Liam Gerrard has narrated 37 audiobooks on Listento.it by 46 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.6★ across 48 ratings. The most-rated is The Open Society and Its Enemies.
The Demon in Democracy
Summary
Ryszard Legutko lived and suffered under communism for decades - and he fought with the Polish anti-communist movement to abolish it. Having lived for two decades under a liberal democracy, however, he has discovered that these two political systems have a lot more in common than one might think. They both stem from the same historical roots in early modernity, and accept similar presuppositions about history, society, religion, politics, culture, and human nature. In The Demon in Democracy, Legutko explores the shared objectives between these two political systems, and explains how liberal democracy has, over time, lurched towards the same goals as communism, albeit without Soviet-style brutality. Both systems, says Legutko, reduce human nature to that of the common man, who is led to believe himself liberated from the obligations of the past. Both the communist man and the liberal democratic man refuse to admit that there exists anything of value outside the political systems to which they pledged their loyalty. And both systems refuse to undertake any critical examination of their ideological prejudices.
©2016 Ryszard Legutko (P)2017 Tantor
Slowdown
Summary
A powerful and counterintuitive argument that we should welcome the current slowdown - of population growth, economies, and technological innovation Drawing from an incredibly rich trove of global data, this groundbreaking book reveals that human progress has been slowing down since the early 1970s. Danny Dorling uses compelling visualizations to illustrate how fertility rates, growth in GDP per person, increases in life expectancy, and even the frequency of new social movements have all steadily declined over the last few generations. Perhaps most surprising of all is the fact that even as new technologies frequently reshape our everyday lives and are widely believed to be propelling our civilization into new and uncharted waters, the rate of technological progress is also rapidly dropping. Rather than lament this turn of events, Dorling embraces it as a moment of promise and a move toward stability, and he notes that many of the older great strides in progress that have defined recent history also brought with them widespread warfare, divided societies, and massive inequality.
©2020 Danny Dorling (P)2020 Tantor
To Bed the Bride
Summary
New York Times best-selling author Karen Ranney’s captivating series concludes with a tale of opposites whose attraction scorches a trail from the Highlands to the glittering halls of London - and courts scandal at every turn.... Politics has introduced MP Logan McKnight to many fascinating people, but the lady he encounters on the lands bordering his ancestral Scottish home outshines them all. Eleanor Craig of Hearthmere seats a Thoroughbred like a queen, knows as much about world events as any of his colleagues - and is engaged to one of the worst men Logan knows. She also seems lonely, so Logan brings her a friend. Thus should their acquaintance end, yet it’s only just begun. The puppy Logan delivers is every bit as irresistible as the man himself. How could this stranger sense the isolation Eleanor suffers among her scheming, snobbish extended family and fiancé who control her life? It’s even worse in London - until she begins meeting Logan secretly in a secluded park. Their passionate connection frees Eleanor, body and soul. But discovery threatens disgrace - or worse.
©2019 Karen Ranney (P)2019 HarperAudio
Palaces of Pleasure
Summary
The Victorians invented mass entertainment. As the 19th century's growing industrialized class acquired the funds and the free time to pursue leisure activities, their every whim was satisfied by entrepreneurs building new venues for popular amusement. Contrary to their reputation as dour, buttoned-up prudes, the Victorians reveled in these newly created "palaces of pleasure". In this vivid, captivating book, Lee Jackson charts the rise of well known institutions such as gin palaces, music halls, seaside resorts, and football clubs, as well as the more peculiar attractions of the pleasure garden and international exposition, ranging from parachuting monkeys and human zoos to theme park thrill rides. He explores how vibrant mass entertainment came to dominate leisure time and how the attempts of religious groups and secular improvers to curb "immorality" in the pub, variety theater, and dance hall faltered in the face of commercial success. The Victorians' unbounded love of leisure created a nationally significant and influential economic force: the modern entertainment industry.
