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 Anne Irfan; foreword by Muhammad Shehada; read by Nadia Albina
NEW! Now Available
From a leading scholar of Palestine-Israel, a brief, essential history of the besieged strip of land, revealing the long-term roots of Israel's destruction of Gaza. Learn More
The police are constantly under scrutiny. They are criticized for failings, praised for successes, and hailed as heroes for their sacrifices. Starting from the premise that every society has norms and ways of dealing with transgressors, A Short History of Police and Policing traces the evolution of the multiple forms of "policing" that existed in the past. Learn More
by Wheeler Winston Dixon and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster; read by David Bendena
F O R T H C O M I N G ! Available September
This updated and expanded edition of A Short History of Film provides an accessible overview of the major movements, directors, studios, and genres from the 1880s to the present. Succinct yet comprehensive, this edition provides new information on contemporary horror, comic book, and franchise films; issues surrounding women and minority filmmakers; the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on movies worldwide; the shift from film to digital production; the rising use of artificial intelligence in cinema; and the impact of streaming on the industry. Learn More
More than a history of renewable energy policy in modern America, Short Circuiting Policy offers a bold new argument about how the policy process works, and why seeming victories can turn into losses when the opposition has enough resources to roll back laws. Learn More
Being human entails an astonishingly complex interplay of biology and culture, and while there are important differences between women and men, there is a lot more variation and overlap than we may realize. Sex Is a Spectrum offers a bold new paradigm for understanding the biology of sex, drawing on the latest science to explain why the binary view of the sexes is fundamentally flawed—and why having XX or XY chromosomes isn't as conclusive as some would have us believe. Learn More
A monumental work of scholarship, Sex and the Constitution illuminates how the clash between sex and religion has defined our nation's history. Learn More
A brilliantly conceived and provocative work from an award-winning historian that examines how seven twentieth-century social movements transformed America. Learn More
The most reviewed, discussed, and recommended German language debut of the last decade, Seven Nights has earned Simon Strauss praise as "one of the greatest talents of his generation" by the Tagesspiegel newspaper. Learn More
The Serial Killer Next Door looks at the horrifying stories of nearly thirty malevolent killers who were mistakenly trusted, including Genene Jones, Robert Lee Yates, Gary Ridgway, Kathleen Folbigg, and Joseph James DeAngelo. Learn More
Since protestors ripped through the Capitol Building in 2021, the threat of constitutional crisis has loomed over our nation. The foundational tenets of American democracy seem to be endangered, and many citizens believe this danger is unprecedented in our history. But Americans have weathered many constitutional crises, often accompanied by the same violence and chaos experienced on January 6. However, these crises occurred on the state level. In Sedition, Marcus Alexander Gadson uncovers these episodes of civil unrest and examines how state governments handled them. Learn More
by Elaine Howard Ecklund, David R. Johnson, Brandon Vaidyanathan, Kristin R.W. Matthews, Steven W. Lewis, Robert A. Thomson, Jr., & Di Di; read by Paul Boehmer
Secularity and Science leaves inaccurate assumptions about science and religion behind, offering a new, more nuanced understanding of how science and religion interact and how they can be integrated for the common good. Learn More
In the popular imagination, lethal injection is a slight pinch and a swift nodding off to forever-sleep. It is performed by well-qualified medical professionals. It is regulated and carefully conducted. And it usually provides a "humane" death. In reality, however, not one of those things is true. Secrets of the Killing State pulls back the curtain on this clandestine punishment practice, presenting a view of lethal injection that states have worked hard to hide. 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
In The Secrets of Silence, Shannon Malone Gonzalez examines the pervasive and often invisible forms of everyday policing that render black women's stories missing from official data, headlines, and community conversations. Learn More
