Law Audiobooks | Non-Fiction

The Cult of We: WeWork and the Great Start-Up Delusion

‘An amazing portrait of how grifters came to be called visionaries and high finance lost its mind.’ Charles Duhigg, bestselling author of The Power of Habit The definitive inside story of WeWork, its audacious founder, and the company's epic unravelling from the journalists who first broke the story wide open. In 2001, Adam Neumann arrived in New York after five years as a conscript in the Israeli navy. Just over fifteen years later, he had transformed himself into the charismatic CEO of a company worth $47 billion. With his long hair and feel-good mantras, the six-foot-five Neumann looked the part of a messianic Silicon Valley entrepreneur. The vision he offered was mesmerizing: a radical reimagining of work space for a new generation. He called it WeWork. As billions of funding dollars poured in, Neumann's ambitions grew limitless. WeWork wasn't just an office space provider; it would build schools, create cities, even colonize Mars. In pursuit of its founder’s vision, the company spent money faster than it could bring it in. From his private jet, sometimes clouded with marijuana smoke, the CEO scoured the globe for more capital but in late 2019, just weeks before WeWork's highly publicized IPO, everything fell apart. Neumann was ousted from his company, but still was poised to walk away a billionaire. Calling to mind the recent demise of Theranos and the hubris of the dotcom era bust, WeWork's extraordinary rise and staggering implosion were fueled by disparate characters in a financial system blind to its risks. Why did some of the biggest names in banking and venture capital buy the hype? And what does the future hold for Silicon Valley ‘unicorns’? Wall Street Journal reporters Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell explore these questions in this definitive, rollicking account of WeWork's boom and bust.

Eliot Brown, Maureen Farrell (Author), Therese Plummer (Narrator)

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Should I Stay or Should I Go?: Deciding Whether to Stay or Go and Healing From an Emotionally Destr

Still Struggling to Decide If You Should Stay or Go? … Then keep reading If you you’re in an abusive relationship and you are struggling to decide whether you should stay or go... This guide can help you to make a wise decision Important Advice Before you buy: Allow me to provide some clarity here: If you are looking for instant answers without having to do any work, this guide is not for you, so look away… This book is for those who are really intend to working on themselves to make a wise decision That being said… This book includes - How to identify what’s not working in the relationship that is actually working for you - How to interrupt the same recurring painful patterns - How to deal with narcissistic rage at the narcissist’s life - Can the narcissist change? - Was it really an abusive relationship? - Try not to take the narcissist’s actions personally - What to expect from a narcissist? - Why it is okay to say no - Making the right decision And so much more...

Dr. Theresa J. Covert (Author), Llc Monica Wolfkill Vo (Narrator)

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Betrayal: Whitey Bulger and the FBI Agent Who Fought to Bring Him Down

The Jack Nicholson film The Departed didn't tell half of their story. A poor kid from the slums, Robert Fitzpatrick grew up to become a stellar FBI agent and challenge the country's deadliest gangsters. Relentless in his desire to catch, prosecute, and convict Whitey Bulger, Fitzpatrick fought the nation's most determined cop-gangster battle since Melvin Purvis hunted, confronted, and killed John Dillinger. In his crusade to bring Bulger to justice, Fitzpatrick faced not only Whitey but also corrupt FBI agents, along with political cronies and enablers from Boston to Washington who, in one way or another, blocked his efforts at every step. Even when Fitzpatrick discovered the very organization to which he had sworn allegiance was his biggest obstacle, the agent continued to pursue Whitey and his gang . . . knowing that they were prepared to murder anyone who got in their way.

Jon Land, Robert Fitzpatrick (Author), Michael Prichard (Narrator)

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Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788

From Pauline Maier, the distinguished historian of Revolutionary-era America and author of the acclaimed American Scripture, comes this fresh and surprising account of a pivotal moment in American history—the ratification of the Constitution. When the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia adjourned late in the summer of 1787, the delegates returned to their states to report on the new Constitution, which had to be ratified by specially elected conventions in at least nine states. Pauline Maier recounts the dramatic events of the ensuing debate in homes, taverns, and convention halls, drawing generously on the speeches and letters of founding fathers, both familiar and forgotten, on all sides. This is the first narrative history in decades of the ratification debate, with all its significance, and it draws on new scholarship about the ratification process. In Maier's skillful hands, this fascinating yet often overlooked episode in the nation's history comes to life as never before.

