Peter Marinker has narrated 16 audiobooks on Listento.it by 18 authors, with an average listener rating of 3.5★ across 146 ratings. The most-rated is The Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award Shortlist Collection 2019.
The Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award Shortlist Collection 2019
Summary
Diverse and moving, these six outstanding stories are meditations on grief and loss, love, communication and loneliness. Each one will take the reader on a brief yet unforgettable journey into private worlds and unexpected corners of the human heart. The shortlisted stories have all been chosen for this year's Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award - the world's richest and most prestigious prize for a single short story, dubbed the 'equivalent of the Man Booker for the short story' by the Sydney Morning Herald. The finalists of 2019 come from three continents, whose exceptional stories span such diverse territory as high end fashion, the Troubles, a disastrous poetry anthology cross-cultural romance and family secrets. But all are linked by their competence and artistry, through stylistic inventiveness, dark humour, intricacy, and a masterful formal control. This podcast is free for members. You can download all 6 episodes to your Library now.
©2018 Joe Dunthorne, Paul Dalla Rosa, Louise Kennedy, Kevin Barry, 2019 Danielle McLaughlin, Emma Cline (P)2019 Audible, Ltd.
The Examined Life
Summary
An extraordinary book for anyone eager to understand the hidden motives that shape our lives. We are all storytellers—we create stories to make sense of our lives. But it is not enough to tell tales; there must be someone to listen. In his work as a practicing psychoanalyst, Stephen Grosz has spent the last twenty-five years uncovering the hidden feelings behind our most baffling behavior. The Examined Life distills more than fifty thousand hours of conversation into pure psychological insight without the jargon. This extraordinary book is about one ordinary process: talking, listening, and understanding. Its aphoristic and elegant stories teach us a new kind of attentiveness. They also unveil a delicate self-portrait of the analyst at work and show how lessons learned in the consulting room can reveal as much to the analyst as to the patient. These are stories about our everyday lives; they are about the people we love and the lies we tell, the changes we bear and the grief. Ultimately, they show us not only how we lose ourselves but also how we might find ourselves.
©2013 Stephen Grosz (P)2013 Blackstone Audio
Snow Falling on Cedars
Summary
Heavy snow falls on San Piedro and impedes the progress of Kabuo Miyomoto's trial. Hatsue, Kabuo's wife and Ishmael, a journalist on the case, find themselves reckoning with the past and their lost love.
©1996 David Guterson (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
East of the Mountains
Summary
Ben Given's wife has died, he, a heart surgeon, is unwell and life for him is not worth living. He sets off into the wilds bent on dying out there only to find himself caught up in an eye-opening, life-enhancing diversion.
©2014 Audible, Inc.; 1999 David Guterson
The Mammoth Book of Cover-Ups
Summary
The Assassination of JFK, 9/11, The Da Vinci Code, The Death of Diana, Men in Black, Pearl Harbor, The Illuminati, Protocols of Zion, Hess, The Bilderberg Group, New World Order, Elvis Fluoridization, Martin Luther King's murder, Opus Dei, The Gemstone Files, John Paul I, Dead Sea Scrolls, Lockerbie bombing, Black helicopters...In other words everything 'they' never wanted you to know and were afraid you might ask! Jon E. Lewis explores the 100 most terrifying cover-ups of all time, from the invention of Jesus' divinity (pace The Da Vinci Code) to Bush's and Blair's real agenda in invading Iraq. Entertainingly written and closely documented, the book provides each cover-up with a plausibility rating. Uncover why the Titanic sank, ponder the sinister Vatican/Mafia network that plotted the assassination of liberal John Paul, find out why NASA 'lost' its files on Mars, read why no-one enters Area 51, and consider why medical supplies were already on site at Edgware Road before the 7/7 bombs detonated. Just because you are paranoid, it doesn't mean that they aren't out to conspire against you.
