-
Assholes
- A Theory
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $15.75
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
In the spirit of the mega-selling On Bullshit, philosopher Aaron James presents a theory of the asshole that is both intellectually provocative and existentially necessary.
What does it mean for someone to be an asshole? The answer is not obvious, despite the fact that we are often personally stuck dealing with people for whom there is no better name. Try as we might to avoid them, assholes are found everywhere - at work, at home, on the road, and in the public sphere. Encountering one causes great difficulty and personal strain, especially because we often cannot understand why exactly someone should be acting like that.
Asshole management begins with asshole understanding. Much as Machiavelli illuminated political strategy for princes, this book finally gives us the concepts to think or say why assholes disturb us so, and explains why such people seem part of the human social condition, especially in an age of raging narcissism and unbridled capitalism. These concepts are also practically useful, as understanding the asshole we are stuck with helps us think constructively about how to handle problems he (and they are mostly all men) presents. We get a better sense of when the asshole is best resisted, and when he is best ignored - a better sense of what is, and what is not, worth fighting for.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Enough
- By: Cassidy Hutchinson
- Narrated by: Cassidy Hutchinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since a childhood visit to Washington, DC, Cassidy Hutchinson aspired to serve her country in government. Raised in a working-class family with a military background, she was the first in her immediate family to graduate from college. Despite having no ties to Washington, Hutchinson landed a vital position at the center of the Trump White House.
-
-
Painful
- By Melissa C. on 09-28-23
-
Surfing with Sartre
- An Aquatic Inquiry into a Life of Meaning
- By: Aaron James
- Narrated by: Tristan Morris
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once declared "the ideal limit of aquatic sports...is waterskiing". The avid surfer and lavishly credentialed academic philosopher Aaron James vigorously disagrees, and in Surfing with Sartre he intends to expound the thinking surfer's view of the matter, in the process elucidating such philosophical categories as freedom, being, phenomenology, morality, epistemology, and even the emerging values of what he terms "leisure capitalism".
-
-
Amazingly entertaining, informative.
- By Chris Smith on 02-08-19
By: Aaron James
-
Stalling for Time
- My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator
- By: Gary Noesner
- Narrated by: Gary Noesner
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Stalling for Time, the FBI’s chief hostage negotiator takes readers on a harrowing tour through many of the most famous hostage crises in the history of the modern FBI, including the siege at Waco, the Montana Freemen standoff, and the D.C. sniper attacks. Having helped develop the FBI’s nonviolent communication techniques for achieving peaceful outcomes in tense situations, Gary Noesner offers a candid, fascinating look back at his years as an innovator in the ranks of the Bureau and a pioneer on the front lines.
-
-
talk about drinking the Kool-aid!
- By Dave Nicar on 04-27-20
By: Gary Noesner
-
Nasty, Brutish, and Short
- Adventures in Philosophy with My Kids
- By: Scott Hershovitz
- Narrated by: Scott Hershovitz
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some of the best philosophers in the world gather in surprising places—preschools and playgrounds. They debate questions about metaphysics and morality, even though they’ve never heard those words and can’t tie their shoes. They’re kids. And as University of Michigan professor of philosophy and law Scott Hershovitz shows, they can help grown-ups solve some of life’s greatest mysteries.
-
-
Good narration, solid listen
- By Vanessa on 08-12-22
By: Scott Hershovitz
-
Henry at Work
- Thoreau on Making a Living
- By: John Kaag, Jonathan van Belle
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Henry at Work invites listeners to rethink how we work today by exploring an aspect of Henry David Thoreau that has often been overlooked: Thoreau the worker. John Kaag and Jonathan van Belle overturn the popular misconception of Thoreau as a navel-gazing recluse who was scornful of work and other mundanities. In fact, Thoreau worked hard—surveying land, running his family's pencil-making business, writing, lecturing, and building his cabin at Walden Pond—and thought intensely about work in its many dimensions.
-
-
Interesting Observations of Work Based on Thoreau
- By Nice guy on 07-21-23
By: John Kaag, and others
-
Responding to the Right
- Brief Replies to 25 Conservative Arguments
- By: Nathan J. Robinson
- Narrated by: Nathan J. Robinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Current Affairs editor Nathan J. Robinson has developed a reputation as a meticulous slayer of irrational and bigoted arguments. He has tangled with the likes of Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, and Charles Murray, exposing their flimsy logic and distorted facts with forensic thoroughness and savage wit. In Responding to the Right, Robinson blasts right-wing nonsense with devastating intellectual weaponry, revealing how everyone from Ann Coulter to the National Review uses fear and lies to manipulate the public.