©2019 Lee Jackson (P)2019 Tantor
I, Iago
Summary
The critically acclaimed author of The Fool's Tale, Nicole Galland now approaches William Shakespeare's classic drama of jealousy, betrayal, and murder from the opposite side. I, Iago is an ingenious, brilliantly crafted novel that allows one of literature's greatest villains - the deceitful schemer Iago, from the Bard's immortal tragedy, Othello - to take center stage in order to reveal his "true" motivations. This is Iago as you've never known him, his past and influences breathtakingly illuminated, in a fictional reexamination that explores the eternal question: is true evil the result of nature versus nurture...or something even more complicated? Contains mature themes.
©2012 Nicole Galland (P)2020 Tantor
Fossil Capital
Summary
How capitalism first promoted fossil fuels with the rise of steam power The more we know about the catastrophic implications of climate change, the more fossil fuels we burn. How did we end up in this mess? In this masterful new history, Andreas Malm claims it all began in Britain with the rise of steam power. But why did manufacturers turn from traditional sources of power, notably water mills, to an engine fired by coal? Contrary to established views, steam offered neither cheaper nor more abundant energy - but rather superior control of subordinate labor. Animated by fossil fuels, capital could concentrate production at the most profitable sites and during the most convenient hours, as it continues to do today. Sweeping from 19th-century Manchester to the emissions explosion in China, from the original triumph of coal to the stalled shift to renewables, this study hones in on the burning heart of capital and demonstrates, in unprecedented depth, that turning down the heat will mean a radical overthrow of the current economic order.
©2016 Andreas Malm (P)2020 Tantor
Tuk-Tuk for Two
Summary
"The race." She said. "India. Were you serious...?" About racing a tuk-tuk 1,000 kilometers through India with a woman I'd just met? No, I wasn't serious. "There's a 50 percent chance we'll die. And the flight's in two days. But if you want to, okay...." It was not a reasonable offer. But then she wasn't a reasonable woman. She was certainly unreasonably attractive. I tried not to let that sway me, which was like a hammock deciding a tornado wouldn't sway it. And driving terrified me; I hadn't done it in a decade. But if I could drive in India, I could drive anywhere. If I drive a tuk-tuk, I could drive anything. And if I said yes, I'd get to spend 10 days with her. Would that be enough time to find out who she was, what she wanted, and then convince her to abandon that and want me instead? There was only one way to find out....
©2020 Adam Fletcher (P)2021 Tantor
The Ultimate Colin Wilson
Summary
The best of Colin Wilson in one fantastic volume. Containing extracts from Wilson's work on existentialism, criminology, psychology, and the occult, this is an invaluable introduction to one of the late 20th century's most incisive thinkers. This is a new edition of the classic Colin Wilson collection The Essential Colin Wilson (first published in 1985), updated and introduced by Wilson's bibliographer Colin Stanley. It is the only book to contain extracts from Colin Wilson's most important work in one volume, including The Outsider, A Criminal History of Mankind, The New Existentialism, The Occult, New Pathways in Psychology, and Mysteries, as well as three of his novels and many other texts. Subjects covered include existentialism, criminology, psychology, consciousness studies, the occult, and much more. This second edition includes all of the original volume plus six essential post-1985 essays and chapters chosen by Stanley and other Colin Wilson experts including Gary Lachman. These essays provide a much needed update covering aspects of Wilson's work from the 28 years that followed the publication of the first edition to his death in December 2013. This is an invaluable introduction for those approaching one of the late 20th century's most incisive thinkers for the first time and also a timely reminder, to Colin Wilson's many fans and scholars worldwide, of a unique and challenging body of work.
©2019 Joy Wilson Colin Wilson Estate (P)2019 Tantor
Don't Come Back
Summary
Adam Fletcher's life hates him.... That's how it feels since he lost his girlfriend of nine years, his confidence, hair, and home. But then he receives an email from a mysterious stranger offering him a free holiday of a lifetime. It's too good to be true. But then what does he have to lose? So he says yes. And then things gets strange.... Catapulted through the wilds of South Africa, Cuba, and Indonesia, he must fight an angry baboon armed with just a sock; hike into an active volcano to meet people with the worst job in the world; have coffee and biscuits with a stranger's dead grandma; go on a double-date with a very flirtatious princess; stare down hungry Komodo dragons; be rushed to hospital by emergency speedboat; and discover why it's a really bad idea to become a gold digger in Papua New Guinea. A lot of strange things are about to happen to him. He's not ready for any of them....
