Chris Hedges has 9 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 8 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.8★ across 113 ratings. The most-rated is America: The Farewell Tour.
America: The Farewell Tour
Summary
A profound and provocative examination of America in crisis, where unemployment, deindustrialization, and a bitter hopelessness and malaise have resulted in an epidemic of diseases of despair - drug abuse, gambling, suicide, magical thinking, xenophobia, and a culture of sadism and hate. America, says Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Chris Hedges, is convulsed by an array of pathologies that have arisen out of profound hopelessness, a bitter despair and a civil society that has ceased to function. The opioid crisis, the retreat into gambling to cope with economic distress, the pornification of culture, the rise of magical thinking, the celebration of sadism, hate, and plagues of suicides are the physical manifestations of a society that is being ravaged by corporate pillage and a failed democracy. As our society unravels, we also face global upheaval caused by catastrophic climate change. All these ills presage a frightening reconfiguration of the nation and the planet. Donald Trump rode this disenchantment to power. In America: The Farewell Tour, Hedges argues that neither political party, now captured by corporate power, addresses the systemic problem. Until our corporate coup d’état is reversed these diseases will grow and ravage the country. A poignant cry reported from communities across the country, America: The Farewell Tour seeks to jolt us out of our complacency while there is still time.
©2018 Chris Hedges (P)2018 Simon & Schuster
War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning
Summary
As a veteran war correspondent, Chris Hedges has survived ambushes in Central America, imprisonment in Sudan, and a beating by Saudi military police. He has seen children murdered for sport in Gaza and petty thugs elevated into war heroes in the Balkans. Hedges, who is also a former divinity student, has seen war at its worst and knows too well that to those who pass through it, war can be exhilarating and even addictive: "It gives us purpose, meaning, a reason for living." Drawing on his own experience and on the literature of combat from Homer to Michael Herr, Hedges shows how war seduces not just those on the front lines but entire societies, corrupting politics, destroying culture, and perverting the most basic human desires. Mixing hard-nosed realism with profound moral and philosophical insight, War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning is a work of terrible power and redemptive clarity whose truths have never been more necessary.
©2007 Chris Hedges (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.
American Fascists
Summary
Twenty-five years ago, when Pat Robertson and other televangelists first spoke of the United States being a Christian nation that would build a global Christian empire, it was hard to take such hyperbolic rhetoric seriously. Today, such language no longer sounds like hyperbole but poses, instead, a very real threat to our freedoms and our way of life. In American Fascists, the Christian Right's religious legitimacy is challenged, and Hedges argues that, at its core, it is a mass movement fueled by unbridled nationalism and a hatred for the open society. Hedges, who grew up in rural parishes in upstate New York, where his father was a Presbyterian pastor, attacks the movement as someone steeped in the Bible and Christian tradition. He points to the hundreds of senators and members of Congress who have earned between 80 and 100 percent approval ratings from the three most influential Christian Right advocacy groups as one of many signs that the movement is burrowing deep inside the American government in order to subvert it. The movement's call to dismantle the wall between church and state, and the intolerance it preaches against all who do not conform to its warped vision of a Christian America, are pumped into tens of millions of American homes through Christian television and radio stations, and are reinforced through the curriculum of Christian schools. The movement's yearning for apocalyptic violence and its assault on dispassionate, intellectual inquiry are laying the foundation for a new, frightening America.
©2007 Chris Hedges and Eunice Wong (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.
Death of the Liberal Class
Summary
Chris Hedges examines the failure of the liberal class to confront the rise of the corporate state and the consequences of a liberalism that has become profoundly bankrupted. Hedges argues that there are five pillars of the liberal establishment and that each of these institutions has sold out the constituents it represented. In doing so, the liberal class has become irrelevant to society at large and ultimately the corporate power elite they once served.
©2010 Chris Hedges (P)2010 Dreamscape Media, LLC
Unspeakable
Summary
Chris Hedges on the most taboo topics in America, with David Talbot. Chris Hedges has been telling truth to (and against) power since his earliest days as a radical journalist. He is an intellectual bomb-thrower who continues to confront American empire in the most incisive, challenging ways. The kinds of insights he provides into the deeply troubled state of our democracy cannot be found anywhere else. Like many of our most important thinkers, he has been relegated to the margins because of ideas deemed too radical - or true - for public consumption. Whether it is covering the dissolution of former Soviet states or embedding in the Middle East to understand the post-9/11 world, he has been a singular voice pushing against mainstream media disinformation and the amnesia of establishment received wisdom. He is an intellectual heir to American radical heroes such as Thomas Paine and Noam Chomsky and is dedicated to reigniting a shared commitment to radical equality and honesty. Hedges here speaks up about the most pressing issues that currently face our nation. He tackles the rise of a fascist right in support of Donald Trump, which advocates xenophobia and violence in a push for American totalitarianism. He rails against the posturing of inclusivity from establishment elites on both sides of the aisle, who post-Occupy Wall Street continue to advocate for policies that make America uninhabitable for all but the ultra-rich and, as lackeys for corporate interests, continue to expand income inequality in all directions. He tears into the contemporary glamorization of the military and the unchecked, unchallenged hawkishness that defines contemporary American foreign policy. Moreover, he shows his support for contemporary revolts against this twisted order - such as Black Lives Matter - that represent Americans refusing to take the destruction of their country lying down. And that's just the start.
