Know-It-All Society
Truth and Arrogance in Political Culture
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Know-It-All Society
Buy for $13.75
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
William Sarris
-
By:
-
Michael P. Lynch
About this listen
Taking stock of our fragmented political landscape, Michael Patrick Lynch delivers a trenchant philosophical take on digital culture and its tendency to make us into dogmatic know-it-alls. The internet - where most shared news stories are not even read by the person posting them - has contributed to the rampant spread of "intellectual arrogance". In this culture, we have come to think that we have nothing to learn from one another; we are rewarded for emotional outrage over reflective thought; and we glorify a defensive rejection of those different from us.
Interweaving the works of classic philosophers such as Hannah Arendt and Bertrand Russell and imposing them on a cybernetic future they could not have possibly even imagined, Lynch delves deeply into three core ideas that explain how we've gotten to the way we are: our natural tendency to be overconfident in our knowledge; the tribal politics that feed off our tendency; and the way the outrage factory of social media spreads those politics of arrogance and blind conviction. In addition to identifying an ascendant "know-it-all-ism" in our culture, Lynch offers practical solutions for how we might start reversing this dangerous trend.
©2019 Michael Patrick Lynch (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Internet of Us
- Knowing More and Understanding Less in the Age of Big Data
- By: Michael P. Lynch
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 37
With far-reaching implications, this urgent treatise promises to revolutionize our understanding of what it means to be human in the digital age. We used to say "seeing is believing"; now googling is believing. With 24/7 access to nearly all of the world's information at our fingertips, we no longer trek to the library or the encyclopedia shelf in search of answers. We just open our browsers, type in a few keywords, and wait for the information to come to us.
By: Michael P. Lynch
-
The Dawn of Everything
- A New History of Humanity
- By: David Graeber, David Wengrow
- Narrated by: Mark Williams
- Length: 24 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,861
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,400
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,389
A trailblazing account of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution—from the development of agriculture and cities to the emergence of "the state", political violence, and social inequality—and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
exactly what I've been looking for
- By DankTurtle on 11-10-21
By: David Graeber, and others
-
Free Speech
- A History from Socrates to Social Media
- By: Jacob Mchangama
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 62
Hailed as the “first freedom”, free speech is the bedrock of democracy. But it is a challenging principle, subject to erosion in times of upheaval. Today, in democracies and authoritarian states around the world, it is on the retreat. In Free Speech, Jacob Mchangama traces the riveting legal, political, and cultural history of this idea.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great review of free speech and history
- By Anonymous User on 02-22-22
By: Jacob Mchangama
-
Merchants of Doubt
- How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming
- By: Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway, Al Gore - foreword
- Narrated by: Liza Seneca
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
Merchants of Doubt has been praised—and attacked—around the world, for reasons easy to understand. This book tells, with “brutal clarity” (Huffington Post), the disquieting story of how a loose-knit group of high-level scientists and scientific advisers, with deep connections in politics and industry, ran effective campaigns to mislead the public and deny well-established scientific knowledge over four decades.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
heroic
- By Anonymous User on 06-02-23
By: Naomi Oreskes, and others
-
The Knowledge Illusion
- Why We Never Think Alone
- By: Steven Sloman, Philip Fernbach
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 354
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 312
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 311
Humans have built hugely complex societies and technologies, but most of us don't even know how a pen or a toilet works. How have we achieved so much despite understanding so little? Cognitive scientists Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach argue that we survive and thrive despite our mental shortcomings because we live in a rich community of knowledge. The key to our intelligence lies in the people and things around us.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Welcome insight into what we do and don't know
- By S. Yates on 11-01-17
By: Steven Sloman, and others
-
End Times
- Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration
- By: Peter Turchin
- Narrated by: Robin McAlpine
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 141
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 114
Peter Turchin, one of the most interesting social scientists of our age, has infused the study of history with approaches and insights from other fields for more than a quarter century. End Times is the culmination of his work to understand what causes political communities to cohere and what causes them to fall apart, as applied to the current turmoil within the United States.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Boomer History
- By Kevin on 08-12-23
By: Peter Turchin
-
The Internet of Us
- Knowing More and Understanding Less in the Age of Big Data
- By: Michael P. Lynch
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 37
With far-reaching implications, this urgent treatise promises to revolutionize our understanding of what it means to be human in the digital age. We used to say "seeing is believing"; now googling is believing. With 24/7 access to nearly all of the world's information at our fingertips, we no longer trek to the library or the encyclopedia shelf in search of answers. We just open our browsers, type in a few keywords, and wait for the information to come to us.