©2007 Jon E. Lewis (P)2012 Constable & Robinson
Payback (BBC Radio 4: Saturday Play)
Summary
A BBC Radio 4 'Saturday Play' investigating how domestic and international politics were about to combine in 1973, to change the Middle East forever.Starring Henry Goodman and Peter Marinker, 'Payback' was originally broadcast on 22 January 2011. 6th October 1973.Golda Meir has become Prime Minister of Israel in her seventies. Syrian and Egyptian troops are massing on Israel's borders, but despite eleven warnings of impending war in the past month, the Israeli cabinet has not called up the reserve. In Florida, Richard Nixon awaits the final verdict of the Washington Appeal court on his objections to surrendering the Watergate Tapes. In New York, Henry Kissinger is about to be woken at his room in the Waldorf Astoria, with news of a new Middle East War.Stars Henry Goodman as Henry Kissinger, Peter Marinker as Richard Nixon and Sara Kestelman as Golda Meir. Also included in the cast are Kerry Shale, Ewan Bailey, Sam Dale, Sean Baker and Christine Kavanagh. Produced and directed by Jonquil Panting.
©2009 Jonathan Myerson (P)2011 AudioGO Ltd
The Jesus-Deal, Episodes 1-4
Summary
In the sequel to the "The Jesus-Video", the video has caused for some changes and it is a blessing and a curse for Stephen Foxx and Judith Menez. Meanwhile, a man named Samuel Barron is trying something else entirely. He wants to recreate the time travel and sends back his son and three companions. They are to bring back Jesus Christ to the present time. If they can bring back the Son of God, will that fulfil the prophesized return of Jesus and more importantly, will it cause the Apocalypse? This collection contains all four episodes of the audio thriller mini-series "The Jesus-Deal". Episode 1: Keeper of the Legacy. Even after moving to the US, Stephen Foxx and Judith Menez are still pursued by their past and the existence of the Jesus video is both a blessing and a curse. Meanwhile, the orthodox ascetic Samuel Barron, one of the richest men alive, has his own agenda: After years of planning, Barron intends to send his son Michael and three companions back in time. 2000 years in the past, to be precise. Episode 2: Ex Machina. Michael Barron and his companions are sent back 2000 years with his father’s secretly built time machine. However, their goal is more than just meeting Jesus of Nazareth. Samuel Barron wants them to bring Jesus Christ back to the present time to fulfil the prophesized return of the Son of God himself - all the while knowing that he'll start the Apocalypse on earth. Episode 3: The Last Supper. While Michael and his companions try to track down Jesus Christ, Judith's brother Yehoshuah is kidnapped by the Mossad. Stephen and Judith have to return to Israel and try to find him. But this isn't a simple kidnapping. All evidence suggests that someone is planning an assault on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem - a guaranteed start to a Third World War. The Apocalypse seems to be within reach. Episode 4: New Beginnings. With the Mossad's help, Stephen and Judith find out more about the terror threat: a passenger aircraft loaded with explosive material is supposed to crash into the city. Meanwhile, Michael Barron and his companions reach their goal: they meet Jesus Christ personally. Will their plan of kidnapping the Son of God succeed? And can Stephen and the others still prevent the end of the world?
©2017 Bastei Lübbe (Lübbe Audio) (P)2017 Lübbe Audio
Tiny
Summary
A quirky BBC Radio 4 comedy by Ben Lewis about a teenager who becomes an Internet phenomenon. Originally broadcast as the Afternoon Play on 17 September 2010. This is the story of a legend in the making. A nervous young man lives at the dead end of a dead-end town. On his 18th birthday, he comes into his inheritance. With a little help from an old teacher, he finds it equips him to broadcast over the Internet. Living in a house where rolling news is a constant presence, he does what comes naturally: he fires up his computer and presents the news. But his news is different. It puts a spring in its audience's step. That is, until his grandma starts to grow suspicious about what this boy is getting up to nightly in his bedroom and tries to put a stop to the broadcasts completely. Starring Joshua Jenkins as the boy and Julia McKenzie as his grandma. Also featuring Mark Heap, Peter Marinker, and Alison Pettitt. Directed by Kirsty Williams.
