Political Ideologies Audiobooks | Politics

National Ballot Measures 2024

National Ballot Measures 2024 - Living Democracy is my gift to the country that I love dearly and have always wanted to see it survive, thrive and improve. Whenever I am forced to listen to a speech made by any of our Congressmen or women, I will often count the number of times they will refer to America as a 'Democracy'. They use that word an average of 15 to 20 times per speech. They'll say things like - 'Democracy is not pretty.' Or they'll say, 'Democracy is messy and people don't want to see how the sausage is made.' Or they will say that people are trying to 'end the 'American experiment in Democracy.' Or they'll quote one of the greatest of the founding fathers - Benjamin Franklin who was asked as the signers of of the Constitution were leaving: 'Mr. Franklin, what kind of government have you given us?' And Franklin replied: 'A Republic, Madam, if you can keep it.' Today, it looks as though we are going to lose our half-ass democracy because the voters in this country are sick and tired for voting for the same old same old time after time. It's every Tweedle-Dee or Tweedle-Dumb, while in the states we are allowed to lower our taxes and legalize marijuana. The people are wondering why we don't do this on the National Elections. The reason we don't is covered in this book as well as complete instructions on how we can start using National Ballot Measures in every federal election and create our own national laws and policies. We also include 100 of my favorite National ballot measures. We hope you will think of many more and help to force our election process into a Real Democracy soon. In the age of technology, the Internet and Artificial Intelligence it's a curiosity that we are not using our own innate intelligence to upgrade our ancient, worn out old voting systems. If you still believe in keeping your freedom, if you still believe in democracy, if you still believe in America - you need to read this book.

Michael Mathiesen (Author), Michael Mathiesen (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Fabulist: The Lying, Hustling, Grifting, Stealing, and Very American Legend of George Santos

"An ideal stocking stuffer for political junkies and voyeurs. This is a book Santos never wanted published. Truly." —The Guardian From the dogged Long Island reporter who has been on his trail since 2019, the bizarre, page-turning, and frankly hysterical story of America's most outrageous grifter—former US Representative George Santos. America has grown used to larger-than-life politicians: Teflon Don, AOC, MTG, Dark Brandon, and all the rest have injected DC politics with an unmistakable edge of celebrity flair and tabloid intrigue. Yet in 2022, a new player on the national scene outshone them all. George Anthony Devolder Santos, and his revolving door of pseudonyms, shed glaring new light on how far we'd all let our politics slide as his claimed resume was shred to bits in the wake of a longshot run to office from New York's 3rd Congressional District. From Wall Street gigs to an amateur volleyball career, from embellished claims of Jewish heritage to a fabricated 9/11 story involving his mother's death, Santos's legend continued to grow as his web of lies evaporated in real time. And the only thing wilder than this charlatan embedding himself in the warm, consequence-evading arms of our nation's capital was the Queens con artist's refusal to bow his head in shame. Newsday alum and PEN/Hemingway honoree Mark Chiusano tells the full (well, as full as can be given the subject) story of Santos here for the first time. From humble years spent in Brazil, to glamorous nights on the west side of Manhattan, to the stunning small-time scams employed to ease his slippery climb up the American society ladder, The Fabulist tells a story you'll have to read for yourself to believe…and even then, it's George Santos, so who's to say for sure. Combining the very best of boots-on-the-ground journalism, dishy backroom dealings, and glittery details about Gold Coast mansions and bodice-baring drag shows that'd feel just as at home in your next summer beach read, The Fabulist is truly stranger than fiction.