By: Michael P. Lynch
-
The Dawn of Everything
- A New History of Humanity
- By: David Graeber, David Wengrow
- Narrated by: Mark Williams
- Length: 24 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,861
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,400
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,389
A trailblazing account of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution—from the development of agriculture and cities to the emergence of "the state", political violence, and social inequality—and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
exactly what I've been looking for
- By DankTurtle on 11-10-21
By: David Graeber, and others
-
Free Speech
- A History from Socrates to Social Media
- By: Jacob Mchangama
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 62
Hailed as the “first freedom”, free speech is the bedrock of democracy. But it is a challenging principle, subject to erosion in times of upheaval. Today, in democracies and authoritarian states around the world, it is on the retreat. In Free Speech, Jacob Mchangama traces the riveting legal, political, and cultural history of this idea.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great review of free speech and history
- By Anonymous User on 02-22-22
By: Jacob Mchangama
-
Merchants of Doubt
- How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming
- By: Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway, Al Gore - foreword
- Narrated by: Liza Seneca
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
Merchants of Doubt has been praised—and attacked—around the world, for reasons easy to understand. This book tells, with “brutal clarity” (Huffington Post), the disquieting story of how a loose-knit group of high-level scientists and scientific advisers, with deep connections in politics and industry, ran effective campaigns to mislead the public and deny well-established scientific knowledge over four decades.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
heroic
- By Anonymous User on 06-02-23
By: Naomi Oreskes, and others
-
The Knowledge Illusion
- Why We Never Think Alone
- By: Steven Sloman, Philip Fernbach
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 354
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 312
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 311
Humans have built hugely complex societies and technologies, but most of us don't even know how a pen or a toilet works. How have we achieved so much despite understanding so little? Cognitive scientists Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach argue that we survive and thrive despite our mental shortcomings because we live in a rich community of knowledge. The key to our intelligence lies in the people and things around us.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Welcome insight into what we do and don't know
- By S. Yates on 11-01-17
By: Steven Sloman, and others
-
End Times
- Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration
- By: Peter Turchin
- Narrated by: Robin McAlpine
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 141
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 114
Peter Turchin, one of the most interesting social scientists of our age, has infused the study of history with approaches and insights from other fields for more than a quarter century. End Times is the culmination of his work to understand what causes political communities to cohere and what causes them to fall apart, as applied to the current turmoil within the United States.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Boomer History
- By Kevin on 08-12-23
By: Peter Turchin
-
Twilight of Democracy
- The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism
- By: Anne Applebaum
- Narrated by: Anne Applebaum
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,147
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,847
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,829
From the United States and Britain to continental Europe and beyond, liberal democracy is under siege, while authoritarianism is on the rise. In Twilight of Democracy, Anne Applebaum, an award-winning historian of Soviet atrocities who was one of the first American journalists to raise an alarm about antidemocratic trends in the West, explains the lure of nationalism and autocracy. In this captivating essay, she contends that political systems with radically simple beliefs are inherently appealing, especially when they benefit the loyal to the exclusion of everyone else.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Modern Dictators & President who wants to be them
- By AJ on 07-23-20
By: Anne Applebaum
-
The Big Myth
- How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market
- By: Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway
- Narrated by: Liza Seneca
- Length: 21 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 74
In the early 20th century, business elites, trade associations, wealthy powerbrokers, and media allies set out to build a new American orthodoxy: down with 'big government' and up with unfettered markets. With startling archival evidence, Oreskes and Conway document campaigns to rewrite textbooks, combat unions, and defend child labor.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Refuting the Chicago School
- By Todd W. Laveen on 06-01-23
By: Naomi Oreskes, and others
-
The Identity Trap
- A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time
- By: Yascha Mounk
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 180
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 157
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 157
For much of history, societies have violently oppressed ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. It is no surprise that many who passionately believe in social justice came to believe that members of marginalized groups need to take pride in their identity to resist injustice.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
May It Mark A Turning Point
- By Larry on 09-28-23
By: Yascha Mounk
-
Life Is Hard
- How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way
- By: Kieran Setiya
- Narrated by: Kieran Setiya
- Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 100
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 84
There is no cure for the human condition: life is hard. But Kieran Setiya believes philosophy can help. He offers us a map for navigating rough terrain, from personal trauma to the injustice and absurdity of the world.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Solid
