Don Hagen has narrated 69 audiobooks on Listento.it by 88 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.3★ across 524 ratings. The most-rated is Whole.
The Ostrich Paradox
Summary
We fail to evacuate when advised. We rebuild in flood zones. We don't wear helmets. We fail to purchase insurance. We would rather avoid the risk of "crying wolf" than sound an alarm. Our ability to foresee and protect against natural catastrophes has never been greater; yet we consistently fail to heed the warnings and protect ourselves and our communities, with devastating consequences. What explains this contradiction? In The Ostrich Paradox, Wharton professors Robert Meyer and Howard Kunreuther draw on years of teaching and research to explain why disaster preparedness efforts consistently fall short. Filled with heartbreaking stories of loss and resilience, the book addresses: How people make decisions when confronted with high-consequence, low-probability events - and how these decisions can go awry The six biases that lead individuals, communities, and institutions to make grave errors that cost lives The Behavioral Risk Audit, a systematic approach for improving preparedness by recognizing these biases and designing strategies that anticipate them Why, if we are to be better prepared for disasters, we need to learn to be more like ostriches, not less The Ostrich Paradox is a must-hear for anyone who wants to understand why we consistently underprepare for disasters, as well as private and public leaders, planners, and policy makers who want to build more prepared communities.
©2017 Robert Meyer and Howard Kunreuther (P)2017 Gildan Media LLC
The Winner's Brain
Summary
Developed by two Harvard brain experts, here is a scientific, accessible approach to achieving success by retraining your brain to win. Ever wonder why some people seem blessed with success? In fact, everyone is capable of winning in life - you just need to develop the right brain for it. In The Winner's Brain, Drs. Jeff Brown and Mark Fenske use cutting-edge neuroscience to identify the secrets of those who succeed no matter what - and demonstrate how little it has to do with IQ or upbringing. Through simple everyday practices, Brown and Fenske explain how to unlock the brain's hidden potential by establishing: Balance: Make emotions work in your favor Bounce: Create a failure-resistant brain Opportunity Radar: Spot hot prospects previously hidden by problems Focus Laser: Lock into what's important Effort Accelerator: Cultivate the drive to win Along the way, they introduce you to dozens of interesting people who possess "win factors" (like the inventor of Whac-A-Mole) and share surprising information (like why you should never take a test while wearing red). The Winner's Brain will not only give you an edge - it'll motivate you to pursue your personal and professional dreams.
©2010 Jeff Brown (P)2010 Gildan
Making Ideas Happen
Summary
How the world's leading innovators push their ideas to fruition, time and time again. Edison famously said that genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration. Ideas for new businesses, solutions to the world's problems, and artistic breakthroughs are common, but great execution is rare. According to Scott Belsky, the capacity to make ideas happen can be strengthened by anyone willing to build their organizational habits and harness the forces of community. That's why he founded Behance, a company that helps creative people and teams across industries develop these skills. Belsky has spent six years studying the habits of especially productive creative people and teams—the ones who make their ideas happen time and time again. After interviewing hundreds of successful creatives, he has compiled their most powerful-and often counterintuitive-practices, such as: Generate ideas in moderation and act without conviction Reduce all projects to just three primary components Encourage fighting within your team Seek competition and share ideas liberally In an increasingly flexible and entrepreneurial environment, creative minds have the opportunity (and responsibility) to solve and change industries—but they can only do that if they overcome the obstacles. While many of us obsess about discovering great new ideas, Belsky shows why it's better to develop the capacity to make ideas happen-a capacity that endures over time.