Mark Chiusano (Author), André Santana (Narrator)

Audiobook

Living Democracy: An ecological manifesto for the end of the world as we know it

The way we glow when having a great conversation, building off each other’s ideas, finding solutions we can all be satisfied with. The way we spark together when marching in protest. This is living democracy. Yes, the world looks bleak. Across our society there’s a mounting sense of desperation in the face of the climate crisis, gaping economic inequality and racial injustice, increasing threat of war, and a post-truth politics divorced from reality. Extinction is in the air. But what if the solutions to our ecological, social and political crises could all be found in the same approach? What if it was possible for us to not just survive, but thrive? In Living Democracy, Tim Hollo offers bold ideas and a positive vision. It’s the end of the world as we know it, but it doesn’t have to be the end of the world. In fact, around the globe, people and communities are beginning an exciting new journey. This book will inspire you, inform you, and get you fired up to co-create our common future. A living democracy. 'A brilliant conversation and action kick-starter from a man who walks the talk.'– Christine Milne 'It’s pretty clear that the world we’ve known isn't working very well anymore; we need to reinvent it, and this book brims with good ideas about what that means!' – Bill McKibben 'A great vision for a bloodless coup of mutual aid and rule-governed anarchy.' – Tyson Yunkaporta 'I have been waiting for this book, and now that Tim Hollo has written it, I’ll be putting it in the hands of pretty much everyone I know.' – Danielle Celermajer 'Timely, vivid and urgent, this is a book that meets the challenges of our age head-on.' – Scott Ludlam **Music: 'Now To The Future', (c) FourPlay String Quartet, Lara Goodridge, Shenton Gregory, Peter Hollo, Tim Hollo

Tim Hollo (Author), Tim Hollo (Narrator)

Audiobook

American Fascism: How the GOP is Subverting Democracy

Trump is running for President again and American democracy is on the ropes and teetering on the brink of authoritarianism controlled by theocrats and oligarchs. With its cherished institutions hobbled, political norms trampled, guardrails severely damaged, and body politic divided by chasms of race and geography, can the U.S. survive another Trump administration dedicated to establishing de facto single party rule? In this compelling, comprehensive analysis, Brynn Tannehill draws on her expertise in studying the collapse of weak democracies around the globe and her previous research in law, political science, economics and right-wing populism to explain the trajectory of how we got here and the current threats we face. Most importantly, she analyzes what the characteristics of fascism are, if they are applicable to the base of the GOP today, and what that means for us should Trump succeed in establishing permanent minoritarian rule. American Fascism is a surgical analysis of 250 years of struggle for democracy in America and a prescient prognosis of what’s to come if we do not heed Tannehill’s warnings and advice.

Brynn Tannehill (Author), Alanna Blair (Narrator)

Audiobook

Renegade: Defending Democracy and Liberty in Our Divided Country

Adam Kinzinger captures one of the most transformative periods in recent political history in a riveting, personal account from inside Congress, including the January 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol and his vote to impeach Donald Trump. On January 6, 2021, Donald Trump incited a violent mob to storm the US Capitol in attempts to overturn the presidential election. It was a betrayal of our Constitution, and one of the darkest days in recent history. Yet to former congressman Adam Kinzinger it was also the culmination of a cultural and political rupture he'd long seen coming. Constructive criticism from within the Republican Party was no longer enough. It was time to stand up, even if it meant betraying his own party. In Renegade, Kinzinger tells his story of faith, service, and political duty in a democracy under siege. From the small Illinois county board where he got his start, to his years in the Air Force flying tanker missions over Iraq, to his final tumultuous term in Congress as one of the few Republican members to vote to impeach Trump and join the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Kinzinger takes readers inside the most critical moments and pivotal decisions of the last years. The result is both a searing examination of the rise of extremism and the GOP's subsequent descent into a dysfunctional and destructive force, and a rousing call to return to unity. Raw, provocative, and clear-eyed, Renegade captures one of the most transformative periods in recent American history.

Adam Kinzinger, Michael D'antonio (Author), Adam Kinzinger, Maria Shriver (Narrator)

Audiobook

Unlocking Your Inner Zelensky: Lessons We Can All Learn from an Unexpected Leader

This program includes a bonus conversation between the author and editor. Volodymyr Zelensky captivated the world when his country was invaded by Russia in February 2022. His appearances were accompanied by countless inspiring statements. But there's a single one that informs Unlocking Your Inner Zelensky: 'We are all simple people.' Jessie Kanzer sees Zelensky as a Spiritual Leader for Our Times. As a native Russian speaker (like Zelensky himself), she picks up on the deep philosophical ramifications behind his words. Rich and yet easily understood, the life lessons in Unlocking Your Inner Zelensky are accessible and wise, and are more about starting where you are than about war. Kanzer herself has a bit part in Zelensky's life story, acting in one of his movies filmed in the States. She's a self-described 'spiritual nerd' who followed Zelensky long before he stood before a blue and yellow backdrop on the national stage. She writes, 'What is so incredible about our man Volodymyr is that his belief in himself stems not from seeing himself as special, but from seeing himself as ordinary and from knowing there is great power in this ordinariness.' A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press Essentials.