- By Jason Blum on 10-24-22
By: Kieran Setiya
-
The Future Is History
- How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia
- By: Masha Gessen
- Narrated by: Masha Gessen
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,061
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 930
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 926
Award-winning journalist Masha Gessen's understanding of the events and forces that have wracked Russia in recent times is unparalleled. In The Future Is History, Gessen follows the lives of four people born at what promised to be the dawn of democracy. Each of them came of age with unprecedented expectations, some as the children and grandchildren of the very architects of the new Russia, each with newfound aspirations of their own - as entrepreneurs, activists, thinkers, and writers, sexual and social beings.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The author is an international treasure
- By ThreeGems on 10-16-17
By: Masha Gessen
-
Emotional
- How Feelings Shape Our Thinking
- By: Leonard Mlodinow
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 109
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 107
You make hundreds of decisions every day, from what to eat for breakfast to how you should invest, and not one of them could be made without the essential component of emotion. It has long been held that thinking and feeling are separate and opposing forces in our behavior. But as Leonard Mlodinow, the best-selling author of Subliminal, tells us, extraordinary advances in psychology and neuroscience have proven that emotions are as critical to our well-being as is rational thinking.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Widely misleading
- By Kevin Richardson on 01-30-22
By: Leonard Mlodinow
-
The New Right
- A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics
- By: Michael Malice
- Narrated by: Michael Malice
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,630
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,302
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,288
From the heterodox right wing of the 1940s to the Buchanan/Rothbard alliance of 1992 and all the way through to what he witnessed personally in Charlottesville, The New Right is a thorough firsthand accounting of the concepts, characters and chronology of this widely misunderstood sociopolitical phenomenon. Today’s fringe is tomorrow’s orthodoxy. As entertaining as it is informative, The New Right is required listening for every American across the spectrum who would like to learn more about the past, present and future of our divided political culture.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great political analysis
- By Turner Houghton on 05-23-19
By: Michael Malice
-
Woke Racism
- How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America
- By: John McWhorter
- Narrated by: John McWhorter
- Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,189
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,790
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,755
Acclaimed linguist and award-winning writer John McWhorter argues that an illiberal neoracism, disguised as antiracism, is hurting Black communities and weakening the American social fabric.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Thank You
- By Withacy on 10-26-21
By: John McWhorter
-
The Constitution of Knowledge
- A Defense of Truth
- By: Jonathan Rauch
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 452
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 386
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 381
In this pathbreaking book, Jonathan Rauch reaches back to the parallel 18th-century developments of liberal democracy and science to explain what he calls the “Constitution of Knowledge” - our social system for turning disagreement into truth. By explicating the Constitution of Knowledge and probing the war on reality, Rauch arms defenders of truth with a clearer understanding of what they must protect, why they must do - and how they can do it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A really good book
- By Will Blakey on 06-25-21
By: Jonathan Rauch
-
Cynical Theories
- How Activist Scholarship Made Everything About Race, Gender, and Identity - and Why This Harms Everybody
- By: Helen Pluckrose, James Lindsay
- Narrated by: Helen Pluckrose
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,748
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,479
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,454
Have you heard that language is violence and that science is sexist? Have you read that certain people shouldn't practice yoga? Or been told that being obese is healthy, that there is no such thing as biological sex, or that only White people can be racist? Are you confused by these ideas, and do you wonder how they have managed to challenge the logic of Western society? In this probing volume, Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay document the evolution of the dogma that informs these ideas, from its coarse origins in French postmodernism to its refinement within activist academic fields.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Vast Amount of Jargon Lost Me
- By P. Jackson on 10-23-20
By: Helen Pluckrose, and others
-
Strange New World
- How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution
- By: Carl R. Trueman, Ryan T. Anderson - foreword
- Narrated by: Carl R. Trueman
- Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 601
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 525
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 520
How did the world arrive at its current, disorienting state of identity politics, and how should the church respond? Historian Carl R. Trueman discusses how influences ranging from traditional institutions to technology and pornography moved modern culture toward an era of "expressive individualism." Investigating philosophies from the Romantics, Nietzsche, Marx, Wilde, Freud, and the New Left, he outlines the history of Western thought to the distinctly sexual direction of present-day identity politics and explains the modern implications of these ideas.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Read and reread
- By Daniel on 04-04-22
By: Carl R. Trueman, and others
-
What's Our Problem?