©2010 Scott Belsky (P)2010 Gildan Media Corp
Flawless
Summary
On February 15, 2003, a group of thieves broke into an allegedly airtight vault in the international diamond capital of Antwerp, Belgium and made off with over $108 million dollars worth of diamonds and other valuables. They did so without tripping an alarm or injuring a single guard in the process. Although the crime was perfect, the getaway was not. The police zeroed in on a band of professional thieves fronted by Leonardo Notarbartolo, a dapper Italian who had rented an office in the Diamond Center and clandestinely cased its vault for over two years. The who of the crime had been answered, but the how remained largely a mystery. Enter Scott Andrew Selby, a Harvard Law grad and diamond expert, and Greg Campbell, author of Blood Diamonds, who undertook a global goose chase to uncover the true story behind the daring heist. Tracking the threads of the story throughout Europe from Belgium to Italy, in seedy cafes and sleek diamond offices, the authors sorted through an array of conflicting details, divergent opinions and incongruous theories to put together the puzzle of what actually happened that Valentines Day weekend. This real-life Ocean's Eleven, a combination of diamond history, journalistic reportage, and riveting true-crime story, provides a thrilling in-depth study detailing the better-than-fiction heist of the century.
©2010 Scott Selby (P)2010 Gildan
The Horologicon
Summary
Do you wake up feeling rough? Then you’re philogrobolized. Find yourself pretending to work? That’s fudgelling. And this could lead to rizzling, if you feel sleepy after lunch. Though you are sure to become a sparkling deipnosopbist by dinner. Just don’t get too vinomadefied; a drunk dinner companion is never appreciated. The Horologicon (or book of hours) contains the most extraordinary words in the English language, arranged according to what hour of the day you might need them. From Mark Forsyth, the author of the number-one international best seller The Etymologicon comes an audiobook of weird words for familiar situations. From ante-jentacular to snudge by way of quafftide and wamblecropt, at last you can say, with utter accuracy, exactly what you mean.
©2013 Mark Forsyth (P)2014 Gildan Media LLC
China's Second Continent
Summary
An exciting, hugely revealing account of China’s burgeoning presence in Africa - a developing empire already shaping - and reshaping - the future of millions of people. A prizewinning foreign correspondent and former New York Times bureau chief in Shanghai and in West and Central Africa, Howard French is uniquely positioned to tell the story of China in Africa. Through meticulous on-the-ground reporting - conducted in Mandarin, French, and Portuguese, among other languages - French crafts a layered investigation of astonishing depth and breadth as he engages not only with policy-shaping moguls and diplomats, but also with the ordinary men and women navigating the street-level realities of cooperation, prejudice, corruption, and opportunity forged by this seismic geopolitical development. With incisiveness and empathy, French reveals the human face of China’s economic, political, and human presence across the African continent - and in doing so reveals what is at stake for everyone involved. Part intrepid travelogue, part cultural census, part industrial and political exposé, French’s keenly observed account ultimately offers a fresh perspective on the most pressing unknowns of modern Sino-African relations: Why China is making the incursions it is, just how extensive its cultural and economic inroads are, what Africa’s role in the equation is, and just what the ramifications for both parties - and the watching world - will be in the foreseeable future.
©2014 Howard W. French (P)2014 Gildan Media LLC
Moscow, December 25,1991
Summary
The implosion of the Soviet Union was the culmination of a gripping game played out between two men who intensely disliked each other and had different concepts for the future. Mikhail Gorbachev, a sophisticated and urbane reformer, sought to modernize and preserve the USSR; Boris Yeltsin, a coarse and a hard drinking “bulldozer,” wished to destroy the union and create a capitalist Russia. The defeat of the August 1991 coup attempt, carried out by hardline communists, shook Gorbachev’s authority and was a triumph for Yeltsin. But it took four months of intrigue and double-dealing before the Soviet Union collapsed and the day arrived when Yeltsin could hustle Gorbachev out of the Kremlin, and move in as ruler of Russia. Conor O’Clery has written a unique and truly suspenseful thriller of the day the Soviet Union died. The internal power plays, the shifting alliances, the betrayals, the mysterious three colonels carrying the briefcase with the nuclear codes, and the jockeying to exploit the future are worthy of John Le Carré or Alan Furst. The Cold War’s last act was a magnificent dark drama played out in the shadows of the Kremlin.
