Social Science Audiobooks | Non-Fiction

The Path of Light is a collection of short stories nothing if not a mirror to the phenomenal range of human behaviour. Taken from the Upanishads to the Jatakas to South Asian folklore, these simple but contemplative tales show how people are capable of both extreme cruelty and inordinate kindness. Old-fashioned storytelling meets classic wit and wisdom in this collection. These unusual stories, told in the author’s sharp, humorous style, are distilled human experiences that have the unique quality of endurance. From the ordinary comes the extraordinary; from the human, the supernatural. Ancient and modern, sort-of-known and unheard of, these magical tales from the banks of the Yamuna to the Kaveri and from over the Eastern seas—across the Indic tradition—take us through the pitfalls and pleasures of existence, fusing the past with the present in a happy continuum.

Renuka Narayan (Author), Archana Pania (Narrator)

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Women and Leadership: Real Lives, Real Lessons

Brought to you by Penguin. For readers of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Sheryl Sandberg and Mary Beard, Women and Leadership is a powerful call to arms about the lack of women at the top. Women make up less than 10 per cent of national leaders, and behind this lies a pattern of unequal access to power. In conversation with some of the world's most powerful and interesting women, Women and Leadership explores gender bias and asks why there aren't more women in leadership roles? Using current research as a starting point, Gillard and Okonjo-Iweala form questions and hypotheses, then test them on the lived experiences of women leaders such as Jacinda Ardern, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Christine Lagarde,Michelle Bachelet and Theresa May. Speaking honestly and freely, they talk about having their ideas stolen by male colleagues, about what it's like to be called fat or a slut in the media, and about the things they wish they had done differently. Their stories reveal how gender and sexism affect perceptions of women as leaders, the trajectories of their leaderships, and the circumstances in which they come to an end. The result is a rare insight into life as a leader, and a powerful call to arms for women everywhere. © Julia Gillard and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Julia Gillard, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Author), Julia Gillard, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Shari Sebbens (Narrator)

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Action Park: Fast Times, Wild Rides, and the Untold Story of America's Most Dangerous Amusement Park

'Citizen Kane does Adventureland.' -The Washington Post The outlandish, hilarious, terrifying, and almost impossible-to-believe story of the legendary, dangerous amusement park where millions were entertained and almost as many bruises were sustained, told through the eyes of the founder's son. Often called 'Accident Park,' 'Class Action Park,' or 'Traction Park,' Action Park was an American icon. Entertaining more than a million people a year in the 1980s, the New Jersey-based amusement playland placed no limits on danger or fun, a monument to the anything-goes spirit of the era that left guests in control of their own adventures--sometimes with tragic results. Though it closed its doors in 1996 after nearly twenty years, it has remained a subject of constant fascination ever since, an establishment completely anathema to our modern culture of rules and safety. Action Park is the first-ever unvarnished look at the history of this DIY Disneyland, as seen through the eyes of Andy Mulvihill, the son of the park's idiosyncratic founder, Gene Mulvihill. From his early days testing precarious rides to working his way up to chief lifeguard of the infamous Wave Pool to later helping run the whole park, Andy's story is equal parts hilarious and moving, chronicling the life and death of a uniquely American attraction, a wet and wild 1980s adolescence, and a son's struggle to understand his father's quixotic quest to become the Walt Disney of New Jersey. Packing in all of the excitement of a day at Action Park, this is destined to be one of the most unforgettable memoirs of the year.