- A Self-Help Book for Societies
- By: Tim Urban
- Narrated by: Tim Urban
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 461
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 402
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 399
From the creator of the wildly popular blog Wait but Why, a fun and fascinating deep dive into what the hell is going on in our strange, unprecedented modern times.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Good for a while but then goes hard off the rails
- By g27c on 04-20-23
By: Tim Urban
Related to this topic
-
A Time to Build
- From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream
- By: Yuval Levin
- Narrated by: Ford Enlow
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 177
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 145
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 144
Americans are living through a social crisis. Our politics is polarized and bitterly divided. Culture wars rage on campus, in the media, social media, and other arenas of our common life. And for too many Americans, alienation can descend into despair, weakening families and communities and even driving an explosion of opioid abuse. Left and right alike have responded with populist anger at our institutions, and use only metaphors of destruction to describe the path forward: cleaning house, draining swamps. But, as Yuval Levin argues, this is a misguided prescription.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incisive and Illuminating
- By Jakob on 01-26-23
By: Yuval Levin
-
Irrationality
- A History of the Dark Side of Reason
- By: Justin E. H. Smith
- Narrated by: Jeff Harding
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 33
Discovering that reason is the defining feature of our species, we named ourselves the “rational animal”. But is this flattering story itself rational? In this sweeping account of irrationality from antiquity to today - from the fifth-century BC murder of Hippasus for revealing the existence of irrational numbers to the rise of Twitter mobs and the election of Donald Trump - Justin Smith says the evidence suggests the opposite.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A good brain workout
- By ThomasC on 04-09-19
-
A Thousand Small Sanities
- The Moral Adventure of Liberalism
- By: Adam Gopnik
- Narrated by: Adam Gopnik
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 158
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 156
A Thousand Small Sanities is a manifesto rooted in the lives of people who invented and extended the liberal tradition. Taking us from Montaigne to Mill, and from Middlemarch to the civil rights movement, Adam Gopnik argues that liberalism is not a form of centrism, nor simply another word for free markets, nor merely a term denoting a set of rights. It is something far more ambitious: the search for radical change by humane measures. Gopnik shows us why liberalism is one of the great moral adventures in human history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Erudite and entertaining!
- By D. A. Vail on 05-20-19
By: Adam Gopnik
-
Propaganda
- The Formation of Men’s Attitudes
- By: Jacques Ellul
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 41
From one of the greatest French philosophers of the 20th century comes a seminal study and critique of propaganda. Taking not only a psychological approach but a sociological approach as well, Jacques Ellul outlines the taxonomy for propaganda and, ultimately, its destructive nature towards democracy. Drawing from his own experiences fighting for the French resistance against the Vichy regime, Ellul offers a unique insight into the propaganda machine.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent analysis on the dichotomies of propagandize media
- By Anonymous User on 04-03-21
By: Jacques Ellul
-
Last Call for Liberty
- How America's Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat
- By: Os Guinness
- Narrated by: Os Guinness
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
The hour is critical. The American republic is suffering its gravest crisis since the Civil War. Conflicts, hostility, and incivility now threaten to tear the country apart. Competing visions have led to a dangerous moment of cultural self-destruction. This is no longer politics as usual, but an era of political warfare where our enemies are not foreign adversaries, but our fellow citizens. Yet the roots of the crisis are deeper than many realize. Os Guinness argues that we face a fundamental crisis of freedom, as America's genius for freedom has become her Achilles' heel.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Thought Provoking Work On Liberty In America
- By Ezekiel on 05-28-19
By: Os Guinness
-
The Demon in Democracy
- Totalitarian Temptations in Free Societies
- By: Ryszard Legutko, John O'Sullivan, Teresa Adelson
- Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
Ryszard Legutko lived and suffered under communism for decades - and he fought with the Polish anti-communist movement to abolish it. Having lived for two decades under a liberal democracy, however, he has discovered that these two political systems have a lot more in common than one might think. They both stem from the same historical roots in early modernity, and accept similar presuppositions about history, society, religion, politics, culture, and human nature.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Important book on political philosophy
- By Wayne on 08-02-19
By: Ryszard Legutko, and others
-
A Time to Build
- From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream
- By: Yuval Levin
- Narrated by: Ford Enlow
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 177
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 145
