Audiobooks narrated by George Newbern

Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation

Jim O’Heir, who played Jerry (or Garry or Larry) on Parks and Recreation and co-hosts the hit podcast Parks and Recollection, brings fans a heartfelt behind-the-scenes look at one of America’s most beloved sitcoms, brimming with never-before-told stories featuring the cast and crew, along with dozens of unseen photos! For seven seasons, Leslie Knope and the Parks and Recreation gang charmed millions of viewers with their quirky antics and unwavering positivity. The sitcom continues to be a fan-favorite for streaming services today, nearly a decade after its finale. Now for the first time, Jim O’Heir, who played the lovable Jerry (or, well, Garry/Larry/Terry/Barry, depending on the episode), invites readers back to Pawnee for an exclusive look behind the scenes. Joined by some of his Parks and Rec pals, including Chris Pratt, Retta, Rob Lowe, and showrunners Greg Daniels and Mike Schur, O’Heir reveals how this “little show that could” came to be, thanks to the tireless dedication and comedic genius of Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, and the rest of the gang. As the show found its footing, the cast quickly bonded into a tight-knit family. Here O’Heir shares all his favorite unforgettable memories both on and off camera, from hilarious unscripted moments and epic dance-offs in the hair and makeup trailers, to iconic birthday parties at Rashida Jones’s house and quiet bonfires in Nick Offerman’s backyard. Welcome to Pawnee is O’Heir’s loving tribute to Parks and Recreation, imbued with the same warmth and humor that endeared the show to millions.

Jim O'heir (Author), Adam Verner, Eva Kaminsky, George Newbern, Janina Edwards, Jim Meskimen, Jim O'Heir, Roger Wayne, TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hitler's Atomic Bomb: History, Legend, and the Twin Legacies of Auschwitz and Hiroshima

Who were the German scientists who worked on atomic bombs during World War II for Hitler's regime? How did they justify themselves afterward? Examining the global influence of the German uranium project and postwar reactions to the scientists involved, Mark Walker explores the narratives surrounding 'Hitler's bomb'. The global impacts of this project were cataclysmic. Credible reports of German developments spurred the American Manhattan Project, the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and in turn the Soviet efforts. After the war these scientists' work was overshadowed by the twin shocks of Auschwitz and Hiroshima. Hitler's Atomic Bomb sheds light on the postwar criticism and subsequent rehabilitation of the German scientists, including the controversial legend of Werner Heisenberg and Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker's visit to occupied Copenhagen in 1941. This scientifically accurate but non-technical history examines the impact of German efforts to harness nuclear fission, and the surrounding debates and legends.

Mark Walker (Author), George Newbern (Narrator)

Audiobook

When Faith Disappoints: The Gap Between What We Believe and What We Experience

For anyone who feels the weight of injustice, trauma, and suffering, the founder of the Jude 3 Project invites you to discover how pursuing godliness in a broken world can heal your heart and your life. Living as a Black woman in America, Lisa Victoria Fields understands the tension of relying on God in a broken world. While pursuing her calling in full-time Christian ministry-an often white, male-dominated vocation-she saw the contentions many people have with Christianity. She heard the theological questions, but instead of arguing for her faith, she listened to the barriers and heard the pain in their hearts: I'm not welcomed or wanted. There is no justice in this world. God didn't intervene and protect me. Doesn't God want me to be happy? Lisa saw the gap between their expectation of Christianity and their experience of it. Now, in her debut book, Lisa invites Christians and skeptics to reconsider the promises and truth of Christianity. She reveals seven pain points people frequently experience-a lack of personhood, power, protection, provision, peace, purpose, and pleasure-and unpacks how, for some, Christianity may have failed to meet those very valid needs, so they turned to various counterfeits to deal with the pain points. While Lisa acknowledges and wrestles with the pain in a fallen world, she also reexamines the pages of Scripture in search of how Christianity alleviates each of those pains. Through vulnerability, powerful storytelling, and thoughtful use of Scripture, Lisa tends to your hurting heart and offers hope and resolve to move forward, clinging to a faith that works-a faith that brings relevance and value to your life in the here and now.

Lisa Victoria Fields (Author), George Newbern, Lisa Victoria Fields, TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Fierce Resilience: Combatting Workplace Stress One Conversation at a Time

Discover the science-based secrets to reducing workplace stress, building unwavering resilience, and achieving success through the power of conversation. Technology, isolation, and increasing demands for productivity are making the workplace a hotbed for stress—it's no surprise employees are abandoning traumatic workplaces in unprecedented numbers. Ed Beltran, the CEO of a powerhouse leadership communication company, believes the antidote to stressed-out workplaces starts with conversation. Beltran has developed a science-based model to reduce stress and help people build what he calls fierce resilience. By leveraging the power of conversations, individuals discover their unique stressors, master skills to neutralize stressors, and build unwavering resilience that elevates their emotional well-being. This is no ordinary self-help book. The transformative process of fierce resilience goes well beyond developing mere coping skills. It helps people take control of their emotional health, become more resilient, and build organizations with resilience as a core part of their DNA.

