Joseph Cousins
- 18
- reviews
- 17
- helpful votes
- 143
- ratings
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The Righteous Mind
- Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
- By: Jonathan Haidt
- Narrated by: Jonathan Haidt
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 12,751
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11,029
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10,889
In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding. His starting point is moral intuition - the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions feel like self-evident truths, making us righteously certain that those who see things differently are wrong. Haidt shows us how these intuitions differ across cultures, including the cultures of the political left and right.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Why Good People Are Divided - Good for whom?
- By K. Cunningham on 09-21-12
- The Righteous Mind
- Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
- By: Jonathan Haidt
- Narrated by: Jonathan Haidt
Biased
Reviewed: 07-25-24
Some interesting, and depressing, background on human morality, such as a higher concern for reputation than honesty. However, Haidt can’t seem to separate his political bias from this work, eg his characterizations of those not holding his own political beliefs.
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Apostle
- Travels Among the Tombs of the Twelve
- By: Tom Bissell
- Narrated by: Tom Bissell
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 113
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 105
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Story4 out of 5 stars 104
A profound and moving journey into the heart of Christianity that explores the mysterious and often paradoxical lives and legacies of the Twelve Apostles—a book both for those of the faith and for others who seek to understand Christianity from the outside in.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Not What It Appears To Be
- By M. hooper on 09-18-18
- Apostle
- Travels Among the Tombs of the Twelve
- By: Tom Bissell
- Narrated by: Tom Bissell
Excellent summary of early Christian history
Reviewed: 10-07-23
I found this an excellent summary of what is known and not known about early Christian history, especially related to the apostles (or disciples?). Bissell and I have read many of the same books, but he has clearly done so more carefully and thoroughly then I have. He provides a lot of information and analysis, but then steps beyond to include anecdotes about his personal travels to the various tombs of the apostles. This detour away from a scholarly evaluation made the book more interesting and readable from my perspective. Note; he is an atheist so some Christians might be slightly offended at some of his characterizations. For me, it was an excellent book, with exactly the kind of analysis I was looking for.
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2 people found this helpful
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The Cave and the Light
- Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization
- By: Arthur Herman
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 25 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 538
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 470
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 469
The Cave and the Light reveals how two Greek philosophers became the twin fountainheads of Western culture, and how their rivalry gave Western civilization its unique dynamism down to the present.
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1 out of 5 stars
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All of Western Philosphy Leads to Ayn Rand?!?
- By Leslie on 06-22-15
- The Cave and the Light
- Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization
- By: Arthur Herman
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
Great high-level review of the history of ideas
Reviewed: 08-02-23
I love this book and it’s high-level summary of ideas since pre-Socratic Greece. The only annoying part: the chapters are numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. when clearly they had titles as the narrator read them. Not sure why companies are so lazy that they can’t bother to make those titles the ones in the audible file it would make searching and review much easier.
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2 people found this helpful
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Plato's Meno
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: Ray Childs
- Length: 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 109
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 93
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 94
A dialogue between Socrates and Meno probes the subject of ethics. Can goodness be taught? If it can, then we should be able to find teachers capable of instructing others about what is good and bad, right and wrong, or just and unjust.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Why Incomplete?
- By Nelson Alexander on 08-27-16
- Plato's Meno
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: Ray Childs
Not Complete
Reviewed: 06-03-23
This dialogue is NOT complete. It stops when Anytus enters the ONGOING conversation. Very frustrating.
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Our Oriental Heritage
- The Story of Civilization, Volume 1
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 50 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,333
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,188
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,180
The first volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful
- By Michael on 11-30-13
- Our Oriental Heritage
- The Story of Civilization, Volume 1
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Robin Field
First of 11 Exceptional History Books
Reviewed: 08-12-22
Excellent start to the Story of Civilization series. The Durants provide an “integrated” history, which looks across several avenues: political, warfare, culture (art, literature, poetry), language, technology, etc. In this volume, his objective review of the Bible is my favorite. Narrator is so-so, not the same one as the other volumes.
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1 person found this helpful
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Elvis Presley
- The Man, the Life, the Legend
- By: Pamela Clarke Keogh
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 433
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 379
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 376
It was that voice, those eyes, that hair, the cars, the girls. Elvis Presley revolutionized American pop culture when, at age 21, he became a modern superstar. A Memphis Beau Brummel even before he found fame, Elvis had a personal style that, like his music, had an immediate impact on his audience that continues to influence us today.