©2011 Conor O'Clery (P)2011 Gildan Media Corp
The Miracle
Summary
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." - Albert Einstein In The Miracle, Joe helps us unearth the cause behind our deepest unconscious beliefs and shows us how to transform them. He offers several practical, hands-on processes for overcoming counter intentions. He teaches many methods for manifesting what we want to have, do, or be. He teaches us the difference between intentions and inspirations, and how to live an inspired life. He helps us create and live miracles every day. He shows us how we can be enlightened. This audiobook is a complete guide to materialization through our own mighty power of thought, visualization, affirmation, and inspired action.
©2016 Joe Vitale (P)2016 Gildan Media LLC
The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking
Summary
In this witty and perceptive debut, a former editor at Psychology Today shows us how magical thinking makes life worth living. Psychologists have documented a litany of cognitive biases - misperceptions of the world - and explained their positive functions. Now, Matthew Hutson shows us that even the most hardcore skeptic indulges in magical thinking all the time - and it's crucial to our survival. Drawing on evolution, cognitive science, and neuroscience, Hutson shows us that magical thinking has been so useful to us that it's hardwired into our brains. It encourages us to think that we actually have free will. It helps make us believe that we have an underlying purpose in the world. It can even protect us from the paralyzing awareness of our own mortality. In other words, magical thinking is a completely irrational way of making our lives make rational sense. With wonderfully entertaining stories, personal reflections, and sharp observations, Hutson reveals our deepest fears and longings.
©2012 Matthew Hutson (P)2012 Gildan Media, LLC
The Art of War
Summary
This Chinese treatise on war was written by Sun Tzu in the 6th century B.C. Each one of the 13 chapters is devoted to a different aspect of warfare, making it the definitive work on military strategies and tactics of its time. Studied by generals from Napoleon to Rommel, it is still one of the most influential works on the subject and is required reading in most military academies around the world. Although it was meant to be a practical guide to warfare in the age of chariots, this seminal work on the philosophy of successful leadership is as applicable to contemporary business as it is to war, and has become increasingly popular among today's corporate and political leaders.
Public Domain (P)2012 Gildan Media, LLC
Pacific Payback
Summary
Sunday, December 7, 1941, dawned clear and bright over the Pacific.... But for the Dauntless dive-bomber crews of the USS Enterprise returning to their home base on Oahu, it was a morning from hell. Flying directly into the Japanese ambush at Pearl Harbor, they lost a third of their squadron and witnessed the heart of America's Navy broken and smoldering on the oil-slicked waters below. The next six months, from Pearl Harbor to the Battle of Midway - a dark time during which the Japanese scored victory after victory - this small band of aviators saw almost constant deployment, intense carrier combat, and fearsome casualties. Many were killed by enemy Zero fighters, antiaircraft fire, or deadly crash landings in the Pacific, while others were captured and spent years in POW camps. Yet the Enterprise's Dauntless crews would be the first to strike an offensive blow against Japanese installations in the Marshall Islands, would be the first to sink a Japanese warship, and would shepherd the Doolittle Raiders' bombing of Tokyo. Not until Midway, though, would Dauntless crews get the chance to settle the score. In June 1942, Japan mobilized the best of its Navy to draw out the smaller American carrier fleet for a final showdown designed to destroy the U.S. Navy once and for all. What they didn't anticipate was the gutsy dive-bombing pilots and gunners whose courage and skill would change the course of World War II. Drawing on dozens of new interviews and oral histories, author Stephen L. Moore brings to life inspiring stories of individual sacrifice and bravery - and the sweeping saga of one of America's greatest triumphs.
©2014 Stephen L. Moore (P)2014 Gildan Media LLC
Unbound
Summary
Not all hunters are bound by human laws.... Revisiting the paranormal realms they've made famous in their wildly popular fiction, New York Times best-selling authors Kim Harrison, Jeaniene Frost, Vicki Pettersson, and Jocelynn Drake—plus New York Times best-selling young-adult author Melissa Marr, with her first adult supernatural thriller—unleash their full arsenal of dark talents, plunging us into the shadows where the supernatural stalk the unsuspecting... and every soul is a target. Get ready for the ride of your life—because the wildest magic has just been unleashed...and evil is about to have its day.
