Plutologist
- 4
- reviews
- 2
- helpful votes
- 39
- ratings
-
Viral
- The Search for the Origin of COVID-19
- By: Matt Ridley, Alina Chan
- Narrated by: Gavin Osborn
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 399
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 339
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 337
A new virus descended on the human species in 2019 wreaking unprecedented havoc. Nearly two years into the pandemic, the crucial mystery of the origin of SARS-CoV-2 is not only unresolved but has deepened. In this uniquely insightful book, a scientist and a writer join forces to try to get to the bottom of how a virus whose closest relations live in bats in subtropical southern China somehow managed to begin spreading among people more than 1,500 kilometers away in the city of Wuhan.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A pivotal work in search of truth around the Covid19 virus in a world where facts got downgraded in favour of politics
- By Pal on 11-25-21
- Viral
- The Search for the Origin of COVID-19
- By: Matt Ridley, Alina Chan
- Narrated by: Gavin Osborn
Outstanding
Reviewed: 01-02-23
A brilliantly researched and even handed work in search of truth, yet humbly open about the current limitations of knowledge. A much needed step towards redemption for science, scientists, and the systems of science communication. A refreshingly unpolitical take on a highly politicized topic. I do hope enough people read this to empower real policy changes.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Why Liberalism Works
- How True Liberal Values Produce a Freer, More Equal, Prosperous World for All
- By: Deirdre Nansen McCloskey
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
The greatest challenges facing humankind, according to Deirdre Nansen McCloskey, are poverty and tyranny, both of which hold people back. Arguing for a return to true liberal values, this engaging and accessible book develops, defends, and demonstrates how embracing the ideas first espoused by 18th-century philosophers like Locke, Smith, Voltaire, and Wollstonecraft is good for everyone. In McCloskey's view, liberalism leads to equality, but equality does not necessarily lead to liberalism - and the fixation of the left on inequality is counterproductive.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding
- By Plutologist on 07-06-20
- Why Liberalism Works
- How True Liberal Values Produce a Freer, More Equal, Prosperous World for All
- By: Deirdre Nansen McCloskey
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
Outstanding
Reviewed: 07-06-20
Professor McCloskey delivers an outstanding explication of liberalism, and the innovative, commercially tested betterment that follows from it. Filled with thorough historical facts and context, her book feels refreshing and tragically rare in this age of twitter bullies, who would sooner shame and cancel their critics than listen carefully to the content of their arguments. Indeed, if she can be accused of anything, it’s being too charitable to those she critiques. I do have a few quibbles, and fewer complaints (mostly of evaluations and assumptions, not of her data, science, or history), but I will follow her good example and listen closely, very closely, and consider the possibility that I may be mistaken. And so should you.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
The Dictator's Handbook
- Why Bad Behavior Is Almost Always Good Politics
- By: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,451
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,928
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,906
For 18 years, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith have been revolutionizing the study of politics by turning conventional wisdom on its head. They start from a single assertion: Leaders do whatever keeps them in power. They don't care about the "national interest" - or even their subjects - unless they have to. This clever and accessible book shows that the difference between tyrants and democrats is just a convenient fiction.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Expand the coalition
- By Kendra on 06-06-13
- The Dictator's Handbook
- Why Bad Behavior Is Almost Always Good Politics
- By: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
Outstanding read
Reviewed: 12-18-17
This should be required reading in every political science program, and every economics program, and indeed I assign it. Even though I disagree with some technical aspects of their models, the big picture lessons are immensely valuable. The section on foreign aid is particularly devastating. A good complement to public choice theory as well: foreign aid is all to often a “Bootleggers and Baptists” arrangement.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Detroit
- An American Autopsy
- By: Charlie LeDuff
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,332
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,180
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,173
In the heart of America, a metropolis is quietly destroying itself. Detroit, once the richest city in the nation, is now its poorest. Once the vanguard of America’s machine age - mass production, automobiles, and blue-collar jobs - Detroit is now America’s capital for unemployment, illiteracy, foreclosure, and dropouts. With the steel-eyed reportage that has become his trademark and the righteous indignation that only a native son can possess, journalist Charlie LeDuff sets out to uncover what has brought low this once-vibrant city, his city.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
WOW
- By Avid Reader and Listener on 07-09-13
- Detroit
- An American Autopsy
- By: Charlie LeDuff
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
Raw and painful
Reviewed: 07-18-15
Open, clear, detailed, and even more painful than I expected. This is a story everyone should hear, and LeDuff tells it brilliantly. I often disagreed with his thoughts on why or how, but his ability to convey what and where is impressive. By the end, you start to see that all of the threads were intertwined, and because he makes you care about each piece, all of the people involved, the final complex weave is both poignant and overwhelming. Also, Eric Martin brings the narration to life. I'll be looking for other work he's read as well.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!