American Politics Audiobooks | Politics

Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America

New York Times bestselling author Sarah Kendzior documents the truth about the calculated rise to power of Donald Trump since the 1980s and how the erosion of our liberties made an American demagogue possible. This program is read by the author. The story of Donald Trump's rise to power is the story of a buried American history - buried because people in power liked it that way. It was visible without being seen, influential without being named, ubiquitous without being overt. Sarah Kendzior's Hiding in Plain Sight pulls back the veil on a history spanning decades, a history of an American autocrat in the making. In doing so, she reveals the inherent fragility of American democracy - how our continual loss of freedom, the rise of consolidated corruption, and the secrets behind a burgeoning autocratic United States have been hiding in plain sight for decades. In Kendzior's signature and celebrated style, she expertly outlines Trump's meteoric rise from the 1980s until today, interlinking key moments of his life with the degradation of the American political system and the continual erosion of our civil liberties by foreign powers. Kendzior also offers a never-before-seen look at her lifelong tendency to be in the wrong place at the wrong time - living in New York through 9/11 and in St. Louis during the Ferguson uprising, and researching media and authoritarianism when Trump emerged using the same tactics as the post-Soviet dictatorships she had long studied. It is a terrible feeling to sense a threat coming, but it is worse when we let apathy, doubt, and fear prevent us from preparing ourselves. Hiding in Plain Sight confronts the injustice we have too long ignored because the truth is the only way forward. A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

Sarah Kendzior (Author), Sarah Kendzior (Narrator)

Audiobook

OMG WTF Does the Constitution Actually Say?: A Non-Boring Guide to How Our Democracy is Supposed to

Do you know what the Constitution ACTUALLY says? This witty and highly relevant annotation of our founding document is the go-to guide to the ins and outs of how our government really works. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Calibri} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Calibri; min-height: 17.0px} Written by political savant and entertainment veteran, Ben Sheehan, and vetted for accuracy by dozens of experts in the field of constitutional law, OMG WTF Does the Constitution Actually Say? is an entertaining and accessible guide that explains what the Constitution lays out. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Calibri} Packed with digestible notes and clear infographics on everything from the meaning of the Second Amendment to the stated rules around Supreme Court nominations, Sheehan walks us through the entire Constitution, from its preamble to its final amendment. He also offers a bonus section on the Declaration of Independence. Extra-credit information throughout on things like amendments that were never passed and what powers elected officials actually have, give readers all the information they need to be informed and effective voters and citizens.

Ben Sheehan (Author), Ben Sheehan, Candice Renee (Narrator)

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Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know

The 2016 election of Donald J. Trump invoked a time for reflection about the state of American politics and its deep ideological, cultural, racial, regional, and economic divisions. But one aspect that the contemporary discussions often miss is that these fissures have been opening over several decades and are deeply rooted in the structure of American politics and society. In Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know Nolan McCarty takes readers through what scholars know and don't know about the origins, development, and implications of our rising political conflicts, delving into social, economic, and geographic determinants of polarization in the United States. While the current political climate seems to suggest that extreme views are becoming more popular, McCarty also argues that, contrary to popular belief, the 2016 election was a natural outgrowth of forty years of polarized politics, rather than a significant break with the past. A concise overview of a complex and crucial topic in US politics, this book is for anyone wanting to understand how to repair the cracks in our system.

Nolan Mccarty (Author), Jonathan Yen (Narrator)

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Winning Your Audience: Deliver a Message with the Confidence of a President

President Ronald Reagan taught James Rosebush to be an impactful speaker. Now he's going to teach you. Public speaking isn't easy. Just ask anyone who's ever blown a sales pitch, failed a class, or fumbled their way through a presentation because they froze up or couldn't find the right words. No wonder more than 75 percent of people in the United States suffer from Glossophobia, the fear of speaking in front of crowds. Luckily, public speaking isn't some innate ability. It's a skill. And given the right amount of time, energy, and perseverance, anyone can learn how it's done. In Winning Your Audience, James Rosebush draws on several decades of experience working with presidents, politicians, and business leaders to write his own manual for delivering a message with confidence. He looks back on the lessons he learned travelling the world with President Ronald Reagan, whom he served under for five years in the White House, and lays out the keys to 'the Reagan speech template': Question, Inform, Inspire, Ask. Rosebush also studies some of the great political orators of our time. Vital lessons from the likes of Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and President Donald Trump are distilled down to a few simple rules. Among them are: · Be authentic· Know yourself· Practice and rehearse...and then do it again · Don't care what your mother thinks of you No matter what kind of speeches, toasts, or presentations you have to give, this book can help. Use it like a textbook. Write in the margins. Tear out pages. Winning Your Audience can make even the most timid speakers among us into a genuine leaders. Read it now and learn how to win your audience.

