Audiobooks narrated by Patty Nieman

The Instability of Truth: Brainwashing, Mind Control, and Hyper-Persuasion

"An acclaimed historian of science uncovers the hidden history of brainwashing-and its troubling implications for today. Because brainwashing affects both the world and our observation of the world, we often don't recognize it while it's happening-unless we know where to look. As Rebecca Lemov writes in The Instability of Truth, "Brainwashing erases itself." What we call brainwashing is more common than we think; it is not so much what happens to other people as what can happen to anyone. The Instability of Truth exposes the myriad ways our minds can be controlled against our will, from the brainwashing techniques used against American POWs in North Korea to the "soft" brainwashing of social media doomscrolling and behavior-shaping. In our increasingly data-driven world, anyone can fall victim to mind control. Lemov identifies invasive forms of emotional engineering that exploit trauma and addiction to coerce and persuade in everyday life. Tracing the word "brainwashing" from deep in the files of an operative of the U.S. Office of Strategic Services in the 1950s to the pioneering research of Robert Jay Lifton, to the public trials of cult leaders and the case of Patty Hearst, Lemov also studies how the idea of mind control has spread across the globe and penetrated courtrooms, secret labs, military schools, and today's digital sites. The Instability of Truth offers lessons from mind-control episodes past and present. Truth is always subject to question in more mundane walks of life than most people believe, and Lemov equips us for the increasing challenges we face from social media, AI, and an unprecedented, global form of surveillance capitalism. The Instability of Truth develops a rigorous new understanding of both brainwashing's paradoxes and its emotional roots, by giving voice to brainwashers, the brainwashed, and third-party observers alike."

Rebecca Lemov (Author), Patty Nieman (Narrator)

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Mondrian: His Life, His Art, His Quest for the Absolute

"THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE • The extraordinary and surprising life of Piet Mondrian, whose unprecedented geometric art revolutionized modern painting, architecture, graphic art, fashion design, and more-from acclaimed cultural historian Nicholas Fox Weber 'As fastidiously passionate as his subject's paintings. How wonderful it is to read of Mondrian's gaiety and zest. . . as well as his rigour and unrelenting commitment to his own, absolutely his own, view of art and the world.' -John Banville, national bestselling author of The Lock-Up In the early 1920s, surrounded by the roaring streets of avant-garde Paris, Piet Mondrian began creating what would become some of the most recognizable abstract paintings of the 20th century. With rectangles of primary colors against a dazzling white background, this was geometric abstraction in its purest form. These revolutionary compositions exhilarated, intoxicated, confused, and enraged the international public-and changed the course of modern art forever. Now, for the first time, Mondrian emerges alongside his thrilling art. Here is the life of an elusive modern master: from his youth in a religious household in the Netherlands where he first began painting Dutch farmhouses and sand dunes, to his move to Paris where he embraced the work of Pablo Picasso, Georges Seurat, and Cézanne, to the 1920s and onward where, surviving the turmoil of two world wars and embracing a rapidly shifting culture, Mondrian challenged the concept of art and invented a new world of undiluted colors and rhythmic straight lines. His work would go on to affect painting, architecture, fashion, and design in decades to come. Here is also an intimate portrait of a complex artist, his solitude and avoidance of intimacy, his eccentricities and his philosophy, his passion for ballroom dancing, and his unwavering belief in art as a vehicle to reveal universal truths."

