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Hold Fast
- The Unadulterated Story of the World’s Most Scandalous Website
- Narrated by: Trevor Aaronson, Sam Eifling, Michael Mooney
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
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Hold Fast
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Publisher's summary
Hold Fast is the uncompromising story of Backpage.com, the world’s most scandalous website, and the rise and fall of alternative weekly newspapers nationwide.
Over four decades, Michael Lacey and his business partner James Larkin built the largest, most influential company in alternative media—a colossal chain of muckraking newspapers that included The Village Voice, LA Weekly, Phoenix New Times, Dallas Observer, Miami New Times, and others. These alternative newspapers published writers who were fierce investigators, stylish storytellers, and astute cultural critics. These papers also published loads and loads of ads, including page after page of so-called “adult ads”—ambiguously written ads that appeared to offer illegal sexual services, but were nonetheless protected by the First Amendment.
As lucrative classified ads moved to the internet, cutting a hole in the money bag of newspapers everywhere, Lacey and Larkin founded Backpage.com, a classifieds website that would become synonymous with sex ads and scandal. The Justice Department alleges that Lacey and Larkin weren’t just newspapermen. They were, prosecutors say, the biggest pimps in the history of the world.
Reported, written, and hosted by three writers who once worked for Lacey’s newspaper chain—Trevor Aaronson, Sam Eifling, and Michael Mooney—Hold Fast is a romp through the weird history and boundary-pushing culture of alternative newspapers; the controversies surrounding Backpage.com and the government investigations; and fraught frontiers of free speech in America.
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,245
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,242
Thirty years ago, award-winning journalist Jon Ronson stumbled on the mystery of Carol Howe—a charismatic, wealthy former debutante turned white supremacist spokeswoman turned undercover informant. In 1995, Carol was spying on Oklahoma’s neo-Nazis for the government just when Timothy McVeigh blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting but not compelling
- By Gail Jester on 04-15-23
By: Jon Ronson
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This Is Not a Game with Marc Fennell
- By: Marc Fennell
- Narrated by: Marc Fennell
- Length: 3 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 152
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 140
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 140
This Is Not a Game is the extraordinary untold story of the internet’s first conspiracy theory, the legend of Ong’s Hat. Marc Fennell will dive deep into a previously unexplored world of tech hippies, eccentric web subcultures and simmering paranoia, uncovering how this tongue-in-cheek artistic experiment backfired on its creator and went on to influence much of what’s wrong with the internet today.
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5 out of 5 stars
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WOW!
- By pondo on 05-09-24
By: Marc Fennell
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Chasing Boaz Manor
- By: Leah McLaren
- Narrated by: Serinda Swan
- Length: 3 hrs and 56 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 258
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 255
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 255
Boaz Manor was a finance wunderkind. He started a hedge-fund company in Canada and later burst onto Wall Street with a product that could transform the crypto market. By all accounts, he was incredibly hard-working. Possibly brilliant. And...a shameless con man who ended up wanted in multiple countries. Chasing Boaz Manor explores Boaz’s schemes through the perspective of those he left in his wake.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Drawn out and unresolved waste of time
- By DC on 06-06-24
By: Leah McLaren
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Stranded
- By: Chris Bruno, David Howard Lee, Shukri R. Abdi
- Narrated by: Taraji P. Henson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Blake Griffin, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 537
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 530
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 530
Separated by 10 years, 3,000 miles, and the unrelenting stresses of adulthood, best friends Janet and Serena plan a 40th birthday girls’ trip to reconnect. But after a massive crash, they’re the only survivors to wash ashore on an uncharted Caribbean Island. Armed with only the clothes on their backs and zero survival skills, they fight to overcome hunger, thirst, deadly wildlife—and most terrifyingly—decades of accrued resentment. Can they find their way home, or will they kill each other first?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Get ready to Laugh
- By Lasheree McFarlane on 11-08-24
By: Chris Bruno, and others
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American Dreamer: Who Was Jay Gatsby?
- By: Blanchard House
- Narrated by: Joe Nocera
- Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 173
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 165
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 165
Just before the small-time bootlegger Max Gerlach died, he tried to reveal his secret: he was the inspiration for the mysterious Jay Gatsby. It’s a nice story, but was he telling the truth? Veteran reporter Joe Nocera and producer Poppy Damon investigate this century-old literary mystery and uncover untold secrets about the Great American Novel.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Not an audiobook
- By George on 05-31-24
By: Blanchard House
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The Crimes of Dorian Gray
- By: Arvind Ethan David
- Narrated by: Lexi Underwood, Neil Brown Jr., Richard Schiff, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 42 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 357
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 347
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Story4 out of 5 stars 347
This gripping fictional true crime podcast delves into the story of the enigmatic Dorian Gray, a vigilante who changed the world, rewriting history in the blood of her victims. Her targets were the titans of their era—billionaires, movie stars, politicians. Dorian said they had one thing in common: they had all committed crimes against women. They were rapists, abusers, master manipulators. Dorian left evidence of their heinous offenses with their bodies, and then she vanished without a trace.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Riveting!
