Scott R. Smith has narrated 44 audiobooks on Listento.it by 33 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.3★ across 1,281 ratings. The most-rated is And Then There Were None.
The Disbelief Habit: How to Use Doubt to Make Peace with Your Inner Critic
Summary
Can’t stop your critical thoughts? With mindfulness, you have critical thoughts… without the suffering. From an early age, many of us have this critical voice in our head that we call the inner critic. It’s the voice that tells us: You are not good enough. You will never amount to anything. You are a bad person. You don’t deserve love. No one loves you. You can’t do it. We have tried many different exercises and techniques to get rid of it, but nothing works. These intrusive thoughts keep popping up whenever they want. And they make us feel frustrated! Instead of overcoming our self-criticism, we end up making the inner critic our enemy and blame ourselves for having such self-loathing thoughts. Some of us even believe that beating ourselves up is good for us and keeps our behaviors in check. Have you tried to stop your negative thoughts? How is that working for you? Self-criticism isn’t the problem. Our resistance to it is. The truth is we can’t control most of our thoughts. Our unhealthy, habitual ways of thinking are the result of past conditioning, and they have become a part of our protective mechanism. It’s not easy to change this system overnight. Instead of fixing and resisting our thoughts, we can change our unconscious reactions to those judgments. Our inner critic might be unkind to us, but that doesn’t mean we have to believe everything it says. The reason why we continue to feel hurt by our negative self-talk is not that the words are hurtful. It’s because we are quick to believe that these harsh criticisms about us are true! Buy The Disbelief Habit: How to Use Doubt to Make Peace with Your Inner Critic The purpose of this audiobook is to help you be more aware and skeptical of your self-loathing thoughts. In this book, you’ll learn: Why you shouldn’t take your thoughts too seriously Why your mind is so critical and hard on you What are the four common reactions to self-criticism and how to react to your critical thoughts What is and what isn’t disbelieving 5 examples of how to separate the truth from the fiction How to notice your unconscious reaction How to identify the message that your inner critic is conveying How to make doubting your new habit The Disbelief Habit provides you the steps to practice mindfulness and make peace with your mind. Just test it out and experience the change for yourself.
©2017 Yong Kang Chan (P)2018 Yong Kang Chan
The Narrows
Summary
"I can show you how to enter the Narrows to find what you seek."
Oliver and his friends have returned to their hometown of Shumard, Texas for the funeral of their close friend Noah. They each grapple with the loss in their own ways, trying to understand the strange circumstances of their friend's unexpected death.
While visiting the site where the body was found, Oliver stumbles across a chilling discovery that he knows must be related to what happened to Noah. Wanting to protect his friends from these newfound horrors, Oliver takes it upon himself to venture into the grotesque other world known as the Narrows to learn what happened to his friend and find a way to bring him back.
Entering the Narrows is one thing, but will whatever he finds there allow him to leave?
©2018 Travis M. Riddle (P)2019 Travis M. Riddle
The Whistleblower Onslaught
Summary
When experienced employment attorney Scott Winslow takes on a whistle-blower case for fired energy company executive Kevin Walters, actions are set in motion that will change lives forever. Scott pursues a lawsuit alleging that his client was fired for complaining about unsafe conditions in the company's mines that endangered workers. Along the way, Scott discovers that government records were altered in the wake of an explosion that killed one mine worker and injured three others. As they search, Scott and his team discover blackmail, sanitized records, and a corporate cover-up. And something else - there is someone out there who wants the case dismissed at all costs, enough to threaten them and then to come after Kevin Walters, as well as Scott and his family. They all find themselves targets of that someone with his own agenda as they chase the evidence they need to prove the case at trial.
©2017 David P. Warren (P)2018 David P. Warren
Firemen, Flames, and Fettuccine
Summary
When Grady Madison was forced out of the closet, he thought his life would change for the worse, but he soon realizes he can date men without having to hide it from his coworkers. Attraction fires when he runs into Paul Sessa, filling him with fiery hot desire. Grady thinks the goofy clown suit he wore to the charity event is a huge turnoff for the hot bear Paul, but being goofy is his comfort zone. Paul Sessa wants a man of his own and not just another hookup. But that guy has to pass his daughter’s scrutiny, and she’s one smart cookie. Paul asks Grady to stop by his restaurant, but Grady is unsure. His insecurities almost keep him from going, but he takes a chance. Taking things slow is the plan until they wind up with pants around their ankles before their first real date. Desire runs hotter than Paul’s kitchen at his restaurant, and he can’t let Grady go. But will Grady be okay with the family Paul has created, or will he ditch Paul because he already has commitments that can’t be ignored?