Andy Mulvihill, Jake Rossen (Author), Michael Satow (Narrator)

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The Road from Raqqa: A Story of Brotherhood, Borders, and Belonging

Crossing years and continents, the harrowing story of the road to reunion for two Syrian brothers who—despite a homeland at war and an ocean between them—hold fast to the bonds of family. “The Road from Raqqa had me gripped from the first page. I couldn’t put it down.”—Christy Lefteri, author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo The Alkasem brothers, Riyad and Bashar, spend their childhood in Raqqa, the Syrian city that would later become the capital of ISIS. As a teenager in the 1980s, Riyad witnesses the devastating aftermath of the Hama massacre—an atrocity that the Hafez al-Assad regime commits upon its people. Wanting to expand his notion of government and justice, Riyad moves to the United States to study law, but his plans are derailed and he eventually falls in love with a Southern belle. They move to a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee, where they raise two sons and where Riyad opens a restaurant—Café Rakka—cooking the food his grandmother used to make. But he finds himself confronted with the darker side of American freedoms: the hardscrabble life of a newly arrived immigrant, enduring bigotry, poverty, and loneliness. Years pass, and at the height of Syria’s civil war, fearing for his family’s safety halfway across the world, he risks his own life by making a dangerous trip back to Raqqa. Bashar, meanwhile, in Syria. After his older brother moves to America, Bashar embarks on a brilliant legal career under the same corrupt Assad government that Riyad despises. Reluctant to abandon his comfortable (albeit conflicted) life, he fails to perceive the threat of ISIS until it’s nearly too late. The Road from Raqqa brings us into the lives of two brothers bound by their love for each other and for the war-ravaged city they call home. It’s about a family caught in the middle of the most significant global events of the new millennium, America’s fraught but hopeful relationship to its own immigrants, and the toll of dictatorship and war on everyday families. It’s a book that captures all the desperation, tenacity, and hope that come with the revelation that we can find home in one another when the lands of our forefathers fail us.

Jordan Ritter Conn (Author), Graham Halstead (Narrator)

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Riding with the Ghost: A Memoir

An unflinching memoir from a writer reckoning with his relationship with his troubled father and the complicated legacy that each generation hands down to the next "Justin Taylor's relentless, peripatetic, and tender search for reconciliation with his late troubled father blooms into a full-throated song of joy about his own life lived through music, teaching, travel, and literature."-Lauren Groff, author of Florida When Justin Taylor was thirty, his father, Larry, drove to the top of the Nashville airport parking garage to take his own life. Thanks to the intervention of family members, he was not successful, but the incident forever transformed how Taylor thinks of his father, and how he thinks of himself as a son. Moving back and forth in time from that day, Riding with the Ghost captures the past's power to shape, strengthen, and distort our visions of ourselves and one another. We see Larry as the middle child in a chilly Long Island family; as a beloved Little League coach who listens to kids with patience and curiosity; as an unemployed father struggling to keep his marriage together while battling long-term illness and depression. At the same time, Taylor explores how the work of confronting a family member's story forces a reckoning with your own. We see Taylor as a teacher, modeling himself after his dad's best qualities; as a caregiver, attempting to provide his father with emotional and financial support, but not always succeeding; as a new husband, with a dawning awareness of his own depressive tendencies. With raw intimacy, Riding with the Ghost lays bare the joys and burdens of loving a troubled family member. It's a memoir about fathers and sons, teachers and students, faith and illness, and the pieces of our loved ones that we carry with us always.

Justin Taylor (Author), Justin Taylor (Narrator)

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Queens of the Resistance: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Part of the four-book Queens of the Resistance series, saluting some of the most beloved boss ladies in Congress: a celebration of AOC, the youngest woman ever to serve in Congress and its newest superstar Not long ago, no one could even imagine a twenty-eight-year-old Latina upstart running for Congress representing Queens and the Bronx: It required facing the city's nearly all-white, all-male political machine. But since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez graced the scene in all her bartending, tweet-talking, mold-breaking glory, the face of politics in the twenty-first century has changed. Today, Ocasio-Cortez is a foremost advocate for progress, whipping up support among her colleagues and gaining the secret admiration of her foes. She's jousting with an outrageous president and a conservative media sphere that place her under relentless attack. Why? Because they fear her gift for speaking truth to power. With deep research and writing as endlessly quotable as she is, Queens of the Resistance pays tribute to this phenomenal woman. About the series: Each book of the Queens of the Resistance series is a celebration of the rebellion against the oppression of women and an embracement of the new in the United States government. The series is adorned with sass, discernment, and the badassery of the present and future leadership. The Doomsday Clock is at a minute to midnight, and the patriarchal power grid that lights "the shining city on a Hill" is about to black out. It's time to yield to the alternative-the power of women.