- By Theresa D. on 05-08-24
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The Terror Factory
- Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism
- By: Trevor Aaronson
- Narrated by: Scott Drummond
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63
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Story4 out of 5 stars 63
A groundbreaking work of investigative journalism, The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism exposes how the FBI has, under the guise of engaging in counterterrorism since 9/11, built a network of more than 15,000 informants whose primary purpose is to infiltrate Muslim communities to create and facilitate phony terrorist plots so that the Bureau can then claim it is winning the war on terror.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A must read
- By Ahmed Ebrahim on 10-08-20
By: Trevor Aaronson
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We Keep the Dead Close
- A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence
- By: Becky Cooper
- Narrated by: Becky Cooper
- Length: 15 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 570
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 480
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Story4 out of 5 stars 479
1969: the height of counterculture and the year universities would seek to curb the unruly spectacle of student protest; the winter that Harvard University would begin the tumultuous process of merging with Radcliffe, its all-female sister school; and the year that Jane Britton, an ambitious 23-year-old graduate student in Harvard's Anthropology Department and daughter of Radcliffe Vice President J. Boyd Britton, would be found bludgeoned to death in her Cambridge, Massachusetts apartment.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Needs a great editor
- By Leslie G. on 11-13-20
By: Becky Cooper
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Swing State
- By: Rebecca Gilman
- Narrated by: Anne E. Thompson, Bubba Weiler, Kirsten Fitzgerald, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 25 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 168
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 150
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Story4 out of 5 stars 150
When a recently widowed woman in rural Wisconsin notices her husband’s toolbox is missing, she calls the authorities—and unwittingly starts a chain of events that will forever change her community. What begins as a disarmingly simple mystery blooms into an exploration of loss, the fragility of the environment, and what it means to connect and heal.
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5 out of 5 stars
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We can all relate
- By Wdj on 03-21-24
By: Rebecca Gilman
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Cursed
- By: RAW
- Narrated by: Femi Oke
- Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 81
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 81
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
On a cold December evening in 2016 a terrified young woman turns up at a brothel in Germany with a French passport but doesn’t speak a word of French. The owner is suspicious and alerts the German authorities, igniting a groundbreaking and history-making global investigation where ancient rituals collide with the modern world of crime fighting.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A must listen
- By Lenandi on 09-20-24
By: RAW
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Backfired: Attention Deficit
- By: Leon Neyfakh, Prologue Projects
- Narrated by: Leon Neyfakh, Arielle Pardes
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 139
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 130
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 130
ADHD may be the defining diagnosis of our time. According to the latest data, more than 10 percent of American children (that’s 7.1 million kids) have been diagnosed with ADHD. And the number of stimulant prescriptions for adults in their 30s has shot up nearly threefold since 2012. In recent years, this explosion in demand has combined with other factors to create a widespread stimulant shortage in the US. In the second installment of Backfired, cohosts Leon Neyfakh and Arielle Pardes look at the unintended consequences of the ADHD industry, and trace the surprising path that brought us here.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Avoid if recently diagnosed with ADHD as an Adult
- By Anonymous User on 10-05-24
By: Leon Neyfakh, and others
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Nut Jobs: Cracking California's Strangest $10 Million Dollar Heist
- An Audible Original
- By: Marc Fennell
- Narrated by: Marc Fennell
- Length: 3 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9,636
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8,441
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 8,421
It’s the $10 million heist you’ve never heard of. In a matter of months, dozens of truckloads disappeared from American highways. But what were they carrying? Nuts. Marc Fennell takes you into a rabbit hole of crime syndicates, stolen identities and private investigators that will change the way you think about food forever. Eighty per cent of the world’s almonds are grown in the heart of California, but this journey will take you to Italy, the Spanish coast, deep under the earth and even into space.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Could have been interesting if...
- By M Ren on 06-09-20
By: Marc Fennell
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Dear Cousin: The Stalking of Susan Fensten
- By: Ventureland
- Narrated by: Susan Fensten
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,355
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,329
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,329
Dear Cousin: The Stalking of Susan Fensten is the gripping true story of one woman's quest for long lost family. After the deaths of her sister and estranged father, Susan searches for relatives on an early online genealogy forum. When she meets cousins from her grandfather's other family, they're everything she'd hoped for—until it all goes to hell.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Harrowing Case, Excellent Production
- By C Lopez on 07-12-24
By: Ventureland
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Chase Darkness with Me
- How One True Crime Writer Started Solving Murders
- By: Billy Jensen, Karen Kilgariff - foreword
- Narrated by: Karen Kilgariff, Billy Jensen
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 10,663
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 9,483
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9,430
In Chase Darkness with Me, you’ll ride shotgun as journalist Billy Jensen identifies the Halloween Mask Murderer, finds a missing girl in the California Redwoods, and investigates the only other murder in New York City on 9/11. You’ll hear intimate details of the hunts for two of the most terrifying serial killers in history: his friend Michelle’s pursuit of the Golden State Killer which is chronicled in I’ll Be Gone In The Dark which Billy helped finish after Michelle’s passing, and his own quest to find the murderer of the Allenstown 4 family.
