History Audiobooks | TV & Radio

Black Grief/White Grievance: The Politics of Loss

This audiobook narrated by Joana Garcia reveals how race shapes expectations about whose losses matter In democracies, citizens must accept loss; we can't always be on the winning side. But in the United States, the fundamental civic capacity of being able to lose is not distributed equally. Propped up by white supremacy, whites (as a group) are accustomed to winning; they have generally been able to exercise political rule without having to accept sharing it. Black citizens, on the other hand, are expected to be political heroes whose civic suffering enables progress toward racial justice. In this book, Juliet Hooker, a leading thinker on democracy and race, argues that the two most important forces driving racial politics in the United States today are Black grief and white grievance. Black grief is exemplified by current protests against police violence-the latest in a tradition of violent death and subsequent public mourning spurring Black political mobilization. The potent politics of white grievance, meanwhile, which is also not new, imagines the U.S. as a white country under siege. Drawing on African American political thought, Hooker examines key moments in U.S. racial politics that illuminate the problem of loss in democracy. She connects today's Black Lives Matter protests to the use of lynching photographs to arouse public outrage over post-Reconstruction era racial terror, and she discusses Emmett Till's funeral as a catalyst for the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. She also traces the political weaponization of white victimhood during the Obama and Trump presidencies. Calling for an expansion of Black and white political imaginations, Hooker argues that both must learn to sit with loss, for different reasons and to different ends.

Juliet Hooker (Author), Joana Garcia (Narrator)

Audiobook

Deep Deception: The story of the spycop network, by the women who uncovered the shocking truth

Groomed. Gaslighted. Ghosted. They thought they'd found their soulmate. They had no idea he was spying on them. These five motivated, independent women each thought they'd met their perfect partner - someone who shared their values, ambitions and goals. But after a while, in some cases years later, the men started to behave strangely. They disappeared for weeks at a time, saying they needed to go away to clear their heads. Small details about their lives didn't quite fit. Then they vanished, leaving a note saying that the relationship was over. These men were undercover police officers, who had targeted the women for their links to activist groups. They took the identities of dead children and carried fake passports and driving licences. They were all married, some with children. They had been working from a set of guidelines and were all using the same manipulative techniques. This is the story of five women whose lives were stolen by state-sponsored spies, and who, one by one, uncovered the shocking truth.

Alison, Belinda, Helen Steel, Lisa Anonymous, Naomi (Author), Multiple Narrators, TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

[German] - Unter Wahnsinnigen: Warum wir das Böse brauchen

UM UNS HERUM TOBT DER WAHNSiNN. ›Unter Wahnsinnigen‹ ist eine Zustandsbeschreibung unserer Zeit. Wie gerne würden wir leicht in Freund und Feind trennen, liken oder bashen. Aber so einfach ist der Mensch nicht. Schroeder folgt seinem Drang und seiner Neugier, das Böse zu verstehen. Auf dem Pfad des Bösen trifft er einen Holocaust-Leugner im Gefängnis, begegnet einem Sexualstraftäter auf seinem Weg nach draußen, erlebt einen Mann, der ein Doppelleben geführt hat, ist mit der Letzten Generation unterwegs und besucht NATO-Soldaten in Litauen, die sich auf den Krieg vorbereiten. Seine Recherchen führen ihn zu Psychologen und Kriminologen, zu den Tätern und Opfern, zu Philosophen und Aktivisten – und immer wieder zu sich selbst und seiner eigenen Geschichte. Er trifft einen Teil von jener Kraft, die nur das Gute will und so das Böse schafft. Florian Schroeder besucht die Abgründe dieser Welt und zeigt, dass sie nur unser Spiegel sind, in dem wir uns selbst erkennen können – wenn wir es wollen. Die Wahnsinnigen sind wir alle.

Florian Schroeder (Author), Florian Schroeder (Narrator)

Audiobook

[Spanish] - Hijos del Neoliberalismo

Esta es la historia contemporánea de nuestro México saqueado Todo comenzó en los años ochenta, cuando el país se debatía en una crisis económica sin precedentes y optó por abrazar el modelo neoliberal como tabla de salvación. Una promesa de modernidad y prosperidad que, al intentar reducir la intervención estatal en la economía, dejó un rastro de intereses públicos pisoteados. Ana Lilia Pérez cuenta esta historia y desenmascara a los personajes que la moldearon: líderes políticos, funcionarios cómplices, herederos de la élite burocrática y empresarios sin escrúpulos. Al mismo tiempo, adentra al lector en las artimañas del saqueo: concesiones manipuladas, recursos desviados, reformas estructurales fraudulentas y privatizaciones que no beneficiaron sino a una minoría. En su pugna por el poder, dice la autora, los políticos de distintos partidos se acusan mutuamente de la 'destrucción' del país, evadiendo así las responsabilidades que los gobiernos emanados de sus filas dejaron como legado. Su memoria selectiva tiene un único propósito: mantener o recuperar sus privilegios. Con esta intención, hablan de un país que nunca existió. Esta obra expone el modus operandi detrás del despojo de los recursos más preciados del país y revela cómo aquellos que debían haber velado por el bienestar común se transformaron en arquitectos de su propia fortuna. Así, se erige como un mapa que ilumina el tortuoso camino que nos condujo a convertimos en hijos del neoliberalismo. Más allá, nos permite entender las raíces de la corrupción sistémica y marca los primeros pasos en la ardua tarea para desmantelarla.

