Political Advocacy Audiobooks | Politics

Slaying Leviathan: Limited Government and Resistance in the Christian Tradition

'How are we to respond to the threats to liberty we are facing? Starting to answer that question begins with this book. We are remarkably unaware of our own Christian history.' ~From Slaying Leviathan Leviathan is rising again, and the first weapon we must recover is the Christian tradition of resisting governmental overreach. The bloated bureaucratic state we have now would have been unrecognizable to the Founders, and our acceptance of its encroachments on liberty would have infuriated them. But here is the point: our Leviathan would not have surprised them. They were well acquainted with the tendency of governments to turn tyrannical. A popular quote in the nineteenth century was 'Eternal vigilance is the price we pay for liberty.' In Slaying Leviathan, Glenn S. Sunshine surveys some of the stories and key elements of Christian political thought from Augustine to the Declaration of Independence. Specifically, the book introduces theories of unalienable rights, resistance, and limited government that were synthesized into a coherent political philosophy by John Locke. It was Locke who influenced the American founders and was, like us, fighting against the spirit of Leviathan in his day. Christians first expressed these political truths under Caesars, kings, popes, and emperors. We need them in the age of presidents.

Glenn S. Sunshine (Author), Joshua Marchlewski (Narrator)

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The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change

Waking Up to Our Capacity to Transform Ourselves and the World As we become more aware of various social injustices in the world, many of us want to be part of the movement toward positive change. But sometimes our best intentions cause unintended harm, and we fumble. We might feel afraid to say the wrong thing and feel guilt for not doing or knowing enough. Sometimes we might engage in performative allyship rather than thoughtful solidarity, leaving those already marginalized further burdened and exhausted. The feelings of fear, insecurity, inadequacy are all too common among a wide spectrum of changemakers, and they put many at a crossroads between feeling stuck and giving up, or staying grounded to keep going. So how can we go beyond performative allyship to creating real change in ourselves and in the world, together? In The Wake Up, Michelle MiJung Kim shares foundational principles often missing in today's mainstream conversations around "diversity and inclusion," inviting readers to deep dive into the challenging and nuanced work of pursuing equity and justice, while exploring various complexities, contradictions, and conflicts inherent in our imperfect world. With a mix of in-the-trenches narrative and accessible unpacking of hot button issues-from inclusive language to representation to "cancel culture"-Michelle offers sustainable frameworks that guide us how to think, approach, and be in the journey as thoughtfully and powerfully as possible. The Wake Up is divided into four key parts: - Grounding: begin by moving beyond good intentions to interrogating our deeper "why" for committing to social justice and uncovering our "hidden stories." - Orienting: establish a shared understanding around our historical and current context and issues we are trying to solve, starting with dismantling white supremacy. - Showing Up: learn critical principles to approach any situation with clarity and build our capacity to work through complexity, nuance, conflict, and imperfections. - Moving Together: remember the core of this work is about human lives, and commit to prioritizing humanity, healing, and community. The Wake Up is an urgent call for us to move together while seeing each other's full and expansive humanity that is at the core of our movement toward justice, healing, and freedom.

Michelle Mijung Kim (Author), Michelle Mijung Kim (Narrator)

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Future Publics: Democracy, Deliberation, and Future-Regarding Collective Action

Scholars have often claimed that democracies, whatever their virtues, are functionally short-sighted. The evidence is clear: we have been unable to manage many long-term issues, including climate change, nuclear waste disposal, natural disaster preparedness, infrastructure maintenance, and budget deficits. To solve long-term problems, do we need political systems that are less democratic, or even authoritarian? This idea, which Michael K. MacKenzie calls the 'democratic myopia thesis,' is a sort of conventional wisdom; it is an idea that scholars and pundits take for granted as a truth about democracy without subjecting it to adequate critical scrutiny. In Future Publics, MacKenzie challenges this conventional wisdom and articulates a deliberative, democratic theory of future-regarding collective action. MacKenzie argues that each part of the democratic myopia problem can be addressed through democratic-rather than authoritarian-means. At a more fundamental level, once we recognize that democratic practices are world-making activities that empower us to make our shared worlds together, they should also be understood as future-making activities. Despite the short-term dynamics associated with electoral democracy, MacKenzie asserts that we need more inclusive and deliberative democracies if we are going to make shared futures that will work for us all.