Brenda Jones, Krishan Trotman (Author), Lisa Renee Pitts (Narrator)

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Queens of the Resistance: Elizabeth Warren

Part of the four-book Queens of the Resistance series, saluting some of the most beloved boss ladies in Congress: a celebration of Elizabeth Warren, the star senator from Massachusetts and 2020 presidential candidate All hail Queen Elizabeth! She's a "queen' but not a monarch who's spent her life fighting to create a more equal society. Now one of the most recognizable women in politics, Warren took a winding road to become the badass senator from Massachusetts-the first woman senator ever elected from the state. Day-to-day struggle to make ends meet? Check. Single motherhood? Check. Law degree? Check. Tenured Harvard Law professor? You bet! And oh, she created a whole new government agency to protect consumers from predatory businesses. This the story of Liz's hard-earned rise to the top of the game. With deep research and writing as endlessly quotable as she is, Queens of the Resistance pays tribute to this phenomenal woman. About the series: Each book of the Queens of the Resistance series is a celebration of the rebellion against the oppression of women and an embracement of the new in the United States government. The series is adorned with sass, discernment, and the badassery of the present and future leadership. The Doomsday Clock is at a minute to midnight, and the patriarchal power grid that lights "the shining city on a Hill" is about to black out. It's time to yield to the alternative-the power of women.

Brenda Jones, Krishan Trotman (Author), Nicole Lewis (Narrator)

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Of Color

In his debut essay collection, award-winning poet Jaswinder Bolina meditates on 'how race,' as he puts it, 'becomes metaphysical': the cumulative toll of the microaggressions and macro-pressures lurking in the academic market, on the literary circuit, in the dating pool, and on the sidewalks of any given US city. Training a keenly thoughtful lens on questions that are never fully abstract-about immigration and assimilation and class, about the political utility of art, about what it means to belong to a language and a nation that brand you as other-Of Color is a bold, expansive, and finally optimistic diagnosis of present-day America.

Jaswinder Bolina (Author), Jaswinder Bolina (Narrator)

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A Bigger Sky: Awakening a Fierce Feminine Buddhism

Reimagining Buddhism through a feminine lens: A powerful memoir of healing, strength, and spiritual awakening. Like all true spiritual teachings, Buddhism offers a radical shift: from me to we, fracture to unity, and fear to love. But like most institutionalized religions, Buddhism developed under systems of hierarchy, patriarchy, and power that have become interwoven into its structure. Written by the first layperson to receive full Dharma Transmission in the Suzuki Roshi Soto Zen lineage, A Bigger Sky explores what it means to fill the gaps of a Buddhism created by and for men, to navigate the seemingly contradictory domains of secular and spiritual life, and to walk a path through the heart of the world. Reorienting Buddhist practice through a wider, more inclusive feminine lens, Pamela Weiss's personal and spiritual journey speaks to the bits of brokenness in us all, shining a light on the different pathways we can walk to become whole. Blending memoir, Buddhist practice, and cultural observation, Weiss explores the illness that led her to seek healing and brought her to Buddhism; life at Tassajara Zen Mountain monastery; feelings of helplessness amidst the legacy of intergenerational trauma; her husband's near-fatal accident; her work translating mindfulness and Buddhist principles to a broad lay audience; and stories of Buddhist women, past and present. Through beautifully crafted prose, Weiss shares what it means to be an ordinary Bodhisattva--describing how the Buddha's profound vision of freedom can be lived outside of institutions and rule-bound practice, and supporting us in deepening our connection--with ourselves, each other and the planet. A Bigger Sky illuminates how integrating a more feminine approach to Buddhist teachings can be applied in spiritual practice, in community, in relationships, and in day-to-day life.