©2020 Adam Fletcher (P)2021 Tantor
Enchantment of a Highlander
Summary
Love is the most potent of remedies. The sweeping historical romance that began with Deception of a Highlander, and continued with Possession of a Highlander, reaches its dazzling conclusion in this scorcher set on the Scottish plains. Alec MacLean returns home after a decade to find his recently deceased father has let his inheritance fall to ruin. As the new laird, it's Alec's responsibility to rebuild the castle and restore the lands. He must also regain the people's trust after having abandoned them so long ago, a feat not easily done when he fears he's plagued with the same darkness as his father. Celia escaped the North Berwick witch trials at a young age, surviving because of the sacrifice of her beloved caretaker. She's made a life for herself in the wilds of Scotland where no laird rules, a life where she heals for coin, a life without love so she can never feel the hurt of loss again. When the new laird comes back to claim his land, his determination to restore order threatens everything Celia has worked so hard to gain, especially with the undeniable attraction sizzling between them. Together, they will face all challenges, from the tangle of their own damaged pasts to the fire-fueled witch hunts sweeping the Isle of Mull. Together, they will find that the best way to overcome darkness and war is through the undeniable light of love.
©2016 Madeline Martin (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
The Witness for the Dead
Summary
Katherine Addison returns at last to the world of The Goblin Emperor with this stand-alone sequel. When the young half-goblin emperor, Maia, sought to learn who had killed his father and half-brothers, he turned to an obscure resident of his Court, a Prelate of Ulis and a Witness for the Dead. Thara Celehar found the truth, though it did him no good to discover it. Now Celehar lives in the city of Amalo, far from the Court though not exactly in exile. He has not escaped from politics, but his position gives him the ability to serve the common people of the city, which is his preference. He lives modestly, but his decency and fundamental honesty will not permit him to live quietly. A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books
©2021 Katherine Addison (P)2021 Macmillan Audio
The Ball Is Round
Summary
The definitive book about soccer, from the author of The Games: A Global History of the Olympics. There may be no cultural practice more global than soccer. Rites of birth and marriage are infinitely diverse, but the rules of soccer are universal. No world religion can match its geographical scope. The single greatest simultaneous human collective experience is the World Cup final. In this extraordinary tour de force, David Goldblatt tells the full story of soccer's rise from chaotic folk ritual to the world's most popular sport - now poised to fully establish itself in the USA. Already celebrated internationally, The Ball Is Round illuminates soccer's role in the political and social histories of modern societies, but never loses sight of the beauty, joy, and excitement of the game itself.
©2006 David Goldblatt (P)2020 Tantor
Possession of a Highlander
Summary
Love can be the greatest possession. Brianna Lindsay's grip on the inheritance that is rightly hers hangs by a thread. If the town finds out her father has died, Brianna will be forced into marriage with her loathsome cousin, Lord Robert, and will lose all of Edzell Castle and its lands. To protect her home, she'll have to trust a complete stranger, a brooding Highland barbarian who sweeps into Edzell with a small retinue and insists on replacing her captain of the guard. He proves his worth by defeating her men, and she has no choice but to accept his offer. Though his motives are suspect, Colin MacKinnon has nobility in his blood and good intentions in coming to Edzell. He seeks his own kingdom, one to rival his father's, and sets out to conquer Brianna in the best way he knows how - with seduction. Brianna never thought that of all the wealth she protects, the one thing she has left completely vulnerable is her heart. Colin never thought that of everything he stands to achieve, he might have to face the unexpected pain of loss. Together they must navigate a treacherous world of spies and intrigue, of legacy and fidelity, of love and betrayal, to find what is truly worth possessing.