©2011 AudioGO Ltd (P)2010 Ben Lewis
Choosing Not to Choose
Summary
Our ability to make choices is fundamental to our sense of ourselves as human beings and essential to the political values of freedom-protecting nations. Whom we love; where we work; how we spend our time; what we buy: such choices define us in the eyes of ourselves and others, and much blood and ink has been spilt to establish and protect our rights to make them freely. Choice can also be a burden. Our cognitive capacity to research and make the best decisions is limited, so every active choice comes at a cost. In modern life the requirement to make active choices can often be overwhelming. So, across broad areas of our lives, from health plans to energy suppliers, many of us choose not to choose. By following our default options, we save ourselves the costs of making active choices. By setting those options, governments and corporations dictate the outcomes for when we decide by default. This is among the most significant ways in which they effect social change, yet we are just beginning to understand the power and impact of default rules. Many central questions remain unanswered: when should governments set such defaults, and when should they insist on active choices? How should such defaults be made? What makes some defaults successful while others fail? Cass R. Sunstein has long been at the forefront of developing public policy and regulation to use government power to encourage people to make better decisions. In this major new book, Choosing Not to Choose, he presents his most complete argument yet for how we should understand the value of choice and when and how we should enable people to choose not to choose. The onset of big data gives corporations and governments the power to make ever more sophisticated decisions on our behalf, defaulting us to buy the goods we predictably want or vote for the parties and policies we predictably support. As consumers we are starting to embrace the benefits this can bring. But should we? What will be the long-term effects of limiting our active choices on our agency? And can such personalised defaults be imported from the marketplace to politics and the law? Confronting the challenging future of data-driven decision-making, Sunstein presents a manifesto for how personalised defaults should be used to enhance, rather than restrict, our freedom and well-being.
©2015 Cass R. Sunstein (P)2019 W. F. Howes Ltd
The Cost-Benefit Revolution
Summary
Why policies should be based on careful consideration of their costs and benefits rather than on intuition, popular opinion, interest groups and anecdotes. Opinions on government policies vary widely. Some people feel passionately about the child obesity epidemic and support government regulation of sugary drinks. Others argue that people should be able to eat and drink whatever they like. Some people are alarmed about climate change and favour aggressive government intervention. Others don't feel the need for any sort of climate regulation. In The Cost-Benefit Revolution, Cass Sunstein argues our major disagreements really involve facts, not values. It follows that government policy should not be based on public opinion, intuitions or pressure from interest groups but on numbers - meaning careful consideration of costs and benefits. Will a policy save one life or one thousand lives? Will it impose costs on consumers, and if so, will the costs be high or negligible? Will it hurt workers and small businesses, and, if so, precisely how much? As the Obama administration's "regulatory czar", Sunstein knows his subject in both theory and practice. Drawing on behavioural economics and his well-known emphasis on "nudging", he celebrates the cost-benefit revolution in policymaking, tracing its defining moments in the Reagan, Clinton, and Obama administrations (and pondering its uncertain future in the Trump administration). He acknowledges that public officials often lack information about costs and benefits and outlines state-of-the-art techniques for acquiring that information. Policies should make people's lives better. Quantitative cost-benefit analysis, Sunstein argues, is the best available method for making this happen - even if, in the future, new measures of human well-being, also explored in this book, may be better still.
©2018 Cass R. Sunstein (P)2019 W. F. Howes Ltd
Mammoth Books Presents: Missing Persons and Mysterious Deaths
Summary
Christopher Marlowe Marlowe was a radical, a homosexual and an atheist, but what really happened to this notorious free-thinking Elizabethan in 1593? Diana, Princess of Wales Mohamed Al-Fayed points the finger at Prince Phillip, an accusation which sparked a multi-million pound investigation. Elvis Presley Elvis is supposedly alive and well, and has been spotted countless times since his death in 1977. Has anyone actually seen the real Elvis Presley? John F. Kennedy Who was with Lee Harvey Oswald when he supposedly killed the US President? Jimmy Hoffa The ex-president of the US Teamsters Union ate a meal at Machus Red Fox restaurant in Detroit, paid for his meal and walked straight out straight into an American mythology. What happened to Jimmy Hoffa? John Lennon Was Mark David Chapman simply a deranged fan, or is there some truth to the theory that he was actually a Manchurian Candidate, brainwashed and pre-programmed to kill on command? Martin Luther King Millions believe James Earl Ray did not have the capability to execute Martin Luther King alone, but is it true that Ray was merely a patsy? And many more!
©2007 Jon E. Lewis (P)2012 Constable & Robinson
The Black Russian
Summary
The Black Russian is the incredible story of Frederick Bruce Thomas, born in 1872 to former slaves who became prosperous farmers in Mississippi. A rich white planter’s attempt to steal their land forced them to flee to Memphis, where Frederick’s father was brutally murdered. After leaving the South and working as a waiter and valet in Chicago and Brooklyn, Frederick sought greater freedom in London, then crisscrossed Europe, and - in a highly unusual choice for a black American at the time - went to Russia in 1899. Because he found no color line there, Frederick made Moscow his home. He renamed himself Fyodor Fyodorovich Tomas, married twice, acquired a mistress, and took Russian citizenship. Through his hard work, charm, and guile he became one of the city’s richest and most famous owners of variety theaters and restaurants. But the Bolshevik Revolution ruined him, and he barely escaped with his life and family to Constantinople in 1919. Starting from scratch, he made a second fortune by opening celebrated nightclubs that introduced jazz to Turkey. However, the long arm of American racism, the xenophobia of the new Turkish Republic, and Frederick’s own extravagance landed him in debtors’ prison. He died in Constantinople in 1928.
