Discover the Best Audio Stories in Non-Fiction, Current Affairs, Law, & Politics

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/719666 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Lost in Austin: The Evolution of an American City

Author: Alex Hannaford

Narrator: James Meunier

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 8 hours 6 minutes

Release date: October 1, 2024

Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics

Publisher's Summary:

A long-time Austinite and journalist’s exploration of the profound movements that have shaped Austin, Texas—charting the shifts within its vibrant music scene, the impact of rapid urbanization, and the challenges of gentrification—ultimately questioning what this city’s transformation signals for American urban identity. Austin isn’t what it used to be. This is a common sentiment amongst locals, offered with the same confused—and often disappointed—tone familiar to residents of Seattle, Portland, or San Francisco, where rapid growth and expansion have led to an urban identity crisis. Like those cities, Austin is known for its unique qualities: a thriving live music scene and housing affordability that historically made it a compelling home for creatives and self-described weirdos to roost. But now, as Big Tech infiltrates and climate change looms, Austin has become less familiar—and far less affordable. An exploration of the beloved city’s evolution, Lost in Austin also serves as a critical exploration of the transformation that has befallen one of America’s most beloved cities—and serves as a warning for what the homogenization of cities means for American urban identity. With a journalist’s perspective and the heart of an Austinite, Alex Hannaford delves into the consequences of the city’s rapid growth in chapters that chronicle the major movements permanently altering the city: a vanishing music scene, soaring property values, and the encroachment of major industry. Through keen reportage and extensive interviews, Lost in Austin unveils the toll of unchecked growth and the city’s shift from its rebellious spirit to commercialization. Through those stories—vibrant, colorful, and clearly full of love for this city—Hannaford raises a crucial question: How do American cities, once celebrated for their unique values, became casualties of their own rapid growth and success? And can they ever return to what they once were?

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/722354 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Big Guy: How a President and His Son Sold Out America

Author: Miranda Devine

Narrator: Charles Constant

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 12 hours 38 minutes

Release date: September 24, 2024

Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics

Publisher's Summary:

The New York Post columnist, Fox News contributor, and national bestselling author of Laptop from Hell returns with the explosive, definitive account of the Biden family scandals. It’s rare that a campaign season has anything like an IRS whistleblower and a California US attorney saying they were blocked from pursuing charges, foreign wire transfers of millions of dollars going to several members of politician’s family, suspicious slap-on-the-wrist plea deals, mounds of incrimination texts, a previously unacknowledged child with a stripper, and multiple congressional investigations. It’s unprecedented to have them all tied to one politician like Joe Biden. The federal government and the mainstream media have been selling the narrative for years that Hunter Biden is a good son with addiction problems who has suffered enough. But what if the Biden family has been involved in sketchy financial dealings and coverups that get bigger every passing year? Miranda Devine goes deep into the dark underbelly of American politics, where it’s okay to break the law as long as you follow the rest of the elite’s rules. With a surgeon’s precision she dissects the shady dealings of the Biden family in China and Eastern Europe, exposing the cover-up within the government and media. With meticulous research and insider sources, Devine uncovers the shocking truth about Joe Biden's involvement in his son Hunter's business dealings and the extent of their corruption. Many have argued that intelligence agents and social media companies tilted the 2020 election in Biden’s favor by hiding the contents of Hunter’s laptop. Devine goes beyond their coverage to “silence the truth” and in The Big Guy finally reveals the corruption within the Biden family and the government.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/718965 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Lie of the Land: Who Really Cares for the Countryside?

Author: Guy Shrubsole

Narrator: Guy Shrubsole

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 8 hours 58 minutes

Release date: September 12, 2024

Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics

Publisher's Summary:

'Both dynamite and medicine' AMY-JANE BEER 'Brave and brilliant’ GEORGE MONBIOT 'Timely and rousing' THE TIMES For centuries we’ve been sold a lie: that you need to own the land to care for it. Just 1% of the population own half of England, and this tiny landowning elite like to present themselves as the rightful custodians of the countryside. They’re even paid billions of pounds of public money to be good stewards. But what happens when they just don’t care? A small number of landowners have laid waste to some of our most treasured landscapes, leaving our forests bare, our rivers polluted, our moorlands burned, and our fenlands drained. Here Guy Shrubsole journeys all over Britain to expose the damage done to our land, and meet the communities fighting back: the river guardians, small farmers and trespassing activists restoring our lost wildlife. Full of rage and hope, this is a bold vision for our nation’s wild places, and how we can treat them with the awe and attention they deserve. It’s time to demand better for nature. We can start by replacing the lie of the land with a profound truth: that any of us can care for the countryside, regardless of whether you own it. 'Urgent and essential' CAROLINE LUCAS 'Exhilarating, insightful' LEE SCHOFIELD