Pamela Weiss (Author), Diana Gardiner (Narrator)

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Queen of the Hurricanes: The Fearless Elsie MacGill

Elsie MacGill achieved many firsts in science and engineering at a time when women were considered to be inferior in the sciences. In 1923, at the age of nineteen, she became the first woman to attend engineering classes at the University of Toronto. She was the first woman in North America to hold a degree in aeronautical engineering and the first woman aircraft designer in the world. As chief engineer for the Canadian Car and Foundry Company she oversaw the production of the Hawker Hurricane, and designed a series of modifications to equip the plain for cold weather flying. Her Maple Leaf trainer may still be the only plane ever to be completely designed by a woman. Elsie, a popular heroine of her time who inspired the comic book "Queen of the Hurricanes" in the 1940s, later became an influential feminist activist.

Crystal Sissons (Author), Dawn Harvey (Narrator)

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Queer Magic: LGBT+ Spirituality and Culture from Around the World

Queer Magic and Mysticism in History and Today Queer Magic provides nourishment for LGBTQ+ souls and their allies who are interested in learning about the significant presence and influence of queer folks throughout history. Explore fascinating insights into queer relationships and spiritual practices from different regions of the world. Learn about deities, heroes, and historical figures who embody the power of the queer spirit. Discover inspiring contributions from contemporary LGBT+ Pagans, Catholics, Buddhists, Muslims, and others as they share personal stories of their experiences as well as spells, prayers, and meditations from their own practices. With practical suggestions and enlightening perspectives, this book is a unique resource for LGBT+ spiritual seekers who want to experience the sustaining energy and strength of the worldwide queer community.

Tomás Prower (Author), Paul Boehmer (Narrator)

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Sacred Energies of the Sun and Moon: Shamanic Rites of Curanderismo

A practical guide to ancient Mesoamerican solar and lunar rites for healing and transformation • Details shamanic rituals and practices for each period of the day, including dawn, sunrise, noon, sunset, and midnight, to best harness the energies of the sun, night sun, and moon for specific purposes, such as divination, journeying with animal spirit guides, or spiritual wisdom • Incorporates shamanic breathwork, dreamwork, mantra chanting, mudras, dancing and movement, toning, chakra work, crystals, herbs, and limpias (shamanic cleanses) • Explores how nighttime energies are affected by the phases of the moon, offering specific practices for each phase Ancient Mesoamerican shamans and modern practitioners of curanderismo--a Latin American shamanic healing practice--divide each day and night into distinct periods based on the sacred rhythms of the sun and moon, with each time offering opportunities to connect with specific celestial energies for healing and transformation. In this hands-on guide to working with the sacred energies of the sun, night sun, and moon, curandera Erika Buenaflor details the rites, rituals, and deities for each part of the day and night and explores the sacred tools and techniques used by ancient Mesoamerican shamans for harnessing solar and lunar energies. She explains how the sun is the source of soul energy that heals, animates, strengthens, and revitalizes us on many levels, while night energies are transformative and conducive for connecting with nonordinary realms. She explores rituals for dawn, sunrise, and midmorning to harness the energies of creation and new beginnings; for noon and afternoon to promote peak strength and spiritual wisdom; for sunset and dusk to bring about transformation, perform divination, and journey with animal spirit guides; and for midnight and predawn to facilitate shamanic dreamwork, connect with the ancestors, make offerings, and regenerate at the deepest levels. She also explores how nighttime energies are affected by the phases of the moon and offers specific practices for each phase. By intentionally tuning our activities to the rhythms of the sun and moon, we can invite in their sacred energies of abundance and healing for more healthy, creative, mindful, and happy lives.

Erika Buenaflor (Author), Luke Bob Robinson, Luke Robinson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Social Science Audiobooks in Non-Fiction