©2018 Sara York (P)2019 Sara York
Sealing Fate
Summary
Successful attorney and newly elected Congressman Brian Madsen has a beautiful wife and a great career. He has done everything right. Until now. At his inaugural, a congratulatory kiss from a campaign worker leads to passionate lovemaking. He waits for guilt to find him, but instead becomes embroiled in an affair, and his fate is sealed. A single decision in a moment of passion changes Brian's life. Soon, the path he has taken leads to murder, blackmail, and mortal danger to anyone Brian turns to for assistance.
©2003 David P. Warren (P)2018 David P. Warren
The Best Work of the Best Minds
Summary
Philosophy professor and entrepreneur Stephen Hicks takes a critical look at unquestioned assumptions in the arena of business ethics. Excerpt from The Best Work of the Best Minds: Business Ethics and Value Creation: "In the eyes of many a cloud of suspicion hangs over business. The reason is that the moral tradition out of which the competence ethic of business arises conflicts with a competing moral tradition that holds business to be immoral or, at best, amoral. For those who subscribe to this latter moral tradition, ethics is felt to be more a matter of stoically doing one's duty rather than having fun, of fulfilling one's obligations rather than fulfilling yourself, of obeying the rules rather than doing what's practical, of giving away rather than creating. Stooping to stereotypes, if this tradition's view of ethics could be personified, she would appear as a matron who goes about sniffing disapprovingly at anyone who seems to be having a good time. Having a good time means self-indulgence - but, she would declare, we are not here to have a good time; we are here to serve others, to be stewards for future generations, to be nice, to take up as little space in the world as possible. Above all, she would continue, we are here to sacrifice selflessly - to society as a whole, to God, for the greatest happiness of the greatest number, to Duty, to the working class, to the ecosystem."
©2014 The Atlas Society (P)2016 The Atlas Society
Cops, Cakes, and Coffee
Summary
Drake Knowles hides the truth from his macho cop buddies. He doesn't plan on stepping one foot outside of the closet, but then he meets Adam Hughes. Everything he believed about himself is challenged. Adam makes him feel amazing, and it's not just the sex. Adam has been out for ages and doesn't want to hide who he is, but dating Drake is different from any relationship he has ever been involved in before. When danger threatens their peace, exposing Drake to the community and to all of his friends, he has to make a choice. Drake doesn’t want to be out, but he wants Adam more than he wants to stay safe.
©2018 Sara York (P)2019 Sara York
Swing Vote
Summary
An IED blew up more than Marc North's career as a Cobra pilot - it shattered his plans for marriage. After being dumped by his girlfriend and spending more than a year in rehab, all he wants is to fly again. He jumps at the chance to partner with a combat buddy in a helicopter sightseeing business. Now, in a boomtown in southern Utah, Marc gets caught up with local politics. And the local election official. At work, McKenzie Terkildsen struggles to keep control of a dangerously contentious election. At home, she shares the challenge of raising younger half-brothers with her older step-brother. He complicates things by inviting a Marine buddy to stay with them while the two build a business together. As a council member takes liberty with facts and stirs the already caustic election brew, the last thing McKenzie needs is one more guy messing up her life - or her heart.
©2017 Donna K. Weaver (P)2018 Donna K. Weaver
Talking in Code
Summary
Some things crumble under pressure. Others are tempered by it instead. For three former soldiers, a tragedy might be the catalyst that binds them together - stronger than ever. Richard Horn and Timothy Davenport met in the SEALs 20 years ago, and have been lovers ever since. Now running their own paramilitary organization, Strike Force Omega, they work in the shadows to protect their country and its people. When Tim falls for Eric Newton, a deadly sniper and strategist on their team, Richard accepts that Tim's heart is big enough for two men. He respects, admires, and even desires Eric enough, to accept him into their relationship - and their bed - but he's never been fully a part of what Eric and Tim share. Then Eric is captured by terrorists and Tim is gravely injured in an op gone wrong, bringing Richard's world crashing down around his ears. Even if he gets his men out alive, Eric must face the aftermath of months of physical and psychological torture - and without Tim to lean on, Eric's PTSD is tearing him apart. Richard has to figure out the third leg of their triangle fast, or Tim won't have a life to come back to.
