Social Science Audiobooks | Non-Fiction

Was It Something I Said?: Everyday Etiquette to Avoid Awkward Moments in Relationships, Work, and Li

"Have you ever felt unsure about what to say to a friend, a colleague, or your boss? Do you freeze in small talk, tiptoe through tricky topics, or second guess your instincts in high-stakes moments like salary negotiations or meeting your partner's parents? If so, you're not alone. And the good news is-you can learn to handle it all with ease. In Was It Something I Said? etiquette expert Alison M. Cheperdak demystifies social and professional situations, teaching you how to address each one with respect, confidence, and grace. In any scenario, whether in your personal or professional life, respecting others and ourselves requires soft skills and social-emotional intelligence-in a word, etiquette. Drawing on her experience in high-pressure moments as a lawyer, news anchor, and White House West Wing staff member, Alison shares the soft skills that set people apart in social and professional settings-grace under pressure, kindness in action, and polished presence without pretense. This book will help you: - Honor others and the important moments you share with them. - Talk to strangers, start and end a conversation, and speak about yourself with charm. - Navigate awkward situations (and recover from them!). - Demystify dress codes and dining etiquette in all sorts of settings. Whether you're giving a toast, sending a text, or sitting down to dinner, the small things make a big difference. Was It Something I Said? is your guide to handling them with heart, confidence, and care-so you can build deeper connections and move through the world with gracious ease."

Alison M. Cheperdak (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

El Paso: Five Families and One Hundred Years of Blood, Migration, Race, and Memory

"From New York Times reporter Jazmine Ulloa, a sweeping human history of El Paso, revealing violence, power, and privilege at play in America's most famous border town. El Paso has been called the "Ellis Island" of America's southern border, a mountain pass cum border town cum bifurcated metropolis where past meets future, and disadvantage meets opportunity, or so the promise goes. El Paso is an extraordinary, can't-look-away reported history; it uses deep research and dozens of new interviews to blow away the myth of this place, where Mexico's Juarez and America's El Paso intertwine. It charts the history of El Paso through five families. From the Mexican Revolution and the Mexican Repatriation, to the shifting immigration laws under Reagan and Trump and the violence and bloodshed brought on by the drug war, El Paso captures a place often misunderstood or forgotten by the rest of the country, and the world. El Paso is a brave new work of narrative nonfiction that gives new voice and perspective to history that has long been checked at the border, or told through the lens of white men alone. Ulloa draws upon meticulous research and reporting and stunning historical detail to craft the intimate narratives of an unforgettable cast of characters."

Jazmine Ulloa (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Moving Toward Freedom: The Political Education of Enslaved Americans

"A magisterial, groundbreaking new study of the lives of enslaved Americans on the cusp of the Civil War that places their agency-and their hard-won political knowledge-rightly at the center of the fight for freedom The enduring image of American slavery has been of workers trapped on plantations, shuttling from squalid quarters to the fields and back again-or else confined to the homes of abusive owners, constantly under surveillance and restriction. But if that were the whole picture, how would Black southerners have organized into such a formidable force the moment war erupted? With Moving Toward Freedom, eminent historian Susan O'Donovan radically widens the lens to reveal a new landscape of the slaveholding South: one in which enslaved workers were not pinned in place but mobile, deployed as laborers-and even as captains-on steamboats and ferries, or as teamsters transporting staple crops across the expanding country, or as ladies' maids waiting on their mistresses on European vacations. While performing brutal and involuntary work, O'Donovan argues, enslaved Americans managed to accumulate the crucial experience and knowledge that they would use to bring about their own liberation. Piecing together an extraordinary archive of slaves' letters, travel passes, receipts, and other documentation of lives in which literacy was illegal, O'Donovan allows her subjects to speak for themselves as they move through markets, jails, waterways, gold mines, and foreign lands. In so doing, O'Donovan demonstrates that slavery's incredible profitability depended on a fundamentally unsustainable balance between commercial drives and the exercising of control-one that enslaved workers eventually succeeded in putting to their advantage, bringing slavery to its knees."