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 144
Americans are living through a social crisis. Our politics is polarized and bitterly divided. Culture wars rage on campus, in the media, social media, and other arenas of our common life. And for too many Americans, alienation can descend into despair, weakening families and communities and even driving an explosion of opioid abuse. Left and right alike have responded with populist anger at our institutions, and use only metaphors of destruction to describe the path forward: cleaning house, draining swamps. But, as Yuval Levin argues, this is a misguided prescription.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incisive and Illuminating
- By Jakob on 01-26-23
By: Yuval Levin
-
Irrationality
- A History of the Dark Side of Reason
- By: Justin E. H. Smith
- Narrated by: Jeff Harding
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 33
Discovering that reason is the defining feature of our species, we named ourselves the “rational animal”. But is this flattering story itself rational? In this sweeping account of irrationality from antiquity to today - from the fifth-century BC murder of Hippasus for revealing the existence of irrational numbers to the rise of Twitter mobs and the election of Donald Trump - Justin Smith says the evidence suggests the opposite.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A good brain workout
- By ThomasC on 04-09-19
-
A Thousand Small Sanities
- The Moral Adventure of Liberalism
- By: Adam Gopnik
- Narrated by: Adam Gopnik
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 158
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 156
A Thousand Small Sanities is a manifesto rooted in the lives of people who invented and extended the liberal tradition. Taking us from Montaigne to Mill, and from Middlemarch to the civil rights movement, Adam Gopnik argues that liberalism is not a form of centrism, nor simply another word for free markets, nor merely a term denoting a set of rights. It is something far more ambitious: the search for radical change by humane measures. Gopnik shows us why liberalism is one of the great moral adventures in human history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Erudite and entertaining!
- By D. A. Vail on 05-20-19
By: Adam Gopnik
-
Propaganda
- The Formation of Men’s Attitudes
- By: Jacques Ellul
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 41
From one of the greatest French philosophers of the 20th century comes a seminal study and critique of propaganda. Taking not only a psychological approach but a sociological approach as well, Jacques Ellul outlines the taxonomy for propaganda and, ultimately, its destructive nature towards democracy. Drawing from his own experiences fighting for the French resistance against the Vichy regime, Ellul offers a unique insight into the propaganda machine.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent analysis on the dichotomies of propagandize media
- By Anonymous User on 04-03-21
By: Jacques Ellul
-
Last Call for Liberty
- How America's Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat
- By: Os Guinness
- Narrated by: Os Guinness
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
The hour is critical. The American republic is suffering its gravest crisis since the Civil War. Conflicts, hostility, and incivility now threaten to tear the country apart. Competing visions have led to a dangerous moment of cultural self-destruction. This is no longer politics as usual, but an era of political warfare where our enemies are not foreign adversaries, but our fellow citizens. Yet the roots of the crisis are deeper than many realize. Os Guinness argues that we face a fundamental crisis of freedom, as America's genius for freedom has become her Achilles' heel.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Thought Provoking Work On Liberty In America
- By Ezekiel on 05-28-19
By: Os Guinness
-
The Demon in Democracy
- Totalitarian Temptations in Free Societies
- By: Ryszard Legutko, John O'Sullivan, Teresa Adelson
- Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
Ryszard Legutko lived and suffered under communism for decades - and he fought with the Polish anti-communist movement to abolish it. Having lived for two decades under a liberal democracy, however, he has discovered that these two political systems have a lot more in common than one might think. They both stem from the same historical roots in early modernity, and accept similar presuppositions about history, society, religion, politics, culture, and human nature.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Important book on political philosophy
- By Wayne on 08-02-19
By: Ryszard Legutko, and others
-
Giving the Devil His Due
- Reflections of a Scientific Humanist
- By: Michael Shermer
- Narrated by: Michael Shermer
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 155
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 128
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 125
Who is the "Devil"? And what is he due? The devil is anyone who disagrees with you. And what he is due is the right to speak his mind. He must have this for your own safety's sake, because his freedom is inextricably tied to your own. If he can be censored, why shouldn't you be censored? If we put barriers up to silence "unpleasant" ideas, what's to stop the silencing of any discussion? This book is a full-throated defense of free speech and open inquiry in politics, science, and culture by the New York Times best-selling author and skeptic Michael Shermer.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Flawed Audio
- By Private on 04-10-20
By: Michael Shermer
-
Why Are You Atheists So Angry?
