Audiobooks narrated by Jason Culp

A Crisis Wasted: Barack Obama's Defining Decisions

This book is the compelling story of President Obama’s domestic policy decisions made between September 2008 and his inauguration on January 20, 2009. Unlike all other presidents except Abraham Lincoln—who decided not to allow slavery to expand westward before he was sworn in—Barack Obama determined the fate of his presidency before he took office. The results of these fateful decisions led to Donald Trump, the worst person Obama could have imagined, taking his place eight years later. This book describes how and why these decisions were made, and discusses whether the outcomes could have been different. Based on dozens of interviews with actors in the Obama transition, as well as the author’s personal observations, this book provides unique commentary on those defining decisions of winter 2008–2009. A decade later, the ramifications of the Great Recession and the role of government in addressing the crisis are the reasons behind the ideological battle between progressivism and neoliberalism in the Democratic Party and the continuing struggle for direction in the Republican Party. As many seek the presidency in the November 2020 election, all candidates and of course the eventual winner will face decisions that may be as critical and difficult as those confronted by Barack Obama. This book aims to provide them guidance from history.

Reed Hundt (Author), Jason Culp (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America

“In December 1776, a small boat delivered an old man to France.” So begins a dazzling narrative account of Benjamin Franklin’s French mission, the most exacting–and momentous–eight years of his life. When Franklin embarked, the colonies were without money, munitions, gunpowder or common cause; like all adolescents, they were to discover that there was a difference between declaring independence and achieving it. To close that gap Franklin was dispatched to Paris, amid great secrecy, across a winter sea thick with enemy cruisers. He was seventy years old, without any diplomatic training, and possessed of the most rudimentary French. He was also among the most famous men in the world. Franklin well understood that he was off on the greatest gamble of his career. But despite minimal direction from Congress he was soon outwitting the British secret service and stirring passion for a republic in an absolute monarchy. In A Great Improvisation Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff offers an utterly fresh and thrilling account of Franklin’s Parisian adventure and of America’s debut on the world stage. Schiff weaves her tale of international intrigue from new and little-known primary sources, working from a host of diplomatic archives, family papers, and intelligence reports. From her pages emerges a particularly human Founding Father, as well as a vivid sense of how fragile, improvisational, and international was our country’ s bid for independence.

Stacy Schiff (Author), Jason Culp (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Hole in the Universe

At the age of eighteen, a young man is convicted for the murder of a woman during a robbery and sent to a high security prison. Twenty-five years later, he is finally set free, a changed man painfully entering a changed world. He emerges into a society that has grown unfamiliar and corrupt, his many years inside prison leaving him unprepared for the world beyond the gates. Unsure of the new rules of society, he is subject to the hidden motivations of those around him, the plans that his friends and family may or may not have for him. This is a darkly compelling story of how one man struggles to mend the gap that his crime and incarceration have torn in his life, coming to grips with the hole gouged in his personal universe.

Mary McGarry Morris (Author), Jason Culp (Narrator)

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A Long Way from Ordinary

"There's gold in them there hills!" ... and something deadly, too. Danger the likes Boone McCreery has never seen is brewing in the Black Hills. Fresh in from Santa Fe, he's returned to Deadwood to seek justice for his uncle-and maybe to see about a girl. Little did he know his search for justice would have him stumbling into a hornets' nest beyond his worst nightmare. One thing is for certain: the trouble he and his compadres chance upon deep in the trees is a long way from ordinary. Kick up your spurs and enjoy another rip-roaring, wild ride with Boone, Rabbit, Clementine, and Hank in the second book in the Deadwood Undertaker series.

Ann Charles, Sam Lucky (Author), Jason Culp (Narrator)

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A Mighty Fortress

Young Cayleb Ahrmahk has accomplished things few people could even dream of. Not yet even thirty years old, he's won the most crushing naval victories in human history. He's smashed a hostile alliance of no less than five princedoms and won the hand of the beautiful young Queen Sharleyan of Chisholm. Cayleb and Sharleyan have created the Charisian Empire, the greatest naval power in the history of Safehold, and they've turned Charis into a place of refuge for all who treasure freedom. Their success may prove short-lived. The Church of God Awaiting, which controls most of Safehold, has decreed their destruction. Mother Church's entire purpose is to prevent the very things to which Charis is committed. Since the first attempt to crush the heretics failed, the Church has no choice but to adopt some of the hated Charisian innovations for themselves. Soon a mighty fleet will sail against Cayleb, destroying everything in its path. But there are still matters about which the Church knows nothing, including Cayleb and Sharleyan's adviser, friend, and guardian- the mystic warrior-monk named Merlin Athrawes. Merlin knows all about battles against impossible odds, because he is in fact the cybernetic avatar of a young woman named Nimue Alban, who died a thousand years before. As Nimue, Merlin saw the entire Terran Federation go down in fire and slaughter at the hands of a foe it could not defeat. He knows that Safehold is the last human planet in existence, and that the stasis the Church was created to enforce will be the human race's death sentence if it is allowed to stand. The juggernaut is rumbling down on Charis, but Merlin Athrawes and a handful of extraordinary human beings stand in its path. The Church is about to discover just how potent the power of human freedom truly is.