-
-
Fair, brief as necessary, and persuasive
- By Nicholas M. Michalak on 02-25-23
-
Enough
- By: Cassidy Hutchinson
- Narrated by: Cassidy Hutchinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since a childhood visit to Washington, DC, Cassidy Hutchinson aspired to serve her country in government. Raised in a working-class family with a military background, she was the first in her immediate family to graduate from college. Despite having no ties to Washington, Hutchinson landed a vital position at the center of the Trump White House.
-
-
Painful
- By Melissa C. on 09-28-23
-
Surfing with Sartre
- An Aquatic Inquiry into a Life of Meaning
- By: Aaron James
- Narrated by: Tristan Morris
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once declared "the ideal limit of aquatic sports...is waterskiing". The avid surfer and lavishly credentialed academic philosopher Aaron James vigorously disagrees, and in Surfing with Sartre he intends to expound the thinking surfer's view of the matter, in the process elucidating such philosophical categories as freedom, being, phenomenology, morality, epistemology, and even the emerging values of what he terms "leisure capitalism".
-
-
Amazingly entertaining, informative.
- By Chris Smith on 02-08-19
By: Aaron James
-
Stalling for Time
- My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator
- By: Gary Noesner
- Narrated by: Gary Noesner
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Stalling for Time, the FBI’s chief hostage negotiator takes readers on a harrowing tour through many of the most famous hostage crises in the history of the modern FBI, including the siege at Waco, the Montana Freemen standoff, and the D.C. sniper attacks. Having helped develop the FBI’s nonviolent communication techniques for achieving peaceful outcomes in tense situations, Gary Noesner offers a candid, fascinating look back at his years as an innovator in the ranks of the Bureau and a pioneer on the front lines.
-
-
talk about drinking the Kool-aid!
- By Dave Nicar on 04-27-20
By: Gary Noesner
-
Nasty, Brutish, and Short
- Adventures in Philosophy with My Kids
- By: Scott Hershovitz
- Narrated by: Scott Hershovitz
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some of the best philosophers in the world gather in surprising places—preschools and playgrounds. They debate questions about metaphysics and morality, even though they’ve never heard those words and can’t tie their shoes. They’re kids. And as University of Michigan professor of philosophy and law Scott Hershovitz shows, they can help grown-ups solve some of life’s greatest mysteries.
-
-
Good narration, solid listen
- By Vanessa on 08-12-22
By: Scott Hershovitz
-
Henry at Work
- Thoreau on Making a Living
- By: John Kaag, Jonathan van Belle
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Henry at Work invites listeners to rethink how we work today by exploring an aspect of Henry David Thoreau that has often been overlooked: Thoreau the worker. John Kaag and Jonathan van Belle overturn the popular misconception of Thoreau as a navel-gazing recluse who was scornful of work and other mundanities. In fact, Thoreau worked hard—surveying land, running his family's pencil-making business, writing, lecturing, and building his cabin at Walden Pond—and thought intensely about work in its many dimensions.
-
-
Interesting Observations of Work Based on Thoreau
- By Nice guy on 07-21-23
By: John Kaag, and others
-
Responding to the Right
- Brief Replies to 25 Conservative Arguments
- By: Nathan J. Robinson
- Narrated by: Nathan J. Robinson
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Current Affairs editor Nathan J. Robinson has developed a reputation as a meticulous slayer of irrational and bigoted arguments. He has tangled with the likes of Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, and Charles Murray, exposing their flimsy logic and distorted facts with forensic thoroughness and savage wit. In Responding to the Right, Robinson blasts right-wing nonsense with devastating intellectual weaponry, revealing how everyone from Ann Coulter to the National Review uses fear and lies to manipulate the public.
