Last Best Hope
America in Crisis and Renewal
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Narrated by:
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George Packer
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By:
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George Packer
About this listen
2021 Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year
2021 New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year
2021 NPR Best Book of the Year
Acclaimed National Book Award-winning author George Packer diagnoses America’s descent into a failed state and envisions a path toward overcoming our injustices, paralyses, and divides.
This program is read by the author.
In the year 2020, Americans suffered one rude blow after another to their health, livelihoods, and collective self-esteem. A ruthless pandemic, an inept and malign government response, polarizing protests, and an election marred by conspiracy theories left many citizens in despair about their country and its democratic experiment. With pitiless precision, the year exposed the nation’s underlying conditions - discredited elites, weakened institutions, blatant inequalities - and how difficult they are to remedy.
In Last Best Hope, George Packer traces the shocks back to their sources. He explores the four narratives that now dominate American life: Free America, which imagines a nation of separate individuals and serves the interests of corporations and the wealthy; Smart America, the world view of Silicon Valley and the professional elite; Real America, the White Christian nationalism of the heartland; and Just America, which sees citizens as members of identity groups that inflict or suffer oppression.
In lively and biting prose, Packer shows that none of these narratives can sustain a democracy. To point a more hopeful way forward, he looks for a common American identity and finds it in the passion for equality - the “hidden code” - that Americans of diverse persuasions have held for centuries. Today, we are challenged again to fight for equality and renew what Alexis de Tocqueville called “the art” of self-government. In its strong voice and trenchant analysis, Last Best Hope is an essential contribution to the literature of national renewal.
A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
©2021 George Packer (P)2021 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Details on many ways Europe is lacking
- By Alicia B. on 11-15-21
By: David Harsanyi
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The Reckoning
- Our Nation's Trauma and Finding a Way to Heal
- By: Mary L. Trump PhD
- Narrated by: Mary L. Trump PhD
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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The Reckoning will examine America’s national trauma, rooted in our history but dramatically exacerbated by the impact of current events and the Trump administration’s corrupt and immoral policies. Our failure to acknowledge this trauma, let alone root it out, has allowed it to metastasize. Whether it manifests itself in rising levels of rage and hatred, or hopelessness and apathy, the stress of living in a country we no longer recognize has affected all of us. America is suffering from PTSD - a new leader alone cannot fix us.
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Focus of racism using her uncle as a mirror
- By Amazon Customer on 08-18-21
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Fascism
- A Warning
- By: Madeleine Albright
- Narrated by: Madeleine Albright
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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At the end of the 1980s, when the Cold War ended, many, including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, believed that democracy had triumphed politically once and for all. Yet nearly 30 years later, the direction of history no longer seems certain. A repressive and destructive force has begun to reemerge on the global stage - sweeping across Europe, parts of Asia, and the United States - that to Albright, looks very much like fascism.
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Warning!
- By JAL on 04-19-18
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Stop Mass Hysteria
- America's Insanity from the Salem Witch Trials to the Trump Witch Hunt
- By: Michael Savage
- Narrated by: Barry Baer
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In his new audiobook, Stop Mass Hysteria, number one New York Times best-selling author Michael Savage calls out the mass hysteria mongers and their methods and shows Americans that we must look to history to understand the present and avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
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Common sense in a country that is trying not to
- By Mike on 10-09-18
By: Michael Savage
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Revolt
- The Worldwide Uprising Against Globalization
- By: Nadav Eyal
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Revolt is an eloquent and provocative challenge to the prevailing wisdom about the rise of nationalism and populism. With a vibrant and informed voice, Nadav Eyal illustrates how modern globalization is not sustainable. He contends that the collapse of the current world order is not so much about the imbalance between technological achievement and social progress or the breakdown of liberal democracy as it is about a passion to upend and destroy power structures that have become hollow, corrupt, or simply unresponsive to urgent needs.
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Good observations, very politically biased.
- By P. Bradley on 11-29-23
By: Nadav Eyal
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Democracy Matters
- Winning the Fight Against Imperialism
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- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
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Democracy Matters is Cornel West's bold and powerful critique of the troubling deterioration of democracy in America in this threatening post-9/11 age of terrorist rage and imperial overreach, and an inspiring call for a resurgence of the deep democratic tradition in our country, which has waged war on the forces of imperialist corruption throughout our history.
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Well written, a refreshing voice of inspiration
- By Gabriel on 07-06-05
By: Cornel West
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Blackout
- How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation
- By: Candace Owens, Larry Elder
- Narrated by: Candace Owens, Larry Elder
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
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Black Americans have long been shackled to the Democrats. Seeing no viable alternative, they have watched liberal politicians take the Black vote for granted without pledging anything in return. In Blackout, Owens argues that this automatic allegiance is both illogical and unearned. She contends that the Democrat Party has a long history of racism and exposes the ideals that hinder the Black community’s ability to rise above poverty, live independent and successful lives, and be an active part of the American dream.
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Thought provoking!
- By Girl with curls on 09-16-20
By: Candace Owens, and others
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Liberal Fascism
- The Secret History of the American Left
- By: Jonah Goldberg
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"Fascists", "Brownshirts", "jackbooted stormtroopers" - such are the insults typically hurled at conservatives by their liberal opponents. Calling someone a fascist is the fastest way to shut them up, defining their views as beyond the political pale. But who are the real fascists in our midst?
