been brutally raped and bludgeoned to death. Fear and anger ripple through this tight-knit community when the case goes cold. Thirty years later, Riley St. James, a Detroit PD assigned to Nina’s case, is determined to get her first big cold case win despite having a similar past to the victim. Relying on her investigative prowess and gut instinct, Riley tracks down a witness, who saw Nina Laramie’s murder. But as the truth comes to light, Riley must face the killers who want their secret to stay in the Hole in the Woods. Based on the 1989 true-life murder case of Shannon Siders of Newaygo County, Michigan. After the case went dormant, a Michigan cold case team formed in 2011 and uncovered new evidence that enabled them to arrest, try, and convict the killers, who were sent to prison for Shannon’s murder in 2015."

Jennifer Graeser Dornbush (Author), Byron Wagner, Elise Randall, Lauren Ezzo, Marni Penning, Timothy Howard Jackson (Narrator)

Audiobook

River Rules

"River Rules is a small-town environmental suspense novel with a deep heart and powerful conscience. What the housing bubble didn’t break in Bridgeville—a small New England community blessed by the Connecticut River—greed, double-dealing, and rapid-fire change just might. Peter Russo, a part-time farmer and full-time rambler with his rescue dog, has a knack for conflict, and a burning desire to protect Bridgeville’s land and water from exploitation. His best buddy, John Tomassi, a local cop, doesn’t want to be his babysitter—nor does his brother, Jeff. Peter’s ex-lover, Carmen, has no use for him as she doubles-down on her profitable apple orchard. But Rachel, his niece, needs his partnership in a food truck. Peter’s trouble with Bridgeville’s bureaucracy reunites him with two of his former club baseball players, Marco Torres, now on the wrong side of the law, and Kenny Johnson, a young cop. Peter’s helping hand not only gives Marco the chance he needs, but Marco and Kenny find that there’s more that connects them than divides them. The food truck is a lifeline to almost everyone except Nancy, Peter’s old friend, sinking fast from health issues and the aftermath of date rape. Nobody’s famous and nobody’s rich except Brock Saunders, a local bully turned Ponzi-schemer and sexual predator. With Bridgeville life at the mercy of cultural crosswinds and economic forces seemingly beyond control, love, loss, baseball, and the search for truth create a spinning wheel of unexpected alliances, unsung heroes, and treachery."

Stevie Z. Fischer (Author), Byron Wagner (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Byron Wagner

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