Politics Audiobooks | LoveReading

Political Theory: The Classic Texts and Their Continuing Relevance

We all need some help in understanding the world, and that is the starting point for political theory itself. The great works of other times and places can speak to us today, wherever we are. Political theory does this better than other subjects, in part because the theorist wants us to look around and think about the specifics of the world around us, but also to lift our heads and see farther than we normally do. The theorists we will study in this course wanted very badly to reach their readers, to make them think about their world differently. They don't tell us what to think, but we don't see things in quite the same way after we read them. In fact, we do not read these books so much as we experience them. As you learn about Plato, Thucydides, and Hobbes, you may see connections between their times and our own. You may see how their insights apply to life today. I hope they will become companions that can help you to understand and explain the world in ways that sound bites on the nightly news cannot.

Joshua Kaplan (Author), George K. Wilson (Narrator)

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American Gunfight: The Plot to Kill Harry Truman and the Shoot-Out That Stopped It

AMERICAN GUNFIGHT is the fast-paced, definitive, and breathtakingly suspenseful account of an extraordinary historical event, the attempted assassination of President Harry Truman in November of 1950 by two Puerto Rican Nationalists and the bloody shoot-out in the streets of Washington, D.C., that saved the president's life. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Stephen Hunter and John Bainbridge, Jr., an experienced journalist and lawyer, AMERICAN GUNFIGHT is at once a groundbreaking work of meticulous historical research and the vivid and dramatically told story of an act of terrorism that almost succeeded. They have pieced together, at last, the story of the conspiracy that nearly doomed the president and how a few good mean, ordinary guys who were willing to risk their lives in the line of duty, stopped it. Hunter and Bainbridge are the first to report on the inner workings of this conspiracy; they examine the forces that led the perpetrators to conceive the plot. The authors also tell the story of men themselves, from their youth and the worlds in which they grew up to the women they loved and who loved them to the moment the gunfire erupted. Their telling commemorates heroism, the quiet commitment to duty that in some moments of crisis sees some people through an ordeal, even at the expense of their lives.

John Bainbridge, Stephen Hunter (Author), John H. Mayer (Narrator)

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Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis

In Our Endangered Values, Jimmy Carter offers a personal consideration of "moral values" as they relate to the important issues of the day. He puts forward a passionate defense of separation of church and state, and a strong warning about where the country is heading as the lines between politics and rigid religious fundamentalism are blurred. Carter describes his reactions to recent disturbing societal trends that involve both religious and political worlds as they increasingly intertwine and include some of the most crucial and controversial issues of the day. Many of these matters are under fierce debate. They include preemptive war, women's rights, terrorism, civil liberties, homosexuality, abortion, the death penalty, science and religion, environmental degradation, nuclear arsenals, America's global image, fundamentalism, and the melding of religion and politics. Sustained by his lifelong faith, Jimmy Carter assesses these issues in a balanced and courageous way.

Jimmy Carter, Jimmy Carter (Author), Jimmy Carter, Jimmy Carter (Narrator)

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A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

His speeches stirred a generation to change - and outlined a practical way to economic freedom and true democracy. His words would help bring about the end of a brutally unequal system - and would show a timeless method for achieving fairness and justice for all.These 12 moving speeches voiced by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are original recordings collected here for the first time ever. In addition, some of the world's most renowned leaders and theologians share with you their reflections on these speeches, and give priceless firsthand testimony on the events that inspired their delivery.This audio takes you behind the scenes on an astonishing spoken historical journey - from a small, crowded church in Montgomery, AL, where "The Birth of a New Nation" ignited the modern civil rights movement; to the center of the nation's conscience; to the Mason Temple in Memphis, where more than 10,000 people heard Dr. King give his last transcendent speech, "I've Been to the Mountaintop", the night before his assassination.Narrators include Andrew Young, Coretta Scott King, Reverend Leon H. Sullivan, Hon. Walter E. Fauntroy, Yolanda King, Dr. Dorothy I. Height, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, Martin Luther King III, Rep. John Lewis, Ambassador George McGovern, and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

Clayborne Carson, Kris Shepard (Author), Andrew Young, Hachette Assorted Author's, Hachette Assorted Authors, Hachette Assorted S (Narrator)

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Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy

Prominent liberals support a whole litany of policies and principles: progressive taxes, affirmative action, greater regulation of corporations, raising the inheritance tax, strict environmental regulations, children's rights, consumer rights, and more. But do they actually live by these beliefs? Peter Schweizer decided to investigate the private lives of politicians like the Clintons, Nancy Pelosi, the Kennedys, and Ralph Nader; commentators Michael Moore, Al Franken, Noam Chomsky, and Cornel West; entertainers or philanthropists Barbra Streisand and George Soros. Using publicly-available real estate records, IRS returns, court depositions, and their own published statements, he sought to examine whether they lived by the principles they so forcefully advocate. What he found was a long list of contradictions. Many of these proponents of organized labor had developed various methods to sidestep paying union wages or avoid employing unions altogether. They were also adept at avoiding taxes; invested heavily in corporations they had denounced; took advantage of foreign tax credits to use non-American labor overseas; espoused environmental causes while opposing those that might affect their own property rights; hid their investments in trusts to avoid paying estate tax; denounced oil companies but quietly owned them. Schweizer's conclusion is simple: liberalism in the end forces its adherents to become hypocrites. They adopt one pose in public, but when it comes to what matters most in their own lives-their property, their privacy, and their children--they jettison their liberal principles and adopt conservative ones. If these ideas don't work for the very individuals who promote them, Schweizer asks, how can they work for the country?

Peter Schweizer (Author), Grover Gardner (Narrator)

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The Age of Anxiety: McCarthyism to Terrorism

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist revisits the anti-communist hysteria of the McCarthy era and draws bold parallels to our own Age of Anxiety. For five long years in the 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy and his anti-communist crusade dominated the American scene, terrified politicians, and destroyed the lives of thousands of our citizens. Haynes Johnson re-creates that time of crisis of President Eisenhower, who hated McCarthy but would not attack him; of the Republican senators who cynically used McCarthy to win their own elections; of Edward R. Murrow, whose courageous TV broadcast began McCarthy's downfall; and of mild-mannered lawyer Joseph Welch, who finally shamed McCarthy into silence. The story is told through the lens of its relevance to our own times, when fear once again affects American behavior and attitudes. His masterful narrative also encompasses the story of his father, journalist Malcolm Johnson, whose articles on terrorism and murder led to the movie On the Waterfront and whose life was forever changed by charges that he was a communist.

Haynes Johnson (Author), Kristoffer Tabori (Narrator)

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Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death

The most famous speech of a brilliant American orator. Although historically targeted at the British, his impassioned words resonate against todays headlines. A classic worth owning! This speech was delivered at the Second Virginia Convention, which was being held at Richmond, Virginia. Other convention members had just given speeches urging caution and patience until the British crown replied to the Continental Congress' latest petition for reconciliation. Patrick Henry wanted to raise a militia, and put Virginia in a posture of defense (the ""Battle of Lexington and Concord"" was still a month away). This speech was his rebuttal. The ""President"" he was addressing was the Convention's president, Peyton Randolph, of Williamsburg, Virginia. CONTENTS: Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death

Patrick Henry (Author), Peter Jahns (Narrator)

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Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream

The bestselling author of Nickel and Dimed goes back undercover to do for America's ailing middle class what she did for the working poor. Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed explored the lives of low-wage workers. Now, in BAIT AND SWITCH, she enters another hidden realm of the economy-the world of the white-collar unemployed. Armed with a plausible resume of a professional "in transition," attempts to land a "middle class job" undergoing career coaching and personality testing, then begins trawling a series of EST-like "boot camps," job fairs, "networking events," and evangelical job-search "ministries." She gets an "image makeover" to prepare her for the corporate world and works hard to project the "winning attitude" recommended for a successful job search. She is proselytized, scammed, lectured and, again and again, rejected. BAIT AND SWITCH highlights the people who've done everything right-gotten college degrees, developed marketable skills, and built up impressive resumes-yet have become repeatedly vulnerable to financial disaster and not simply due to the vagaries of the business cycle. Today's ultra-lean corporations take pride in shedding their "surplus" employees-plunging them, for months or years at a stretch, into the twilight zone of white-collar unemployment, where job-searching becomes a full-time job in itself. As Ehrenreich discovers, there are few social supports for the new disposable workers-and little security even for those who have jobs. Like the now classic Nickel and Dimed, BAIT AND SWITCH is alternately hilarious and tragic, a searing expose of economic cruelty where we least expect it.