- 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless
- By: Greta Christina
- Narrated by: Greta Christina
- Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 473
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 418
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 417
Why are atheists angry? Is it because they're selfish, joyless, lacking in meaning, and alienated from God? Or is it because they have legitimate reasons to be angry - and are ready to do something about it? Armed with passionate outrage, absurdist humor, and calm intelligence, popular blogger Greta Christina makes a powerful case for outspoken atheist activism, and explains the empathy and justice that drive it. This accessible, personal, down-to-earth book speaks not only to atheists, but also to believers who want to understand the so-called new atheism.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I am an atheist and I am pissed off!
- By carl801 on 08-17-12
By: Greta Christina
-
The Tyranny of Clichés
- How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas
- By: Jonah Goldberg
- Narrated by: Jonah Goldberg
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 733
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 655
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 648
According to Goldberg, if the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist, the greatest trick liberals ever pulled was convincing themselves they’re not ideological. Today “objective” journalists and academics and “moderate” politicians peddle some of the most radical arguments by hiding them in homespun aphorisms.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
I enjoyed it...and I'm a Democrat!!
- By Private. on 05-14-12
By: Jonah Goldberg
-
The Twilight of the American Enlightenment
- The 1950s and the Crisis of Liberal Belief
- By: George M. Marsden
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 91
In the aftermath of World War II, the United States stood at a precipice. The forces of modernity unleashed by the war had led to astonishing advances in daily life, but technology and mass culture also threatened to erode the country's traditional moral character. As award-winning historian George M. Marsden explains in The Twilight of the American Enlightenment, postwar Americans looked to the country's secular liberalelites for guidance in this precarious time, but these intellectuals proved unable to articulate a coherent common cause by which America could chart its course.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Such a relevant book to our current world
- By Adam Shields on 09-14-16
-
Truth and Truthfulness
- By: Bernard Williams
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 33
What does it mean to be truthful? What role does truth play in our lives? What do we lose if we reject truthfulness? No philosopher is better suited to answer these questions than Bernard Williams. Writing with his characteristic combinationof passion and elegant simplicity, he explores the value of truth and finds it to be both less and more than we might imagine.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Content is excellent but the sound quality falters
- By Andy B. on 09-08-23
By: Bernard Williams
-
A Lot of People Are Saying
- The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy
- By: Nancy L. Rosenblum, Russell Muirhead
- Narrated by: Katherine Fenton
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 104
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 93
Conspiracy theories are as old as politics. But conspiracists today have introduced something new - conspiracy without theory. And the new conspiracism has moved from the fringes to the heart of government with the election of Donald Trump. In A Lot of People Are Saying, Russell Muirhead and Nancy Rosenblum reveal how the new conspiracism differs from classic conspiracy theory, why so few officials speak truth to conspiracy, and what needs to be done to resist it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
INSIGHTFUL
- By JaredENH on 04-30-19
By: Nancy L. Rosenblum, and others
-
Ayn Rand Answers
- The Best of Her Q & A
- By: Ayn Rand
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 146
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 111
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 115
After the publication of Atlas Shrugged in 1957, Ayn Rand occasionally lectured in order to bring her philosophy of Objectivism to a wider audience and apply it to current cultural and political issues. These taped lectures and the question-and-answer sessions that followed added not only an eloquent new dimension to Ayn Rand's ideas and beliefs, but a fresh and spontaneous insight into Ayn Rand herself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
It sounds like Ayn Rand
- By Anonymous User on 06-09-18
By: Ayn Rand
-
Philosophy
- Who Needs It
- By: Ayn Rand
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 418
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 273
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 272