©2015 Madeline Martin (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
In Praise of Walking
Summary
A hymn to walking, the mechanical magic at the core of our humanity. In this captivating book, neuroscientist Shane O'Mara invites us to marvel at the benefits walking confers on our bodies and brains, and to appreciate the advantages of this uniquely human skill. From walking's evolutionary origins, traced back millions of years to life forms on the ocean floor, to new findings from cutting-edge research, he reveals how the brain and nervous system give us the ability to balance, weave through a crowded city, and run our "inner GPS" system. Walking is good for our muscles and posture; it helps to protect and repair organs, and can slow or turn back the aging of our brains. With our minds in motion we think more creatively, our mood improves, and stress levels fall. Walking together to achieve a shared purpose is also a social glue that has contributed to our survival as a species. As our lives become increasingly sedentary, O'Mara makes the case that we must start walking again-whether it's up a mountain, down to the park, or simply to school and work. In Praise of Walking illuminates the joys, health benefits, and mechanics of walking, and reminds us to get out of our chairs and discover a happier, healthier, more creative self.
©2019 Shane O'Mara (P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Deception of a Highlander
Summary
Scottish romance doesn't get much steamier - or more dangerous - than a spy hunting her quarry and losing her heart to him instead. To pay a seemingly impossible debt, Mariel Brandon has become a spy for Aaron, one of England's deadliest minds. Aaron's latest mission for the sharp-witted and daring Mariel is to find two people in a heavily fortified castle on the Isle of Skye, a castle headed by the clan MacDonald and the powerful Kieran. Mariel is to seduce Kieran and get him to take her to Skye. If she succeeds, Aaron promises to let Mariel's young brother go and to free both of them from their debt. If she fails, her brother will die. What she doesn't count on is craving Kieran MacDonald almost immediately upon meeting him. Now Mariel must keep a secret from Kieran - one that could get them both killed - as she tries to form a plan that will save her brother, get her out from under Aaron's thumb once and for all, and keep her in Kieran's strong arms forever.
©2014 Madeline Martin (P)2015 Audible, Inc.
The Laughing Baby
Summary
The laughter of tiny babies is endearing, entrancing, and infectious. Powerful enough to reinvigorate even the most weary parent, it is also a fascinating window into what they are learning. Long before they can talk, babies communicate their experience of the world through laughter and tears. Until now, however, psychologists and parenting experts have largely focused on moments of stress and confusion. Dr. Caspar Addyman is a developmental psychologist who decided to change that. For six years Caspar has run the Baby Laughter project, collecting data, videos, and stories from parents all over the world. He learned that laughter and smiles are of central importance at the start of life, defining our cognitive and emotional development. Squeals of joy accompany all of a baby's little breakthroughs, connecting them to their nearest and dearest. The Laughing Baby is the culmination of Caspar's research. Moving chronologically through the first two years of infancy, it shows how babies provide the origin story for our incredible abilities, and how understanding them is key to understanding ourselves.
©2020 Caspar Addyman (P)2021 Tantor
Pimsleur Japanese Level 4 Lessons 11-15
Summary
The easiest and fastest way to learn Japanese With Pimsleur you’ll become conversational in Japanese - to understand and be understood - quickly and effectively. You’ll learn vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation together through conversation. And our scientifically proven program will help you remember what you’ve learned, so you can put it into action. Why Pimsleur? Quick and easy - only 30 minutes a day. Portable and flexible - core lessons can be done anytime, anywhere, and easily fit into your busy life. Proven method - works when other methods fail. Self-paced - go fast or go slow - it’s up to you. Based in science - developed using proven research on memory and learning. Cost-effective - less expensive than classes or immersion and features all native speakers. Genius - triggers your brain’s natural aptitude to learn. Works for everyone - recommended for ages 13 and above. What’s included? Five 30-minute audio lessons, all featuring native speakers What you’ll learn: This course includes Lessons 11-15 from the Japanese Level 4 program featuring 2.5 hours of language instruction. Each lesson provides 30 minutes of spoken language practice, with an introductory conversation and new vocabulary and structures. Detailed instructions enable you to understand and participate in the conversation. Practice for vocabulary introduced in previous lessons is included in each lesson. The emphasis is on pronunciation and comprehension and on learning to speak Japanese. Whether you want to travel, communicate with friends or colleagues, reconnect with family, or just understand more of what’s going on in the world around you, Pimsleur will help you learn Japanese, expand your horizons, and enrich your life.
©2020 Pimsleur (P)2020 Simon & Schuster Audio