Moguls
The Lives and Times of Hollywood Film Pioneers Nicholas and Joseph Schenck
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Moguls
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Narrated by:
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Stephen Bowlby
About this listen
Groundbreaking pioneers of the Hollywood Dream Factory, Joseph and Nicholas Schenck may not have been household names like the Warner brothers or Louis B. Mayer, but they were infinitely more powerful, influential—and ruthless. A pair of Russian immigrants with giant ambitions, the Schencks turned their small nickelodeon business in New York's Bowery into a partnership with Loew's movie theaters and a controlling interest in three major studios: MGM, 20th Century Fox, and United Artists. They painted the silver screen silver, laid the foundations for the all-powerful studio system, and ruled a global movie empire from their Gatsby-sized mansions on the East and West coasts. The Schencks had become moguls.
Their story is the stuff of legends-and their scandals are among the greatest stories Hollywood never told. This riveting, behind-the-scenes account reveals many surprising truths.
From the earliest days of silent films and the swinging era of the Roaring Twenties, through the Golden Age of the studio system and the patriotic call of WWII, to the Red Scare paranoia of the McCarthy years, the history of the Schenck brothers is the story of Hollywood itself—and the enduring power of the American Dream. Moguls is a must-listen for film fans, history buffs, and anyone who loves the movies.
©2024 Michael Benson and Craig Singer (P)2024 TantorRelated to this topic
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 14
Hollywood in the 1950s was a period when the film industry both set conventions and broke norms and traditions—from Cinerama, Cinemascope and Vistavision to the epic film and lavish musical. It was a decade that saw the rise of the anti-hero; the smoldering, the hidden, and the unspoken; teenagers gone wild in the streets; the sacred and the profane; the revolution of the Method; the socially conscious; the implosion of the studios, the end of the production code; and the invasion of the ultimate body snatcher: the “small screen” television.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book full of fascinatinghistory
- By Judy Gunnery on 10-17-24
By: Foster Hirsch
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All the Presidents' Money
- How the Men Who Governed America Governed Their Money
- By: Megan Gorman
- Narrated by: Vivienne Leheny
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 5
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Story5 out of 5 stars 5
We often think of the US presidents as being above the fray. But the truth is, the presidents are just like us. While some presidents like Herbert Hoover and Gerald Ford became wildly successful with money, others like Thomas Jefferson and Joe Biden struggled to sustain their lifestyle. The ability to win the presidency is no guarantee of financial security, although today it’s a much easier path to monetize. In All the Presidents' Money, tax attorney and wealth manager Megan Gorman takes us on a journey to understand the different personal money stories of the presidents
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5 out of 5 stars
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President Stories of Money
- By MR JOHN PUGH on 10-12-24
By: Megan Gorman
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Only in America
- Al Jolson and The Jazz Singer
- By: Richard Bernstein
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3 out of 5 stars 1
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Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
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Story0 out of 5 stars 0
Al Jolson, born Asa Yoelson, immigrated from a shtetl in Lithuania to the United States in 1894 after his father secured a job as a rabbi in Washington, D.C. A poor, Yiddish-speaking newcomer navigating a racially segregated and antisemitic America, young Jolson dreamed of becoming a star, and he did. Through Jolson, Bernstein simultaneously breaks open the history and legacy of the cultural sensation The Jazz Singer. Not only was The Jazz Singer the first feature-length film with synchronized music and dialogue, but it was also taboo smashing in its content.
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Murderabilia
- A History of Crime in 100 Objects
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Buck Groat
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
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Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
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Story0 out of 5 stars 0
The false teeth of a female serial killer from 1908, the cut-and-paste confession of the Black Dahlia killer, the newly cracked cipher of the Zodiac killer, the shotgun used in the Clutter family murders, which were made famous by Truman Capote's true crime classic In Cold Blood—these are more than simple artifacts that once belonged to notorious murderers. They are objects of fascination to the legion of true crime obsessives around the world. Veteran true crime writer Harold Schechter presents 100 murder-related artifacts spanning two centuries, with accompanying stories of various lengths.
