Political Advocacy Audiobooks | Politics

The Siege of Mecca: The Forgotten Uprising in Islam's Holiest Shrine and the Birth of Al Qaeda

On November 20, 1979, hundreds of gunmen who believed that the Saudi royal family had become a craven servant of American infidels stunned the world by seizing Islam's holiest shrine, the Grand Mosque in Mecca, seeking a return to the glory of uncompromising Islam. The Siege of Mecca reveals how Saudi reaction to this two-week uprising in Mecca set free the forces that produced the attacks of 9/11 and the harrowing circumstances that surround us today.

Yaroslav Trofimov (Author), Todd McLaren (Narrator)

Audiobook

Bill of Wrongs

Throughout her long career of "afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted," the cause closest to Molly Ivins's heart was working to protect the freedoms we all value. Sadly, today we're living in a time when dissent is equated with giving aid to terrorists, when any of us can be held in prison without even knowing the charges against us, and when our constitutional rights are being interpreted by a president who calls himself "The Decider." Ivins got the idea for Bill of Wrongs while touring America to honor her promise to speak out, gratis, at least once a month in defense of free speech. In her travels Ivins met ordinary people going to extraordinary measures to safeguard our most precious liberties, and when she first started writing this book, she intended it to be a joyous celebration of those heroes. But during the Bush years, the project's focus changed. Ivins became concerned about threats to our cherished freedoms–among them the Patriot Act and the weakening of habeas corpus–and she observed with anger how dissent in the defense of liberties was being characterized as treason by the Bush administration and its enablers. From illegal wiretaps, the unlawful imprisonment of American citizens, and the undermining of freedom of the press to the creeping influence of religious extremism on our national agenda and the erosion of the checks and balances that prevent a president from seizing unitary powers, Ivins and her longtime collaborator, Lou Dubose, co-author of Shrub and Bushwacked, describe the attack on America's vital constitutional guarantees. With devastating humor and keen eyes for deceit and hypocrisy, they show how severe these incursions have become, and they ask us all to take an active role in protecting the Bill of Rights. In life and on the printed page, Molly Ivins was too cool to offer a posthumous valedictory (or even to take a victory lap for her many triumphs over inane, vainglorious, and addlepated politicos). But in Bill of Wrongs, her final and perhaps greatest book, the irrepressible Molly Ivins really does have the last word.

Lou Dubose, Molly Ivins (Author), Liz Smith (Narrator)

Audiobook

Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army

On September 16, 2007, machine gun fire erupted in Baghdad's Nisour Square, leaving seventeen Iraqi civilians dead, among them women and children. The shooting spree, labeled "Baghdad's Bloody Sunday," was neither the work of Iraqi insurgents nor US soldiers. The shooters were private forces working for a mercenary company: Blackwater USA, the world's most secretive, powerful, and fastest growing private army. A largely untold facet of the war on terror is the widespread outsourcing of military tasks to these mercenary companies. Accountable neither to the citizenry nor to standard military legal codes, these largely unregulated corporate armies are being entrusted with ever-greater responsibilities on behalf of the nation. Founded by fundamentalist Christian megamillionaire Erik Prince, the scion of a conservative dynasty that bankrolls extreme right-wing causes, this particular company of soldiers is now being sent "to the front lines of a global battle, waged largely on Muslim lands, that an evangelical President whom Prince helped put in the White House has boldly defined as a 'crusade.'" Ranging their roots in Moyock, North Carolina, to the bloodied streets of Iraq, to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, to the chambers of power in Washington, DC-where they are hailed as heroes-this is the dark story of Blackwater's rise to power.

Jeremy Scahill (Author), Tom Weiner (Narrator)

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In Defense of Our America: The Fight for Civil Liberties in the Age of Terror

From Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU, and award-winning journalist Dina Temple-Raston, In Defense of Our America takes a critical look at civil liberties in this country at a time when constitutional freedoms are in peril. Using the stories of real Americans on the frontlines of the fight for civil liberties, In Defense of Our America provides a look at the dangerous erosion of the Bill of Rights in the age of terror. Against the backdrop of post-9/11 America, readers are taken behind the scenes of some of the most important civil liberties cases in America. From the story of the "American Taliban" to the battle against the National Security Agency's warrantless spying program, In Defense of Our America tracks a roster of skirmishes in the larger fight for civil liberties in this country. It tracks an effort in Pennsylvania to force religion into the public school science curriculum and tells the story of South Dakota's attempts to place an outright ban on abortions in the state. In a narrative that allows the characters to tell the story, In Defense of Our America offers the first inside look at the Lindh family as they saw their son and brother, John Walker Lindh, emerge as a symbol of America's battle against Islamic fundamentalism. It follows Joshua Dratel, a defense attorney at the center of many legal battles over the rights of individuals suspected of terrorism, and tells the story of a modern-day Scopes trial in Dover, Pennsylvania. The book tracks the case of Matthew Limon, a gay teenager sentenced to seventeen years for having consensual oral sex with a younger teenage boy in Kansas, and looks behind the reports of a broken judicial system in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. In Defense of Our America chronicles the stories of an array of colorful characters to illustrate the state of play in today's fight for civil liberties, including Cecelia Fire Thunder, the Sioux president who wanted to open an abortion clinic on her South Dakota reservation, and high school science teacher Bertha Spahr, who defied a school board dominated by fundamentalist Christians by taking a stand against "intelligent design." With unparalleled access to key players in some of the landmark tests of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, In Defense of Our America weaves together a compelling narrative that provides an unusually full look at the fight for civil liberties as Americans struggle to protect their rights and ensure their security.

Anthony D. Romero, Dina Temple-Raston (Author), Michael Prichard (Narrator)

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Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season

April 15, 1947, marked the most important opening day in baseball history. When Jackie Robinson stepped onto the diamond that afternoon at Ebbets Field, he became the first black man to break into major-league baseball in the twentieth century. World War II had just ended. Democracy had triumphed. Now Americans were beginning to press for justice on the home front'and Robinson had a chance to lead the way. He was an unlikely hero. He had little experience in organized baseball. His swing was far from graceful. And he was assigned to play first base, a position he had never tried before that season. But the biggest concern was his temper. Robinson was an angry man who played an aggressive style of ball. In order to succeed he would have to control himself in the face of what promised to be a brutal assault by opponents of integration. In Opening Day, Jonathan Eig tells the true story behind the national pastime's most sacred myth. Along the way he offers new insights into events of sixty years ago and punctures some familiar legends. Was it true that the St. Louis Cardinals plotted to boycott their first home game against the Brooklyn Dodgers? Was Pee Wee Reese really Robinson's closest ally on the team? Was Dixie Walker his greatest foe? How did Robinson handle the extraordinary stress of being the only black man in baseball and still manage to perform so well on the field? Opening Day is also the story of a team of underdogs that came together against tremendous odds to capture the pennant. Facing the powerful New York Yankees, Robinson and the Dodgers battled to the seventh game in one of the most thrilling World Series competitions of all time. Drawing on interviews with surviving players, sportswriters, and eyewitnesses, as well as newly discovered material from archives around the country, Jonathan Eig presents a fresh portrait of a ferocious competitor who embodied integration's promise and helped launch the modern civil rights era. Full of new details and thrilling action, Opening Day brings to life baseball's ultimate story.

Jonathan Eig (Author), Richard Allen (Narrator)

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The Edge of Disaster: Rebuilding a Resilient Nation

Americans have been shocked in the past few years to discover how vulnerable our nation is to disaster, be it terrorist attack or act of God. But what's truly shocking, argues leading security expert Stephen Flynn, is how little we have learned from the cataclysms of September 11 and Hurricane Katrina. When it comes to catastrophe, America is living on borrowed time-and squandering it. In this eye-opening, vitally important new book, Flynn issues an overdue wake-up call demanding that we shake off our denial and sense of helplessness and start preparing immediately for a safer future.

Stephen Flynn (Author), Dick Hill (Narrator)

Audiobook

Brother One Cell

Cullen Thomas had a typical suburban upbringing. He was raised on Long Island, and after graduating from college he was looking for meaning and excitement. Possessed of a youthful, romantic view of the world, he left New York at age twenty-three and set off for a job teaching English in Seoul, South Korea. As foreigners on the fringe of Korean society, Cullen and his friends felt intensely separate, then untouchable. That delusion was quickly shattered. Cullen would spend four years in the country: seven months teaching, then three and a half years in jail for smuggling hashish. BROTHER ONE CELL is his memoir of that time-the harrowing and powerful story of a young American learning hard lessons in strange prisons on the other side of the world. One of few foreign inmates, Cullen shared a cell block with human traffickers, jewel smugglers, murderers, and thieves. Humbled by the ordeal, he describes his fight to restore his identity and to come to terms with the harsh living conditions and the rules of Korea's strict Confucian culture, which were magnified in prison. In this crucible Cullen shed the naÃ¯veté and ego of youth and to his surprise achieved a lasting sense of freedom and gratitude. With its gritty descriptions of life behind high walls and acute insights into Korean society, BROTHER ONE CELL is part cautionary tale and part insightful travelogue about places few of us will ever see.

Cullen Thomas (Author), Dan Woren (Narrator)

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The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11

Dinesh D'Souza, the most original and controversial writer on politics and society in the country today, uncovers the links between the spread of American pop culture, leftist ideas, and secular values and the rise of anti-Americanism throughout the world.In "The Enemy at Home," bestselling author Dinesh D'Souza makes the startling claim that the 9/11 attacks and other terrorist acts around the world can be directly traced to the ideas and attitudes perpetrated by America's cultural left.

Dinesh D'Souza (Author), Michael Kramer (Narrator)

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Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age

Highly esteemed history professor, author and editor, Kevin Boyle was presented with the National Book Award for this stunning literary achievement. Arc of Justice artfully captures a tumultuous period in American history as it tells a shocking story of violence and racial strife. The grandson of a slave, Dr. Ossian Sweet moved his family to an all-white Detroit neighborhood in 1925. When his neighbors attempted to drive him out, Sweet defended himself-resulting in the death of a white man and a murder trial for Sweet. There followed one of the most important (and shockingly unknown) cases in Civil Rights history. Also caught up in the intense courtroom drama were legal giant Clarence Darrow and the newly formed National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Boyle's captivating book is nonfiction at its most engaging. With its eye-opening insight into Jazz Age race relations, this important work is indispensable reading for all Americans. "... an amazing and unforgettable story of prejudice and justice at the dawn of America's racial awakening."-David Maraniss, best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize winner

Kevin Boyle (Author), Lizan Mitchell (Narrator)

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Class 11: Inside the CIAs First Post-9/11 Spy Class

Offering a gripping insider's look at the first post-9/11 CIA training class--the most elite and secretive espionage training program in the country--this work provides a fascinating portrait of an extraordinary group of Americans with the courage and resolve to make a difference in the war on terror.

T. J. Waters (Author), Patrick Lawlor (Narrator)

Audiobook

50+: Igniting a Revolution to Reinvent America

Bill Novelli doesn't believe that retirement has to mean rocking one's way into the sunset. As the head of the strongest organization of retired people in the world, the AARP, Novelli believes that retirement can be a time of action and influence rather than one of illness and decline. In this inspiring book, Bill Novelli will speak to the growing number of Americans age 50 and older about what they can do to shape the national debate about aging and influence government policy towards retirees. For a long time, many of the government forces in Washington have hoped to divide the nation along various lines and one of those dividing lines is age. Against this "divide and conquer" mentality, Novelli will argue that the common, shared experience of aging will serve not to divide the US, but to unite it. And the united tide of change is potentially enormous: When the Baby Boomer generation ages to the 50- year mark, they will create the largest group of retirees in the history of the country, solidifying a powerful constituency for major change in ways beneficial to the entire nation. Novelli believes that this group is capable of just about anything. 50+ is a rallying cry for an aging America by a man who knows how to get the job done.

Bill Novelli, Boe Workman (Author), Eric Conger (Narrator)

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

What does it mean to be a leader? In the history of leadership in America, no one has galvanized a time, place, and people more forcefully than Martin Luther King, Jr. A man who articulated a vision, crafted a strategy, and took defeats and turned them into victory, Dr. King and his life's work offer us powerful lessons that can apply to life, business, and any endeavor. Part history and part inspiration, Martin Luther King, Jr. On Leadership blends an exciting story with sharp analysis.

Donald T. Phillips (Author), Donald T. Phillips (Narrator)

Audiobook

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