David Weber (Author), Jason Culp (Narrator)

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A Time for Truth: Reigniting the Promise of America

Liberals love to hate Ted Cruz. The outspoken Texas Senator has a knack for getting under their skin. His quotable remarks - and even more, his principled stands on numerous national issues -- have made him a political lightning rod and the most googled man in Washington. There is a simple reason Senator Cruz has dominated so much of the national conversation. Since his election to the Senate in 2012 he has refused to go along with the established way of doing business in Washington. As a result, he has become a voice for millions of Americans frustrated with governmental corruption and gridlock. Telling the truth is a radical act in our nation's capital - a city dominated by empty promises, meaningless "show votes," and a self-protection racket designed to get politicians re-elected rather than heeding the demands of the American people. Cruz has told the truth - about Washington collusion, a corrupted political process, and the institutional barriers to actually fixing the enormous challenges we face. In A Time For Truth, his first book, Cruz tells his story as a Cuban immigrant's son who made it to the Ivy League, to the Supreme Court bar, and eventually the U.S. Senate. It's a deeply personal journey that begins with Cruz's father experiencing brutality in a Cuban prison and ends with Cruz's discovery that Washington has neither the courage nor the desire to preserve the freedom and opportunities that gave hope to his father, and millions like him. Pulling back the curtain on the backroom deals between Republicans, Democrats, and the lobbyists who keep them in office (instead of keeping them accountable to their constituents), Cruz offers an inside look at what has gone wrong in our nation's capital. He argues that the need for change is urgent, and that the only way to bring about real change is to revitalize the Constitutional principles that made our country great. It's a book that will win Ted Cruz few friends in Washington. Then again, that isn't why he went there in the first place.

Ted Cruz (Author), Jason Culp, Ted Cruz (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Time of Fear: America in the Era of Red Scares and Cold War

From National Book Award Finalist and Sibert Honor Author Albert Marrin, a timely examination of Red Scares in the United States, including the Rosenbergs, the Hollywood Ten and the McCarthy era. In twentieth century America, no power--and no threat--loomed larger than the communist superpower of the Soviet Union. America saw in the dreams of the Soviet Union the overthrow of the US government, and the end of democracy and freedom. Meanwhile, the Communist Party of the United States attempted to use deep economic and racial disparities in American culture to win over members and sympathizers. From the miscarriage of justice in the Scotsboro Boys case, to the tragedy of the Rosenbergs to the theatrics of the Hollywood Ten to the menace of the Joseph McCarthy and his war hearings, Albert Marrin examines a unique time in American history...and explores both how some Americans were lured by the ideals of communism without understanding its reality and how fear of communist infiltration at times caused us to undermine our most deeply held values. The questions he raises ask: What is worth fighting for? And what are you willing to sacrifice to keep it? This timely audiobook from an award-author brings to life an important and dramatic era in American history with lessons that are deeply relevant today.

Albert Marrin (Author), Jason Culp (Narrator)

Audiobook

Above the Line: Lessons in Leadership and Life from a Championship Season

Lessons on leadership and team-building from Ohio State's head football coach, drawing heavily on the 2014 season and his team's remarkable run to the championship in the face of adversity Since he took over at Bowling Green fourteen years ago, Urban Frank Meyer III has established himself as one of the elite coaches in the annals of college football. With three national championships and a record of 142-26, he has achieved remarkable results with many teams. But it is Meyer's recent work at The Ohio State University that has elevated him into the realm of such iconic coaching names as Paul (Bear) Bryant, Knute Rockne and OSU's own Woody Hayes. Never was that work more successful than in the 2014 season, which ended with Meyer's Buckeyes capturing the inaugural College Football Playoff Championship with a 42-20 victory over Oregon. That the triumph came with a third-string quarterback at the helm-and after OSU had suffered a brutal early-season loss and endured the tragic loss of a teammate-only made the achievement that much more extraordinary. How did Ohio State, a school many thought did not even deserve to be in the playoffs, end up at the summit of college football? In Above the Line, Urban Meyer answers this question and many more. Pulling back the curtain on the high-profile, high-pressure world he operates in, he offers readers a groundbreaking game plan for creating a culture of success that engages and inspires the people around them - the very game plan he followed every day in the Buckeyes' historic 2014 season. A student of psychology long before he became a coach, Meyer believes that trust is the bedrock of great achievements and healthy relationships, and explains how to build it, step by step-whether in a team, a family, or a Fortune 500 company. With trust in place, a deep bond unites us in common purpose, and cultivates what he calls "above the line" behavior-a learned, empowered response to the challenges we face every day. Writing with his customary candor and humility, Meyer delivers insights both practical and profound-and applicable far beyond the football field. Packed with real-life examples from a storied season, Above the Line offers wisdom and inspiration for taking control and turning setbacks into victories.