©2013 Vladimir Alexandrov (P)2013 Blackstone Audio
Tree Wisdom
Summary
Trees are our constant companions. They stand tall above us, shading us from the sun. They breathe in and out, feeding us oxygen. They weather the storms, protecting us from danger. As children we intuitively understand the impact trees have on our lives. We sit beneath their branches, we collect their fallen leaves, we hug their trunks in thanks. But in the process of growing up, we forget these gentle giants. We move to cities, we commute through concrete jungles, and we switch off from nature. Opera singer and forester Vincent Karche knows the impact of disconnecting all too well. After years away from his forestry roots, and under the stress of an international singing career, burnout took its toll and he lost his voice. Vincent's healing journey took him to the forests of northern Canada, where he reconnected with trees and recovered not just his voice, but his joy for life. In Tree Wisdom, Vincent teaches us what a year of healing among the trees can look like. Each lesson mirrors the wondrous way our tall timber friends have learned to thrive through the seasons. Each lesson is simple in nature, a push of the pause button, a chance to re-centre on what matters. If you can hear the call of nature, willing you back to a simpler time, this audiobook will show you the way.
©2019 Vincent Karche (P)2019 Hay House
Reality Hunger
Summary
Reality Hunger is a manifesto for a burgeoning group of interrelated but unconnected artists who, living in an unbearably artificial world, are breaking ever larger chunks of 'reality' into their work. The questions Shields explores - the bending of form and genre, the lure and blur of the real - play out constantly around us, and Reality Hunger is a radical reframing of how we might think about this 'truthiness'. Reality Hunger questions every assumption we ever made about art, the novel, journalism, poetry, film, TV, rap, stand-up, graffiti, sampling, plagiarism, writing, and reading. Drawing on myriad stances, David Shields seeks to tear up the old culture in search of something new and more authentic.
©2010 David Shields (P)2011 Penguin Books Ltd
Mammoth Books Presents: Secret Organisations
Summary
Black Helicopters: Black helicopters are believed by some to be used for the surveillance of patriotic groups opposed to the takeover of the United States by foreign powers. Those sinister, silent, Black Hawk Down-style copters are hard to miss, but what exactly is their role? The British Royal Family: According to Lyndon LaRouche, the British royal family are imperial masters of the planet. Is it possible that Satan lives in Buckingham Palace? The Illuminati: So powerful are the Illuminati that they are said to mastermind events and completely control world affairs, but how much do we actually know about them? Le Cercle: A transnational, clandestine cabal of influential individuals, the group prides itself on complete anonymity. Only a handful of articles are known to have been written about the group, so what do we really know about them? MK-ULTRA: What went on under MK-ULTRA? And did anybody ever receive reasonable compensation? New World Order: How powerful is this group that seek to enable a one-world government? Omega Agency: The Omega Agency and its allies, the aliens, are devising a plan to restore the planet's environment after the OA take over New World Order dictatorship. P2 (Propaganda Due): Did P2 set out a plan for a fascist coup in which unions would be banned and the media would be placed under state control? Skull and Bones: "It's so secret we can't talk about it," George W. Bush said on the membership of Skull & Bones. Does this organisation control the US?
©2007 Jon E. Lewis (P)2012 Constable & Robinson
The House of the Seven Gables
Summary
"To inherit a great fortune. To inherit a great misfortune." These words, from Nathaniel Hawthorne's notebook, neatly encapsulate the theme of The House of the Seven Gables - that of a family whose fortunes are poisoned by its past misdeeds. The sins of the Pyncheon father are visited upon his children over a period of several generations, until such time as one of his descendants unites with a member of the family he has wronged. Love conquers hate, and new blood washes away the original crime. This intriguing and insightful novel truly deserves its significant place in the canon of American literature.
Public Domain (P)1996 NAXOS AudioBooks Ltd.