Who needs philosophy? Ayn Rand's answer: Everyone. This collection of essays was the last work planned by Ayn Rand before her death in 1982. In it, she summarizes her view of philosophy and deals with a broad spectrum of topics. According to Ayn Rand, the choice we make is not whether to have a philosophy, but which one to have: a rational, conscious, and therefore practical one, or a contradictory, unidentified, and ultimately lethal one.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Deep and provocative
- By Sierra Bravo on 05-21-09
By: Ayn Rand
-
On Freedom
- Four Songs of Care and Constraint
- By: Maggie Nelson
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 56
So often deployed as a jingoistic, even menacing rallying cry, or limited by a focus on passing moments of liberation, the rhetoric of freedom both rouses and repels. Does it remain key to our autonomy, justice, and well-being, or is freedom's long star turn coming to a close? Does a continued obsession with the term enliven and emancipate, or reflect a deepening nihilism (or both)? On Freedom examines such questions by tracing the concept's complexities in four distinct realms: art, sex, drugs, and climate.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Just great
- By Kristi Strong on 12-14-21
By: Maggie Nelson
-
The Smallest Minority
- Independent Thinking in the Age of Mob Politics
- By: Kevin D. Williamson
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 244
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 210
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 209
Listener beware: Kevin D. Williamson - the lively, literary firebrand from National Review who was too hot for The Atlantic to handle - comes to bury democracy, not to praise it. With electrifying honesty and spirit, Williamson takes a flamethrower to mob politics, the “beast with many heads” that haunts social media and what currently passes for real life. It’s destroying our capacity for individualism and dragging us down “the Road to Smurfdom, the place where the deracinated demos of the Twitter age finds itself feeling small and blue.”
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brutally honest, accurate and relevant
- By Sean on 09-19-19
-
The Immoral Majority
- Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power Over Christian Values
- By: Ben Howe
- Narrated by: Marc William
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 233
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 201
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 197
In 2016, writer and filmmaker Ben Howe found himself disillusioned with the religious movement he’d always called home. In the pursuit of electoral victory, many American evangelicals embraced moral relativism and toxic partisanship. Whatever happened to the Moral Majority, who headed to Washington in the ’80s to plant the flag of Christian values? Where were the Christian leaders that emerged from that movement and led the charge against Bill Clinton for his deception and unfaithfulness?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An atheist appreciation of this book
- By Anonymous User on 08-13-19
By: Ben Howe
-
Good Without God
- What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe
- By: Greg Epstein
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
A provocative and positive response to Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and other New Atheists, Good Without God makes a bold claim for what nonbelievers do share and believe. Epstein's Good Without God provides a constructive, challenging response to these manifestos by getting to the heart of Humanism and its positive belief in tolerance, community, morality, and good without having to rely on the guidance of a higher being.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Speaker sounds too robotic
- By Lisa S. on 08-27-21
By: Greg Epstein
What listeners say about Know-It-All Society
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- DK
- 10-23-22
Investigates truth, humility, democracy
This book furthered my research on the current cultural and political divide by investigating the role of intellectual arrogance, intellectual humility, and truth. Explained how convictions lead to arrogant attitudes, and how these in turn harden into contempt and potentially violence. Explained a missing piece of the puzzle for me, which is: why are people so intent on avoiding open discussion or taking each other seriously? What behaviors promote democracy and which behaviors constrain it? Chapters are generally easy to understand. I’ll be reading more from this author.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kevin
- 06-01-21
Highlights important key concepts
I am a communications graduate student, and I found this book to be useful. It helped me to put words to ideas I knew at some level but that I couldn't express succinctly. It was particularly helpful to learn about the differences between "convictions" and "beliefs," and how convictions bleed into our identity. I recommend reading it in tandem with Networked Propaganda, Breaking the Social Media Prism, and The Hybrid Media System.
I think Dr. Lynch proposes a better conceptual solution than any of these three other books, but they all add critical understanding.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!