
After the Fall
Being American in the World We've Made
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Narrated by:
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Ben Rhodes
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By:
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Ben Rhodes
About this listen
New York Times best seller
“Vital reading for Americans and people anywhere who seek to understand what is happening ‘after the fall’ of the global system created by the United States” (New York Journal of Books), from the former White House aide, close confidant to President Barack Obama, and author of The World as It Is
At a time when democracy in the United States is endangered as never before, Ben Rhodes spent years traveling the world to understand why. He visited dozens of countries, meeting with politicians and activists confronting the same nationalism and authoritarianism that are tearing America apart. Along the way, he discusses the growing authoritarianism of Vladimir Putin, and his aggression toward Ukraine, with the foremost opposition leader in Russia, who was subsequently poisoned and imprisoned; he profiled Hong Kong protesters who saw their movement snuffed out by China under Xi Jinping; and America itself reached the precipice of losing democracy before giving itself a fragile second chance.
The characters and issues that Rhodes illuminates paint a picture that shows us where we are today - from Barack Obama to a rising generation of international leaders; from the authoritarian playbook endangering democracy to the flood of disinformation enabling authoritarianism. Ultimately, Rhodes writes personally and powerfully about finding hope in the belief that looking squarely at where America has gone wrong can make clear how essential it is to fight for what America is supposed to be, for our own country and the entire world.
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The Man Without a Face
- The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin
- By: Masha Gessen
- Narrated by: Masha Gessen
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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The Man Without a Face is the chilling account of how a low-level, small-minded KGB operative ascended to the Russian presidency and, in an astonishingly short time, destroyed years of progress and made his country once more a threat to its own people and to the world.
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A Preview of Authoritarianism in the USA
- By Jimmy O on 06-08-19
By: Masha Gessen
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At War with Ourselves
- My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House
- By: H. R. McMaster
- Narrated by: H. R. McMaster
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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At War with Ourselves is the story of helping a disruptive President drive necessary shifts in U.S. foreign policy at a critical moment in history. McMaster entered an administration beset by conflict and the hyper partisanship of American politics. With the candor of a soldier and the perspective of a historian, McMaster rises above the fray to lay bare the good, the bad, and the ugly of Trump’s presidency and give listeners insight into what a second Trump term would look like.
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Don’t go for it
- By Ellen Monticello on 08-30-24
By: H. R. McMaster
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The Death of Truth
- How Social Media and the Internet Gave Snake Oil Salesmen and Demagogues the Weapons They Needed to Destroy Trust and Polarize the World—and What We Can Do
- By: Steven Brill
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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How did we become a world where facts—shared truths—have lost their power to hold us together as a community, as a country, globally? How have we allowed the proliferation of alternative facts, hoaxes, even conspiracy theories, to destroy our trust in institutions, leaders, and legitimate experts? Best-selling journalist Steven Brill documents the forces and people, from Silicon Valley to Moscow to Washington, that have created and exploited this world of chaos and division—and offers practical solutions for what we can do about it.
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It’s all about follow the money with programmatic advertising.
- By scott b burton on 11-07-24
By: Steven Brill
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The Undertow
- Scenes from a Slow Civil War
- By: Jeff Sharlet
- Narrated by: Jeff Sharlet
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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An unmatched guide to the religious dimensions of American politics, Jeff Sharlet journeys into corners of our national psyche where others fear to tread. The Undertow is both inquiry and meditation, an attempt to understand how, over the last decade, reaction has morphed into delusion, social division into distrust, distrust into paranoia, and hatred into fantasies—sometimes realities—of violence.
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I'm just not feeling this one....
- By J. Richmond on 08-04-23
By: Jeff Sharlet
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Where Tyranny Begins
- The Justice Department, the FBI, and the War on Democracy
- By: David Rohde
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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In Where Tyranny Begins, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Rohde investigates the strategies Trump systematically used to turn the country's two most powerful law-enforcement agencies into his personal political weapons. Rohde also reveals how, during the Biden years, Justice Department non-partisan 1970s norms that Attorney General Merrick Garland reinforced inadvertently helped Trump, and could fail to deliver a trial and legal accountability by Election Day 2024.
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Review of why we fired trump
- By ludlow on 09-24-24
By: David Rohde
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The True Flag
- Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire
- By: Stephen Kinzer
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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How should the United States act in the world? Americans cannot decide. Sometimes we burn with righteous anger, launching foreign wars and deposing governments. Then we retreat - until the cycle begins again. No matter how often we debate this question, none of what we say is original. Every argument is a pale shadow of the first and greatest debate, which erupted more than a century ago. Its themes resurface every time Americans argue whether to intervene in a foreign country.