Ana Lilia Pérez (Author), Liliana Barba (Narrator)

Audiobook

Settling the Boom: The Sites and Subjects of Bakken Oil

Examines how settler colonial and sexist infrastructures and narratives order a resource boom Over the past decade, new oil plays have unsettled U.S. energy landscapes and imaginaries. Settling the Boom studies how the disruptive forces of an oil boom in the northern Great Plains are contained through the extension of settler temporalities, reassertions of heteropatriarchy, and the tethering of life to the volatility of oil and its cruel optimisms. This collection reveals the results of sustained research in Williston, North Dakota, the epicenter of the 'Bakken Boom.' While the boom brought a rapid influx of capital and workers, the book questions simple timelines of before and after. Instead, Settling the Boom demonstrates how the unsettling forces of an oil play resolve through normative narratives and material and affective infrastructures that support settler colonialism's violent extension and its gendered orders of time and space. Considering a wide range of evidence, from urban and regional policy, interviews with city officials, media, photography, and film, these essays analyze the ongoing material, aesthetic, and narrative ways of life and land in the Bakken.

Bruce Braun, Mary E. Thomas (Author), Suzie Althens (Narrator)

Audiobook

How States Think: The Rationality of Foreign Policy

A groundbreaking examination of a central question in international relations: Do states act rationally? To understand world politics, you need to understand how states think. Are states rational? Much of international relations theory assumes that they are. But many scholars believe that political leaders rarely act rationally. The issue is crucial for both the study and practice of international politics, for only if states are rational can scholars and policymakers understand and predict their behavior. John J. Mearsheimer and Sebastian Rosato argue that rational decisions in international politics rest on credible theories about how the world works and emerge from deliberative decision‑making processes. Using these criteria, they conclude that most states are rational most of the time, even if they are not always successful. Mearsheimer and Rosato make the case for their position, examining whether past and present world leaders, including George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin, have acted rationally in the context of momentous historical events, including both world wars, the Cold War, and the post–Cold War era. By examining this fundamental concept in a novel and comprehensive manner, Mearsheimer and Rosato show how leaders think, and how to make policy for dealing with other states.

John J. Mearsheimer, Sebastian Rosato (Author), Mack Sanderson (Narrator)

Audiobook

[German] - Sätze, die die Welt verändern - Eine Gedankenreise von Sokrates bis Nietzsche (Ungekürzte

Es gibt diese Sätze, die jeder kennt. Kein Wunder, dass sie unser Weltbild bis heute beeinflussen. Nur: Kaum jemand weiß, woher sie stammen, wie sie ursprünglich gemeint waren - und was ihnen im Laufe der Zeit zugestoßen ist. Bruno Preisendörfer begibt sich auf eine erstaunliche und spannende Spurensuche. Berühmten Zitaten geht es oft wie literarischen Figuren: So wie diese ihren Herkunftsbüchern entlaufen, verlassen jene ihre Entstehungskontexte und beginnen bei ihrer jahrhundertelangen Wanderung durch die Köpfe der Menschen ein Eigenleben. Manche werden dabei fett vor Bedeutungen, die sie ursprünglich gar nicht hatten, andere magern bis zur Bedeutungslosigkeit ab. Manchmal richtet das kaum Schaden an, wie bei der Behauptung, über Geschmack ließe sich nicht streiten; die Konsequenzen können jedoch auch äußerst unheilvoll sein, wie bei Darwins 'Überleben des Stärksten'; mitunter wird ein Satz auch einem Autor untergeschoben, obwohl der ihn nie geschrieben hat. Von wem stammt noch gleich 'Zurück zur Natur' ...? Immer wieder schlägt Preisendörfer elegante Haken zu Kuriosem und Unerwartetem. So wird sein Hörbuch zu einem ebenso lehrreichen wie unterhaltsamen Wunderding irgendwo zwischen philosophischem Handbuch, historischem Panoptikum und zeitdiagnostischem Essay.