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Great book
- By Mark on 05-10-08
By: Jonah Goldberg
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Democracy in Black
- How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul
- By: Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
- Narrated by: Kevin Free
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
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America's great promise of equality has always rung hollow in the ears of African Americans. But today the situation has grown even more dire. From the murders of black youth by the police to the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act to the disaster visited upon poor and middle-class black families by the Great Recession, it is clear that black America faces an emergency - at the very moment the election of the first black president has prompted many to believe we've solved America's race problem.
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The Dysfunctional Mindset of American
- By Paul T. on 07-09-16
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A Thousand Small Sanities
- The Moral Adventure of Liberalism
- By: Adam Gopnik
- Narrated by: Adam Gopnik
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
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A Thousand Small Sanities is a manifesto rooted in the lives of people who invented and extended the liberal tradition. Taking us from Montaigne to Mill, and from Middlemarch to the civil rights movement, Adam Gopnik argues that liberalism is not a form of centrism, nor simply another word for free markets, nor merely a term denoting a set of rights. It is something far more ambitious: the search for radical change by humane measures. Gopnik shows us why liberalism is one of the great moral adventures in human history.
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Erudite and entertaining!
- By D. A. Vail on 05-20-19
By: Adam Gopnik
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Let's Move On
- Beyond Fear & False Prophets
- By: Vicente Fox, Sulay Hernandez-Elhussein
- Narrated by: Thom Rivera
- Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins
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Vicente Fox offers his unique viewpoint as a former head of state, avid historian, and true admirer of America’s constitutional ideals. He knows where a Trump presidency can lead—and it is nowhere good. Let’s Move On is a political manifesto written in Fox’s trademark, no-nonsense style where he both denounces Trump’s malignant anti-intellectualism and inspires people to rise up and resist.
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Inspirational, honest and thought provoking
- By Cristina on 06-18-23
By: Vicente Fox, and others
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The People vs. Democracy
- Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It
- By: Yascha Mounk
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
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The world is in turmoil. From India to Turkey and from Poland to the United States, authoritarian populists have seized power. As a result democracy itself may now be at risk. Two core components of liberal democracy - individual rights and the popular will - are at war with each other. As the role of money in politics soared and important issues were taken out of public contestation, a system of "rights without democracy" took hold. Populists who rail against this say they want to return power to the people. But in practice they create a system of "democracy without rights."
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Not worth it
- By DailyShopper on 06-07-18
By: Yascha Mounk
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What listeners say about Last Best Hope
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- thom coco edwards
- 06-20-21
Concise.
concise. but covers enough history to gather the many threads as to the who, what and whys.
authors narration is very good. a pleasing timbre.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Jane
- 06-21-21
Insightful and thought-provoking
Is it possible for any human being to accurately sum up a society as conflicted and contradictory as ours? I'm doubtful, but George Packer's book is insightful and thought-provoking. My favorite chapter was the one called Equalizers, in which the author tells the stories of three American reformers (Horace Greeley, Frances Perkins, and Bayard Rustin), reflecting on their times and making trenchant comparisons to ours.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Mary Sikes
- 07-03-21
A very thoughtful and compelling book!
Every American needs to read this wonderful book
It is a book I will read twice.
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- TeMeNos
- 08-29-21
Great insights
Hard words for tough times. wonder who will read it on the "other" side? The story remains unfinished.
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- R. Bolster
- 03-08-22
this puts things in perspective
I loved the story and it really got me thinking. very saddening facts at times. my take away is that there is always hope if people just come together and converse.
just find people unlike you, have dinner with them and all will be fine.
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- John B. Rogers Jr.
- 05-29-22
Thought provoking and astride from the typical politics
Packer lays out an accurate historical account of forces at work in America.
This is a giant task in and of itself and he does it handily.
He is partly a socialist in avocation but even handed in his rebuke of one line of thinking.
Unapologetic and provocative.
Read if you are
A Self-described Libertarian
A Well Educated College Prof
A 2nd Amendment supporter
A Critical Race theorist
Because YOU are the future of America…. If you choose a wider embrace of democracy and equality
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- Ana M Castillo
- 06-12-23
A smart political read for our times.
A good read to help make sense out of these recent years. Well-written and yes, filled with hope. We need all we can get.
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- Brent B
- 08-27-21
Please read this book!!!!!!!!!!!
Occasionally, a book comes along that lays bare our greatest vulnerabilities, our subdued prejudice, and our propensity for denial and self confirmation. This is that book. It does not spare anyone of the blame for our current situation and speaks truth to bull$#!+ in a straightforward and efficient manner that I have not seen in a long time. I feel convicted and inpsired and I am grateful for the authors courage in saying the things that need to be said. This book is a truth bomb and it deserves to be read and fully considered. May God bless George Packer for writing this outstanidng work.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Frequent shopper!
- 08-25-21
Could not put this down.
George Packer in this short book, brilliantly read by him provides a sober look at where we are today in our country snd politics.
It is full of sadness at how divided we are and concludes with a number of remedies.
We can move forward together if we work together. For democracy, self government and equality are worth the work.
It warrants re-reading to capture the fullness of his view of America. You won’t be disappointed.
Thank you George Packer
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- Joe
- 10-29-21
Timely and important
Disagree hard on one issue (Just America can’t be as tidily cornered as Real America—they are symptoms of the same problem but not equally delusional or destructive), but I can’t think of an better summation of this moment in US history or a way forward. Important book.
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