©2017 Ariel Tachna (P)2017 Dreamspinner Press
A Secret to Die For
Summary
When two executives in the pharmaceutical industry step forward to complain the drug test results being published are not accurate, they don’t expect to be fired; and they don’t expect anyone to be stalked, beaten, or killed. They have no idea what they will be up against for revealing a secret that will cost their employer billions of dollars. Aligor Pharmaceuticals has a new drug that they say will revolutionize cancer treatment, with the possibility of rescuing many in the final stages of the disease. Delexane is only weeks from FDA approval as the phase three trials conclude. The product is already generating millions of dollars with news of its arrival causing the stock price to soar. In a couple of months, the product will be released, and millions battling cancer are expected to benefit. The problem is, the 65 percent success rate that resulted in the first two phases of the drug test has fallen to only 12 percent in phase three, the biggest test group of the product trials, but Aligor continues to publicize a 65 percent success rate. Witnessing the failures of phase three, Aligor executives Martin Cardenas and Justin Palmer repeatedly approach Aligor’s top management about the discrepancy between the results the company continues to publish and the results actually documented. To the CEO, their continued silence becomes a question of loyalty. They are both abruptly terminated - and the fight begins. This is a timely story of a drug that is desperately needed in society. But Delexane is about to be rushed to the market prematurely, with its true performance and side effects hidden. And when a drug company doesn’t disclose the real data about a potential new drug to regulators or the public, there are millions of potential victims. Attorney Scott Winslow accepts representation of fired executives Cardenas and Palmer and goes to war with the pharma giant. Investigator Lee Henry goes to great lengths to access critical evidence.
©2020 David P. Warren (P)2020 David P. Warren
The Evidence of the Senses
Summary
In this highly original defense of realism, Atlas Society founder David Kelley argues perception is the direct awareness of objects in the environment, and perception is a reliable foundation for empirical knowledge. The framework for his argument is the Objectivist thesis of "the primacy of existence", in opposition to Cartesian representationalism and Kantian idealism.
In the first part of the audiobook, Kelley discusses the nature and validity of perception. He argues against classical sensationalist and modern computational theories, according to which perception involves inferences from sensory input, and shows how perception is the discrimination of objects as entities. His theory incorporates a key distinction between the object and the form in which it is perceived, which provides insights into the status of phenomenal qualities, the nature of perceptual constancy, issues of perceptual relativity, and the difference between primary and secondary qualities. On that basis, he rejects every form of representationalism.
The second part of the audiobook deals with the use of direct perception to justify conceptual knowledge in the form of perceptual judgments. Kelley critiques both traditional foundationalism and coherence theories, especially their common assumption all justification is by propositional inference.
In his final chapter, he presents an original theory of how perceptual awareness provides nonpropositional justification for perceptual judgments, allowing for a novel defense of empiricism.
An original and substantial contribution to the philosophical literature, this audiobook will be invaluable to philosophers, psychologists, and anyone interested in the complex subject of perceptual theory.
©1986 David Kelley (P)2018 The Atlas Society
Hunting Faith
Summary
A human on the run, making her way through the expanse of space - Faith’s only goal is survival. She’s willing to do whatever’s necessary to stay alive, even if that means stealing the ship of the only alien who’s shown her kindness since her abduction. Rylan Graz Bregen’s life changes when he looks into those deep green eyes - he’s love struck. But when the woman of his dreams vanishes in the night...and takes his ship with her, he thinks he’s been played for a fool. The pair never imagined they’d see each other again, but when Rylan is offered a life changing opportunity he finds that fate has other plans. On a wild planet, fighting against all odds, will Rylan find what he’s been looking for when he’s hunting Faith?
©2019 Tracy Lauren (P)2019 Tracy Lauren
The Jain Path
Summary
Professor Andrea Diem-Lane, PhD, provides an in-depth analysis and summary of 10 key books on the religion of Jainism, providing the listener with a deeper grasp of this ancient Indian religion and its compassionate practice of ahimsa, or nonviolence. Serves as a general introduction to the Jain religion.
©2016 Andrea Diem-Lane (P)2016 Andrea Diem-Lane
Ayn Rand and Contemporary Business Ethics
Summary
Contemporary views of business ethics often show businessmen and women in a bad light. Egoism, profits, and competition are branded as immoral, while social consciousness is praised. Atlas Society Senior Scholar Stephen Hicks, PhD, disagrees with this point of view. Most contemporary business ethics does business a disservice. Worse than that, its proposed cures are plagued with unintended consequences that are often much worse than the problems it is attempting to solve. Hicks defends the egoism that drives successful business people and the morality of free-market capitalism.