Nicholas Fox Weber (Author), Patty Nieman (Narrator)

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Playing with Reality: How Games Shape Our World

"Brought to you by Penguin. A sweeping intellectual history of games and their importance to human progress. We play games to learn about the world, to understand our minds and the minds of others, and to make predictions about the future. They're also a lot of fun. But what happens when we mistake games for reality? WIN OR LOSE explores the riveting history of games since the Enlightenment, weaving an unexpected path through military theory, biology, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and the future of democracy. As neuroscientist and physicist Kelly Clancy shows us, games have been deeply intertwined with the arc of history. War games shaped the outcomes of real wars in nineteenth and twentieth century Europe. Game theory warped our understanding of human behavior and brought us to the brink of annihilation-yet still underlies basic assumptions in economics, politics, and technology. We used games to teach computers how to learn for themselves, and now we are designing games that will determine the shape of society and future of democracy. Lucid, thought-provoking, and masterfully told, WIN OR LOSE makes the bold argument that the human fascination with games is the key to understanding our nature. ©2024 Kelly Clancy (P)2024 Penguin Audio"

Kelly Clancy (Author), Patty Nieman (Narrator)

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Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness

"'This book inspires us all to immerse ourselves in the vast potential of music and other creative arts to heal our wounds, sharpen our minds, enliven our bodies, and restore our broken connections." -Bessel van der Kolk, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Body Keeps the Score World-renowned soprano and arts/health advocate Renée Fleming curates a collection of essays from leading scientists, artists, creative arts therapists, educators, and healthcare providers about the powerful impacts of music and the arts on health and the human experience A compelling and growing body of research has shown music and arts therapies to be effective tools for addressing a widening array of conditions, from providing pain relief andalleviating anxiety and depression to regaining speech after stroke or traumatic brain injury, and improving mobility for people with disorders that include Parkinson's disease and MS. In Music and Mind Renée Fleming draws upon her own experience as an advocate to showcase the breadth of this booming field, inviting leading experts to share their discoveries. In addition to describing therapeutic benefits, the book explores evolution, brain function, childhood development, and technology as applied to arts and health. Much of this area of study is relatively new, made possible by recent advances in brain imaging, and supported by theNational Institutes of Health, major hospitals, and universities. This work is sparking an explosion of public interest in the arts and health sector. Fleming has presented on this material in over fifty cities across North America, Europe, and Asia, collaborating with leading researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners. With essays from notable musicians, writers, and artists, as well as leading neuroscientists, Music and Mind is a groundbreaking book, the perfect introduction and overview of this exciting new field. *This program includes a downloadable PDF containing key images and visual aids from the book."

Tbd (Author), Carin Gilfry, Cary Hite, Gina Daniels, Patty Nieman, Renée Fleming, Vikas Adam (Narrator)

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Out of the Darkness: The Germans, 1942-2022

"Brought to you by Penguin. A Telegraph and Der Spiegel Book of the Year Sueddeutsche Zeitung's Number One Most Important Political Book of 2023 Die Zeit, ZDF, Deutschlandfunk, taz Number One, Best Non-Fiction Books December 2023 and January 2024 A groundbreaking new history of the people at the centre of Europe, from the Second World War to today In 1945, Germany lay in ruins, morally and materially. The German people stood condemned by history, responsible for a horrifying genocide and a war of extermination. But by 2015 Germany looked to many to be the moral voice of Europe, welcoming almost one million refugees. At the same time, it pursued a controversially rigid fiscal discipline and made energy deals with a dictator. Many people have asked how Germany descended into the darkness of the Nazis, but this book asks another vital question: how, and how far, have the Germans since reinvented themselves? Trentmann tells the dramatic story of the Germans from the middle of the Second World War, through the Cold War and the division into East and West, to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunited nation's search for a place in the world. Their journey is marked by extraordinary moral struggles: guilt, shame and limited amends; wealth versus welfare; tolerance versus racism; compassion and complicity. Through a range of voices - German soldiers and German Jews; environmentalists and coal miners; families and churches; volunteers, migrants and populists - Trentmann paints a remarkable and surprising portrait over 80 years of the conflicted people at the centre of Europe. © Frank Trentmann 2023 (P) Penguin Audio 2024"

Frank Trentmann (Author), Patty Nieman (Narrator)