Susan Eva O'Donovan (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Culture War: Critical Reflections for a New Right

"The Culture War Discover unparalleled insights into conservative politics and the on-going cultural battles with The Culture War: The Definitive Manifesto for the New Right Guided by Agustín Laje's sharp analysis and packed with actionable reflections, this book is your definitive guide to drive meaningful change in today's shifting socio-political landscape. The updated and expanded edition of Agustín Laje's bestseller book contains a new cover, a new prologue written by Argentinian President Javier Milei, and insights on the impact his book has made on conservative politics in Latin America. Famed writer, political scientist, and lecturer Agustín Laje presents The Culture War: The Textbook for the New Right - a manifesto that will inform, encourage, and empower the "cultural guerrillas" not to give up in the war that continues to harm our families and society in general. Well researched and intelligently defended, this book defines the concept of cultural war and shows to what extent culture has become the main spoils of power, how these battles have developed from modern times to today's postmodernity and how to deal with them. In this book, Agustín Laje: - Explains what the culture war is, how to wage it, and what its characteristics are - Analyzes how the New Left understood this phenomenon, in the face of a right wing that underestimated the power of culture - Aims to provide the necessary tools for the birth of a new Right Wing"

Agustin Laje (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

The End of Violence: Why it is a disease and how it can be cured

Gary Slutkin (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Intimate Animal: Why we’ve evolved to live and die for love

"Brought to you by Penguin. An evolutionary exploration of love, sex and relationships. Dr. Justin Garcia is a world-leading expert on the science of love and sex. In his first book, he explores the multiplicity of human sexual and romantic behaviour, the forces behind our intimacy instincts, and why humans across the globe live and die for love. Our competing evolutionary desires for sex and intimacy create highs and lows in our romantic and sexual lives. The Intimate Animal provides practical tips on love and attraction - two biological systems often in painful conflict - and presents compelling case studies to help deepen and strengthen our relationships. Sharing the knowledge that he has acquired working on the frontlines of modern love and sex research, Dr. Garcia helps us to understand the science behind a spectrum of human intimate experiences. From the intimacy crisis, physical affection, redefining gender roles and courtship norms, to understanding why we stay in abusive relationships and stray from fulfilling ones, this book will help you understand how to successfully look for love and cultivate a rewarding relationship in an ever-changing, high-speed digital age. From infatuation to heartbreak, The Intimate Animal offers us the first evolutionary understanding of the entire life course of our intimate relationships - how we date, mate, break and remake our love lives. © Dr Justin Garcia 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Justin Garcia (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Flourish: The Art of Building Meaning, Joy and Fulfilment

"Brought to you by Penguin. We all want to flourish. We want to create harmony, well-being and joy in our lives and those around us. The question is, how? Daniel Coyle has spent the last six years researching and visiting 'holistic hotbeds': groups, teams, businesses, and communities which have, accidentally or on purpose, created deep, thriving relationships that generate high levels of shared success and well-being. From a small town in Vermont that has produced 11 Olympians over the past 40 years - where most of the Olympians return to live and work after their athletic careers are over - to a Michigan deli that accidentally grew into a $70 million business. And from a grassroots organization in an impoverished Kenyan settlement that has produced Ivy League students, to a successful multi-billion dollar company that functions like an extended family. Coyle discovered that all these groups flourish using three skills, which form the three parts of this book. In Skill 1 - The Surrendering - we'll learn about our brain's holistic-awareness system and how to use it to create connection and belonging. In Skill 2 - The Unleashing - we'll learn how creating small instabilities can ignite energy, ownership, and self-organizing action toward a shared horizon. In Skill 3 - The Deep Fun - we'll learn how audacious experiments can generate new versions of yourself and your group. The overarching idea is that flourishing is created by a matrix of quiet but powerful group interactions that create interdependence, energy and growth. Flourishing isn't a puzzle you solve alone; it's a set of living relationships that generate the shared capability to shape your future, together. © Daniel Coyle 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Daniel Coyle (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Flyboy in the Buttermilk: Essays on Contemporary America

"A reissue of Greg Tate's classic, out-of-print collection of essays, with a new introduction by Hanif Abdurraqib and a new foreword by Questlove. From one of the most original, creative, and provocative culture critics comes an eye-opening collection of essays and tales about American music and culture. Under the guise of writing about a single subject, Greg Tate’s essays in Flyboy in the Buttermilk branch out from his usual and explore social, pop cultural, political, and economic subjects. Taking on a wide diversity of topics—from the rise of hip-hop; the art of Jean-Michel Basquiat; the music of Miles Davis, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Bad Brains, and many others; to the crisis of the Black intellectual and the irony of the GOP recruiting Black Americans— Tate writes in a brave and distinctive voice that is angry, joyous, anxious, and funny. In every piece of this collection, Tate offers informed insight into where America is going and why."

Greg Tate (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Boggo Road: Stories from Australia's Most Brutal Prison from number 1 bestselling true crime writer

"Australia's Most Brutal Prison Step inside the walls of Boggo Road, Australia's most brutal jail, as inmates and guards reveal the chilling truth of life behind bars. In this gripping new book in James Phelps's bestselling prison series, he uncovers the untold history of Brisbane's infamous jail and the worst - and most colourful - criminals it contained. From daring escape attempts to jailhouse bashings, this is the unputdownable account of over a century of darkness, violence and survival within the walls of one of Australia's most terrifying prisons. Closed in 1989, for 106 years HM Prison Brisbane - better known as Boggo Road - housed infamous figures like the Whiskey Au-Go-Go Bombers; escape artist Arthur 'Slim' Halliday; and Ernest Austin - the last man hanged at Boggo Road. But their stories are only the beginning."