-
-
Fair, brief as necessary, and persuasive
- By Nicholas M. Michalak on 02-25-23
-
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs
- A Low Culture Manifesto (Now with a New Middle)
- By: Chuck Klosterman
- Narrated by: Chuck Klosterman
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the kid who brought you Fargo Rock City, the first book in history to garner the praise of Stephen King, David Byrne, Donna Gaines, Sebastian Bach, Jonathan Lethem, and Rivers Cuomo, comes Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, the first book in history to examine breakfast cereal, reality television, tribute bands, Internet porn, serial killers, and the Dixie Chicks.
-
-
A Brilliant Manifesto
- By Nils J. Rasmussen on 01-09-13
By: Chuck Klosterman
-
The Identity Trap
- A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time
- By: Yascha Mounk
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For much of history, societies have violently oppressed ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. It is no surprise that many who passionately believe in social justice came to believe that members of marginalized groups need to take pride in their identity to resist injustice.
-
-
May It Mark A Turning Point
- By Larry on 09-28-23
By: Yascha Mounk
-
Rationality
- What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 21st century, humanity is reaching new heights of scientific understanding - and at the same time appears to be losing its mind. How can a species that developed vaccines for COVID-19 in less than a year produce so much fake news, medical quackery, and conspiracy theorizing? Pinker rejects the cynical cliché that humans are an irrational species - cavemen out of time saddled with biases, fallacies, and illusions.
-
-
Steven Pinker's Frozen Worldview from the 90s
- By Ryan Booth on 11-12-21
By: Steven Pinker
-
The Greatest Show on Earth
- The Evidence for Evolution
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Greatest Show on Earth is a stunning counterattack on advocates of "Intelligent Design," explaining the evidence for evolution while exposing the absurdities of the creationist "argument". Dawkins sifts through rich layers of scientific evidence: from living examples of natural selection to clues in the fossil record; from natural clocks that mark the vast epochs wherein evolution ran its course to the intricacies of developing embryos; from plate tectonics to molecular genetics.
-
-
Back to His Strong Suit
- By Dalton on 09-23-09
By: Richard Dawkins
-
If We Burn
- The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution
- By: Vincent Bevins
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From 2010 to 2020, more people participated in protests than at any other point in human history. Yet we are not living in more just and democratic societies as a result. IF WE BURN is a stirring work of history built around a single, vital question: How did so many mass protests lead to the opposite of what they asked for?
-
-
The final word on horizontalism on the left
- By Patrick Foote on 02-25-24
By: Vincent Bevins
-
Weapons of Math Destruction
- How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy
- By: Cathy O'Neil
- Narrated by: Cathy O'Neil
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We live in the age of the algorithm. Increasingly, the decisions that affect our lives—where we go to school, whether we can get a job or a loan, how much we pay for health insurance—are being made not by humans, but by machines. In theory, this should lead to greater fairness: Everyone is judged according to the same rules.
-
-
More are US social problems that WMD
- By Laurent Bourgault-Roy on 01-08-17
By: Cathy O'Neil
-
In Praise of Shadows
- By: Junichiro Tanizaki
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Praise of Shadows is an eloquent tribute to the austere beauty of traditional Japanese aesthetics. Through architecture, ceramics, theatre, food, women, and even toilets, Tanizaki explains the essence of shadows and darkness, and how they are able to augment beauty. He laments the heavy electric lighting of the West and its introduction to Japan, and shows how the artificial, bright, and polished aesthetic of the West contrasts unfavorably with the moody and natural light of the East.
-
-
How to listen
- By Anonymous User on 03-25-18
-
Liberalism and Its Discontents
- By: Francis Fukuyama
- Narrated by: Christopher Ragland
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's no secret that liberalism didn't always live up to its own ideals. In America, many people were denied equality before the law. Who counted as full human beings worthy of universal rights was contested for centuries, and only recently has this circle expanded to include women, African Americans, LGBTQ+ people, and others. Conservatives complain that liberalism empties the common life of meaning. As Francis Fukuyama shows in Liberalism and Its Discontents, the principles of liberalism have also, in recent decades, been pushed to new extremes by both the right and the left.
-
-
For those who haven’t given up yet.
- By DMax on 09-29-22
By: Francis Fukuyama
-
American Psychosis
- A Historical Investigation of How the Republican Party Went Crazy
- By: David Corn
- Narrated by: Steven Jay Cohen
- Length: 17 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A fast-paced, rollicking, behind-the-scenes account of how the GOP since the 1950s has encouraged and exploited extremism, bigotry, and paranoia to gain power, American Psychosis offers listeners a brisk, can-you-believe-it journey through the netherworld of far-right irrationality and the Republican Party’s interactions with the darkest forces in America.