Barbara Ehrenreich (Author), Anne Twomey (Narrator)

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Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War

From the only journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting from Iraq, here is the riveting account of ordinary people caught between the struggles of nations. Determined to offer an unfiltered version of events, the Washington Post's Anthony Shadid was neither embedded with soldiers nor briefed by politicians. Because he is fluent in Arabic, Shadid-an Arab-American born and raised in Oklahoma-was able to actually disappear into the divided, dangerous worlds of Iraq. Day by day, as American dreams clashed with Arab notions of justice, he pieced together the human story of ordinary Iraqis weathering the terrible dislocations and tragedies of war. Through the lives of Sunnis and Shiites, men and women, American sympathizers, and outraged young men newly transformed into martyrs, Shadid shows us the journey of defiant, hopeful, resilient Iraq. Moving from battle scenes to subdued streets enlivened only by the call to prayer, Shadid uses the experiences of his characters to illustrate how Saddam's downfall paved the way not only for democracy but also for an Islamic reawakening and jihad. NIGHT DRAWS NEAR-as compelling as it is human-is an illuminating and poignant account from a reporter whose coverage has drawn international attention and acclaim.

Anthony Shadid (Author), Anthony Shadid (Narrator)

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Wähl' mal wieder!: Das ABC des mündigen Bürgers

Demokratie - das heißt Freiheit, Recht und Verantwortung. Verantwortung heißt: Wählen! Wählen heißt: sich eine Meinung bilden, sich entscheiden. Richtig entscheiden heißt: sich zu informieren, Bescheid zu wissen über sein Land, seine Menschen, das politische Koordinatensystem, in dem jeder Bürger eine gleiche Stimme zur Mitsprache hat. Demokratie eben! Dieses Hörbuch macht Sie in 130 Minuten wieder fit als mündigen Bürger in unserem Lande. Es zeigt dessen steinigen Weg zur Demokratie, dem Wahlrecht für jedermann und -frau bis zur heutigen Verfassung, dem Föderalismus und zur Rolle der Parteien. Die Bundesrepublik Deutschland ist nicht perfekt, aber der beste Staat, den wir jemals hatten. Wir: das Volk, der Souverän, den die Geschichte nicht oft nach seiner Meinung gefragt hat. Also: Informieren, Meinung bilden, wählen! Weil zur Freiheit die Verantwortung jedes einzelnen gehört.

Jutta Förtsch, Ulrich Offenberg (Author), Achim Höppner, Oliver Luxenburger, Peter Bertram (Narrator)

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Die Grundrechte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Die Würde des Menschen ist unantastbar

Feudalismus, Kaiserreich und Weimarer Republik sowie die Exzesse des 3. Reiches prägten die Entwicklung und Kodifizierung der 19 Grundrechtsartikel des Grundgesetzes der BRD. Sie sind Ausdruck des Aufbruchs in eine aufgeklärte, freiheitliche Welt, in der staatliche Übergriffe und Fremdbestimmung der Vergangenheit angehören sollen. 'Die Würde des Menschen ist unantastbar', 'alle Menschen sind vor dem Gesetz gleich', 'Pressefreiheit', 'Asylrecht' oder 'Versammlungsfreiheit' ... sind Basis einer Grundwerteordnung, aus der auch die Drohung 'und wenn ich bis nach Karlsruhe gehen muss' resultiert. Was steckt aber wirklich hinter den Grundrechten? Wie sind diese Eckpfeiler unserer heutigen Gesellschaft entstanden? Welche historischen und politischen Einflüsse führten zu ihrer heutigen Form und hat sich diese ethisch-politische Grundlage bisher bewährt? Das Hörbuch bietet eine Einführung in dieses nur auf den ersten Blick 'trockene' Thema. Es gibt einen Überblick über alle Grundrechte und zeigt wichtige Entwicklungen ergänzt durch Fallbeispiele und Vorstellungen aktueller Karlsruher Urteile auf.

Renate Förtsch (Author), Anja Buczkowsky, Christian Hoening (Narrator)

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Dude, Where's My Country?

He is the scourge of Stupid White Men everywhere. He's taken on fat cats, gun nuts, lying politicians. The Guardian describes him as "a wake-up call, a kick in the mental backside." And now, Michael Moore is back, daring to ask the most urgent question of these perilous times: Dude, Where's My Country? Michael Moore is on a mission in his new book: Regime Change. The man who slithered into the White House on tracks greased by his daddy's oil buddies is one of the many targets in Mike's blistering follow-up to his smash #1 Stupid White Men, the biggest selling nonfiction book of the year. Now no one is safe: corporate barons who have bilked millions out of their employees' lifetime savings, legislators who have stripped away our civil liberties in the name of "homeland security," and even that right-wing brother-in-law of yours (yes, we all have one) who manages, year after year, through his babbling idiocy, to ruin Thanksgiving dinner.Fearless, funny and furious, Michael Moore's new book is the call to arms we've all been waiting for, the kind of book that comes along once every so often that rallies citizens with humor and insight, and changes the course of the country.

Michael Moore (Author), D. David Morin (Narrator)

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