Pauline Maier (Author), Johnny Heller (Narrator)

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Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America

How earnest hippies, frightened parents, suffering patients, and other ordinary Americans went to war over marijuana In the last five years, eight states have legalized recreational marijuana. To many, continued progress seems certain. But pot was on a similar trajectory forty years ago, only to encounter a fierce backlash. In Grass Roots, historian Emily Dufton tells the remarkable story of marijuana's crooked path from acceptance to demonization and back again, and of the thousands of grassroots activists who made changing marijuana laws their life's work. During the 1970s, pro-pot campaigners with roots in the counterculture secured the drug's decriminalization in a dozen states. Soon, though, concerned parents began to mobilize; finding a champion in Nancy Reagan, they transformed pot into a national scourge and helped to pave the way for an aggressive war on drugs. Chastened marijuana advocates retooled their message, promoting pot as a medical necessity and eventually declaring legalization a matter of racial justice. For the moment, these activists are succeeding-but marijuana's history suggests how swiftly another counterrevolution could unfold.

Emily Dufton (Author), Greg Baglia (Narrator)

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Guns across America: Reconciling Gun Rules and Rights

In vast swathes of America, the sacredness of the Second Amendment has become a political third rail, never to be questioned. Gun rights supporters wear tri-cornered hats, wave the stars and stripes, and ask what would have happened if the revolutionaries had been unarmed when the British were coming. They have had great success in conflating unfettered gun ownership with the Founding Fathers, the Constitution, and all things American, even in an era of repeated mass shootings. Yet the all-too-familiar narrative of America's gun past, echoed in the Supreme Court's Heller gun rights decision, is not only mythologized, but historically wrong. As Robert J. Spitzer demonstrates in Guns across America, gun ownership is as old as the nation, but so is gun regulation. Drawing on a vast new dataset of early gun laws reflecting every imaginable type of regulation, Spitzer reveals that firearms were actually more strictly regulated in the country's first three centuries than in recent years. The first "gun grabbers" were not 1960's Chablis-drinking liberals, but seventeenth century rum-guzzling pioneers, and their legacy continued through strict gun regulations in the 1920s and beyond. Spitzer examines interpretations of the Second Amendment, the assault weapons controversy, modern "stand your ground" laws, and the so-called "right of rebellion" to show that they play out in America's contemporary political landscape in ways that bear little resemblance to our imagined past. And as gun rights proponents seek to roll back gun laws and press as many guns into as many hands as possible, warning that gun rights are endangered, they sidestep the central question: are stricter gun laws incompatible with robust gun rights? Spitzer answers this question by examining New York State's tough gun laws, where his political analysis is complemented by his own quest for a concealed carry handgun permit and construction of a legal AR-15 assault weapon. Not only can gun rights and rules coexist, but they have throughout American history. Guns across America reveals the long-hidden truth: that gun regulations are in fact as American as apple pie.

Robert J. Spitzer, Robert Spitzer (Author), Walter Dixon (Narrator)

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Shadowbosses: Government Unions Control America and Rob Taxpayers Blind

SHADOWBOSSES reads like an organized crime novel, but it's actually a true story of how labor unions are infiltrating our government and corrupting our political process. This compelling and insightful book exposes how unions have organized federal, state, and local government employees without their consent, and how government employee unions are now a threat to our workers' freedoms, our free and fair elections, and even our American way of life. And, Mallory Factor reveals what's coming next: how unions are targeting millions of Americans--maybe even you--for forced unionization so that unions can collect billions more in forced dues and exert an even greater influence over American politics. A chilling expose, SHADOWBOSSES is also a call to citizen action against those who really hold power in America today.

Elizabeth Factor, Mallory Factor (Author), Mallory Factor (Narrator)

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Landmark: The Inside Story of America's New Health Care Law and What It Means for Us All

The Washington Post's must-read guide to health-care reform traces how President Obama and the Democrats achieved this historic overhaul, explains the legislation itself, and shows how it will impact individual Americans After a year-long political war, in March 2010 President Obama and the Democratic leaders of Congress achieved a victory that has eluded lawmakers for seventy-five years: an overhaul of America's health-care system. In this indispensable book, the staff of the Washington Post tells the story of health-care reform and explains what it means for the American people. In the book's first section, the Washington Post's reporter embedded in the White House provides a behind-the-scenes narrative of how Obama and the Democrats pushed through health-care reform in the face of nearly unanimous Republican opposition. This section traces the tortured evolution of the legislation, showing how the Senate killed the public option, how the January 2010 victory of Republican senator Scott Brown left the Democrats scrambling, and how Democratic leaders ultimately negotiated among entrenched political factions'including disillusioned Democrats'to reach a compromise. What does this final package include? The book's second section provides an accessible summary of the legislation that Obama signed into law in March 2010. In the third section, Washington Post writers answer the most pressing questions about the health-care legislation's immediate impact. Most importantly, how will the new bill affect individuals'small-business owners, uninsured Americans with pre-existing conditions, and twenty-somethings on their parents' policies? This is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how this legislation came into being and what the new health-care program means.