©2016 Chris Hedges (P)2016 Novel Audio
Wages of Rebellion
Summary
Revolutions come in waves and cycles. We are again riding the crest of a revolutionary epic, much like 1848 or 1917, from the Arab Spring to movements against austerity in Greece to the Occupy movement. In Wages of Rebellion, Chris Hedges - who has chronicled the malaise and sickness of a society in terminal moral decline in his books Empire of Illusion and Death of the Liberal Class - investigates what social and psychological factors cause revolution, rebellion, and resistance. Drawing on an ambitious overview of prominent philosophers, historians, and literary figures he shows not only the harbingers of a coming crisis but also the nascent seeds of rebellion. Hedges' message is clear: popular uprisings in the United States and around the world are inevitable in the face of environmental destruction and wealth polarization. Focusing on the stories of rebels from around the world and throughout history, Hedges investigates what it takes to be a rebel in modern times. Utilizing the work of Reinhold Niebuhr, Hedges describes the motivation that guides the actions of rebels as "sublime madness" - the state of passion that causes the rebel to engage in an unavailing fight against overwhelmingly powerful and oppressive forces. For Hedges, resistance is carried out not for its success, but as a moral imperative that affirms life. Those who rise up against the odds will be those endowed with this "sublime madness." From South African activists who dedicated their lives to ending apartheid, to contemporary anti-fracking protests in Alberta, Canada, to whistleblowers in pursuit of transparency, Wages of Rebellion shows the cost of a life committed to speaking the truth and demanding justice. Hedges has penned an indispensable guide to rebellion.
©2015 Chris Hedges (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved
I Don't Believe in Atheists
Summary
The New York Times best-selling author speaks out against those who attack religion to advance their own agenda: global capitalism, intolerance, and imperial projects. There are two radical and dangerous sides to the debate on faith and religion in America: Christian fundamentalists, who see religious faith as their exclusive prerogative, and New Atheists, who brand all religious belief as irrational. Too often, the religious majority - those committed to tolerance and compassion as well as their faith - are caught in the middle. Chris Hedges critiques the mindset that rages against religion and faith. He accuses the New Atheists - led by Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens - of promoting a belief system that is not, as they claim, based on reason and science, but on a simplified worldview of us vs. them, intolerance toward behaviors that are not understood, and the false myths of human progress and moral superiority. Ultimately, he makes way for new, moderate voices to join the debate. This is a timely, compelling work for anyone who wants to understand the true state of the battle about faith today.
©2008 Chris Hedges (P)2008 HighBridge Company
Collateral Damage
Summary
Best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges and journalist Laila Al-Arian spent several months interviewing Iraqi war veterans to expose the patterns of the occupation and how it affects Iraqi civilians. The testimonies of these soldiers and marines provide a disturbing window into the indiscriminate killing of unarmed and innocent Iraqis that is carried out daily by the occupation forces. Collateral Damage is organized around key military operations on the battlefield - convoys, checkpoints, detentions, raids, suppressive fire, and "hearts and minds". Hedges and Al-Arian uncover how the very conduct of the war and occupation have turned the American forces into agents of terror for most Iraqis. The military convoys that speed through the centers of towns, often driving on the wrong side of the street or on sidewalks, have become trains of death. Soldiers fire upon Iraqi vehicles with impunity at checkpoints; pregnant women being rushed to the hospital have been killed at roadblocks when their husbands failed to slow down, and children have watched in horror as their parents have been killed. Hedges and Al-Arian show how this widespread pattern of civilian killing has fueled the insurgency in Iraq, giving rise to instability, sectarian violence, and total chaos.
©2008 Chris Hedges and Laila Al-Arian (P)2008 Tantor
Spanish for Beginners
Summary
Have you always been fond of learning Spanish but just never felt confident enough to learn a new language? Are you curious to understand the meaning of those hit Latino songs? Would you like to watch your favorite Netflix series without subtitles, without taking long-hour Spanish lessons or spending an extended amount of time in a Spanish-speaking country? Don't waste your time on useless lessons that teach you only about the theory. With our new revolutionary course, you have the opportunity to learn from native Spanish speakers about the secret of the language, and the truly useful tips to be able to write and speak Spanish in everyday life. The traditional method taught does not give you the efficient results. Hours and hours of studying the rules would only make you lost. Think about how you learned your native language? When you were finally able to speak the first few words, did you study the theory? Or you simply listened and emulated what your parents said to you? The fast and steady growth of the Spanish speaking population has made Spanish a necessity in business and a key language, with more than 400 million native speakers all over the world and as second language in USA and Europe. That’s what you will learn: You will understand the basics of Spanish language, such as spelling and pronunciation You will focus in the important parts of speech Why not all the verbs are important - A list of only fundamentals verbs Discover the four types of sentences The authentic ways to communicate in Spanish Improve your ninja kit useful baggage of words to order food, ask information in the airport, find the best deal in the shopping, and manage any emergency or health issues Over 1,000 common Spanish phrases that you can learn on your downtime Practical exercise for the everyday life And much, much more... Even if you never open a language book before or you were never involved in any Spanish classes, the practical approach of this book together with the practical exercises will guide you step by step in learning Spanish. In less than no time, without even realizing it, you will begin to understand the texts in the songs, movies, and talking in Spanish.
©2020 Spanish Learning Revolution (P)2020 Spanish Learning Revolution