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Classic Supreme Court Cases

"Landmark cases address the origins of judicial review, racial discrimination, civil rights and liberties, The 14th amendment's Equal Protection Clause, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and federal government regulatory powers. A recommended classroom resource. A Penguin Classic With the Penguin Liberty series by Penguin Classics, we look to the U.S. Constitution's text and values, as well as to American history and some of the country's most important thinkers, to discover the best explanations of our constitutional ideals of liberty. Through these curated anthologies of historical, political, and legal classic texts, Penguin Liberty offers everyday citizens the chance to hear the strongest defenses of these ideals, engage in constitutional interpretation, and gain new (or renewed) appreciation for the values that have long inspired the nation. Questions of liberty affect both our daily lives and our country's values, from what we can say to whom we can marry, how society views us to how we determine our leaders. It is Americans' great privilege that we live under a Constitution that both protects our liberty and allows us to debate what that liberty should mean."

Corey Brettschneider (Author), Patty Nieman (Narrator)

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Sensitive: The Power of a Thoughtful Mind in an Overwhelming World

"Brought to you by Penguin. A ground-breaking look at the power of sensitivity to transform our relationships, career and life, from world-leading experts Do you have a heightened sense of empathy? Do you often notice details that others ignore? Do you ever feel overwhelmed in a busy, loud environment? If you answered yes to any of those questions, chances are you're a 'highly sensitive person', along with one fifth of the population. Highly sensitive people exemplify our most humane traits. They embody not just emotional sensitivity - qualities like empathy, kindness, and concern for strangers - but physical sensitivity too, processing all information very deeply. Our modern loud and harsh world wasn't built for highly sensitive people, but their unique strengths make them inspiring leaders, heartfelt caretakers, careful decision-makers and natural-born artists. Sensitive will shatter the myth that being sensitive is a weakness and celebrate the power of a deeper, more tuned-in mind. Offering a new way of unlocking potential, it will give sensitives - and those who care about them - the tools to be successful in school, work, life and love. Based on more than twenty years of research in neuroscience, psychology, and human genetics, it will be the first book to explore the science of sensitivity. Sensitivity exists on a continuum and we're all sensitive to a degree. This book will reveal the power of embracing a soft heart in a harsh world and teach every sensitive to thrive. ©2023 Andre Sólo & Jenn Granneman (P)2023 Penguin Audio"

Andre Sólo, Jenn Granneman (Author), Patty Nieman (Narrator)

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Your Baby Can Self-Feed, Too: Adapted Baby-Led Weaning for Children with Developmental Delays or Oth

"A groundbreaking audiobook on feeding children with special needs-and setting them up for lifelong feeding independence! Rooted in the baby-led weaning (BLW) approach, this audiobook details how to start children with feeding challenges on solid foods-for a lifetime of independent eating. Your Baby Can Self-Feed, Too, is the inclusive guide to introducing solids. Over 25 percent of children experience challenges with this big step-both typically developing babies and those with (known or unknown) physical or neurological differences. Resources on how to help babies who face obstacles in making the move to solid foods are scarce. That's where this audiobook comes in. Feeding therapist Jill Rabin teams up with BLW pioneer Gill Rapley to introduce their new proprietary take on Rapley's groundbreaking approach: adapted baby-led weaning. With ABLW, you can meet your child's needs by: - responding to his or her signs of readiness, whenever they appear - adapting food to fit his or her abilities and promote skill development - working with your therapist to provide individualized targeted support - using "bridge devices" (for example, silicone feeders) with your therapist's guidance Baby-led weaning transformed the parenting landscape by replacing boring purées with real, healthy food that babies can explore for themselves-while building motor skills, coordination, and confidence. Now, every baby can benefit: Your Baby Can Self-Feed, Too! This audiobook includes a bonus PDF with useful dietary breakdowns, explanations, and feeding recommendations for your child."