Edward Beltran (Author), George Newbern (Narrator)

Audiobook

Florida's Space Coast: The Impact of NASA on the Sunshine State

Florida's Space Coast tells the compelling story of America's half century in space exploration from the successful launch of the first two-stage rocket in 1950 through the space shuttle missions of 2000. Told from the unique viewpoint of the people who built the Spaceport, this book shows how the space program transformed the east central Florida coast from a traditional citrus production and tourist area to one of the most influential high-tech centers in the nation. Cape Canaveral was chosen as a missile launch site because of its many geographical advantages. However, in the early years of the space program, the area was far from an ideal place for NASA employees to raise their families. NASA brought in thousands of space-related workers, who, besides sending machines and people into space, had to meet the challenge of moving their families from urban environs to a rural southern county. This book engagingly recounts the parallel stories of the establishment of America's space program and its impact on the development of Brevard County.

William B. Faherty (Author), George Newbern (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Good Bad Boy: Luke Perry and How a Generation Grew Up

An artful and contemplative tribute to the late actor famed for his role as Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills, 90210. Best known for playing loner rebel Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills 90210, Luke Perry was fifty-two years old when he died of a stroke in 2019. There have been other deaths of 90's stars, but this one hit different. Gen X was reminded of their own inescapable mortality, and robbed of an exciting career resurgence for one of their most cherished icons—with recent roles in the hit series Riverdale and Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time In Hollywood bringing him renewed attention and acclaim. Only upon his death, as stories poured out online about his authenticity and kindness, did it become clear how little was known about the exceedingly humble actor and how deeply he impacted popular culture. In A Good Bad Boy, Margaret Wappler attempts to understand who Perry was and why he was unique among his Hollywood peers. To do so, she uses an inventive hybrid narrative. She speaks with dozens who knew Perry personally and professionally. They share insightful anecdotes: how he kept connected to his Ohio upbringing; nearly blew his 90210 audition; tried to shed his heartthrob image by joining the HBO prison drama Oz; and in the last year of his life, sought to set up two of his newly divorced friends. (After his death, the pair bonded in their grief and eventually married.) Amid these original interviews and exhaustive archival research, Wappler weaves poignant vignettes of memoir in which she serves as an avatar to show how Perry shaped a generation's views on masculinity, privilege and the ideal of "cool." Timed to the fifth anniversary of Perry's death, A Good Bad Boy is a profound and entertaining examination of what it means to be an artist and an adult.

Margaret Wappler (Author), George Newbern, Jennifer Jill Araya, Margaret Wappler, TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Power of Going All-In: Secrets for Success in Business, Leadership, and Life

In The Power of Going All In, serial entrepreneur and sales leader Brandon Bornancin delivers a first-person account of what it takes to build, lead, and manage a world-class company. The author draws on his many years of experience launching and managing successful companies to present effective strategies for inspiring your people to do more, be more, and achieve more. You'll discover a customizable framework you can apply to your own environment to create your own unique path to leadership greatness, at school, at work, and anywhere else you're responsible for the performance of those who follow you. You'll find: tried-and-tested methods for unlocking the potential of the people you lead; effective alternatives to counter-productive leadership 'strategies,' like micromanagement; and reasons why leadership isn't about the letters behind your name or fancy titles on your office door. A practical and effective toolkit for entrepreneurs, managers, executives, board members, founders, sales professionals, and other leaders looking for ways to harness the full potential of the people they lead, The Power of Going All In is also perfect for those looking for a leadership methodology that's been proven to work in the real world.

Brandon Bornancin (Author), George Newbern (Narrator)

Audiobook

Flight of the WASP: The Rise, Fall, and Future of America's Original Ruling Class

For decades, writers have proclaimed the diminishment of the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, who for generations were the dominant socio-cultural-political force in America. While the WASP elite has, in the last half century, indeed drifted from American centrality to the periphery, its relevance and impact remain, as Michael Gross reveals in his compelling chronicle. From Colonial America's founding settlements through the Gilded Age to the present day, Gross traces the complex legacy of American WASPs through the lives of fifteen influential individuals and their very privileged, sometimes intermarried families. As the clans progress, prosper, and periodically stumble, defining aspects in the four-century sweep of American history emerge: our wide, oft-contentious religious diversity; the deep scars of slavery, genocide, and intolerance; the creation and sometime mis-use of astonishing economic and political power; an instinct to offset inequity with philanthropy; an equal capacity for irresponsible, sometimes wanton, behavior. In previous acclaimed books such as 740 Park and Rogues' Gallery, Gross has explored elite culture in microcosm; expanding the canvas, Flight of the WASP chronicles it across four centuries and fifteen generations in an ambitious and consequential contribution to American history.