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3 out of 5 stars
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An odd take on a complex man
- By Jane on 09-05-06
- Elvis Presley
- The Man, the Life, the Legend
- By: Pamela Clarke Keogh
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
Terrible
Reviewed: 06-25-22
Instead of doing actual research and providing facts about the guy’s life, she just kept saying how good-looking he was. Not much insight here.
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Infinite Jest
- By: David Foster Wallace
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 56 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,735
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,273
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Story4 out of 5 stars 3,279
A gargantuan, mind-altering comedy about the Pursuit of Happiness in America set in an addicts' halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwed-up family to come along in recent fiction, Infinite Jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives; about how our desire for entertainment affects our need to connect with other people; and about what the pleasures we choose say about who we are.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Removing Endnotes Does NOT Equal Unabridged!
- By Darwin8u on 04-11-12
- Infinite Jest
- By: David Foster Wallace
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
Unique Book Exceptionally Read
Reviewed: 02-16-22
The funniest book I’ve ever read, but also quite sad. Foster creatively expands the lexicon, turning nouns into verbs, verbs into adjectives, adjectives into nouns, etc., and in a way that is very natural. Plus the narration! Sean Pratt’s inflections, accents, tone, pace, etc. gave the characters life. I find myself re-listening to various chapters, the one about the garage door and Marlon Brando several times: (“Jim not that way Jim. That’s no way to treat a garage door….”) OMG! Warning: this book is a commitment and complicated in its breadth, and many are disappointed by the ending, including me at first. But no ending would be satisfying for such a book. Don’t leave this earth without listening to THIS version of Infinite Jest.
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Bismarck
- The Story of a Fighter
- By: Emil Ludwig, Eden Paul, Cedar Paul
- Narrated by: Ken Maxon
- Length: 25 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3 out of 5 stars 43
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Performance2.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 38
Otto von Bismarck was more than a politician and a leader: He was the single driving force that turned the disparate states of Germany into one cohesive empire. He then went on to lead Germany and the rest of Europe into an age of political peace that lasted from 1871 until the outbreak of World War I. Under his influence, Germany thrived. Bismarck’s use of statesmanship to fight for the interests of his country was legendary. As one of the most influential and powerful individuals in his country’s history, Bismarck became a symbol of leadership and pride for German nationalists.
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1 out of 5 stars
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How badly the narration fits non-fiction
- By Viviane on 04-19-13
- Bismarck
- The Story of a Fighter
- By: Emil Ludwig, Eden Paul, Cedar Paul
- Narrated by: Ken Maxon
Weak epilogue
Reviewed: 02-16-22
I learned about German unificaron, but it didn’t really have an epilogue summarizing the events that followed in Europe.
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2 people found this helpful
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Ancient Rome
- The Rise and Fall of An Empire
- By: Simon Baker
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 271
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 233
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 233
This is the story of the greatest empire the world has ever known. Simon Baker charts the rise and fall of the world's first superpower, focusing on six momentous turning points that shaped Roman history. Welcome to Rome as you've never seen it before - awesome and splendid, gritty and squalid. From the conquest of the Mediterranean beginning in the third century BC to the destruction of the Roman Empire at the hands of barbarian invaders some seven centuries later, we discover the most critical episodes in Roman history.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Clear and dramatic
- By Tad Davis on 08-01-17
- Ancient Rome
- The Rise and Fall of An Empire
- By: Simon Baker
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
Very well done
Reviewed: 09-28-21
Good high level review of the major events in the forming and ending of the empire. However, The author skips many emperors so this is not comprehensive. Perfect for me and many who want to understand Rome.
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Victoria: The Queen
- An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire
- By: Julia Baird
- Narrated by: Lucy Rayner
- Length: 21 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 715
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 628
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 624
Fifth in line to the throne at the time of her birth, Victoria was an ordinary woman thrust into an extraordinary role. As a girl, she defied her mother's meddling and an adviser's bullying, forging an iron will of her own. As a teenage queen, she eagerly grasped the crown and relished the freedom it brought her. She was outspoken with her ministers, overstepping conventional boundaries and asserting her opinions.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Engaging and Informative
- By K.D. Keenan on 12-06-16
- Victoria: The Queen
- An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire
- By: Julia Baird
- Narrated by: Lucy Rayner
Good, would have liked more historical background
Reviewed: 09-06-21
I learned a lot but would have liked more background around the empire. Eg More details on England’s takeover of India and the millions of deaths there.
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