-
-
Important history poorly read
- By A. Hawley on 09-16-22
By: David Corn
-
Elite Capture
- How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (and Everything Else)
- By: Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò
- Narrated by: Jaime Lincoln Smth
- Length: 3 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“Identity politics” is everywhere, polarizing discourse from the campaign trail to the classroom. But the “identity politics” so compulsively referenced bears little resemblance to the concept as first introduced by the radical Black feminist Combahee River Collective. While the Collective articulated a political viewpoint grounded in their own position as Black lesbians with the explicit aim of building solidarity across lines of difference, “identity politics” is now frequently weaponized as a means of closing ranks around ever-narrower conceptions of group interests.
-
-
An Essential Read
- By TheFrozenBiscuit on 04-22-23
-
The Social Animal
- The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement
- By: David Brooks
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 16 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With unequaled insight and brio, David Brooks, the New York Times columnist and bestselling author of Bobos in Paradise, has long explored and explained the way we live. Now, with the intellectual curiosity and emotional wisdom that make his columns among the most read in the nation, Brooks turns to the building blocks of human flourishing in a multilayered, profoundly illuminating work grounded in everyday life.
-
-
Finally!
- By Pamela Harvey on 03-13-11
By: David Brooks
-
The Tipping Point
- How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
- By: Malcolm Gladwell
- Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.
-
-
My tipping point…for audio
- By Mod on 04-17-12
By: Malcolm Gladwell
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
The Myth of the Rational Voter
- Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies
- By: Bryan Caplan
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The greatest obstacle to sound economic policy is not entrenched special interests or rampant lobbying, but the popular misconceptions, irrational beliefs, and personal biases held by ordinary voters. This is economist Bryan Caplan's sobering assessment in this provocative and eye-opening book.
-
-
Refreshing
- By Lyle Wincentsen on 05-12-11
By: Bryan Caplan
-
Moral Politics
- How Liberals and Conservatives Think, 3rd Edition
- By: George Lakoff
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Moral Politics was first published two decades ago, it redefined how Americans think and talk about politics through the lens of cognitive political psychology. Today, George Lakoff's classic text has become all the more relevant, as liberals and conservatives have come to hold even more vigorously opposed views of the world, with the underlying assumptions of their respective worldviews at the level of basic morality.
-
-
extremely insightful. awful to get through.
- By Dave on 05-09-18
By: George Lakoff
-
Moral Tribes
- Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them
- By: Joshua Greene
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A pathbreaking neuroscientist reveals how our social instincts turn Me into Us, but turn Us against Them - and what we can do about it. The great dilemma of our shrinking world is simple: never before have those we disagree with been so present in our lives. The more globalization dissolves national borders, the more clearly we see that human beings are deeply divided on moral lines - about everything from tax codes to sexual practices to energy consumption - and that, when we really disagree, our emotions turn positively tribal.
-
-
Good Science, Bad Philosophy
- By Jacob on 10-27-16
By: Joshua Greene
-
Philosophy
- Who Needs It
- By: Ayn Rand
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who needs philosophy? Ayn Rand's answer: Everyone. This collection of essays was the last work planned by Ayn Rand before her death in 1982. In it, she summarizes her view of philosophy and deals with a broad spectrum of topics. According to Ayn Rand, the choice we make is not whether to have a philosophy, but which one to have: a rational, conscious, and therefore practical one, or a contradictory, unidentified, and ultimately lethal one.
-
-
Deep and provocative
- By Sierra Bravo on 05-21-09
By: Ayn Rand
-
Down Girl
- The Logic of Misogyny
- By: Kate Manne
- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Misogyny is a hot topic, yet it's often misunderstood. What is misogyny, exactly? Who deserves to be called a misogynist? How does misogyny contrast with sexism, and why is it prone to persist - or increase - even when sexist gender roles are waning? This book is an exploration of misogyny in public life and politics by the moral philosopher Kate Manne. It argues that misogyny should not be understood primarily in terms of the hatred or hostility some men feel toward all or most women. Rather, it's primarily about controlling, policing, punishing, and exiling the "bad" women.