©2012 Kim Harrison, Melissa Marr, Jeaniene Frost, Vicki Petterson, Jocelynn Drake (P)2012 HarperCollinsPublishers
Business Model You
Summary
A one-page tool to reinvent yourself and your career. The global best seller Business Model Generation introduced a unique visual way to summarize and creatively brainstorm any business or product idea on a single sheet of paper. Business Model You uses the same powerful one-page tool to teach listeners how to draw "personal business models," which reveal new ways their skills can be adapted to the changing needs of the marketplace to reveal new, more satisfying, career and life possibilities. Produced by the same team that created Business Model Generation, this audiobook is based on the Business Model Canvas methodology, which has quickly emerged as the world's leading business model description and innovation technique. This book shows listeners how to: Understand business model thinking and diagram their current personal business model Understand the value of their skills in the marketplace and define their purpose Articulate a vision for change Create a new personal business model harmonized with that vision And most important, test and implement the new model When you implement the one-page tool from Business Model You, you create a game-changing business model for your life and career.
©2012 Timothy Clark, Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur (P)2012 Gildan Media, LLC
Ragged Dick
Summary
Ragged Dick is the story of a young bootblack living and working in the streets of a post-Civil War New York City. It follows his rise from a street kid to the respectable middle class. The original publication, released as a six volume series, came to depict a time of post-war struggle through the eyes of its young victims, vagabond children. Originally written as young-adult moral tales using the classic rags-to-riches theme, Ragged Dick is also Algers' timeless snapshot into an all but forgotten period in American history, and the ever relevant struggle for economic and social status. Horatio Alger was born on January 13, 1834 in Chelsea, Massachusettes. Alger began writing in earnest and being a published author at the age of 17. After graduating from Harvard, Alger obtained a position in ministry in a Unitarian Church, but was dismissed on scandalous and incriminating charges. Around 1866, Alger moved to New York, a time that marked the beginning of a very successful writing career. Around this time, the Ragged Dick series was being published as a serial, and in 1868 it was published as a complete novel. In New York City, Alger took a special and personal interest in the street children and became a frequent visitor to their popular haunts. Perhaps this is what gave him a clear insight into their trials and tribulations and aided in creating the simple yet timeless story of Ragged Dick. Eventually, Alger took two street children into his home and informally adopted them.
Public Domain (P)2013 Ennunciation LLC
The Little Book of Bulletproof Investing
Summary
Investing do's and don'ts from some of the most recognizable voices in personal finance. It's been a tough year for investors. Many have seen their retirement accounts dwindle dramatically and are looking for a safe way to protect what they have and make back some of what they've lost. That's why the best-selling author team of Ben Stein and Phil DeMuth have created The Little Book of Bulletproof Investing. When you invest, there are essential things you should do and many things you shouldn't. The Little Book of Investing Do's and Don'ts addresses this issue and shows you how to utilize the fundamentals of finance to achieve success in today's market. This practical guide contains proven advice on navigating today's treacherous financial landscape and will put you in a better position to make more informed investment decisions. Includes street-smart advice for individual investors uncertain about their investment and retirement portfolios. Explains concepts clearly. Written by a experienced team of bestselling authors whose investment advice is accessible to everyone Outlines the steps you must take to protect yourself from the financial calamities of modern life. The Little Book of Bulletproof Investing offers quick, easy-to-follow, and entertaining advice for anyone looking to get back on the right investment track.
©2010 Ben Stein & Phil DeMuth (P)2010 Gildan
Sustainability
Summary
The word sustainability has been connected to everything from a certain kind of economic development to corporate promises about improved supply sourcing. But despite the apparent ubiquity of the term, the concept of sustainability has come to mean a number of specific things. In this accessible guide to the meanings of sustainability, Kent Portney describes the evolution of the idea and examines its application in a variety of contemporary contexts - from economic growth and consumption to government policy and urban planning. Portney takes as his starting point the 1987 definition by the World Commission on Environment and Development of sustainability as economic development activity that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". At its heart, Portney explains, sustainability focuses on the use and depletion of natural resources. It is not the same as environmental protection or natural resource conservation; it is more about finding some sort of steady state, so that the Earth can support both human population and economic growth. Portney looks at political opposition to the promotion of sustainability, which usually questions the need for sustainability or calls its costs unacceptable; collective and individual consumption of material goods and resources and to what extent they must be curtailed to achieve sustainability; the role of the private sector, and the co-opting of sustainability by corporations; government policy on sustainability at the international, national, and subnational levels; and how cities could become models for sustainability action.