Michael Gross (Author), George Newbern (Narrator)

Audiobook

Sad Happens

A beautifully-illustrated, celebratory anthology exploring sadness—and the transformative power of tears. When was the last time you cried? Was it because you were sad? Or happy? Overwhelmed, or frustrated? Maybe from relief or from pride? Was it in public or in private? Did you feel better afterwards, or worse? The reasons that we cry—and the circumstances in which we shed a tear—are often surprising and beautiful. Sad Happens is a collective, multi-faceted archive of tears that captures the complexity and variety of these circumstances. We hear from Mike Birbiglia on the role that grief and pain have in comedy; Jia Tolentino on how motherhood made her cry in both hormonal joy and fervent rage; and Hanif Abdurraqib on the intimacy of crying on planes. We hear from Phoebe Bridgers on poignant moments of departure and JP Brammer on the strange disappointments of success; Matt Berninger on becoming a crybaby in his adulthood and Hua Hsu on crying during a moment of public uncertainty. We also hear from everyday people in a range of professions: an actor on the tips she learned from drag queens about preserving a full face of makeup while crying; a zookeeper on mourning the animals who have died during her tenure; a bartender on crying in the walk-in; and a TV critic on the shows that have moved her. Brimming with humanity, this anthology is confirmation that sad happens—but so does joy, love, a sense of community, and a host of other emotions. By turns moving and affirming, Sad Happens is an emotional balm and visual delight.

Brandon Stosuy (Author), André Santana, Cynthia Farrell, Deanna Anthony, Em Grosland, Eric Yang, George Newbern, Nikki Massoud, Reena Dutt (Narrator)

Audiobook

Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things

Why attractive things work better and other crucial insights into human-centered design Emotions are inseparable from how we humans think, choose, and act. In Emotional Design, cognitive scientist Don Norman shows how the principles of human psychology apply to the invention and design of new technologies and products. In The Design of Everyday Things, Norman made the definitive case for human-centered design, showing that good design demanded that the user's must take precedence over a designer's aesthetic if anything, from light switches to airplanes, was going to work as the user needed. In this book, he takes his thinking several steps farther, showing that successful design must incorporate not just what users need, but must address our minds by attending to our visceral reactions, to our behavioral choices, and to the stories we want the things in our lives to tell others about ourselves. Good human-centered design isn't just about making effective tools that are straightforward to use; it's about making affective tools that mesh well with our emotions and help us express our identities and support our social lives. From roller coasters to robots, sports cars to smart phones, attractive things work better. Whether designer or consumer, user or inventor, this book is the definitive guide to making Norman's insights work for you.

Don Norman (Author), George Newbern (Narrator)

Audiobook

Escaping Addiction

Addiction is a worldwide curse that seems to be growing in seriousness on a yearly basis. While to the general public addiction may seem almost inescapable, the truth is that there are solutions to overcoming the various addictions, though to date they seem more elusive than attainable. The goal of Escaping Addiction is to highlight the variety of causes of addiction alongside an array of useful tools anyone can use to break the cycle of addiction, whether it’s to alcohol, drugs, food, or video games. The seeds of addictive behavior are often planted in childhood then fed to grow over years of the input-and-reward cycle. Detaching the rewards from the addictive input is key to breaking the habits that keep us addicted. Presented here are a variety of treatments—from medications to therapeutic approaches—that can help. Offering a better understanding of the mechanisms of addiction, this book can help anyone struggling with addiction to unravel it in their own lives.

George Koob, Patrick Bordeaux (Author), George Newbern (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Brief History of Intelligence: Why the Evolution of the Brain Holds the Key to the Future of AI

A Brief History of Intelligence bridges the gap between AI and neuroscience by telling the evolutionary story of how the brain came to be. The entirety of the human brain’s 4-billion-year story can be summarised as the culmination of five evolutionary breakthroughs, starting from the very first brains, all the way to the modern human brains. Each breakthrough emerged from new sets of brain modifications, and equipped animals with a new suite of intellectual faculties. These five breakthroughs are the organising map to this book, and they make up our itinerary for our adventure back in time. Each breakthrough also has fascinating corollaries to breakthroughs in AI. Indeed, there will be plenty of such surprises along the way. For instance: the innovation that enabled AI to beat humans in the game of Go – temporal difference reinforcement learning – was an innovation discovered by our fish ancestors over 500 million years ago. The solutions to many of the current mysteries in AI – such as ‘common sense’ – can be found in the tiny brain of a mouse. Where do emotions come from? Research suggests that they may have arisen simply as a solution to navigation in ancient worm brains. Unravelling this evolutionary story will reveal the hidden features of human intelligence and with them, just how your mind came to be.

Max Bennett (Author), George Newbern (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by George Newbern