James Rosebush (Author), James Rosebush (Narrator)

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The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution

On November 26, 1791, George Washington convened his department secretaries-Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Henry Knox, and Edmund Randolph-for the first cabinet meeting. Why did he wait two and a half years into his presidency to call his cabinet? Because the US Constitution did not create or provide for such a body. Washington was on his own. Faced with diplomatic crises, domestic insurrections, and constitutional challenges-and finding congressional help lacking-Washington decided he needed a group of advisors he could turn to. He modeled his new cabinet on the councils of war he had led as commander of the Continental Army. In the early days, the cabinet served at the president's pleasure. Washington tinkered with its structure throughout his administration, at times calling regular meetings, at other times preferring written advice and individual discussions. Lindsay M. Chervinsky reveals the far-reaching consequences of Washington's choice. The tensions in the cabinet between Hamilton and Jefferson heightened partisanship and contributed to the development of the first party system. And as Washington faced an increasingly recalcitrant Congress, he came to treat the cabinet as a private advisory body to summon as needed, greatly expanding the role of the president and the executive branch.

Lindsay M. Chervinsky (Author), Janet Metzger (Narrator)

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The Founders' Key: The Divine and Natural Connection Between the Declaration and the Constitution an

Today the integrity and unity of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are under attack by the Progressive political movement. And yet, writes Larry P. Arnn: "The words of the Declaration of Independence ring across the ages. The arrangements of the Constitution have a way of organizing our actions so as to produce certain desirable results, and they have done this more reliably than any governing instrument in the history of man. Connect these arrangements to the beauty of the Declaration and one has something inspiring and commanding." From Chapter 2, The Founders' Key Dr. Arnn, president of Hillsdale College, reveals this integral unity of the Declaration and the Constitution. Together, they form the pillars upon which the liberties and rights of the American people stand. United, they have guided history's first self-governing nation, forming our government under certain universal and eternal principles. Unfortunately, the effort to redefine government to reflect "the changing and growing social order" has gone very far toward success. Politicians such as Franklin Roosevelt found ways to condemn and discard the Constitution and to redefine the Declaration to justify government without limit. As a result, both documents have been weakened, their influence diminished, and their meaning obscured-paving the way for the modern administrative state, unaccountable to the will of the people. The Founders' Key is a powerful call to rediscover the connection between these two mighty documents, and thereby restore our political faith and revive our free institutions.

Larry Arnn (Author), Van Tracy (Narrator)

Audiobook

I'd Fight the World: A Political History of Old-Time, Hillbilly, and Country Music

Long before the United States had presidents from the world of movies and reality TV, we had scores of politicians with connections to country music. In I'd Fight the World, Peter La Chapelle traces the deep bonds between country music and politics, from the nineteenth-century rise of fiddler-politicians to more recent figures like Pappy O'Daniel, Roy Acuff, and Rob Quist. These performers and politicians both rode and resisted cultural waves: some advocated for the poor and dispossessed, and others voiced religious and racial anger, but they all walked the line between exploiting their celebrity and righteously taking on the world. La Chapelle vividly shows how country music campaigners have profoundly influenced the American political landscape.

Peter La Chapelle (Author), Chris Abernathy (Narrator)

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The Divided States of America: Why Federalism Doesn't Work

An innovative system of power sharing that balanced national and state interests, federalism was the pragmatic compromise that brought the colonies together to form the United States. Yet, even beyond the question of slavery, inequality was built into the system because federalism by its very nature meant that many aspects of an American's life depended on where they lived. Over time, these inequalities have created vast divisions between the states and made federalism fundamentally unstable. Exploring the full sweep of federalism from the founding to today, Kettl focuses on pivotal moments when power has shifted between state and national governments-from the violent rebalancing of the Civil War, when the nation almost split in two, to the era of civil rights a century later, when there was apparent agreement that inequality was a threat to liberty and the federal government should set policies for states to enact. Despite this consensus, inequality between states has only deepened since that moment. From health care and infrastructure to education and the environment, the quality of public services is ever more uneven. Making an urgent case for reforming federalism, The Divided States of America shows why we must-and how we can-address the crisis of American inequality.