Urban Meyer, Wayne Coffey (Author), Jason Culp (Narrator)

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Akin

Bestselling author of Room, Emma Donoghue returns with her new masterpiece, Akin, a brilliant tale of love, loss and family. Noah is only days away from his first trip back to Nice since he was a child when a social worker calls looking for a temporary home for Michael, his eleven-year-old great-nephew. Though he has never met the boy, he gets talked into taking him along to France. This odd couple, suffering from jet lag and culture shock, argue about everything from steak haché to screen time, and the trip is looking like a disaster. But as Michael's sharp eye and ease with tech help Noah unearth troubling details about their family's past, both come to grasp the risks that loved ones take for one another, and find they are more akin than they knew. Written with all the tenderness and psychological intensity that made Room a huge bestseller, Akin is a funny, heart-wrenching tale of an old man and a young boy who unpick their painful stories and embark on writing a new one together.

Emma Donoghue (Author), Jason Culp (Narrator)

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All Shall Be Well; And All Shall Be Well; And All Manner of Things Shall Be Well

Meet Burt Hecker: a mead-drinking, tunic-wearing, medieval re-enactor from upstate New York. He prefers oat gruel to French fries, because potatoes were unavailable in Europe before A.D. 1200. And, at war with the modern world, he enjoys hosting large-scale re-enactments at the Victorian bed and breakfast he calls home. But Burt has some serious problems. After an incident involving the New York State police and an illegally borrowed car, Burt is forced to join a local music therapy workshop to manage his anger. He gallantly accompanies the group to Germany for a festival celebrating the music of the visionary saint Hildegard von Bingen, but he has no plan to return home. His real destination is Prague. He must find his estranged son, Tristan, who, he believes, has lost his way in the Bohemian city. As we move between past and present, the tragic details of Burt's life are gradually revealed: the recent death of his beloved wife; the circumstances that separate him from his children; his complicated relationship with his mother-in-law. And we begin to understand, with heart-wrenching clarity, Burt's eccentric and poignant devotion to a time other than his own. Wildly inventive and mesmerizing, Tod Wodicka's debut is a modern-day Arthurian quest that introduces one of the most winning oddball characters to come along in years.

Tod Wodicka (Author), Jason Culp (Narrator)

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All You Have to Do Is Ask: How to Master the Most Important Skill for Success

A set of tools for mastering the one skill standing between us and success: the ability to ask for the things we need to succeed. Imagine you're on a deadline for a big project, and feeling overwhelmed. Or you're looking for a job, but can't seem to get your foot in the door. Or you're dying for tickets to a sold out concert, and all your leads have gone cold. What do these problems have in common? They can all be solved simply by reaching out to a colleague, friend, or wider network and making an ask. Studies show that asking for help makes us better and less frustrated at our jobs. It helps us find new opportunities and new talent. It unlocks new ideas and solutions, and enhances team performance. And it helps us get the things we need outside the workplace as well. And yet, we rarely give ourselves permission to ask. Luckily, the research shows that asking-and getting-what we need is much easier than we tend to think. Here, Wayne Baker shares a set of strategies-used at companies like Google, GM, and IDEO-that individuals, teams, and leaders can use to make asking for help a personal and organizational habit, including: • A quiz to identify your asking-giving style • SMART criteria for who, when, and how to ask • "Plug-and-play " routines that make requests a standard component of meetings • Mini-games that incentivize asking within teams • The Reciprocity Ring, a guided activity that allows people to tap into the giving power of a network Picking up where the bestselling book Give and Take left off, All You Have to Do Is Ask shows us how to ignite the cycle of giving and receiving by asking for the things we need. This audiobook includes a bonus PDF with assessment questionnaires and a goals worksheet. Advance praise for All You Have to Do Is Ask "Asking for help and support has been a key to my success. Wayne Baker expertly shares how everyone can do it."-Shellye Archambeau, former CEO, MetricStream, and board director, Verizon and Nordstrom "Wayne Baker shares the formula for driving personal, organizational, and social change by tapping the power of our teams and networks for help. This insightful book is a must-read for anyone seeking practical and proven solutions to make our workplaces and world a better place."-Noel Tichy, professor, University of Michigan, and author of Judgment and Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will

Wayne Baker (Author), Jason Culp, Wayne Baker (Narrator)

Audiobook

Along the Cherry Lane: Tales from the Life of Music Industry Legend Milton Okun

John Denver said, "I have a producer who looks like an accountant, and an accountant who looks like a producer." Soberly dressed, unflashy, and a trained classical musician, in the golden age of the music business Milt Okun stood out by not standing out. His legacy does that for him. He discovered and launched John Denver, and mentored him throughout his career. He created arrangements for Peter, Paul and Mary that the trio performed for half a century. He brought Placido Domingo a crossover career that made him an international star beyond the world of opera. He founded Cherry Lane Music, publisher of Dreamworks and Paramount and Marvel, Elvis and Quincy Jones and the Black Eyed Peas.

Milton Okun, Richard Sparks (Author), Amanda Carlin, Fred Sanders, Jason Culp, Lee Holdridge (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Jason Culp