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/721166 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Boy from Baghdad: My Journey from Waziriyah to Westminster

Author: Nadhim Zahawi

Narrator: Nadhim Zahawi

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 12 hours 5 minutes

Release date: August 29, 2024

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 1 of Total 1

Ratings of Narrator: 4 of Total 1

Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics

Publisher's Summary:

‘Very few people in parliament can match Nadhim’s childhood experience, his understanding of international affairs, his skills as a businessman and his passion for politics’ Rory Stewart 'From Baghdad to number 11 Downing Street: in any other country it would be fiction. You have to read it to believe it’ Jeffrey Archer An Observer Book of the Week Born and raised in Baghdad, Nadhim Zahawi arrived in the UK aged 12, having been forced to flee Iraq with his family, under threat from Saddam Hussein’s regime. In this candid and thoughtful memoir, Nadhim vividly recalls his upbringing in the Middle East, his family’s adjustment to their new life in Britain and his rise to Second Lord of the Treasury, one of the highest offices in his adoptive homeland. From his family home being repossessed in his teens to the incredible success of YouGov, and from the highs (and lows) of Jeffrey Archer’s mayoral campaign to overseeing Britain’s rollout as Minister for COVID Vaccine Deployment, Nadhim reflects on the setbacks faced and hurdles cleared that have reinforced his belief in the power of hard work and the benefits of an open, inclusive society. The Boy from Baghdad is the full and fascinating story of Nadhim’s personal, professional and political journey from Waziriyah to Westminster.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/709479 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Midnight in Moscow: A Memoir from the Front Lines of Russia's War Against the West

Author: John J. Sullivan

Narrator: Matt Godfrey, John J. Sullivan

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 17 hours 59 minutes

Release date: August 6, 2024

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4 of Total 1

Ratings of Narrator: 4 of Total 1

Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics

Publisher's Summary:

A memoir of service by the American ambassador who was on the diplomatic front lines when Putin invaded Ukraine, Midnight in Moscow is the first behind-the-scenes account of how U.S.-Russia relations hit their nadir—and a playbook for our unfolding confrontation. For weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, John J. Sullivan, the U.S. ambassador in Moscow, was warning that it would happen. When troops finally crossed the border, he was woken in the middle of the night with a prearranged code. The signal was even more bracing than the February cold: it meant that Sullivan needed to collect his bodyguards and get to the embassy as soon as possible. The war had begun, and the world would never be the same. In Midnight in Moscow, Sullivan leads readers into the offices of the U.S. embassy and the halls of the Kremlin during this climactic period—among the most dangerous since World War II. He shows how the Putin regime repeatedly lied about its intentions to invade Ukraine in the weeks leading up to the attack, while also devoting huge numbers of personnel and vast resources to undermining the U.S. diplomatic mission in Russia. And he explains how, when Putin ultimately gave the order to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he proved that Russia was not just at war with its neighbor: it was also at war, in a very real sense, with the United States, and with everything that it represents. But while Putin decided how this conflict started, its ending will be shaped by us.   With his unique perspective on a pivotal moment in world history, Sullivan shows how our relationship with Russia has deteriorated, where it’s headed, and how far we should be prepared to go in standing up to the menace in Moscow.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/703254 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Antidemocratic: Inside the Far Right’s 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections

Author: David Daley

Narrator: Kevin Stillwell

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 17 hours 45 minutes

Release date: August 6, 2024

Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics

Publisher's Summary:

“Chilling and convincing, Antidemocratic is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand American politics in 2024.” —Heather Cox Richardson, author of Democracy Awakening A riveting yet disturbing history of the fifty-year Republican plot to hijack voting rights in America, its profound implications for the 2024 presidential election, and the crucial role that Chief Justice John Roberts has played in determining how we vote. In 1981, a young lawyer, fresh out of Harvard law school, joined the Reagan administration’s Department of Justice, taking up a cause that had been fomenting in Republican circles for over a decade by that point. From his perch inside the Reagan DOJ, this lawyer would attempt to bring down one of the defining pieces of 20th century legislation—the Voting Rights Act. His name was John Roberts. Over thirty years later in 2013, these efforts by John Roberts and the conservative legal establishment culminated when Roberts, now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, wrote Shelby County vs. Holder, one of the most consequential decisions of modern jurisprudence. A dramatic move that gutted the Voting Rights Act, Roberts’s decision—dangerously premised on the flawed notion that racism was a thing of the past—emboldened right-wing, antidemocratic voting laws around the country immediately. No modern court decision has done more to hand elections to Republicans than Shelby. Now lauded investigative reporter David Daley reveals the urgent story of this fifty-year Republican plot to end the Voting Rights Act and encourage minority rule in their party’s favor. From the bowels of Reagan’s DOJ to the walls of the conservative Federalist Society to the moneyed Republican resources bankrolling restrictive voting laws today, Daley reveals a hidden history as sweeping as it is troubling. Through careful research and exhaustive reporting, he connects Shelby to a well-funded, highly-coordinated right-wing effort to erode the power of minority voters and Democrats at the ballot box—an effort that has grown stronger with each election cycle. In the process Roberts and his conservative allies have enabled fringe conservative theories about our elections with the potential to shape the 2024 election and topple the foundations of our democracy. Timely and alarming, Daley offers a powerful message that, while Shelby was the misguided end of the Voting Rights Act, it was also the beginning of something far darker.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/713582 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Progressively Worse: Why Today's Democrats Ain't Your Daddy's Donkeys

Author: Joe Concha

Narrator: John Pruden

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 8 hours 2 minutes

Release date: July 30, 2024

Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics

Publisher's Summary:

If John F. Kennedy, Tip O’Neill, or even Bill Clinton were to run as Democrat candidates today, their own party would cancel them in a heartbeat. If the Joe Biden of 1992 were to run today, MSNBC would label him “MAGA Joe.” How did JFK’s party of Catholics and union workers become AOC’s party of privileged Ivy Leaguers with “Queers for Palestine” signs and purple hair? Over the past few decades, Democrats have swung so far to the left that they have little in common with past generations of progressives. In Progressively Worse, bestselling author and Fox News contributor Joe Concha highlights how the Democrats used to: ·        Care about blue collar workers ·        Protest against new wars ·        Defend free speech ·        Criticize the elites and Wall Street ·        Want limits on immigration Now, the party of the hippies is now the party of Hamasniks, and the party of femi­nists now celebrates male athletes in women’s sports. Though spotlights of key influencers like Gavin Newsom, Rashida Tlaib, Keith Olbermann, and Pete Buttigieg, Progressively Worse lays out the facts every American should know about the Democrat party. It’s not even a party anymore. It’s more like the hangover the day after.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/715838 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family

Author: Jesselyn Cook

Narrator: Jesselyn Cook

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 9 hours 8 minutes

Release date: July 23, 2024

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 2

Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics

Publisher's Summary:

The “gripping” (The Atlantic) story of five families shattered by pernicious, pervasive conspiracy theories, and how we might set ourselves free from a crisis that could haunt American life for generations. “Excellent . . . This is the intimate side of the cold civil war America has been stuck in for nearly a decade.”—Michelle Goldberg, The New York Times “SHED MY DNA”: three excruciating words uttered by a QAnon-obsessed mother, once a highly respected lawyer, to her only son, once the closest person in her life. QAnon beliefs and adjacent conspiracy theories have had devastating political consequences as they’ve exploded in popularity. What’s often overlooked is the lasting havoc they wreak on our society at its most basic and intimate level—the family.  In The Quiet Damage, celebrated reporter Jesselyn Cook paints a harrowing portrait of the vulnerabilities that have left so many of us susceptible to outrageous falsehoods promising order, purpose, and control. Braided throughout are the stories of five American families: an elderly couple whose fifty-year romance takes a heartbreaking turn; millennial sisters of color who grew up in dire poverty—one to become a BLM activist, the other, a hardcore conspiracy theorist pulling her little boy down the rabbit hole with her; a Bay Area hippie-type and her business-executive fiancé, who must decide whether to stay with her as she turns into a stranger before his eyes; evangelical parents whose simple life in a sleepy suburb spirals into delusion-fueled chaos; and a rural mother-son duo who, after carrying each other through unspeakable tragedy, stop speaking at all as ludicrous untruths shatter a bond long thought unbreakable. Charting the arc of each believer’s path from their first intersection with conspiracy theories to the depths of their cultish conviction, to—in some cases—their rejection of disinformation and the mending of fractured relationships, Cook offers a rare, intimate look into the psychology of how and why ordinary people come to believe the unbelievable. Profound, brilliantly researched, and beautifully written, The Quiet Damage lays bare how we have been taken hostage by grifters peddling lies built on false hope—and how we might release our loved ones, and ourselves, from their grasp.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/716747 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Rough Justice: Do we have the law we deserve?