Michael K. Mackenzie (Author), Stephen Bel Davies (Narrator)

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Principles Matter: The Constitution, Progressives, and the Trump Era

Progressives who opposed the Trump administration's policies found themselves repeatedly relying on constitutional principles grounded in federalism, separation of powers, and free speech to resist the federal government. Although many progressives had either criticized or underemphasized those principles before Trump, the principles became vital to progressive causes after Trump was elected. Using dozens of examples from the ways in which Trump abused presidential powers, this book explains how the three sets of principles can help mitigate the harms that autocratic leaders in the Trump mold can inflict on both democratic institutions and vulnerable minorities. In doing so, the book urges progressives to follow this rule of thumb in the post-Trump era: If a constitutional principle was worth deploying to resist Trump's harmful policies and autocratic governance, then it is worth defending in the post-Trump era even if it makes the short-term attainment of progressive objectives more difficult. This type of principled constitutionalism is essential not only because being principled is good in and of itself, but also because being principled in matters related to federalism, separation of powers, and free speech will help both advance progressive causes over the long run and reduce the threats posed by future autocratic leaders.

Carlos A. Ball (Author), Patrick Lawlor (Narrator)

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Propaganda: Wie die öffentliche Meinung entsteht und geformt wird

Die Natur der Propaganda besteht nach dem großen Philosophen Jacqes Ellul in der Anpassung des Individuums an eine Gesellschaft, die darauf abzielt, das Individuum dienstbar und konform zu machen. Mit der Logik, die ein großartiges Instrument des franzOsischen Denkens ist, versucht Ellul seine These zu beweisen, dass Propaganda ungeachtet positiver oder negativer Intentionen nicht nur eine zerstOrerische Wirkung fUr die Demokratie hat, sondern vielleicht die grOßte Gefahr fUr die Menschheit der modernen Welt ist, schrieb Robert R. Kirsch zum Erscheinen der Originalausgabe 1962 in der Los Angeles Times. Im Westend Verlag erscheint nun erstmals die deutsche Ubersetzung dieses wichtigen Standardwerks zur Propagandaforschung.

Jaques Ellul (Author), Markus Böker (Narrator)

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Don't Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantanamo

This moving, eye-opening memoir of an innocent man detained at Guantánamo Bay for fifteen years tells a story of humanity in the unlikeliest of places and an unprecedented look at life at Guantánamo. At the age of 18, Mansoor Adayfi left his home in Yemen for a cultural mission to Afghanistan. He never returned. Kidnapped by warlords and then sold to the US after 9/11, he was disappeared to Guantánamo Bay, where he spent the next 14 years as Detainee #441. Don't Forget Us Here tells two coming-of-age stories in parallel: a makeshift island outpost becoming the world's most notorious prison and an innocent young man emerging from its darkness. Arriving as a stubborn teenager, Mansoor survived the camp's infamous interrogation program and became a feared and hardened resistance fighter leading prison riots and hunger strikes. With time though, he grew into the man nicknamed "Smiley Troublemaker": a student, writer, advocate, and historian. While at Guantánamo, he wrote a series of manuscripts he sent as letters to his attorneys, which he then transformed into this vital chronicle, in collaboration with award-winning writer Antonio Aiello. With unexpected warmth and empathy, Mansoor unwinds a narrative of fighting for hope and survival in unimaginable circumstances, illuminating the limitlessness of the human spirit. And through his own story, he also tells Guantánamo's story, offering an unprecedented window into one of the most secretive places on earth and the people-detainees and guards alike-who lived there with him. Twenty years after 9/11, Guantánamo remains open, and at a moment of due reckoning, Mansoor Adayfi helps us understand what actually happened there-both the horror and the beauty-a stunning record of an experience we cannot afford to forget.

Mansoor Adayfi (Author), Mansoor Adayfi, Roxanna Hope Radja (Narrator)

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After the Protests Are Heard: Enacting Civic Engagement and Social Transformation

From the Women's March in DC to #BlackLivesMatter rallies across the country, there has been a rising wave of protests and social activism. These events have been an important part of the battle to combat racism, authoritarianism, and xenophobia in Trump's America. However, the struggle for social justice continues long after the posters and megaphones have been packed away. After the protests are heard, how can we continue to work toward lasting change? This book is an invaluable resource for anyone invested in the fight for social justice. Welch highlights examples of social justice work accomplished at the institutional level. From the worlds of social enterprise, impact investing, and sustainable business, After the Protests Are Heard describes the work being done to promote responsible business practices and healthy, cooperative communities. The book also illuminates how colleges and universities educate students to strive toward social justice on campuses across the country, such as the Engaged Scholarship movement, which fosters interactions between faculty and students and local and global communities. In each of these instances, activists work from within institutions to transform practices and structures to foster justice and equality.