By: Harold Schechter
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A Hell of a Storm
- The Battle for Kansas, the End of Compromise, and the Coming of the Civil War
- By: David S. Brown
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 5
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 4
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Story4 out of 5 stars 4
In A Hell of a Storm, Brown brings history to life in a way that resonates with the events of present. Through chapters on Lincoln, Emerson, Stowe, Thoreau, and Tubman, along with a cast of presidents, poets, abolitionists, and black emigrationists, Brown weaves a political, cultural, and literary history that chronicles the Republican party’s creation and rise, the collapse of antebellum compromises, and the coming of the Civil War, all topics that mirror current discussions about polarization in our nation today.
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2 out of 5 stars
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No narrative
- By JFG on 10-07-24
By: David S. Brown
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The Anatomy of Genres
- How Story Forms Explain the Way the World Works
- By: John Truby
- Narrated by: Nick Mondelli
- Length: 22 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 5
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5
Most people think genres are simply categories on Netflix or Amazon that provide a helpful guide to making entertainment choices. Most people are wrong. Genre stories aren’t just a small subset of the films, video games, TV shows, and books that people consume. They are the all-stars of the entertainment world, comprising the vast majority of popular stories worldwide. That’s why businesses—movie studios, production companies, video game studios, and publishing houses—buy and sell them. Legendary writing teacher John Truby provides a guide to understanding the major genres of the story world.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Insightful
- By Javed Rezayee on 11-04-24
By: John Truby
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Book and Dagger
- How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II
- By: Elyse Graham
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 10
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 10
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10
At the start of WWII, the U.S. found itself in desperate need of an intelligence agency. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a precursor to today’s CIA, was quickly formed—and, in an effort to fill its ranks with experts, the OSS turned to academia for recruits. Suddenly, literature professors, librarians, and historians were training to perform undercover operations and investigative work—and these surprising spies would go on to profoundly shape both the course of the war and our cultural institutions with their efforts.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Thorough coverage of important history
- By David H. on 11-18-24
By: Elyse Graham
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Disney High
- The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel's Tween Empire
- By: Ashley Spencer
- Narrated by: Lalaine
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 21
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 18
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Story4 out of 5 stars 18
From private feuds and on-set disasters to fanfare that swept the nation and the realities of child stardom, culture journalist Ashley Spencer offers the first unauthorized look at the heyday of TV’s House of Mouse, featuring hundreds of exclusive new interviews with former Disney executives, creatives, and talent to explore the highs, lows, and everything in between.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Reads like fiction!
- By Leslie on 10-05-24
By: Ashley Spencer
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Kingmaker
- Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue
- By: Sonia Purnell
- Narrated by: Louise Brealey
- Length: 16 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 54
When Pamela Churchill Harriman died in 1997, the obituaries that followed were predictably scathing–and many were downright sexist. Written off as a mere courtesan and social climber, her true legacy was overshadowed by a glamorous social life and her infamous erotic adventures. Much of what she did behind the scenes–on both sides of the Atlantic–remained invisible and secret. That is, until now: with a wealth of fresh research, interviews and newly discovered sources, Sonia Purnell unveils for the first time the full, spectacular story of how she left an indelible mark on the world today.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Tediously boring
- By Elizabeth von Kessler on 10-12-24
By: Sonia Purnell
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Brothers
- By: Alex van Halen
- Narrated by: Alex van Halen
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 583
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 559
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Story5 out of 5 stars 559
In this intimate and open account—nothing like any rock-and-roll memoir you’ve ever read—Alex Van Halen shares his personal story of family, friendship, music and brotherly love in a remarkable tribute to his beloved brother and band mate. In his rough yet sweet voice, Alex recounts the brothers’ childhood, first in the Netherlands and then in working class Pasadena, California, with an itinerant musician father and a very proper Indonesian-born mother.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great but incomplete.
- By Zac Stafford on 10-31-24
By: Alex van Halen