Author: Wendy Joseph

Narrator: Wendy Joseph, Rachel Bavidge

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 10 hours 48 minutes

Release date: July 18, 2024

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 1

Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics

Publisher's Summary:

Brought to you by Penguin. Four gripping stories from the Old Bailey that force us to consider: What is justice? Do our legal courts dispense it? Has our judicial process improved, for the victims, the accused and for society? And what more must be done to ensure genuine justice is carried out in future? Following on the heels of her bestseller Unlawful Killings, Old Bailey judge Wendy Joseph KC skilfully reconstructs courtroom dramas affecting society’s most vulnerable, drawing on her many years’ experience as a murder trial judge, and asking the key questions of the institutions tasked to deliver what is right and fair. From the trial of a child charged with disposing of dismembered body parts, to the woman accused of killing her own husband, Joseph is utterly compelling as she sets out how our justice system works. But, as she compares these modern courtroom tales with eerily similar cases and miscarriages of justice from years ago, might the most chilling story of all be that the lessons of the past have yet to be learned? Incisive, masterfully crafted, Rough Justice illuminates the struggles of any one of us caught up in our legal system – but particularly the marginalized and the easily exploited – and grapples with the concept of ‘justice for all’ so that we might demand better. 'A compelling read' Lady Hale ‘Joseph is a deft deployer of suspense and nuance’ Sunday Times ‘Her Honour entertains as she educates us’ Philippa Perry 'Beautifully written, immensely engaging, powerful and disturbing insight into a judge’s work and the choices faced.' Peter James ‘If ever I was on trial I would want my judge to be this one.’ Cherie Blair, CBE QC ‘The author's wit and wisdom deserve as wide an audience as possible.’ His Honour David Radford ‘An author who uses hindsight to contemplate foresight whilst generating genuine insight.’ Professor Dame Sue Black 'The criminal law has found its voice: quiet, determined, steely, and yet always humane.’ Justin Webb ©2024 Her Honour Wendy Joseph KC (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/721866 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Other Rivers: A Chinese Education

Author: Peter Hessler

Narrator: Peter Hessler

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 13 hours 32 minutes

Release date: July 9, 2024

Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics

Publisher's Summary:

An intimate and revelatory account of two generations of students in China’s heartland, by an author who has observed the country’s tumultuous changes over the past quarter century More than two decades after teaching English during the early part of China’s economic boom, an experience chronicled in his book River Town, Peter Hessler returned to Sichuan Province to instruct students from the next generation. At the same time, Hessler and his wife enrolled their twin daughters in a local state-run elementary school, where they were the only Westerners. Over the years, Hessler had kept in close contact with many of the people he had taught in the 1990s. By reconnecting with these individuals—members of China’s “Reform generation,” now in their forties—while teaching current undergrads, Hessler gained a unique perspective on China’s incredible transformation. In 1996, when Hessler arrived in China, almost all of the people in his classroom were first-generation college students. They typically came from large rural families, and their parents, subsistence farmers, could offer little guidance as their children entered a brand-new world. By 2019, when Hessler arrived at Sichuan University, he found a very different China, as well as a new kind of student—an only child whose schooling was the object of intense focus from a much more ambitious cohort of parents. At Sichuan University, many young people had a sense of irony about the regime but mostly navigated its restrictions with equanimity, embracing the opportunities of China’s rise. But the pressures of extreme competition at scale can be grueling, even for much younger children—including Hessler’s own daughters, who gave him an intimate view into the experience at their local school. In Peter Hessler’s hands, China’s education system is the perfect vehicle for examining the country’s past, present, and future, and what we can learn from it, for good and ill. At a time when anti-Chinese rhetoric in America has grown blunt and ugly, Other Rivers is a tremendous, essential gift, a work of enormous empathy that rejects cheap stereotypes and shows us China from the inside out and the bottom up. As both a window onto China and a mirror onto America, Other Rivers is a classic from a master of the form.