-
-
Five Star Book w/bad Narration
- By Cherrybomb on 02-08-19
By: Kate Manne
-
Ayn Rand Answers
- The Best of Her Q & A
- By: Ayn Rand
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the publication of Atlas Shrugged in 1957, Ayn Rand occasionally lectured in order to bring her philosophy of Objectivism to a wider audience and apply it to current cultural and political issues. These taped lectures and the question-and-answer sessions that followed added not only an eloquent new dimension to Ayn Rand's ideas and beliefs, but a fresh and spontaneous insight into Ayn Rand herself.
-
-
It sounds like Ayn Rand
- By Anonymous User on 06-09-18
By: Ayn Rand
-
The Myth of the Rational Voter
- Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies
- By: Bryan Caplan
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The greatest obstacle to sound economic policy is not entrenched special interests or rampant lobbying, but the popular misconceptions, irrational beliefs, and personal biases held by ordinary voters. This is economist Bryan Caplan's sobering assessment in this provocative and eye-opening book.
-
-
Refreshing
- By Lyle Wincentsen on 05-12-11
By: Bryan Caplan
-
Moral Politics
- How Liberals and Conservatives Think, 3rd Edition
- By: George Lakoff
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Moral Politics was first published two decades ago, it redefined how Americans think and talk about politics through the lens of cognitive political psychology. Today, George Lakoff's classic text has become all the more relevant, as liberals and conservatives have come to hold even more vigorously opposed views of the world, with the underlying assumptions of their respective worldviews at the level of basic morality.
-
-
extremely insightful. awful to get through.
- By Dave on 05-09-18
By: George Lakoff
-
Moral Tribes
- Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them
- By: Joshua Greene
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A pathbreaking neuroscientist reveals how our social instincts turn Me into Us, but turn Us against Them - and what we can do about it. The great dilemma of our shrinking world is simple: never before have those we disagree with been so present in our lives. The more globalization dissolves national borders, the more clearly we see that human beings are deeply divided on moral lines - about everything from tax codes to sexual practices to energy consumption - and that, when we really disagree, our emotions turn positively tribal.
-
-
Good Science, Bad Philosophy
- By Jacob on 10-27-16
By: Joshua Greene
-
Philosophy
- Who Needs It
- By: Ayn Rand
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who needs philosophy? Ayn Rand's answer: Everyone. This collection of essays was the last work planned by Ayn Rand before her death in 1982. In it, she summarizes her view of philosophy and deals with a broad spectrum of topics. According to Ayn Rand, the choice we make is not whether to have a philosophy, but which one to have: a rational, conscious, and therefore practical one, or a contradictory, unidentified, and ultimately lethal one.
-
-
Deep and provocative
- By Sierra Bravo on 05-21-09
By: Ayn Rand
-
Down Girl
- The Logic of Misogyny
- By: Kate Manne
- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Misogyny is a hot topic, yet it's often misunderstood. What is misogyny, exactly? Who deserves to be called a misogynist? How does misogyny contrast with sexism, and why is it prone to persist - or increase - even when sexist gender roles are waning? This book is an exploration of misogyny in public life and politics by the moral philosopher Kate Manne. It argues that misogyny should not be understood primarily in terms of the hatred or hostility some men feel toward all or most women. Rather, it's primarily about controlling, policing, punishing, and exiling the "bad" women.
-
-
Five Star Book w/bad Narration
- By Cherrybomb on 02-08-19
By: Kate Manne
-
Ayn Rand Answers
- The Best of Her Q & A
- By: Ayn Rand
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the publication of Atlas Shrugged in 1957, Ayn Rand occasionally lectured in order to bring her philosophy of Objectivism to a wider audience and apply it to current cultural and political issues. These taped lectures and the question-and-answer sessions that followed added not only an eloquent new dimension to Ayn Rand's ideas and beliefs, but a fresh and spontaneous insight into Ayn Rand herself.
-
-
It sounds like Ayn Rand
- By Anonymous User on 06-09-18
By: Ayn Rand
-
Truth and Truthfulness
- By: Bernard Williams
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does it mean to be truthful? What role does truth play in our lives? What do we lose if we reject truthfulness? No philosopher is better suited to answer these questions than Bernard Williams. Writing with his characteristic combinationof passion and elegant simplicity, he explores the value of truth and finds it to be both less and more than we might imagine.
