Utopia Drive
A Road Trip Through America's Most Radical Idea
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Utopia Drive
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Narrated by:
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James Patrick Cronin
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By:
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Erik Reece
About this listen
For Erik Reece, life, at last, was good: He was newly married, gainfully employed, living in a creekside cabin in his beloved Kentucky woods. It sounded, as he describes it, "like a country song with a happy ending". And yet he was still haunted by a sense that the world - or, more specifically, his country - could be better. He couldn't ignore his conviction that in fact the good ol' USA was in the midst of great social, environmental, and political crises. Where did we - here, in the land of Jeffersonian optimism and better tomorrows - go wrong?
Rather than despair, Reece turned to those who had dared to imagine radically different futures for America. What followed was a giant road trip and research adventure through the sites of America's utopian communities, both historical and contemporary, known and unknown, successful and catastrophic. What he uncovered was not just a series of lost histories and broken visionaries but also a continuing and vital but hidden idealistic tradition in American intellectual history. Utopia Drive is an important and definitive reconstruction of that tradition. It is also, perhaps, a new framework to help us find a genuinely sustainable way forward.
©2016 Erik Reece (P)2016 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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4 out of 5 stars
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An eye-opening account of an arrogant man's folly
- By Melissa on 09-17-13
By: Greg Grandin
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Heaven’s Ditch
- God, Gold, and Murder on the Erie Canal
- By: Jack Kelly
- Narrated by: Andrew Reilly
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 61
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Story4 out of 5 stars 49
The technological marvel of its age, the Erie Canal grew out of a sudden fit of inspiration. Proponents didn't just dream; they built a 360-mile waterway entirely by hand and largely through wilderness. As excitement crackled down its length, the canal became the scene of the most striking outburst of imagination in American history. Zealots invented new religions and new modes of living. The Erie Canal made New York the financial capital of America and brought the modern world crashing into the frontier.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An under told story of the United States.
- By JayHey on 08-28-16
By: Jack Kelly
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The Man Who Quit Money
- By: Mark Sundeen
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 113
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 101
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Story4 out of 5 stars 101
The Man Who Quit Money is an account of how one man learned to live, sanely and happily, without earning, receiving, or spending a single cent. Suelo doesn't pay taxes, or accept food stamps or welfare. He lives in caves in the Utah canyonlands, forages wild foods and gourmet discards. He no longer even carries an I.D. Yet he manages to amply fulfill not only the basic human needs - for shelter, food, and warmth - but, to an enviable degree, the universal desires for companionship, purpose, and spiritual engagement.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Roots are weak and faith was thin
- By MISSCHRISTY on 08-26-17
By: Mark Sundeen
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Amsterdam
- A History of the World's Most Liberal City
- By: Russell Shorto
- Narrated by: Russell Shorto
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 594
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 533
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 530
In this effortlessly erudite account, Russell Shorto traces the idiosyncratic evolution of Amsterdam, showing how such disparate elements as herring anatomy, naked Anabaptists parading through the streets, and an intimate gathering in a 16th-century wine-tasting room had a profound effect on Dutch - and world - history. Weaving in his own experiences of his adopted home, Shorto provides an ever-surprising, intellectually engaging story of Amsterdam from its golden age to the present.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Worth Reading - Highly Recommended
- By Whit B on 05-12-14
By: Russell Shorto
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American Philosophy
- A Love Story
- By: John Kaag
- Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 481
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 425
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Story4 out of 5 stars 426
In American Philosophy, John Kaag - a disillusioned philosopher at sea in his marriage and career - stumbles upon a treasure trove of rare books on an old estate in the hinterlands of New Hampshire that once belonged to the Harvard philosopher William Ernest Hocking. The library includes notes from Whitman, inscriptions from Frost, and first editions of Hobbes, Descartes, and Kant. As he begins to catalog and preserve these priceless books, Kaag rediscovers the very tenets of American philosophy.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Awesome Book! But..
- By Kye Sonne on 04-02-17
By: John Kaag
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We Don't Know Ourselves
- A Personal History of Modern Ireland
- By: Fintan O'Toole
- Narrated by: Aidan Kelly
- Length: 22 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 480
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 404
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Story5 out of 5 stars 400
In We Don't Know Ourselves, Fintan O'Toole weaves his own experiences into Irish social, cultural, and economic change, showing how Ireland, in just one lifetime, has gone from a reactionary "backwater" to an almost totally open society - perhaps the most astonishing national transformation in modern history. O'Toole narrates the once unthinkable collapse of the all-powerful Catholic Church, brought down by scandal and by the activism of ordinary Irish. He relates the horrific violence of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, which led most Irish to reject violent nationalism.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Relentlessly Negative
- By John on 06-02-22
By: Fintan O'Toole
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The Almost Nearly Perfect People
- Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia
- By: Michael Booth
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 663
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 585
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 575
Journalist Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians for more than 10 years, and he has grown increasingly frustrated with the rose-tinted view of this part of the world offered up by the Western media. In this timely audiobook, he leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success, and, most intriguing of all, what they think of one another.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Obsessed with bad politics
- By Erik on 09-07-20
By: Michael Booth
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Strangers in Their Own Land
- Anger and Mourning on the American Right
- By: Arlie Russell Hochschild
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,857
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,632
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,616
In Strangers in Their Own Land, the renowned sociologist Arlie Hochschild embarks on a thought-provoking journey from her liberal hometown of Berkeley, California, deep into Louisiana bayou country - a stronghold of the conservative right. As she gets to know people who strongly oppose many of the ideas she famously champions, Hochschild nevertheless finds common ground and quickly warms to the people she meets.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Performance undercuts thesis
- By married, one tall dog, one smelly dog on 01-02-17
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Age of Ambition
- Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China
- By: Evan Osnos
- Narrated by: Evan Osnos, George Backman
- Length: 16 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,483
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,277
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,272
As the Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, Evan Osnos was on the ground in China for years, witness to profound political, economic, and cultural upheaval. In Age of Ambition, he describes the greatest collision taking place in that country: the clash between the rise of the individual and the Communist Party’s struggle to retain control.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Come back when you have a warrant!