The Staff of the Washington Post (Author), Pam Ward (Narrator)

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The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution

What gives unelected judges the right to decide hot-button issues? Judges say it's the Constitution. But law professor Kevin Gutzman shows that there is very little relationship between the Constitution ratified by the thirteen states more than two centuries ago and the "constitutional law" imposed upon us since then.

Kevin R. C. Gutzman, Kevin R.C. Gutzman (Author), Tom Weiner (Narrator)

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Divorce: Prenuptial Agreements

Prenuptial agreements explode many myths on the subject. Sam Margulies, expert and mediator of over 4,000 divorces, points out how prenups cause distrust in the beginning of a relationship and how most elements in a prenup are already settled in law. He suggests ways to get the same results in a cooperative manner. A must listen for anyone contemplating a prenup.

Sam Margulies (Author), Deaver Brown, Harvard AB & MBA (Narrator)

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The Ecology of Law: Toward a Legal System in Tune with Nature and Community

The Ecology of Law Fritjof Capra and Ugo Mattei argue that at the root of many of the environmental, economic, and social crises we face today is a legal system based on an obsolete worldview. Capra, a bestselling author, physicist, and systems theorist, and Mattei, a distinguished legal scholar, explain how, by incorporating concepts from modern science, the law can become an integral part of bringing about a better world, rather than facilitating its destruction. This is the first book to trace the fascinating parallel history of law and science from antiquity to modern times, showing how the two disciplines have always influenced each other-until recently. In the past few decades, science has shifted from seeing the natural world as a kind of cosmic machine best understood by analyzing each cog and sprocket to a systems perspective that views the world as a vast network of fluid communities and studies their dynamic interactions. The concept of ecology exemplifies this approach. But law is stuck in the old mechanistic paradigm: the world is simply a collection of discrete parts, and ownership of these parts is an individual right, protected by the state. Capra and Mattei show that this has led to overconsumption, pollution, and a general disregard on the part of the powerful for the common good. Capra and Mattei outline the basic concepts and structures of a legal order consistent with the ecological principles that sustain life on this planet. This is a profound and visionary reconceptualization of the very foundations of the Western legal system, a kind of Copernican revolution in the law, with profound implications for the future of our planet.

Fritjof Capra, Ugo Mattei (Author), Jeff Hoyt, Jeff Hoyt (Narrator)

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And Justice for Some: An Expose of the Lawyers and Judges Who Let Dangerous Criminals Go Free

When Wendy Murphy was a young prosecutor, she learned that the deck is stacked in favor of criminal defendants. Between their arrest and (potential) conviction, murderers, rapists, and drug dealers get more than a fair shake—they get an unfair advantage, often at the expense of their victims. In many states, for instance, defendants can subpoena a victim's private medical and counseling files without any justification. They can threaten victims with brutal cross-examinations if they dare to testify. They can put on "dog and pony show" defenses that have nothing to do with the truth—and even lie under oath with virtually no risk of being prosecuted for perjury. These kinds of injustices make Murphy fighting mad. She's made it her mission to help the victims who get the least protection from our twisted legal system. And in her first book, she guides readers through one horror story after another about judges and lawyers who bend over backward to let the worst offenders go free. You'll meet judges who unapologetically declare that they care more about their liberal ideology than about the pain and suffering of abuse victims; judges who let child molesters walk free because they're "too frail" to go to prison; defense attorneys who take big money from wealthy child molesters, then twist the Bill of Rights beyond recognition; and even a few prosecutors who go easy on criminals for their own selfish reasons. Murphy's true stories will shock you, but they will also inspire you to join the fight for a more rational system. This is an important book that is sure to infuriate America's legal establishment.

Wendy Murphy (Author), Joyce Bean (Narrator)

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Law Audiobooks in Non-Fiction