Donald F. Kettl (Author), Terrence Bayes (Narrator)

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Presidential Leadership in Political Time: Reprise and Reappraisal, Third Edition, Revised and Expan

Presidential Leadership in Political Time has greatly expanded our understanding of and debates over the politics of leadership. It clarifies the typical political problems that presidents confront in political time, as well as the likely effects of their working through them, and considers contemporary innovations in our political system that bear on the leadership patterns from the more distant past. Drawing out parallels in the politics of leadership between Andrew Jackson and Franklin Roosevelt and between James Polk and John Kennedy, it develops a new and revealing perspective on the presidential leadership of Clinton, Bush, and Obama. In this edition, Skowronek devotes a new chapter to Obama's presidency and its prospects for becoming transformational-like the presidencies of Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, FDR, and Reagan, all of whom succeeded to varying degrees in reconstructing the playing field of national politics. Along the way, he wonders if this kind of leadership is still even possible, given the current divided state of the American polity. He also takes a fresh look at the impact of the twenty-four-hour news cycle, of a more disciplined and homogeneous Republican party, of conservative advocacy of the 'unitary theory' of the executive, and of progressive disillusionment with the presidency as an institution.

Stephen Skowronek (Author), Robertson Dean (Narrator)

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The Loud Minority: Why Protests Matter in American Democracy

The 'silent majority'-a phrase coined by Richard Nixon in 1969 in response to Vietnam War protests and later used by Donald Trump as a campaign slogan-refers to the supposed wedge that exists between protestors in the street and the voters at home. The Loud Minority upends this view by demonstrating that voters are in fact directly informed and influenced by protest activism. Consequently, as protests grow in America, every facet of the electoral process is touched by this loud minority, benefiting the political party perceived to be the most supportive of the protestors' messaging. Drawing on historical evidence, statistical data, and detailed interviews about protest activity since the 1960s, Daniel Gillion shows that electoral districts with protest activity are more likely to see increased voter turnout at the polls. Surprisingly, protest activities are also moneymaking endeavors for electoral politics, as voters donate more to political candidates who share the ideological leanings of activists. Finally, protests are a signal of political problems, encouraging experienced political challengers to run for office and hurting incumbents' chances of winning reelection. An exploration of how protests affect voter behavior and warn of future electoral changes, The Loud Minority looks at the many ways that activism can shape democracy.

Daniel Q. Gillion (Author), David Sadzin (Narrator)

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Let the People Rule: How Direct Democracy Can Meet the Populist Challenge

How referendums can diffuse populist tensions by putting power back into the hands of the people Propelled by the belief that government has slipped out of the hands of ordinary citizens, a surging wave of populism is destabilizing democracies around the world. As John Matsusaka reveals in Let the People Rule, this belief is based in fact. Over the past century, while democratic governments have become more efficient, they have also become more disconnected from the people they purport to represent. The solution Matsusaka advances is familiar but surprisingly underused: direct democracy, in the form of referendums. Drawing on examples from around the world, Matsusaka shows how direct democracy can bring policies back in line with the will of the people (and provide other benefits, like curbing corruption). Taking lessons from failed processes like Brexit, he also describes what issues are best suited to referendums and how they should be designed, and he tackles questions that have long vexed direct democracy: can voters be trusted to choose reasonable policies, and can minority rights survive majority decisions? The result is one of the most comprehensive examinations of direct democracy to date-coupled with concrete, nonpartisan proposals for how countries can make the most of the powerful tools that referendums offer.

John G. Matsusaka (Author), Christopher Grove (Narrator)

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Defend the Border and Save Lives: Solving Our Most Important Humanitarian and Security Crisis

Former ICE Director Tom Homan has been at the forefront of the conservative fight to secure our borders and offers proof that illegal immigration is not a victimless crime. Illegal immigration is the most controversial and emotional issue this country faces today. President Trump was elected on his promise to fix illegal immigration and build a wall on our southern border. Because he won on this issue, the Democrats refuse to work with him, and we experienced a government shutdown as a result of this divide. The Democrats have supported funding in the past and, in his State of the Union, the President said that he wants to unify and work together to resolve this and all the other challenges facing America. The Democrats sat on their hands. They won't budge. Clearly, as a party, they don't care about the facts, only about denying whatever success they can to this president. Former ICE Director and Fox News contributor Tom Homan knows the facts. He's spent his life on the border and knows that if we don't control illegal immigration now, this country will continue to suffer the consequences of crime, drugs, and financial strain - and it will get much much worse. In Defend the Border and Save Lives, Homan shares what illegal immigration is really about. Illegal immigration should not be a partisan issue. Now is the time to fix this issue that has claimed so many victims and divided this country. We need to pull the curtain back and expose what truly happens and separate facts from fiction. Illegal immigration is not a victimless crime, and the victims are the illegals and their innocent children as well as the Americans who suffer at the hand of the criminals who sneak into this country.

Tom Homan (Author), John Pruden (Narrator)

Audiobook

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