- By Neuron on 11-06-15
By: Evan Osnos
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Strangers from a Different Shore
- A History of Asian Americans
- By: Ronald Takaki
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 24 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 38
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 32
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Story5 out of 5 stars 33
In an extraordinary blend of narrative history, personal recollection, and oral testimony, the author presents a sweeping history of Asian Americans. This is a powerful and moving work that will resonate for all Americans, who together make up a nation of immigrants from other shores.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Eye opening to the way immigrants are treated
- By Amazon Customer on 10-06-20
By: Ronald Takaki
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Prairie Fires
- The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder
- By: Caroline Fraser
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 21 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,201
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,077
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,075
Millions of fans of Little House on the Prairie believe they know Laura Ingalls - the pioneer girl who survived blizzards and near-starvation on the Great Plains, and the woman who wrote the famous autobiographical books. But the true story of her life has never been fully told. Now, drawing on unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries, and land and financial records, Caroline Fraser masterfully fills in the gaps in Wilder's biography.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Don’t read if you don’t want your fond memories...
- By NMwritergal on 11-24-17
By: Caroline Fraser
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Hershey
- Milton S. Hershey's Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams
- By: Michael D'Antonio
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 102
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 90
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 90
In this compelling biography, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael D'Antonio gives us the real-life rags-to-riches story of Milton S. Hershey, a largely uneducated businessman whose idealistic sense of purpose created an immense financial empire, a town, and a legacy that lasts to this day.
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3 out of 5 stars
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The Benchmark for Chartiable, Rich Men
- By Boyd Tschaggeny on 01-30-19
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China Road
- A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power
- By: Rob Gifford
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 603
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 332
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 329
National Public Radio's Beijing correspondent Rob Gifford recounts his travels along Route 312, the Chinese Mother Road, the longest route in the world's most populous nation. Based on his successful NPR radio series, China Road draws on Gifford's 20 years of observing first-hand this rapidly transforming country, as he travels east to west, from Shanghai to China's border with Kazakhstan. As he takes listeners on this journey, he also takes them through China's past and present while he tries to make sense of this complex nation's potential future.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An Outstanding Book on China
- By Sarda on 08-13-07
By: Rob Gifford
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How the Scots Invented the Modern World
- By: Arthur Herman
- Narrated by: Robert Ian Mackenzie
- Length: 18 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 491
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 436
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 437
Who formed the first literate society? Who invented our modern ideas of democracy and free market capitalism? The Scots. As historian and author Arthur Herman reveals, in the 18th and 19th centuries Scotland made crucial contributions to science, philosophy, literature, education, medicine, commerce, and politics - contributions that have formed and nurtured the modern West ever since. This book is not just about Scotland: it is an exciting account of the origins of the modern world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Eagerly Awaited Audiobook
- By Lulu on 09-01-16
By: Arthur Herman
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Master of the Mountain
- Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves
- By: Henry Wiencek
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 109
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 99
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Story4 out of 5 stars 98
Is there anything new to say about Thomas Jefferson and slavery? The answer is a resounding yes. Henry Wiencek's eloquent, persuasive book - based on new information coming from archaeological work at Monticello and on hitherto overlooked or disregarded evidence in Jefferson's papers - opens up a huge, poorly understood dimension of Jefferson's world. We must, Wiencek suggests, follow the money.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Clear, Insightful & Iconclastic History
- By R.S. on 04-18-13
By: Henry Wiencek
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Napa
- By: James Conaway
- Narrated by: John Morgan
- Length: 20 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 122
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 96
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Story4 out of 5 stars 95
James Conaway's remarkable bestseller delves into the heart of California's lush and verdant Napa Valley, also known as America's Eden. Long the source of succulent grapes and singular wines, this region is also the setting for the remarkable true saga of the personalities behind the winemaking empires. This is the story of Gallos and Mondavis, of fortunes made and lost, of dynasties and destinies.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Excellent But Marred by Non-Stop Mispronunciations
- By Robert R. on 08-15-13
By: James Conaway
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A Warrior of the People
- How Susan La Flesche Overcame Racial and Gender Inequality to Become America’s First Indian Doctor
- By: Joe Starita
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
On March 14, 1889, Susan La Flesche received her medical degree - becoming the first Native American doctor in US history. She earned her degree 31 years before women could vote and 35 years before Indians could become citizens in their own country. This is the story of an Indian woman who effectively became the chief of an entrenched patriarchal tribe, the story of a woman who crashed through thick walls of ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice and then spent the rest of her life using a unique bicultural identity to improve the lot of her people.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Remarkable Woman
- By Jean on 11-27-16
By: Joe Starita
What listeners say about Utopia Drive
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Leslie
- 12-19-19
Audiobook misses a lot
I was confused b¥ the audiobook. A friend read the book and there's special layout and formatting that guides the reader. Unfortunately those "guides" don't exist with the narration...which was dry and boring. I had difficulty discerning his actual trip experiences and all of the history he piles on.
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