©2015 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (P)2015 Gildan Media LLC
The Jazz of Physics
Summary
More than 50 years ago, John Coltrane drew the 12 musical notes in a circle and connected them with straight lines, forming a five-pointed star. Inspired by Einstein, Coltrane had put physics and geometry at the core of his music. Physicist and jazz musician Stephon Alexander returns the favor, using jazz to answer physics' most vexing questions about the past and future of the universe. Following the great minds that first drew the links between music and physics - a list including Pythagoras, Kepler, Newton, Einstein, and Rakim - The Jazz of Physics revisits the ancient realm where music, physics, and the cosmos were one. This cosmological journey accompanies Alexander's own tale of struggling to reconcile his passion for music and physics, from taking music lessons as a boy in the Bronx to studying theoretical physics at Imperial College, London's inner sanctum of string theory. Playing the saxophone and improvising with equations, Alexander uncovered the connection between the fundamental waves that make up sound and the fundamental waves that make up everything else. As he reveals, the ancient poetic idea of the "music of the spheres", taken seriously, clarifies confounding issues in physics. Whether you are more familiar with Brian Greene or Brian Eno, John Coltrane or John Wheeler, the Five Percent Nation or why the universe is less than 5 percent visible, there is a new discovery every minute. Covering the entire history of the universe from its birth to its fate, its structure on the smallest and largest scales, The Jazz of Physics will fascinate and inspire anyone interested in the mysteries of our universe, music, and life itself.
©2016 Stephon Alexander (P)2016 Gildan Media LLC
The Plateau Effect
Summary
The Plateau Effect is a powerful law of nature that affects everyone. Learn to identify plateaus and break through any stagnancy in your life - from diet and exercise, to work, to relationships. The Plateau Effect shows how athletes, scientists, therapists, companies, and musicians around the world are learning to break through their plateau - to turn off the forces that cause people to “get used to” things - and turn on human potential and happiness in ways that seemed impossible. The audiobook identifies three key flattening forces that generate plateaus, two principles to guide listeners in engineering a plateau’s destruction, and three actions to take to achieve peak behavior. It helps us to stop wasting time on things that are no longer of value and to focus on the things that leverage our time and energy in spectacular ways. Anything you want to do better - play guitar, make friends, communicate with your children, run a business - you can accomplish faster by understanding the plateau effect.
©2013 Bob Sullivan and Hugh Thompson (P)2013 Gildan Media LLC
Under the Black Flag
Summary
For this rousing, revisionist history, the former head of exhibitions at England's National Maritime Museum has combed original documents and records to produce a most authoritative and definitive account of piracy's "Golden Age." As he explodes many accepted myths (i.e. "walking the plank" is pure fiction), Cordingly replaces them with a truth that is more complex and often bloodier.
©2006 David Cordingly (P)2011 Gildan Media Corp
Sticky Teams
Summary
Serving as a church leader can be a tough assignment. Whatever your role, odds are you’ve known your share of the frustration, conflict, and disillusionment that comes with silly turf battles, conflicting vision, and marathon meetings. No doubt, you’ve asked yourself, “How did it get this way?” With practical and accessible wisdom, Larry Osborne explains how it got this way. He exposes the hidden roadblocks, structures, and goofy thinking that sabotage even the best intentioned teams. Then, with time-tested and proven strategies, he shows what it takes to get (and keep) a board, staff, and congregation on the same page. Whatever your situation; from start-up phase, to mid-sized, to megachurch, Osborne has been there. As the pastor of North Coast Church, he’s walked his board, staff, and congregation through the process. Now, with warm encouragement and penetrating insights, he shares his secrets to building and maintaining a healthy and unified ministry team that sticks together for the long haul.
©2010 Larry Osborne (P)2010 Zondervan