Gill Rapley, Jill Rabin (Author), Patty Nieman (Narrator)

Audiobook

ShadowMan: An Elusive Psycho Killer and the Birth of FBI Profiling

"'Mindhunter crossed with American Gothic. This chilling story has the ghostly unease of a nightmare.'-Michael Cannell, author of Incendiary: The Psychiatrist, the Mad Bomber and the Invention of Criminal Profiling The pulse-pounding account of the first time in history that the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit created a psychological profile to catch a serial killer On June 25, 1973, a seven-year-old girl went missing from the Montana campground where her family was vacationing. Somebody had slit open the back of their tent and snatched her from under their noses. None of them saw or heard anything. Susie Jaeger had vanished into thin air, plucked by a shadow. The largest manhunt in Montana's history ensued, led by the FBI. As days stretched into weeks, and weeks into months, Special Agent Pete Dunbar attended a workshop at FBI Headquarters in Quantico, Virgina, led by two agents who had hatched a radical new idea: What if criminals left a psychological trail that would lead us to them? Patrick Mullany, a trained psychologist, and Howard Teten, a veteran criminologist, had created the Behavioral Science Unit to explore this new 'voodoo' they called "criminal profiling." At Dunbar's request, Mullany and Teten built the FBI's first profile of an unknown subject: the UnSub who had snatched Susie Jaeger and, a few months later, a nineteen-year-old waitress. When a suspect was finally arrested, the profile fit him to a T..."

Ron Franscell (Author), Chris Berger, Patty Nieman (Narrator)

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Dead Man's Watch

"SAVING ONE LIFE IS LIKE SAVING THE WHOLE WORLD Half-sisters Kathryn Frasier and Cece Goldman stumble into another mystery in this second book in the Watch series. When a former acquaintance of Kathryn's is accused of murder, she and Cece go on a mission to prove his innocence by finding the real killer. But things are never what they seem in this tangled web, and Kathryn's spunky determination to solve the mystery pushes her closer and closer to a deadly climax. Join the adventure as these two young women commit themselves to live up to the quote from the Jerusalem Talmud: 'Whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.'"

Kay Dibianca (Author), Patty Nieman (Narrator)

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Android Poems

"'Everyone’s trying to outsmart the androids these days. I saw on the news that some kid discovered how to unlock another one percent of the brain. Now he claims to understand the secrets of the universe, and he’s got the equations to prove it.' What if a poetry collection took place in the year 2300 with human and android narrators? What does it mean to love, lose, and grieve in 3D? Android Poems is a deliciously kinetic poetry collection that imagines a futuristic world where technology and reality blend. With equal parts light and darkness, these thought-provoking poems will re-engineer everything you thought about being human. V1.0"

Elliott Parker (Author), Patty Nieman (Narrator)

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Hell's Bells - A Justice Security Novel

"Thirty seven children, along with their bus driver, have been kidnapped on their way to school. They've been hidden away in a location known only to the kidnappers, and booby-trapped so that explosives will go off at 5 PM, unless the kidnappers receive their demands. What they want is simple: Joey Justice. They want to trade Joey to Esteban Fernandez for the bounty, and they'll kill the children unless it happens. The city's FBI chief, Marcus Moore, orders Justice Security to call in a specialist in child abduction cases to help find the children…Nicholas Turner. Marcus also knows that Nicholas will bring his secret weapon along with him – his half-angel daughter, Madeline. Justice Security finds the kidnappers with plenty of time to save the children. But, when an unfortunate accident kills the kidnappers before the location of the children can be revealed, all seems lost. However, Joey comes up with a solution that only Madeline can help them with. Why not go to Hell and ask the kidnappers? Going to Hell is dangerous, and there's always a mortally high price to pay when someone starts ringing Hell's Bells. Who lives? Who dies? Find out what happens when Justice Security goes to Hell in the eleventh Justice Security story from T. M. Bilderback – Hell's Bells!"

T. M. Bilderback (Author), Patty Nieman (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Patty Nieman