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Timely and important
- By Joshua C. Packard on 02-20-17
By: Stephen Kinzer
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Blowback
- A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump
- By: Miles Taylor
- Narrated by: Miles Taylor
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Donald Trump will be president again, whether he is on the ballot or not. That is because Trumpism is overtaking the Republican Party and will mount a vigorous comeback, potentially in the hands of a savvier successor. This prophecy will come true, according to Miles Taylor, if we do not learn the lessons of the recent past. With the 2024 election approaching, the formerly “Anonymous” official is back with bombshell revelations and a sobering national forecast. Taylor predicts what could happen inside “Trump 2.0,” the White House of a more competent and more formidable copycat.
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We will only have ourselves to blame if we sink into autocracy
- By MS on 07-23-23
By: Miles Taylor
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The Folly of Realism
- How the West Deceived Itself About Russia and Betrayed Ukraine
- By: Alexander Vindman
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy, Alexander Vindman
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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After the collapse of the Soviet Union, six US presidential administrations of both parties pursued policies for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia that emboldened Russia, playing into its imperialist, centuries-long mythos of regional hegemony. The result: military aggression and full-scale invasion. It was all too foreseeable. In The Folly of Realism, leading national security expert and bestselling author Alexander Vindman argues that America’s mistakes in Eastern Europe result from policymakers’ fixation on immediate, short-term problem-solving and misplaced hopes and fears.
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Defining Realism in the Context of American Modern History
- By Amazon Customer on 04-13-25
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Erasing History
- By: Jason Stanley
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Combining historical research with an in-depth analysis of our modern political landscape, Erasing History issues a dire warning for America and the world: the worst fascist movements of humanity’s past began in schools; the same place so many of today’s right-wing political parties have trained their most vicious attacks. Yale professor Jason Stanley exposes the true danger of the right’s tactics and traces their inspirations and funding back to some of the most dangerous ideas of human history.
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The bias attitude of the author
- By Elizabeth ohanna on 09-30-24
By: Jason Stanley
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Attack from Within
- How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America
- By: Barbara McQuade
- Narrated by: Barbara McQuade
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Disinformation is designed to evoke a strong emotional response to push us toward more extreme views, unable to find common ground with others. The false claims that led to the breathtaking attack on our Capitol in 2020 may have been only a dress rehearsal. Attack from Within shows us how to prevent it from happening again, thus preserving our country's hard-won democracy.
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Trump bashing
- By joseph clayson on 03-09-24
By: Barbara McQuade
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How Democracies Die
- By: Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Democracies can die with a coup d'état - or they can die slowly. This happens most deceptively when in piecemeal fashion, with the election of an authoritarian leader, the abuse of governmental power and the complete repression of opposition. All three steps are being taken around the world - not least with the election of Donald Trump - and we must all understand how we can stop them.
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Connecting the Dots
- By Sharon F on 02-06-18
By: Steven Levitsky, and others
What listeners say about After the Fall
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- iscatnip
- 06-13-21
really resonates with baby boomers
Being of Hungarian heritage and living through many of the periods that Ben writes about, whether in the United States or Europe, this book really resonated with my knowledge of politics and history with the examples that Ben used throughout the book. A truthful and trustworthy example of how we got here and where we may end up in the future.
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- Anonymous User
- 07-18-21
Obama’s Book
I think this is the book Obama wish that he could have written. It is extremely insightful but not something that would’ve gone over well if Obama had written it.
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- Cheryl Doucette
- 09-10-21
Amazing insights!
I absolutely enjoyed this from beginning to end! Great reading by the author, understandable and in a pleasant voice all of the way through!
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- FireFoxAV
- 07-26-21
Great Read
I’m curious about the decision for the Alexi Navalny accent, but otherwise fantastic book. Well done
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- Shawna Hanley
- 08-17-21
Thank you for your sacrifice, Ben. Excellent recounting.
This was a very very informative book. Thank you Ben, for all that you accomplished while there. Grateful. We’ll get it back..with the help of you and others, after you regroup…come back stronger.
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- Maggie Rust
- 09-23-21
Recommending Far & Wide
One of the best books I’ve read all year! So informative and educational. Rhodes manages to put global politics into an incredibly helpful perspective as we look at the current climate, and even strikes a hopeful note in the midst of challenging times.
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- Pat Barber
- 01-10-22
Rhodes voices hope reminisce of Obama.
Ben's telling is instantly familiar and hopeful like there'd be no Obama presidency without him.
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- Allison Williams
- 03-03-22
When is your next book coming out?
I absolutely loved hearing of Ben’s experiences and his take on on so many things.
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- Claire
- 06-06-23
Loved it
Great dive into America’s direct and indirect play with the national/international stages. If you’re looking for a book to get “up to date” book on how we got here, this is it.
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- Michael
- 01-06-24
Thought provoking.
A well written, thought provoking personal narrative and analysis of how and why America, and the parts of the world greatly influenced by America, changed between 1990 and 2020. A worthwhile read for any American trying to understand how we arrived at our current state - whether one is blue, red, black, white, or brown. To work together for the benefit of this democracy, we need to understand one another. I believe reading this book and evaluating the author’s perspective can help us do that.
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