©2010 The Atlas Society (P)2019 The Atlas Society
Ayn Rand and Altriusm
Summary
In Ayn Rand and Altruism, George H. Smith calls attention to benevolence in Rand’s thinking. Indeed, Smith defends Rand’s rejection of altruism by contrasting it to benevolence. In this series of essays, originally published on Libertarianism.org and republished by The Atlas Society with permission of the author, Smith begins by establishing that Rand’s definition of altruism - “the placing of others above self, of their interests above one’s own” - is identical to the definition of altruism originated by Auguste Comte. The 19th-century French philosopher considered altruism the basis of morality. Rand considered altruism morality’s antithesis. Smith explains: "Rand’s analyses of altruism - including her claims about its moral, social, and political implications - are a virtual negative image of Comte’s defense of altruism. Thus, however much critics may dismiss Rand’s attacks on altruism as unjustified, her treatment of altruism, as discussed and defended by the man who originated the term and who defended altruism in more detail than any other philosopher, before or since, was remarkably on point." Smith emphasizes that Rand objected to altruism on the grounds that it is a duty. Benevolence is voluntary. The distinction has serious political consequences. Altruism becomes the moral basis of collectivism. It can be used malevolently to force individuals to sacrifice themselves. Smith refutes the absurd claim that Ayn Rand, in rejecting altruism, advocated a cruel disregard for the well-being of others, and he asserts that it is categorically incorrect to consider Ayn Rand someone who “defended selfishness in the vulgar sense, according to which an egoist should show no concern for the welfare of others.” Indeed, Smith concludes after a sweeping and methodical examination of Rand’s position, “That was not her point at all.”
©2019 The Atlas Society (P)2019 The Atlas Society
The Moral Revolution in Atlas Shrugged
Summary
Ayn Rand's ideas have come to the forefront of some contemporary political debates. This book provides a concise exposition of her ethics, useful to those of any political persuasion who wish to understand political trends and to engage in intelligent debate. This essay by Nathaniel Branden was prepared under Ayn Rand's oversight. It offers a classic analysis of Rand's portrayal of her radical ethical perspective. This essay discusses the essentials of Rand's ethics and its crucial relevance to America's intellectual, moral, and political crisis. There are overtones applicable to America. It serves as an excellent commentary on the historical and cultural significance of her ethics and the view of man as a moral ideal.
©1962 The Atlas Society (P)2016 The Atlas Society
One Last Day
Summary
Six years ago, you voted to send troops into Afghanistan. One of those soldiers was my son, who never made it back. Now, I'm here to ask you, was it worth it?
The gathering was supposed to have been a perfunctory media exercise on retiring Senator Jackson Ridge's last day in office. When a grieving mother slips in and poses that simple question, though, everything from Ridge's own legacy to American interests in Afghanistan all get called into question.
Racing against a ticking clock and powerful figures that would prefer to keep things happening across the globe a secret, Ridge must call on every last favor he has accumulated over the course of his time in office in search of answers. Answers that ultimately have him looking at more than just the life of a fallen soldier when trying to decide if, in fact, it was all worth it....
©2017 Dustin Stevens (P)2017 Dustin Stevens
Out of Time
Summary
When single, unattached John McCabe goes out for last-minute Christmas shopping, what he doesn’t expect is to find himself in the middle of a life-or-death rescue. John isn’t known for having the perfect gift for everyone at Christmas. He usually hits the malls in the final hours before they close, grabs the last thing on the shelf, and cringes as the gifts are unwrapped. But this year is different. He’s determined to do better. However, on his way to a store in downtown Salem, he spots a crowd of people and sees a woman on the rooftop of a five-story building, about to jump to her death. Instead of waiting for help, John does what he knows his father and uncles would do: He goes out on the rooftop after the stranger, with the sole intention of talking her down. What he soon learns is how a desperate situation can turn into the worst-case scenario, because this woman believes there is no turning back.
©2019 Lorhainne Ekelund (P)2020 Lorhainne Ekelund
The Kid
Summary
What do you do when somebody targets one of your own? Alone on the couch one night, Reed and his partner are both summoned to the hospital to find two of their colleagues have been viciously attacked, left for dead on the side of the road with very little evidence to go on. With emotions high and the entire department vowing revenge, Captain Grimes assigns the case to Reed and Billie, offering them any resources available in finding the culprit. What at first seemed just an isolated incident soon begins to spiral as more bodies are found, strewn across the greater Columbus area from Grove City to New Albany. Each victim appears to be somehow linked to the law enforcement community, though how or why they have been chosen continues to elude Reed as he is joined on the case by Cassidy Glenn from the state's Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Together, they work their way from one scene to the next, piecing together what seems to be driving this perpetrator in their vendetta, hoping to bring things together enough to get out ahead of them before anybody else falls victim.
©2016 Dustin Stevens (P)2017 Dustin Stevens
The Good Son
Summary
Six months have passed since the first murder investigation Detective Reed Mattox and his K-9 partner worked together, finding them in the throes of a steamy Midwestern summer, dealing with the usual increase in low-level crime that the hottest months tend to bring, when something unexpected happens. A body is found, and then another, and soon Reed and Billie are on the trail of a potential serial killer whose only pattern for his crimes seems to be no pattern at all. Battling against the heat and the clock, the K-9 team must sort through the crimes to identify a common thread that ties them all together. If they can, they may be able to stop the murders. If they can't, there's no telling how many more people will become victims before the dog days of summer end....
©2016 Dustin Stevens (P)2017 Dustin Stevens