Charles McKibben has narrated 4 audiobooks on Listento.it by 3 authors. The most-rated is American Legends: The Life of Barbara Stanwyck.
American Legends: The Life of Walter Cronkite
Summary
"And that's the way it is." - Walter Cronkite A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' American Legends series, listeners can get caught up on the lives of America's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute. And they can do so while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. The rise of cable media in the 21st century has seen news programming become more opinionated and partisan than ever before. It has led many nostalgic Americans to yearn for the news programs of earlier times, with the seemingly objective anchor just giving viewers the facts. While that bygone era is no doubt idealized and romanticized to a certain degree beyond what it actually was, nobody epitomizes that era like Walter Cronkite, America's most famous news anchor. Still a household name today, decades after he went off air, Cronkite is still remembered as the kind of trustworthy broadcaster whose reports could be taken as truth. His outsized influence on the American viewing public is best remembered in one of the more memorable anecdotes of Cronkite's career, which came during the Vietnam War when he opined near the end of one broadcast, "But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could".
©2012 Charles River Editors (P)2015 Charles River Editors
How John Wilkes Booth Assassinated Abraham Lincoln
Summary
Abraham Lincoln was strangely happy for the first time in years. The war was almost over. He could put the crisis behind him; when this term was over, he could return home to Springfield. Maybe he would go back to his legal practice with William Herndon, or perhaps he would buy a farm along the Sangamon River and become a gentleman farmer. Everyone noticed the change. For John Wilkes Booth, it was exactly the opposite. His world was crumbling all around him. The Confederate government abandoned the city of Richmond, Virginia on April 3, 1865. Six days later General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse. To the 26-year-old Booth, everything appeared lost. The only hope left for the South was for someone to make a strike so bold, so daring, and so outrageous, it would turn the tide of defeat into victory. What made it worse was the impromptu speech Lincoln gave at the White House on the night of April 11, 1865. It confirmed Booth’s greatest fear - Lincoln was a crazed “nigger” lover. Why else would he advocate giving former slaves the vote? After listening to the President’s talk, Booth edged closer to David Herold, and snarled, “That means nigger citizenship. Now, by God, I’ll run him through.” It was unacceptable. It ran against every belief Booth held. Someone had to stop Lincoln before he made a total mockery of the country. The only questions left to decide were - when, and where?
©2018 Nick Vulich (P)2018 Nicholas L Vulich
1861: Civil War Beginnings
Summary
Think you know what started the Civil War? In hindsight, we can say no one man or event served as a catalyst for the Civil War. It was not the John Brown Raid, no matter how many historians say it was the pivotal event. It was not the election of Abraham Lincoln, and the war was not about slavery - not in the beginning anyway. The Civil War got its start 73 years earlier when the Founding Fathers set aside the hot potato that was slavery - so they could ratify the Constitution. The signers knew they were passing the issue on to a future generation. Their hope was their progeny could answer the questions they could not. 1861 will change everything.
©2018 Nick Vulich (P)2018 Nicholas L Vulich
American Legends: The Life of Barbara Stanwyck
Summary
"Career is too pompous a word. It was a job, and I have always felt privileged to be paid for what I love doing." - Barbara Stanwyck In the 1940s, film noir was at its peak, and Hollywood was churning out dark, mysterious, exotic and erotic classics like The Big Sleep and To Have and Have Not, which helped turn some of the industry's sultry actresses into superstars. In 1944, the premiere femme fatale was Barbara Stanwyck, who was the highest paid woman in America that year, thanks to roles in films like Double Indemnity (1944), in which she uses her persuasive powers to convince a man to commit murder. That film would earn Stanwyck the first of her four Academy Award nominations. After a nearly 60-year career in acting, the American Film Institute would recognize her as the 11th greatest female screen legend of the 20th century. If anything, Stanwyck's reputation for being a femme fatale obscured the fact that she played strong women that made her seem modern instead of traditional, and not just in noir films. Her versatility also led to roles in all kinds of genres, including Westerns and traditional dramas, but that should come as no surprise, because she was legendary around Hollywood for being a consummate professional that everyone on set loved to work with. Frank Capra noted, "She was destined to be beloved by all directors, actors, crews and extras. In a Hollywood popularity contest she would win first prize hands down."
©2012 Charles River Editors (P)2015 Charles River Editors