Sharon D. Welch (Author), Jennifer Aquino (Narrator)

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Subtle Tools: The Dismantling of American Democracy from the War on Terror to Donald Trump

In the wake of the September 11 terror attacks, the American government implemented a wave of overt policies to fight the nation's enemies. Unseen and undetected by the public, however, another set of tools were brought to bear on the domestic front. One of today's leading experts on the US security state shows how these 'subtle tools' imperiled the very foundations of democracy, from the separation of powers and transparency in government to adherence to the Constitution. Karen Greenberg describes the subtle tools that were forged under George W. Bush in the name of security: imprecise language, bureaucratic confusion, secrecy, and the bypassing of procedural and legal norms. While the power and legacy of these tools lasted into the Obama years, reliance on them increased exponentially in the Trump era, both in the fight against terrorism abroad and in battles closer to home. Greenberg discusses how the Trump administration weaponized these tools to separate families at the border, suppress Black Lives Matter protests, and attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Subtle Tools paints a troubling portrait of an increasingly undemocratic America where disinformation, xenophobia, and disdain for the law became the new norm, and where the subtle tools of national security threatened democracy itself.

Karen J. Greenberg (Author), Kim Niemi (Narrator)

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How to Stop Fascism: History, Ideology, Resistance

Brought to you by Penguin. The far right is on the rise across the world. From Modi's India to Bolsonaro's Brazil and Erdogan's Turkey, fascism is not a horror that we have left in the past; it is a recurring nightmare that is happening again - and we need to find a better way to fight it. In How to Stop Fascism, Paul Mason offers a radical, hopeful blueprint for resisting and defeating the new far right. The book is both a chilling portrait of contemporary fascism, and a compelling history of the fascist phenomenon: its psychological roots, political theories and genocidal logic. Fascism, Mason powerfully argues, is a symptom of capitalist failure, and it has haunted us throughout the twentieth century. History shows us the conditions that breed fascism, and how it can be successfully overcome. But it is up to us in the present to challenge it, and time is running out. From the ashes of Covid-19, we have an opportunity to create a fairer, more equal society. To do so, we must ask ourselves: what kind of world do we want to live in? And what are we going to do about it? © Paul Mason 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Paul Mason (Author), Paul Mason (Narrator)

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Das Gesetz der Hydra - Gebt den Bürgern ihren Staat zurück! (Gekürzt)

Der Staat ist für den Menschen da und nicht der Mensch für den Staat! Paul Kirchhof, Hoffnungsträger und Reizfigur des Bundestagswahlkampfes 2005, fordert die fundamentale Erneuerung unseres Landes aus unmittelbarer Vernunft heraus. Der deutsche Staat, so Kirchhofs Diagnose, ist zu einer Hydra, einem vielköpfigen Ungeheuer verkommen: Mit dem Bild der Hydra, der immer wieder neue Köpfe nachwachsen, beschreibt er die Verbiegung des Rechts, der Vernunft, die Entgrenzung des Staates und seine ausufernden Eingriffe in das Leben der Bürger. Der Verbände- und Lobbyisten-Staat, die Gesundheits- und Familienpolitik, die Macht des Geldes und das aus dem Ruder gelaufene Steuerrecht und die gesamte Schuldenmacherei bilden das Zentrum der Analyse des scharfsichtigen Wissenschaftlers, der schließlich eine Strategie bietet, mit der Politik und Wirtschaft wieder auf ihre Verantwortung für das Wohl des Ganzen verpflichtet werden können.

Paul Kirchhof (Author), Hubertus Gertzen (Narrator)

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Martin Luther King, Jr., on Leadership: Inspiration and Wisdom for Challenging Times

Read the detailed and absorbing chronicle of Martin Luther King's leadership during the most tumultuous period in America's recent past-featuring a foreword by Dr. Bernice King. Hailed as America's greatest civil rights advocate, Martin Luther King, Jr., inspired the people of the United States to demand equality, regardless of the color of their skin. And he did it peacefully. Time may have passed, but in today's world, his teachings are needed more than ever. Drawing from the actions of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life, each section identifies the key leadership skills he displayed, such as: - Practice what you preach - Take direct action, without waiting for other agencies to act - Give credit where credit is due - Laws only declare rights, they do not deliver them - And much more... With Martin Luther King, Jr.'s wisdom and unwavering dedication to making the opposition listen, you can become a peaceful leader and advocate for the way the world should look, no matter who stands in your way.

Donald T. Phillips (Author), Je Nie Fleming (Narrator)

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العدالية الانتقالية - جدل

بعد الثورات الأخيرة التي اجتاحت الوطن العربي سمعنا مصطلح العدالة الانتقالية يتردد كثيرًا ولكننا لم نعرفها. ما العدالة الانتقالية؟ وهل للتعويض المعنوي قيمة لدى الضحايا؟ وكيف تُنفذ؟ ومن المسؤول عن تنفيذها؟ حلقةٌ جديدة بعنوان 'العدالة الانتقالية' من سلسلة 'جدل' نطرح سؤالًا ونرد بإجابات كثيرة. مقالات سياسية من إنتاج كتاب صوتي، بدعم من المؤسسة السويدية Swedish Institute وبالتعاون مع دار صفصافة للنشر

عربية صالح ومحمد عز (Author), زينة رمضان وضياء حرب (Narrator)

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Political Advocacy Audiobooks in Politics