The author of this important audiobook about autocrats and their dealings is also its narrator. That isn't unusual in nonfiction, and it has its advantages: A committed expert brings authority and, often, experience with public speaking to the role. Thus, this author/narrator compellingly describes her rogues list of autocrats, ranging from China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin to Hungary's Viktor Orbán and Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro. Applebaum explains how each surrounds himself with corrupt enablers as he climbs to the pinnacle of power. She outlines their methods for keeping their citizenry in line and for wreaking havoc on countries that disagree with their ideology--and notes ways to counteract their power. Especially important is her cogently argued belief that ordinary citizens can ultimately prevail.
Pub Date: July 23, 2024
Duration: 4 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593949689
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Booker makes a strong case for how we can improve our public discourse and our connections with each other.
Sen. Booker is an orator, so it’s no surprise that he knows how to deliver an emotional text, and in narrating his own book, he delivers. His strong feelings are clear as he draws on his experiences and relationships with friends, family, and personal inspirations such as Rep. John Lewis, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and disability activist Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins. Each of the book's 10 chapters explores a virtue—agency, vulnerability, patriotism, truth, humility, community, creativity, perseverance, grace, and vision—which we can apply to our personal lives as well as our civic lives.
Booker makes a strong case for how we can improve our public discourse and our connections with each other.Pub Date: March 24, 2026
Duration: 6 hrs, 25 mins
DD ISBN: 9781250440280
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2026
While author Zengerle provides a workmanlike reading of the lengthy prologue, Beth Hicks successfully presents an engaging, straightforward, and unadorned narration of the balance. Zengerle, a New York Times Magazine writer, presents a well-researched, if highly-opinionated, examination of the life and evolution of conservative pundit Tucker Carlson. Zengerle also examines the polarization of media covering American politics online and on cable networks, such as CNN and Fox News. Despite the author's sharply critical and, at times, angry rhetoric, Hicks manages to offer a calm and nuanced narration. Hicks delivers on this treatise profiling the American body politics' radicalization and extreme polarity in both the process itself and its coverage reporting.
Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
Duration: 9 hrs
DD ISBN: 9798217296149
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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