-
-
Content is excellent but the sound quality falters
- By Andy B. on 09-08-23
By: Bernard Williams
-
The Secret Knowledge
- On the Dismantling of American Culture
- By: David Mamet
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the past 30 years, David Mamet has been a controversial and defining force in theater and film, championing the most cherished liberal values along the way. In some of the great movies and plays of our time, his characters have explored the ethics of the business world, embodied the struggles of the oppressed, and faced the flaws of the capitalist system. But in recent years Mamet has had a change of heart.
-
-
Mamet's Rubicon
- By Kirk on 08-13-11
By: David Mamet
-
A Time to Build
- From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream
- By: Yuval Levin
- Narrated by: Ford Enlow
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Americans are living through a social crisis. Our politics is polarized and bitterly divided. Culture wars rage on campus, in the media, social media, and other arenas of our common life. And for too many Americans, alienation can descend into despair, weakening families and communities and even driving an explosion of opioid abuse. Left and right alike have responded with populist anger at our institutions, and use only metaphors of destruction to describe the path forward: cleaning house, draining swamps. But, as Yuval Levin argues, this is a misguided prescription.
-
-
Incisive and Illuminating
- By Jakob on 01-26-23
By: Yuval Levin
-
The Myth of the Spoiled Child
- Challenging the Conventional Wisdom about Children and Parenting
- By: Alfie Kohn
- Narrated by: Alfie Kohn
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Somehow, deeply conservative assumptions about how children behave and how parents raise them have become the conventional wisdom in our society. It's widely assumed that parents are both permissive and overprotective, unable to set limits and afraid to let their kids fail. We're told that young people receive trophies, praise, and A's too easily, and suffer from inflated self-esteem and insufficient self-discipline. However, complaints about pushover parents and entitled kids are actually decades old and driven, it turns out, by ideology more than evidence.
-
-
good theories, no tangible or practical ideas.
- By Ben on 05-12-15
By: Alfie Kohn
-
Suicide of the West
- How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy
- By: Jonah Goldberg
- Narrated by: Jonah Goldberg
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Only once in the last 250,000 years have humans stumbled upon a way to lift ourselves out of the endless cycle of poverty, hunger, and war that defines most of history. If democracy, individualism, and the free market were humankind’s destiny, they should have appeared and taken hold a bit earlier in the evolutionary record. The emergence of freedom and prosperity was nothing short of a miracle.
-
-
Put some gratitude in your attitude
- By Amazon Customer on 04-25-18
By: Jonah Goldberg
-
Primates and Philosophers
- How Morality Evolved
- By: Frans de Waal
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"It's the animal in us," we often hear when we've been bad. But why not when we're good? Primates and Philosophers tackles this question by exploring the biological foundations of one of humanity's most valued traits: morality.In this provocative book, primatologist Frans de Waal argues that modern-day evolutionary biology takes far too dim a view of the natural world, emphasizing our "selfish" genes.
-
-
Having Just Read...
- By Douglas on 12-14-13
By: Frans de Waal
-
Why Not Socialism?
- By: G. A. Cohen
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 1 hr and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Is socialism desirable? Is it even possible? In this concise book, one of the world's leading political philosophers presents with clarity and wit a compelling moral case for socialism and argues that the obstacles in its way are exaggerated. There are times, G. A. Cohen notes, when we all behave like socialists.
-
-
Not compelling, but OK
- By Angel D. on 01-17-12
By: G. A. Cohen
-
How Much is Enough?
- Money and the Good Life
- By: Edward Skidelsky
- Narrated by: Clay Teunis
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What constitutes the good life? What is the true value of money? Why do we work such long hours merely to acquire greater wealth? These are some of the questions that many asked themselves when the financial system crashed in 2008. This book tackles such questions head-on.The authors begin with the great economist John Maynard Keynes. In 1930 Keynes predicted that, within a century, per capita income would steadily rise, people’s basic needs would be met, and no one would have to work more than fifteen hours a week.
-
-
Not what I expected at all!