Bruno Preisendörfer (Author), Julian Mehne (Narrator)

Audiobook

Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America

From acclaimed columnist and political commentator Michael Harriot, a searingly smart and bitingly hilarious retelling of American history that corrects the record and showcases the perspectives and experiences of Black Americans. America’s backstory is a whitewashed mythology implanted in our collective memory. It is the story of the pilgrims on the Mayflower building a new nation. It is George Washington’s cherry tree and Abraham Lincoln’s log cabin. It is the fantastic tale of slaves that spontaneously teleported themselves here with nothing but strong backs and negro spirituals. It is a sugarcoated legend based on an almost true story. It should come as no surprise that the dominant narrative of American history is blighted with errors and oversights—after all, history books were written by white men with their perspectives at the forefront. It could even be said that the devaluation and erasure of the Black experience is as American as apple pie. In Black AF History, Michael Harriot presents a more accurate version of American history. Combining unapologetically provocative storytelling with meticulous research based on primary sources as well as the work of pioneering Black historians, scholars, and journalists, Harriot removes the white sugarcoating from the American story, placing Black people squarely at the center. With incisive wit, Harriot speaks hilarious truth to oppressive power, subverting conventional historical narratives with little-known stories about the experiences of Black Americans. From the African Americans who arrived before 1619 to the unenslavable bandit who inspired America’s first police force, this long overdue corrective provides a revealing look into our past that is as urgent as it is necessary. For too long, we have refused to acknowledge that American history is white history. Not this one. This history is Black AF. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Michael Harriot (Author), Michael Harriot (Narrator)

Audiobook

The New World Order

'The New World Order' is a non-fiction book by British writer H.G. Wells, published in 1940. It is a work of political philosophy and social critique, in which Wells explores the idea of a unified world government as a means of preventing future global conflicts. Written during the early stages of World War II, the book addresses the failings of nationalism and proposes that only a world order based on justice and scientific understanding can sustain humanity's progress and survival. The book has been the subject of both criticism and acclaim for its utopian ideals and controversial viewpoints.

H.G. Wells (Author), Jason Smith, Jason Smith (male Synthesized Voice) (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Prince

'The Prince' is a political treatise by Niccolò Machiavelli, written in 1513 and published in 1532. The book is a pragmatic guide for political leaders, focused on how to maintain power and navigate the complex and often ruthless world of governance. Although the text is commonly viewed as a manual for manipulation and a justification for Machiavellian deceit and cunning, it has also been interpreted as a realistic, if cynical, analysis of power dynamics. The work is a foundational text in political theory and continues to be studied and debated today.

Niccolo Machiavelli (Author), Jason Smith, Jason Smith (male Synthesized Voice) (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought

This audiobook narrated by Diontae Black gives a powerful account of what a group of nineteenth- and twentieth-century African American activists, intellectuals, and artists can teach us about democracy Could the African American political tradition save American democracy? African Americans have had every reason to doubt America's democratic experiment. Yet African American activists, intellectuals, and artists who have sought to transform the United States into a racially just society have put forward some of the most original and powerful ideas about how to make America live up to its democratic ideals. In The Darkened Light of Faith, Melvin Rogers provides a bold new account of African American political thought through the works and lives of individuals who built this vital tradition, which is urgently needed today. The book reexamines how figures as diverse as David Walker, Frederick Douglass, Anna Julia Cooper, Ida B. Wells, W. E. B. Du Bois, Billie Holiday, and James Baldwin thought about the politics, people, character, and culture of a society that so often dominated them. Sharing a light of faith darkened but not extinguished by the tragic legacy of slavery, they resisted the conclusion that America would always be committed to white supremacy. They believed that democracy is always in the process of becoming and that they could use it to reimagine society. But they also saw that achieving racial justice wouldn't absolve us of the darkest features of our shared past, and that democracy must be measured by how skillfully we confront a history that will forever remain with us. An ambitious account of the profound ways African Americans have reimagined democracy, The Darkened Light of Faith offers invaluable lessons about how to grapple with racial injustice and make democracy work.

Melvin L. Rogers (Author), Diontae Black (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin

A major international bestseller. The little-known true story of a Nazi plot to kill Winston Churchill, President Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin at the height of World War II, and how it was averted. In 1943 only three men stood in Hitler's way; Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. As the war against Nazi Germany raged, the Allied leaders desperately needed to meet face-to-face and discuss their strategy. Facing extreme danger, they travelled to Tehran to meet in secret. Yet when the Nazis found out about the meeting, their own covert plan took shape-an assassination plot. A true story filled with daring rescues, body doubles, and political intrigue, The Nazi Conspiracy details this pivotal meeting of the Big Three and the deadly Nazi scheme that could've changed history. In page-turning detail, it shows the greatest political minds of the twentieth century at work and reveals how they strategized to defeat the enemy, all whilst coming close to world-shattering disaster.

Brad Meltzer, Josh Mensch (Author), Mark Elstob (Narrator)

Audiobook

History Audiobooks in TV & Radio