Medea Benjamin has 3 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 3 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 3 ratings. The most-rated is Kingdom of the Unjust.
Kingdom of the Unjust
Summary
The cofounder of Code Pink has become famous for fearlessly tackling head-on subjects most of us studiously avoid. Sometimes, she does so in person - as during President Obama's speech at the National Defense University, or during a reception for drone manufacturers and members of Congress, or in Cairo, where she was assaulted by police.
Here, she's researching the sinister nature of the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia. In seven succinct chapters followed by a meditation on prospects for change, Medea Benjamin - cited by the LA Times as “[O]ne of the high-profile members of the peace movement” - shines a light on one of the most perplexing elements of American foreign policy.
What is the origin of this strange alliance between two countries that seemingly have very little in common? Why does it persist, and what are its consequences? Why, over a period of decades and across various presidential administrations, has the US consistently supported a regime shown time and again to be one of the most powerful forces working against American interests?
Saudi Arabia is perhaps the single most important source of funds for terrorists worldwide, promoting an extreme interpretation of Islam along with anti-Western sentiment while brutally repressing nonviolent dissidents at home.
With extremism spreading across the globe, a reduced US need for Saudi oil, and a thawing of US relations with Iran, the time is right for a re-evaluation of our close ties with the Saudi regime.
©2016 Medea Benjamin (P)2018 OR Books
Inside Iran
Summary
US relations with Iran have been fraught for decades, but, under the Trump Administration, tensions are rising to startling levels. Medea Benjamin, one of the best-known 21st century activists, offers the incredible history of how a probable alliance became a bitter antagonism in this accessible and fascinating story.
In 1979, the Iranian Revolution brought a full-scale theocracy to the 80 million inhabitants of the Middle East's second largest country. The rule of the ayatollahs opened the door to Islamic fundamentalism. In the decades since, bitter relations have persisted between the US and Iran. Yet how is it that Iran has become the primary target of American antagonism over nations like Saudi Arabia, whose appalling human rights violations fail to depose it as one of America's closest allies in the Middle East?
In the first general-audience book on the subject, Medea Benjamin elucidates the mystery behind this complex relationship, recounting the country's history from the pre-colonial period to its emergence as the one nation that Democrats and Republicans alike can unite in denouncing. Benjamin has traveled several times to Iran and uses her firsthand experiences with politicians, activists, and everyday citizens to provide a deeper understanding of the complexities of Iranian society. Tackling common misconceptions about Iran's system of government, its religiosity, and its citizens' way of life, Benjamin makes short work of the inflammatory rhetoric surrounding US-Iranian relations and presents a realistic and hopeful case for the two nations' future.
©2018 Medea Benjamin (P)2018 Medea Benjamin
Drone Warfare
Summary
Weeks after the 2002 American invasion of Afghanistan, Medea Benjamin visited that country. There, on the ground, talking with victims of the strikes, she learned the reality behind the "precision bombs" on which US forces were becoming increasingly reliant. Now, with the use of drones escalating at a meteoric pace, Benjamin has written this book as a call to action: "It is meant to wake a sleeping public lulled into thinking that drones are good, that targeted killings are making us safer." Drone Warfare is a comprehensive look at the growing menace of robotic warfare, with an extensive analysis of who is producing the drones, where they are being used, who "pilots" these unmanned planes, who the victims are, and what the legal and moral implications are. In a vivid, accessible style, the book also looks at what activists, lawyers, and scientists are doing to ground the drones and considers ways to move forward. In reality, writes Benjamin, the assassinations we are carrying out via drones will come back to haunt us when others start doing the same thing - to us. Medea Benjamin is a cofounder of the peace group CODEPINK and the international human rights organization Global Exchange. She has been an advocate for social justice for more than 30 years. A former economist and nutritionist with the United Nations and World Health Organization, she is also the author-editor of eight books. Her articles appear regularly in such publications as The Huffington Post and OpEd News.
©2012 Medea Benjamin (P)2012 Blackstone