Experience our world: as it was, as it is, as it might become with these audiobooks about history, the arts, culture, education, and politics. Don't miss Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel, or Fresh Air with Terry Gross: Writers, or Gwen Ifill's The Breakthrough.
by Andy Biersack, Ryan J. Downey; read by Andy Biersack
Before he was the charismatic singer of Black Veil Brides and an accomplished solo artist under the Andy Black moniker, he was Andrew Dennis Biersack, an imaginative and creative kid in Cincinnati, Ohio, struggling with anxiety, fear, loneliness, and the impossible task of fitting in. With his trademark charm, clever wit, and insightful analysis, Biersack tells the story of his childhood and adolescence. Learn More
Across cities, towns, and campuses, Americans are grappling with overwhelming challenges and the daily fallout from the most authoritarian White House policies in recent memory. Learn More
by Sonya Bilocerkowycz; read by Sonya Bilocerkowycz
In these linked essays, Sonya Bilocerkowycz invites listeners to meet a swirling cast of post-Soviet characters, including a Russian intelligence officer who finds Osama bin Laden a few weeks after 9/11; a Ukrainian poet whose nose gets broken by Russian separatists; and a long-lost relative who drives a bus into the heart of Chernobyl. On Our Way Home from the Revolution muddles our easy distinctions between innocence and culpability, agency and fate. Learn More
The next page-turner in the Joanna Stafford series takes place in the heart of the Tudor court, as the plucky young former novice risks everything to defy the most powerful men of her era. Learn More
Can octopuses feel pain or pleasure? Can we tell if a person unresponsive after severe injury might be suffering? When does a fetus begin having conscious experiences? These questions about the edge of sentience are subject to enormous uncertainty. This book builds a framework to help us reach ethically sound decisions on how to manage the risks. Learn More
This is Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Kai Bird’s vivid memoir of a childhood spent in the midst of the Arab-Israeli conflict in Jerusalem and Saudia Arabia, and a personal account of three major wars and three decades of political upheavals in the Middle East. Learn More
From the creative force behind the Cockeyed Caravan, the busy online resource for writers, comes a revolutionary and comprehensive writing guide for the 21st Century. Learn More
With exceptional grace and wit, Morris Bishop vividly reconstructs this distinctive era of European history in a work that will inform and delight scholars and general readers alike. Learn More
Why do we fear vaccines? National Book Critics Circle Award winning author Eula Biss offers a provocative examination of a flashpoint issue in our modern age, illuminated by the invaluable context provided by our scientific, mythological and literary past. Learn More
This compelling book presents a new way of thinking about our place in time, enabling us to make decisions on multigenerational timescales. The lifespan of Earth may seem unfathomable compared to the brevity of human existence, but this view of time denies our deep roots in Earth’s history—and the magnitude of our effects on the planet. Learn More
The never-before-told true story of how mobster Charles "Lucky" Luciano—the US Mafia boss who put the "organized" into organized crime—was recruited by US Naval Intelligence to turn the tide of WWII. Learn More
by Jimmy Blackmon; foreword by General David H. Petraeus, US Army (Ret.); read by Shawn Compton
Cowboys Over Iraq tells the amazing story of leadership, innovation, initiative, and a brotherhood that was forged in the crucible of combat during the invasion of Iraq. Learn More
Without Fear tells how, during American history, Black women made human rights theirs: from worldwide travel and public advocacy in the global Black press to their work for the United Nations, they courageously and effectively moved human rights beyond an esoteric concept to an active, organizing principle. Acclaimed historian Keisha N. Blain tells the story of these women―from the well-known, like Ida B. Wells, Madam C. J. Walker, and Lena Horne, to those who are still less known, including Pearl Sherrod, Aretha McKinley, and Marguerite Cartwright. Learn More
Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller; read by Chris Patton
The Secret introduced people around the world to a profound yet seemingly contradictory concept: to lead is to serve. With that as the foundation, Great Leaders Grow takes the next step, showing leaders and aspiring leaders how to keep growing their leadership abilities throughout their lives. Learn More
edited by Andrew Blauner; with Siri Hustvedt, Andre Aciman, Jennifer Finney Boylan, Alex Pheby, and Colm Toibin; read by Perry Daniels and Dina Pearlman
A collection of colorful and candid essays and other pieces about Freud and his legacy today, featuring twenty-five leading writers. Learn More
An illuminating work of environmental history that chronicles the great climate crisis of the 1600s, which transformed the social and political fabric of Europe. Learn More
From Harold Bloom, one of the greatest Shakespeare scholars of our time comes "a timely reminder of the power and possibility of words [and] the last love letter to the shaping spirit of Bloom's imagination" (front page, The New York Times Book Review) and an intimate, wise, deeply compelling portrait of Falstaff—one of Shakespeare's greatest enduring and most complex comedic characters. Learn More