- By Chi on 05-22-23
By: Edward Skidelsky
-
The Great Delusion
- Liberal Dreams and International Realities
- By: John J. Mearsheimer
- Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this major statement, the renowned international-relations scholar John Mearsheimer argues that liberal hegemony, the foreign policy pursued by the United States since the Cold War ended, is doomed to fail. It makes far more sense, he maintains, for Washington to adopt a more restrained foreign policy based on a sound understanding of how nationalism and realism constrain great powers abroad.
-
-
Dense, fact filled, sober analysis and prescription
- By John Brynjolfsson on 12-15-18
-
America's Real War
- By: Rabbi Daniel Lapin
- Narrated by: Rabbi Daniel Lapin
- Length: 3 hrs and 39 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is a tug of war going on for the future of America. At one end of the rope are those who think America is a secular nation; at the other end are those who believe religion is at the root of our country's foundation. In this audio release of the thought-provoking America's Real War, renowned leader and speaker Rabbi Daniel Lapin encourages America to reembrace the Judeo-Christian values on which our nation was founded and logically demonstrates why those values are crucial to America's strength in the new millennium.
-
-
I really enjoyed the thoughts and information.
- By Anonymous User on 05-28-19
-
Escape from Freedom
- By: Erich Fromm
- Narrated by: Anthony Haden Salerno
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
lf a man cannot stand freedom, he will probably turn fascist. This, in the fewest possible words, is the essential argument in this modem classic, Escape from Freedom. The author, Erich Fromm, is a distinguished psychologist, late of Berlin and Heidelberg, now of New York City.
-
-
Why is this not required reading in high school?
- By Xander on 09-07-16
By: Erich Fromm
-
The Democracy Project
- A History, a Crisis, a Movement
- By: David Graeber
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Democracy has been the American religion since before the Revolution - from New England town halls to the multicultural democracy of Atlantic pirate ships. But can our current political system, one that seems responsive only to the wealthiest among us and leaves most Americans feeling disengaged, voiceless, and disenfranchised, really be called democratic? And if the tools of our democracy are not working to solve the rising crises we face, how can we - average citizens - make change happen? David Graeber, one of the most influential scholars and activists of his generation, takes listeners on a journey through the idea of democracy.
-
-
Must-read: such insight, an awakening!
- By Kevin on 10-15-14
By: David Graeber
What listeners say about Assholes
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kirsten
- 11-13-12
Not sure what I expected…
Any additional comments?
…but this was not it.
I'm a fan of non-fiction work that looks into various aspects of human nature; this book did look at "assholes" in an in-depth and intelligent way. However, what with the title, I expected more humor. The first two chapters had me chuckling, but the remainder of the book left me a bit confused. I'm left grasping at how James' term "asshole" differs significantly with other (more mainstream) "labeling" of anti-social behavior, such as "sociopath," "narcissist" or "psychopath." I found the book to be a not-very-organized meandering into the issues of personal responsibility versus entitlement. On its face, it's not a terrible book, but the topic seems more cerebrally dealt with (in a short book) with Baron-Cohen's "Science of Evil," and more humorously treated in most of Jon Ronson's offerings. IMO, this book is a great easy-listen for a person who is interested in the subject and needs a lightweight companion on a daily commute.
Arthur Morey does a fine job of narrating this book; he does a great job here as he did in Pinker's "The Better Angels of Our Nature" and will not disappoint his fans here with his smooth and easy cadence.
Final comment: if you are a person who does not like to hear the word "asshole" (and other epithets) repeated and repeated, go elsewhere.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
17 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Steven
- 07-23-15
Unexpected Excellence!
Marvelous analysis, and I caught myself laughing out loud often! Fantastic wit and insightful social commentary. I recommend this very highly!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nicolas Namy
- 09-16-15
Law CH 168 Marketing
I Wish for my only love to knock at buzz my door one day. Cause I can only love her.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- R.J.
- 01-31-13
This is a real work of scholarship, not comedy
Like I said, if you're looking for a Dave Berry type of topical comedy, then you might still love this book; but not because you found what you were looking for. This is a real work of contemporary moral philosophy that's heavy in anthropological and psychological emphasis.
Because, this is a solid work of scholarship for the masses, it avoids all partisanship, and therefore prizes reason over social or political extremes. He defines the various types of assholes in a taxonomy, like a biologists categorizing sub-species. Michael Moore and Rush Limbaugh are both assholes, not because of James' politics, but because they are classified as such before any names are named.