James Phelps (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Street Clinic: 10 Young Lives on the Frontline of Gang Culture

"Through the live of ten young people, award-winning nurse Dorcas Gwata reveals the impact of gang culture on mental health. Dorcas Gwata specialises in mental health. She has worked closely with vulnerable young people exposed to the knife crime, sexual exploitation, drug use and poor mental health associated with gangs. In The Street Clinic, we accompany her in her work as she meets and cares for young people on the street and on their terms. We meet Fuz, who is on trial for aggravated assault. There's Abdul, who's exploring his sexuality and has been humiliated online. Louise's promising future is compromised by her controlling boyfriend. And there's Alfie, whose parents' divorce opens up an emotional hole in his life that's plugged by an ill-chosen new friendship. Drawing on her own experiences of loss and social injustice, and twenty-five years on the NHS frontline, Dorcas offers a bird's-eye view of London: its multicultural population, wealth inequalities, tireless healthcare professionals, and an NHS that doesn't always work for everyone. And she asks the big questions: What lies behind London's youth violence crisis? What is its impact on the mental health of its victims? How are the families of our young people and the wider community affected? Exposing some uncomfortable truths about British society, The Street Clinic is also a powerful story of resilience, strength and, ultimately, hope."

Dorcas Gwata (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Face: A Cultural History

"Brought to you by Penguin. A pioneering study into how we interpret faces and what they reveal about us, from a world-renowned cultural historian What’s in a face? The face is one of our quintessential features and is the only part of the body where all the senses come together: smell, taste, sight, touch, hearing. Though your face might change over the course of your life – whether through ageing, accident, illness or lifestyle – it remains a foundational marker of your identity. In The Face, cultural historian Fay Bound Alberti explores the ways humans have interpreted faces and correlated their features with ideas of morality, social hierarchy, psychology and so much more, revealing some of the cultural biases that inform the interactions of our everyday lives. Bound Alberti charts how new technologies that reflect or alter our face’s appearance have transformed our conception of selfhood over time – from the growth of portraiture in the Renaissance and the mass production of mirrors and photography in the nineteenth century, to twenty-first century innovations, such as digital avatars and face transplants. Bringing together a wealth of fascinating research, interviews and illuminating personal narratives, Bound Alberti probes beneath the surface to ask what our faces really say about us. © Fay Bound Alberti 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026"

Fay Bound Alberti (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Faith Over Fear: Harnessing Resilience in the Face of Uncertainty

"''A powerful story of faith, perseverance, and resilience.'' Anthony Fauci, M.D., #1 New York Times bestselling author and former Director of the NIAID What drives you forward? Is it the pursuit of your ideals or something deeper that's rooted in the tension between who you are and who you will become? Michael Leach, the first-ever Chief Diversity Office of the White House, in his debut book, Faith Over Fear, takes you on a journey that explores the gap between what we aspire to and what we often settle for, both as individuals and as a society. Often as the lone Black man at the forefront of these organizations and operations, Michael has chosen to learn from his experiences, lead, and help others progress. In 2016, when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to 'take a knee', Leach resonated profoundly. Kaepernick's actions challenged Michael to balance his identity as a Black man with his professional ambitions within the league. This lead him to leave the NFL and join the Biden-Harris administration. In Faith Over Fear, Michael illuminates the stark contrasts between ideals and realities, shedding light on the hidden dynamics of privilege, power, and systemic injustice. He discusses the importance of DEI and inspires readers to reimagine leadership, resilience, and purpose. Leach shares: How you can close the gap between your ideals and the realities you live in. Insights and principles to help you navigate your career, relationships, personal growth, and social challenges. How to acknowledge the role of fear and work with others. This is more than a story of one man's journey, it is a call to action for individuals of all backgrounds to harness the power of faith and resilience in the face of adversity. Our country was founded on ideals that promised freedom and opportunity for all, but the reality has often been far more complicated. Leach's story demonstrates by ''taking a knee'' before God in moments of uncertainty, we can shift life's challenges into opportunities for meaningful progress and collective healing. This book aspires to be a generationally transformative narrative, urging readers to critically examine and bridge the gap between the ideals we hold dear and the realities we live."

Michael Leach (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Social Science Audiobooks in Non-Fiction

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