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5 out of 5 stars
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COULD NOT STOP
- By KK on 04-14-19
By: Billy Jensen, and others
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Summer of '85
- By: Chris Morrow, Kevin Hart, Charlamagne Tha God, and others
- Narrated by: Kevin Hart
- Length: 4 hrs and 47 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,569
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,390
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1,385
Welcome to the summer of 1985 in Philadelphia, when the city was rocked—in almost every sense of the word—by two unprecedented events: Mayor W. Wilson Goode’s May 13 decision to bomb the headquarters of MOVE, a controversial Philadelphia-based radical communal organization, and the July 13 Live Aid concert, where international rock royalty convened in Philly to raise money for victims of the Ethiopian famine. Separated by just two months and eight miles, these events would showcase both the best and the worst of the so-called City of Brotherly Love.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Misleading title and poor execution
- By Scott on 10-28-22
By: Chris Morrow, and others
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American Tabloid
- By: James Ellroy
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 18 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 655
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 578
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 579
We are behind, and below, the scenes of JFK's presidential election, the Bay of Pigs, the assassination - in the underworld that connects Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, DC....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Riding a shotgun to history
- By Darwin8u on 02-08-16
By: James Ellroy
What listeners say about Hold Fast
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- SammyInCO
- 04-17-24
Exceptional
As a native of Phoenix, I only had half of the story. A wonderful and informative listen!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Stacey J
- 04-17-24
Very engaging listen
Thank you to On The Media for highlighting this story and sending me to this story. Excellent listen!! I highly recommend!
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MICHELE CROMER
- 08-06-24
Great Interesting Listen!
I had no idea about this. I was a reader of alternative papers in the early 2000’s and enjoyed reading the backpage, it was most interesting!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ronda
- 06-02-24
Very interesting
I had never heard of this incident. It was very interesting. Times changed and the internet changed everything. I enjoyed the listen and learned a lot. Well done!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Troy Harris
- 07-30-24
Fascinating Insights
Other than the fake drama Audible introduces with their background music, this was an excellent listening experience. Learned a lot. My heart goes out to the sex workers who lost their voice and faced increased risk due to the moralizing jerks who shut down BackPage.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Miamimama
- 04-13-24
Blackbeard's diary basically
A well done capture of morally ambiguous pirates in the waning days of American journalism as we knew it. As someone privileged to ride along for a bit in the young writer churn& burn factory, I can attest Lacey and Co. were the best, the worst -- always a hell of a ride.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- kyungil
- 04-24-24
Raw and unfiltered
Absolutely love the storytelling. I would be listening and find myself absorbed in the story. Mike Lacey is what the story is…. Raw and unfiltered. The “no f*cks” given attitude really makes this a movie for your ears.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- DHK
- 07-24-24
Before Backpage, there was journalism
Learning the history of gonzo journalism starting w/the 70s/80s, entrepreneurship, capitalism, and the reasons local alt-newspapers imploded is important for anyone who engages w/American society to understand. The story follows the typical newsworthy yet anticipated, 50-year culture cycle- beginning and ending on headlines reporting the latest method(s) to control women. Informative, educational story. Blissfully limited political content. Will be listening again for missed info.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tara N
- 04-17-24
An amazing, crazy ride. Highly recommend.
Stellar writing, stellar reporting, a larger-than-life cast of characters. Chronicles the rise and fall of alternative journalism through a variety of insane and fascinating stories while deftly explaining the legal clash of free speech and the Internet, the evolution of sex ads, and the fallout of it all. It’s surprising, it’ll make you think, it’ll crack you up, and it’ll stay with you long after Lacey’s final line.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Justin G
- 05-14-24
A Fascinating & Ultimately Tragic Story
I loved this book. I knew nothing about the particulars of this story, so it was all news to me and very compelling stuff. I hated to see how things turned out in the end for Mike Lacey and his partner Jim Larkin though, and how the people most effected by the legal and political circus that ended backpage.com were sex workers whose lives were made even harder. But politicians doing anything but demonizing sex workers is highly unlikely because the poor girls make such easy targets, for liberals & conservatives both, but I digress. Great listen, one that I highly recommend 😄👍
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2 people found this helpful