Prof. James isn't kidding when he writes that this is a Theory. He's doing what philosophers are best at, setting up theories for social scientists, historians, and others to use to explain data, and to test an explanation for various phenomena. In fact, it would be great if more anthropologists stopped playing amateur philosopher themselves, and just go about testing theories like James' Theory of Assholes.
Because, this work comes from a true scholar, it seems really avoids a lot of the pop social science books being written these days by journalists, and non-specialists who don't often do well in evaluating the data they present. For example, James does a great job differentiating assholes from psychopaths, which is sorely needed; because of the recent books claiming that psychopaths are all around us -especially in business. I take issue with James' assessment that Assholes are worse than what he calls "Bitches." In most situations involving unequal power, I'd much rather deal with an asshole than a psychopath or a bitch. The difference is that the latter won't let you see it coming before you get stabbed in the back, whereas the asshole lays out his assholeness for all to see and deal with openly.
He openly states that the pursuit of the social and cultural causes of asshole production be tested by sociologists and anthropologists, and give more definitive numerical data. He opens up the discussion to how a society can destroy itself, like Easter Island, and I'd like to offer an anthropological way to explain and test James' theory. James' eludes that assholeness is a social role, and even functional; if mostly in a dysfunctional way for society writ large. I would propose that assholeness as James' presents it could be tested and explained through the theory of Cultural Materialism; i.e., assholes are assholes because they can be, and because such a role is in fact functional in the short-term for the fitness of individuals and their offspring. With changes in material reality the multivariate drivers of asshole production will either increase or decrease, not because we collectively choose either, as James tells us; but, because the infrastructure leads the superstructure as sure as we will choose to eat if we haven't eaten in a week before we'll read a book, if we also haven't read in that same week.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mr Bill
- 03-19-19
Meh...
I struggle to get through this one. this book is filled with the artists heavily left-leaning views. it reads more like a pro-socialist advertisement than a philosophical book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cal Baldari
- 04-02-22
excellent piece of philosophy
it isn't always common that you find a good piece of popular philosophy. Far too often, it is overly simple and poorly argued. I found this to be a superior entry into the academic literature
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Russ
- 10-16-13
A funny philosophical treatise with some history
If you could sum up Assholes in three words, what would they be?
Funny, pedantic treatise
What does Arthur Morey bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
The narrator conveys a crispness to the analysis which would be less obvious if reading.
What did you learn from Assholes that you would use in your daily life?
Who they are, what they are, how to avoid them, deal with them and why they frustrate us so much.
Any additional comments?
This is a modern day philosophical treatise. The analysis is detailed. The arguments are deep and require reflection to be appreciated. If you are looking for a funny, easy to read book, this is NOT it. If you are looking for a mind-bending discussion on a seemingly trivial topic, you will thoroughly enjoy this.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Steve
- 07-26-17
A Too Studious Examination
If you're going to use the word 'Assholes' in the title then a little levity might be expected in the book. But instead, this is a very serious examination, if you will, of people with difficult personalities, (i.e. assholes). If you're open to the title then you're likely open to a little joke here and there but be forewarned, there are very few. I don't think it was good judgement to use the word asshole every paragraph of such and academic discussion. Such a dry examination using such a lighthearted word was off kilter.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rupe
- 01-27-13
Quite Interesting Indeed
What did you love best about Assholes?
I did not think a word such as Asshole could be weaved into such a detailed and interesting piece.
What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?
1. I really liked the advice on how to deal with Assholes
2. Asshole Capitalism
3. That Asshole, as a group within society, actually do exist - it's like discovering "bigfoot"
4. Yeah, I have never seen or heard the word "Asshole" mentioned so many times in my entire life...that was compelling
Any additional comments?
The book went on in parts, but was balanced in others by some new insights. I was particularly intrigued by the whole idea of the psychology of asshole-ism. The entire book had me mentally re-visiting quite a few people from my past and in someways recasting there actions in the light of this newly acquired information. I now take much comfort in the fact that I was not just being overly sensitive...I was just really dealing with typical Assholes.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael K Lantagne
- 01-28-18
Trying to understand....
.... the current socio-economic state of affairs and the political mess it has engendered? Look no further. This theory of the asshole will help you understand.... and it will offer a pragmatic hope for the future.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful