Dancing in the Streets
A History of Collective Joy
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Narrated by:
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Pam Ward
About this listen
Ehrenreich uncovers the origins of communal celebration in human biology and culture, showing that such mass festivities have been indigenous to the West since the ancient Greeks. Though suppressed by elites who fear the undermining of social hierarchies, outbreaks of group revelry still persist, Ehrenreich shows, pointing to the 1960s rock-and-roll rebellion and the more recent "carnivalization" of sports.
Original, exhilarating, and deeply optimistic, Dancing in the Streets shows that we are innately social beings, impelled to share our joy and thereby envision a peaceable future.
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Critic reviews
"A serious look at communal celebrations, well documented and presented with assurance and flair." (Kirkus Reviews)
"Ehrenreich writes with grace and clarity in a fascinating, wide-ranging, and generous account." (Publishers Weekly)
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American history was driven by clashes between those interested in preserving social order and those more interested in pursuing their own desires---the "respectable" versus the "degenerate", the moral versus the immoral. The more that "bad" people existed, resisted, and won, the greater was our common good. In A Renegade History of the United States, Russell introduces us to the origins of our nation's identity as we have never known them before.
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One of those books...that cause brain freeze!
- By Rory on 07-19-13
By: Thaddeus Russell
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Rites of Spring
- The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age
- By: Modris Eksteins
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Dazzling in its originality, Rites of Spring probes the origins, impact, and aftermath of World War I from the premiere of Stravinsky's ballet "The Rite of Spring" in 1913 to the death of Hitler in 1945. "The Great War", as Modris Eksteins writes, "was the psychological turning point...for modernism as a whole. The urge to create and the urge to destroy had changed places."
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Fantastic
- By Anonymous User on 11-17-17
By: Modris Eksteins
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Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550 AD
- By: Peter Brown
- Narrated by: Fleet Cooper
- Length: 31 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Jesus taught his followers that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. Yet by the fall of Rome, the church was becoming rich beyond measure. Through the Eye of a Needle is a sweeping intellectual and social history of the vexing problem of wealth in Christianity in the waning days of the Roman Empire, written by the world's foremost scholar of late antiquity.
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A learned, well-balanced postmodern history
- By Jacobus on 11-21-12
By: Peter Brown
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Introducing the Ancient Greeks
- From Bronze Age Seafarers to Navigators of the Western Mind
- By: Edith Hall
- Narrated by: Sian Thomas
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Acclaimed classics scholar Edith Hall's Introducing the Ancient Greeks is the first book to offer a synthesis of the entire ancient Greek experience, from the rise of the Mycenaean kingdoms of the sixteenth century BC to the final victory of Christianity over paganism in AD 391. Each of the ten chapters visits a different Greek community at a different moment during the twenty centuries of ancient Greek history.
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Surveying the Greeks
- By Jolene on 05-31-18
By: Edith Hall
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The Ugly Renaissance
- Sex, Greed, Violence and Depravity in an Age of Beauty
- By: Alexander Lee
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Renowned as a period of cultural rebirth and artistic innovation, the Renaissance is cloaked in a unique aura of beauty and brilliance. Its very name conjures up awe-inspiring images of an age of lofty ideals in which life imitated the fantastic artworks for which it has become famous. But behind the vast explosion of new art and culture lurked a seamy, vicious world of power politics, perversity, and corruption that has more in common with the present day than anyone dares to admit.
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Author falls into the pit he digs for others
- By Sean on 01-23-16
By: Alexander Lee
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Socrates
- A Man for Our Times
- By: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Acclaimed historian and best-selling author Paul Johnson’s books have been translated into dozens of languages. In Socrates: A Man for Our Times, Johnson draws from little-known resources to construct a fascinating account of one of history’s greatest thinkers. Socrates transcended class limitations in Athens during the fifth century B.C. to develop ideas that still shape the way we think about the human body and soul, including the workings of the human mind.
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Plat-Soc-Paul
- By Megasaurus on 11-17-12
By: Paul Johnson
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A History of the Jews
- By: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 28 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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This historical magnum opus covers 4,000 years of the extraordinary history of the Jews as a people, a culture, and a nation. It shows the impact of Jewish character on the world: their genius, imagination, and, most of all, their ability to persevere despite severe persecutions. Compelling insights into events and individuals are chronologically detailed, from Moses and Jesus to Spinoza, Marx, Freud, the Rothschilds, and Golda Meir.
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Excellent History
- By Rilezmom on 06-06-09
By: Paul Johnson
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Apollo's Angels
- A History of Ballet
- By: Jennifer Homans
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 23 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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For more than 400 years, the art of ballet has stood at the center of Western civilization. Its traditions serve as a record of our past. A ballerina dancing The Sleeping Beauty today is a link in a long chain of dancers stretching back to 16th-century Italy and France: Her graceful movements recall a lost world of courts, kings, and aristocracy, but her steps and gestures are also marked by the dramatic changes in dance and culture that followed.
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a great book poorly read
- By Anonymous User on 04-14-11
By: Jennifer Homans
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Christianity
- The First Three Thousand Years
- By: Diarmaid MacCulloch
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 46 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Once in a generation, a historian will redefine his field, producing a book that demands to be read or heard - a product of electrifying scholarship conveyed with commanding skill. Diarmaid MacCulloch's Christianity is such a book. Breathtaking in ambition, it ranges back to the origins of the Hebrew Bible and covers the world, following the three main strands of the Christian faith.
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Bias
- By David Danielson on 10-04-10
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Jews, God, and History
- By: Max I. Dimont
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Vitality floods its pages. Philosophers and kings, warriors and merchants, poets and financiers come alive as the story ranges across time and the globe. From ancient Palestine through Europe and the Orient, to America and modern Israel, Max Dimont shows how the saga of the Jews is interwoven with the history of virtually every nation on earth.
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Grand in scope and depth
- By Joe on 08-27-12
By: Max I. Dimont
What listeners say about Dancing in the Streets
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Emma Goldman
- 04-20-19
Oddly leaves out the largest phenomenon of celebration in N. America
I enjoyed this book but... New Orleans is and has been a city defined and moulded, more than anything else, by a culture of non spectator celebration for hundreds of years. Strange to go so in depth about sports and rock n roll without even mentioning the most vibrant and consistent group ecstasy the USA holds. Makes me suspect of the other information in the book. Has she never been to the many month celebrations of Mardi Gras? No mention of Mardi Gras Indians. No mention of the parade culture.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Brendan
- 12-18-10
Such an important, unique work
The beginning starts out a little slower, but WELL worth waiting it out as it moves forward chronologically....just clearly represents a serious, creative level of research and shines a light and what amounts to be a sad reality about the lack of meaningful, collective opportunities to just enjoy life with those around us (through food, drink, music, even dancing).
I hope it helps drive a real push for more of exactly those things, and i know myself that i want to do anything i can, even in small ways, to push all of that.
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1 person found this helpful
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- brad rothman
- 01-17-19
Very Interesting
The author gives an amazing account of festivity and communal ecstasy throughout history. From paleolithic man, Dionysian rites, early Christian practices, all the way through the rock revolution and modern sports craze, the story of our desire to break down boundaries and live joyously and the authority which finds itself constantly threatened by unity of the little people. An argument is made that we are still missing something that may never be truly regained outside of music festivals and family religious groups which may still practice the age old traditions of ecstatic rites.
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- Katherine J. Journeay
- 10-02-22
good insights
This text spent a long time on the Calvinists, which was not what I was expecting. But the conclusion was moving, and strong.
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- Danielle H
- 03-06-24
It's ok
I forced myself to finish this. I apparently thought this book was going to be something different than it was. I'm glad that I finish it and the second half was more engaging.
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- Kevin M. Smith
- 02-27-16
Romp through civilization
A good read for those interested in anthropology, evolution and the forces such as hierarchies which have attempted to mute the irrepressible human instinct for collective joy.
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- William
- 09-14-16
Eye Opening
Great book. Very informative about dance and music across cultures. I could see the effects it has had on my life and many of those around me. This book has inspired me to make changes that are fun and will last four generations to come.
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- Shayla
- 03-18-21
Language Warning
Has some racial slurs in it, but entirely in the context of representing how oppressors spoke to enslaved people so be mindful of listening to the book near children. Overall the book is fantastic and I learned a lot.
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- Wiley
- 03-15-16
Not for celebration
The tone of the audio was surprisingly condescending. I was expecting at least neutral. Content was accurate though.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Mary
- 10-21-09
Shades of lectures past
I tried to listen, but gave up. This reminded me of my worst courses in grad school, required ones given by professors who stood woodenly in front of the class and read their magnum opus to us in a monotone.
And, like the worst of them, it contained no revelations before I was mentally asleep.
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