Jessie Asya Kanzer (Author), Natalia Payne (Narrator)

Audiobook

Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism

Rachel Maddow traces the fight to preserve American democracy back to World War II, when a handful of committed public servants and brave private citizens thwarted far-right plotters trying to steer our nation toward an alliance with the Nazis. Inspired by her research for the hit podcast Ultra, Rachel Maddow charts the rise of a wild American strain of authoritarianism that has been alive on the far-right edge of our politics for the better part of a century. Before and even after our troops had begun fighting abroad in World War II, a clandestine network flooded the country with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of the U.S. war effort and persuading Americans that our natural alliance was with the Axis, not against it. It was a sophisticated and shockingly well-funded campaign to undermine democratic institutions, promote antisemitism, and destroy citizens' confidence in their elected leaders, with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the U.S. government and installing authoritarian rule. That effort worked-tongue and groove-alongside an ultra-right paramilitary movement that stockpiled bombs and weapons and trained for mass murder and violent insurrection. At the same time, a handful of extraordinary activists and journalists were tracking the scheme, exposing it even as it was unfolding. In 1941 the U.S. Department of Justice finally made a frontal attack, identifying the key plotters, finding their backers, and prosecuting dozens in federal court. None of it went as planned. While the scheme has been remembered in history-if at all-as the work of fringe players, in reality it involved a large number of some of the country's most influential elected officials. Their interference in law enforcement efforts against the plot is a dark story of the rule of law bending and then breaking under the weight of political intimidation. That failure of the legal system had consequences. The tentacles of that unslain beast have reached forward into our history for decades. But the heroic efforts of the activists, journalists, prosecutors, and regular citizens who sought to expose the insurrectionists also make for a deeply resonant, deeply relevant tale in our own disquieting times.

Rachel Maddow (Author), Rachel Maddow (Narrator)

Audiobook

Germany, 1923: Hyperinflation, Hitler's Pusch and Democracy in Crisis

From a New York Times bestselling historian comes a gripping account of the crisis that threatened to unravel the Weimar Republic. The great Austrian writer Stefan Zweig confided in his autobiography: “I have a pretty thorough knowledge of history, but never, to my recollection, has it produced such madness in such gigantic proportions.” He was referring to Germany in 1923, a “year of lunacy,” defined by hyperinflation, violence, a political system on the verge of collapse, the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, and separatist movements threatening to rip apart the German nation. Most observers found it miraculous that the Weimar Republic-the first German democracy-was able to survive, though some of the more astute realized that the feral undercurrents unleashed that year could lead to much worse. Now, a century later, bestselling author Volker Ullrich draws on letters, memoirs, newspaper articles, and other sources to present a riveting chronicle of one of the most difficult years any modern democracy has ever faced-one with haunting parallels to our own political moment.

Volker Ullrich (Author), Christopher Douyard (Narrator)

Audiobook

Means and Ends: The Revolutionary Practice of Anarchism in Europe and the United States

An expansive and accessible account of anarchism as a theory of practice. Means and Ends is a new overview of the revolutionary strategy of anarchism in Europe and the United States between 1868 and 1939. Zoe Baker clearly and accessibly explains the ideas that historical anarchists developed in order to change the world. This includes their views on direct action, revolution, organization, state socialism, reforms, and trade unions. Throughout, she demonstrates that the reasons anarchists gave for supporting or opposing particular strategies were grounded in a theoretical framework-a theory of practice-which maintained that, as people engage in activity, they simultaneously change the world and themselves. This theoretical framework was the foundation for the anarchist commitment to the unity of means and ends: the means that revolutionaries propose to achieve social change have to involve forms of activity which transform people into individuals who are capable of, and driven to, both overthrow capitalism and the state and build a free society. The consistent heart of anarchism was the idea that anarchist ends can only be achieved through anarchist means. Cutting through misconceptions and historical inaccuracies, Baker draws upon a vast assortment of examples to show how this simple premise underpinned anarchist attempts to put theory into action.

Zoe Baker (Author), Keith Szarabajka (Narrator)

Audiobook

Z Generation: Into the Heart of Russia's Fascist Youth

How did Vladimir Putin galvanize the Russian people to back his genocidal war in Ukraine, and why are so many of them willing to embrace fascism? This vivid, on-the-ground narrative reveals how Russia's fascist generation came into being-and the dark future that awaits the country if that hold cannot be broken. Wartime Russia is drowning in fascist symbols. Zealous patriots attack journalists, opposition activists, and anyone suspected of betraying the motherland. Russians are urged to join the cause by hordes of online trolls and sleek videos of angry young men bellowing patriotic slogans. State television terrifies viewers with trumped up tales of anti-Russian conspiracies and genocidal yearnings. Child soldiers proudly parade across Red Square. This is Russia in the 2020s: a land of performative rage and nationalist untruth, where play-acting, pretense, and broken promises are a way of life. But in a world where pretense has become the norm, a terrifying, apocalyptic mindset is seizing the Russians of tomorrow. As enrapturing as it is terrifying, Z Generation reveals how Russia ended up where it is today, and where its young people are headed: a fascist generation more zealous, violent, and ideological than anything the country has seen before.

Ian Garner (Author), Daniel Henning (Narrator)

Audiobook

Mussolini in Myth and Memory: The First Totalitarian Dictator

Mussolini has rarely been taken seriously as a totalitarian dictator; Hitler and Stalin have always cast too long a shadow. But what was a negative judgement on the Duce, considered innocuous and ineffective, has begun to work to his advantage. As has occurred with many other European dictators, present-day popular memory of Mussolini is increasingly indulgent; in Italy and elsewhere he is remembered as a strong, decisive leader. Mussolini in Myth and Memory argues against this rehabilitation, documenting the inefficiencies, corruption, and violence of a highly repressive regime and exploding the myths of fascist good government. But this short study does not limit itself to setting the record straight; it seeks also to answer the question of why there is nostalgia for dictatorial rule. Linking past history and present memory, Corner's analysis constructs a picture of the realities of the Italian regime and examines the more general problem of why, in a moment of evident crisis of western democracy, people look for strong leadership and take refuge in the memory of past dictatorships. If, in this book, Fascism is placed in its totalitarian context and Mussolini emerges firmly in the company of his fellow dictators, the study also shows how a memory of the past, formed through reliance on illusion and myth, can affect the politics of the present.

Paul Corner (Author), Liam Gerrard (Narrator)

Audiobook

Democracy In Darkness: Secrecy and Transparency in the Age of Revolutions

How debates over secrecy and transparency in politics during the eighteenth century shaped modern democracy Does democracy die in darkness, as the saying suggests? This book reveals that modern democracy was born in secrecy, despite the widespread conviction that transparency was its very essence. In the years preceding the American and French revolutions, state secrecy came to be seen as despotic-an instrument of monarchy. But as revolutionaries sought to fashion representative government, they faced a dilemma. In a context where gaining public trust seemed to demand transparency, was secrecy ever legitimate? Whether in Philadelphia or Paris, establishing popular sovereignty required navigating between an ideological imperative to eradicate secrets from the state and a practical need to limit transparency in government. The fight over this-dividing revolutionaries and vexing founders-would determine the nature of the world's first representative democracies. Unveiling modern democracy's surprisingly shadowy origins, Carter reshapes our understanding of how government by and for the people emerged during the Age of Revolutions.

Katlyn Marie Carter (Author), Kate Udall (Narrator)

Audiobook

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