
Power Metal
The Race for the Resources That Will Shape the Future
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
-
Narrated by:
-
Vince Beiser
-
By:
-
Vince Beiser
About this listen
The powerful ways the metals we need to fuel technology and energy are spawning environmental havoc, political upheaval, and rising violence—and how we can do better.
An Australian millionaire’s plan to mine the ocean floor. Nigerian garbage pickers risking their lives to salvage e-waste. A Bill Gates-backed entrepreneur harnessing AI to find metals in the Arctic.
These people and millions more are part of the intensifying competition to find and extract the minerals essential for two crucial technologies: the internet and renewable energy. In Power Metal, Vince Beiser explores the Achilles’ heel of “green power” and digital technology–that manufacturing computers, cell phones, electric cars, and other technologies demand skyrocketing amounts of lithium, copper, cobalt, and other materials. Around the world, businesses and governments are scrambling for new places and new ways to get those metals, at enormous cost to people and the planet.
Beiser crisscrossed the world to talk to the people involved and report on the damage this race is inflicting, the ways it could get worse, and how we can minimize the damage. Power Metal is a compelling glimpse into this disturbing yet potentially promising new world.
©2024 Vince Beiser (P)2024 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Meltdown
- Greed, Scandal, and the Collapse of Credit Suisse
- By: Duncan Mavin
- Narrated by: Charles Armstrong
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Credit Suisse was a 166-year-old bastion of global banking. But a veneer of high-class service disguised a darker, much dirtier reality. From its sterile Zurich headquarters, Credit Suisse banked dictators and drug dealers, hid stolen Nazi gold, and helped corrupt bankers fleece the firm's own clients of billions of dollars. Its top executives oversaw a global operation that laundered money for autocrats; they hired spies to track one another through the cobbled streets of the Swiss financial capital; and they helped clients hide their money from the world's tax authorities.
By: Duncan Mavin
-
Offshore
- Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism
- By: Brooke Harrington
- Narrated by: Jennifer Walden
- Length: 4 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do the rich keep getting richer, while dodging the long arm of the law? The ultra-rich seem to live in a different world from the rest of us. That world is called offshore. Hidden from view, the world's ultra-rich can use offshore finance to escape tax obligations, labor and environmental safety regulations, campaign finance rules, and other laws that get in their way.
-
-
Informative
- By Seattle mom on 03-02-25
-
The World in a Grain
- The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization
- By: Vince Beiser
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After water and air, sand is the natural resource that we consume more than any other - even more than oil. Every concrete building and paved road on Earth, every computer screen and silicon chip, is made from sand. And, incredibly, we're running out of it. The World in a Grain is the compelling true story of the hugely important and diminishing natural resource that grows more essential every day, and of the people who mine it, sell it, build with it - and sometimes, even kill for it.
-
-
History given is only reason it gets 2 stars.
- By Dennis on 07-23-19
By: Vince Beiser
-
The War Below
- Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives
- By: Ernest Scheyder
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The War Below reveals the explosive brawl among industry titans, conservationists, community groups, policymakers, and many others over whether the habitats of rare plants, sensitive ecosystems, Indigenous holy sites, and other places should be dug up for their riches.
-
-
Misses its chance at greatness
- By B L on 09-16-24
By: Ernest Scheyder
-
The Catalyst
- RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life's Deepest Secrets
- By: Thomas R. Cech
- Narrated by: Joshua Saxon
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A gripping journey of discovery, The Catalyst moves from the early experiments that first hinted at RNA's spectacular powers, to Cech's own paradigm-shifting finding that it can catalyze cellular reactions, to the cutting-edge biotechnologies poised to reshape our health.
-
-
Captivating
- By Auinash Kalsotra on 09-16-24
By: Thomas R. Cech
-
Kaput
- The End of the German Miracle
- By: Wolfgang Münchau
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Kaput, Wolfgang Münchau argues that the weaknesses of Germany's economy have, in fact, been brewing for decades. The neo-mercantilist policies of the German state, driven by close connections between the country's industrial and political elite, have left Germany technologically behind over-reliant on authoritarian Russia and China—and with little sign of being able to adapt to the digital realities of the 21st century. It is an essential read for anyone interested in the future of Europe's biggest economy.
-
-
a narrow account of germanys troubles
- By Rachel Evan on 05-05-25
By: Wolfgang Münchau
-
Meltdown
- Greed, Scandal, and the Collapse of Credit Suisse
- By: Duncan Mavin
- Narrated by: Charles Armstrong
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Credit Suisse was a 166-year-old bastion of global banking. But a veneer of high-class service disguised a darker, much dirtier reality. From its sterile Zurich headquarters, Credit Suisse banked dictators and drug dealers, hid stolen Nazi gold, and helped corrupt bankers fleece the firm's own clients of billions of dollars. Its top executives oversaw a global operation that laundered money for autocrats; they hired spies to track one another through the cobbled streets of the Swiss financial capital; and they helped clients hide their money from the world's tax authorities.
By: Duncan Mavin
-
Offshore
- Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism
- By: Brooke Harrington
- Narrated by: Jennifer Walden
- Length: 4 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do the rich keep getting richer, while dodging the long arm of the law? The ultra-rich seem to live in a different world from the rest of us. That world is called offshore. Hidden from view, the world's ultra-rich can use offshore finance to escape tax obligations, labor and environmental safety regulations, campaign finance rules, and other laws that get in their way.
-
-
Informative
- By Seattle mom on 03-02-25
-
The World in a Grain
- The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization
- By: Vince Beiser
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After water and air, sand is the natural resource that we consume more than any other - even more than oil. Every concrete building and paved road on Earth, every computer screen and silicon chip, is made from sand. And, incredibly, we're running out of it. The World in a Grain is the compelling true story of the hugely important and diminishing natural resource that grows more essential every day, and of the people who mine it, sell it, build with it - and sometimes, even kill for it.
-
-
History given is only reason it gets 2 stars.
- By Dennis on 07-23-19
By: Vince Beiser
-
The War Below
- Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives
- By: Ernest Scheyder
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The War Below reveals the explosive brawl among industry titans, conservationists, community groups, policymakers, and many others over whether the habitats of rare plants, sensitive ecosystems, Indigenous holy sites, and other places should be dug up for their riches.
-
-
Misses its chance at greatness
- By B L on 09-16-24
By: Ernest Scheyder
-
The Catalyst
- RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life's Deepest Secrets
- By: Thomas R. Cech
- Narrated by: Joshua Saxon
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A gripping journey of discovery, The Catalyst moves from the early experiments that first hinted at RNA's spectacular powers, to Cech's own paradigm-shifting finding that it can catalyze cellular reactions, to the cutting-edge biotechnologies poised to reshape our health.
-
-
Captivating
- By Auinash Kalsotra on 09-16-24
By: Thomas R. Cech
-
Kaput
- The End of the German Miracle
- By: Wolfgang Münchau
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Kaput, Wolfgang Münchau argues that the weaknesses of Germany's economy have, in fact, been brewing for decades. The neo-mercantilist policies of the German state, driven by close connections between the country's industrial and political elite, have left Germany technologically behind over-reliant on authoritarian Russia and China—and with little sign of being able to adapt to the digital realities of the 21st century. It is an essential read for anyone interested in the future of Europe's biggest economy.
-
-
a narrow account of germanys troubles
- By Rachel Evan on 05-05-25
By: Wolfgang Münchau
-
The Lithium Economy
- A Critical Analysis of the Global Lithium Value Chain
- By: Eric Lyon
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Lithium Economy provides an overview of the global lithium value chain from a variety of perspectives. The first part of the book addresses an overview of the lithium market with a specific emphasis on the Lithium Triangle in South America. Subsequent chapters dive into the specifics of lithium mining in the U.S. Subjects addressed include U.S. mining law, the U.S. mining bureaucracy, mining permitting requirements and how politics affect the lithium value chain in America. The book then conducts a comparative analysis of lithium value chains in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, ...
-
-
Comprehensive review on BEV present and future
- By Jurisa-San on 02-01-24
By: Eric Lyon
-
The Technological Republic
- Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West
- By: Alexander C. Karp, Nicholas W. Zamiska
- Narrated by: Nicholas W. Zamiska
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this groundbreaking treatise, Palantir co-founder and CEO Alexander C. Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska offer a searing critique of our collective abandonment of ambition, arguing that in order for the U.S. and its allies to retain their global edge—and preserve the freedoms we take for granted—the software industry must renew its commitment to addressing our most urgent challenges, including the new arms race of artificial intelligence. The government, in turn, must embrace the most effective features of the engineering mindset that has propelled Silicon Valley’s success.
-
-
Premise no longer applicable
- By Marion B. McGovern on 02-28-25
By: Alexander C. Karp, and others
-
The Secret Life of the Universe
- An Astrobiologist's Search for the Origins and Frontiers of Life
- By: Nathalie A. Cabrol
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are living in a golden age in astronomy and in the search for life the universe. Over the last few decades, space exploration has shown that not only are there habitable environments within our solar system, but there are millions of exoplanets within our galaxy that could support life. We are on the cusp of breakthroughs that will revolutionize our understanding of our place in the cosmos in. In The Secret Life of the Universe, astrobiologist and the director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute Nathalie A. Cabrol takes us to the frontiers of the search for life.
-
-
Omg insufferably boring cliches
- By John on 08-18-24
-
The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto
- A Fifteen-Year Quest to Unmask the Secret Genius Behind Crypto
- By: Benjamin Wallace
- Narrated by: Benjamin Wallace
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In October 2008, someone going by the name Satoshi Nakamoto posted a white paper outlining “a peer-to-peer electronic cash system” called Bitcoin to an arcane listserv populated by Cypherpunks. No one in the community had heard of Nakamoto, and just as people were starting to wonder who he was, he vanished. As the years passed, and the scope of Nakamoto’s achievement became clear, the truth of his identity grew into the greatest unsolved mystery of our time. The Mysterious Mr. Nakamoto traces Benjamin Wallace’s attempt to unmask the figure behind the currency and the world it wrought.
-
-
Interesting read, even for a non-geek
- By A reader on 04-23-25
By: Benjamin Wallace
-
The Thinking Machine
- Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World's Most Coveted Microchip
- By: Stephen Witt
- Narrated by: Stephen Witt
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In June of 2024, thirty-one years after its founding in a Denny’s restaurant, Nvidia became the most valuable corporation on Earth. The Thinking Machine is the astonishing story of how a designer of video game equipment conquered the market for AI hardware, and in the process re-invented the computer. Essential to Nvidia’s meteoric success is its visionary CEO Jensen Huang, who more than a decade ago, on the basis of a few promising scientific results, bet his entire company on AI.
-
-
So good, it read like a movie, I bet it becomes one.
- By Amazon Customer on 04-12-25
By: Stephen Witt
-
Who Is Government?
- The Untold Story of Public Service
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis, Sarah Vowell, John Lanchester, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The government is a vast, complex system that Americans pay for, rebel against, rely upon, dismiss, and celebrate. It’s also our shared resource for addressing the biggest problems of society. And it’s made up of people, mostly unrecognized and uncelebrated, doing work that can be deeply consequential and beneficial to everyone. Michael Lewis invited his favorite writers, including Casey Cep, Dave Eggers, John Lanchester, Geraldine Brooks, Sarah Vowell, and W. Kamau Bell, to join him in finding someone doing an interesting job for the government and writing about them.
-
-
Imagine what we could achieve if we actually understood
- By Anonymous User on 03-24-25
By: Michael Lewis
-
On Xi Jinping
- How Xi's Marxist Nationalism Is Shaping China and the World
- By: Kevin Rudd
- Narrated by: Kevin Rudd
- Length: 21 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In On Xi Jinping, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd provides an authoritative account of the ideological worldview driving Chinese behaviour both domestically and on the world stage—that of President Xi Jinping, who now holds near-total control over the Chinese Communist Party and is now, in effect, president-for-life. Rudd argues that Xi’s worldview differs significantly from those of the leaders who preceded him, and that this ideological shift is reflected in the real world of Chinese policy and behaviour.
-
-
Comprehensive and Insightful Analysis of Xi
- By Mark A. Bucknam on 04-29-25
By: Kevin Rudd
-
Play Nice but Win
- A CEO's Journey from Founder to Leader
- By: Michael Dell, James Kaplan
- Narrated by: Michael Dell
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1984, soon-to-be college dropout Michael Dell hid signs of his fledgling PC business in the bathroom of his University of Texas dorm room. Almost 30 years later, at the pinnacle of his success as founder and leader of Dell Technologies, he found himself embroiled in a battle for his company’s survival. What he’d do next could ensure its legacy — or destroy it completely.
-
-
Not perfect, but worth a listen
- By James S. on 11-09-21
By: Michael Dell, and others
-
No Democracy Lasts Forever
- How the Constitution Threatens the United States
- By: Erwin Chemerinsky
- Narrated by: Daniel Thomas May
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No Democracy Lasts Forever argues that the Constitution has become a threat to American democracy and must be dramatically changed or replaced if secession is to be avoided. Deeply troubled by the Constitution's inherent flaws, Erwin Chemerinsky, the renowned dean of Berkeley law school, came to the sobering conclusion that our nearly 250-year-old founding document is responsible for the crisis now facing American democracy.
-
-
Leftist, but he makes sense to me
- By Mike Liveright on 11-29-24
-
The Eurasian Century
- Hot Wars, Cold Wars, and the Making of the Modern Century
- By: Hal Brands
- Narrated by: Tim Fannon
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hal Brands argues that a better understanding of Eurasia's strategic geography can illuminate the contours of rivalry and conflict in today's world. The Eurasian Century explains how revolutions in technology and warfare, and the rise of toxic ideologies of conquest, made Eurasia the center of twentieth-century geopolitics—with pressing implications for the struggles that will define the twenty-first.
-
-
Worth the read.
- By Chip Eckert on 02-24-25
By: Hal Brands
-
Abundance
- By: Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson
- Narrated by: Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To trace the history of the twenty-first century so far is to trace a history of unaffordability and shortage. After years of refusing to build sufficient housing, America has a national housing crisis. After years of limiting immigration, we don’t have enough workers. Despite decades of being warned about the consequences of climate change, we haven’t built anything close to the clean-energy infrastructure we need. Ambitious public projects are finished late and over budget—if they are ever finished at all.
-
-
Advice to the Democratic Party from Klein & Thompson
- By Betsy Fowler on 03-31-25
By: Ezra Klein, and others
-
Gambling Man
- The Secret Story of the World's Greatest Disruptor, Masayoshi Son
- By: Lionel Barber
- Narrated by: Keong Sim
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Wall Street swooned and boomed through the last decade, our livelihoods have—now more than ever—come to rely upon the good sense and risk appetites of a few standout investors. And amidst the BlackRocks, Vanguards, and Berkshire Hathaways stands arguably the most iconoclastic of them all: SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son. In Gambling Man, the first Western biography of Son, the self-professed unicorn hunter, we go behind the scenes of the world’s most monied halls of power in New York, Tokyo, Silicon Valley, Saudi Arabia, and beyond.
-
-
A deep look into the life of a man who doesn’t quit!
- By JoeShon Monroe on 04-22-25
By: Lionel Barber
Critic reviews
"Unflinching. . .Beiser urges us to rethink our understanding of sustainability." —Scientific American
“Journalist [Vince] Beiser enumerates the precious metals comprising the electronics we consume with near-thoughtless abandon…[but] counters the darkness with bright stories of entrepreneurs salvaging the metals, giving old batteries repurposed afterlives,and repairing electronic devices to extend their lives…[This is] a book that alarms even as it leads us to solutions.”—Booklist
“Power Metal is a necessary, illuminating, and often shocking read. Fast-paced, fascinating, and alive with colorful characters, it’s a whirlwind tour of the epochal energy transition currently underway as we enter what Vince Beiser so aptly calls the ‘electro-digital age.’” —John Vaillant, author of Fire Weather
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The World in a Grain
- The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization
- By: Vince Beiser
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After water and air, sand is the natural resource that we consume more than any other - even more than oil. Every concrete building and paved road on Earth, every computer screen and silicon chip, is made from sand. And, incredibly, we're running out of it. The World in a Grain is the compelling true story of the hugely important and diminishing natural resource that grows more essential every day, and of the people who mine it, sell it, build with it - and sometimes, even kill for it.
-
-
History given is only reason it gets 2 stars.
- By Dennis on 07-23-19
By: Vince Beiser
-
The War Below
- Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives
- By: Ernest Scheyder
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The War Below reveals the explosive brawl among industry titans, conservationists, community groups, policymakers, and many others over whether the habitats of rare plants, sensitive ecosystems, Indigenous holy sites, and other places should be dug up for their riches.
-
-
Misses its chance at greatness
- By B L on 09-16-24
By: Ernest Scheyder
-
Volt Rush
- The Winners and Losers in the Race to Go Green
- By: Henry Sanderson
- Narrated by: Rory Barnett
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the twentieth century, wealth and power was dictated by access to oil. This century will have different kingmakers, perhaps different wars. We depend on a handful of metals and rare earths to power our phones and computers. Increasingly, we rely on them to power our cars and our homes. Whoever controls these finite commodities will become rich beyond imagining. Sanderson journeys to meet the characters, companies, and nations scrambling for the new resources.
-
-
Can someone edit out all the inhales?
- By Amazon Customer on 11-26-22
By: Henry Sanderson
-
Material World
- The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization
- By: Ed Conway
- Narrated by: Ed Conway
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sand, salt, iron, copper, oil, and lithium. These fundamental materials have created empires, razed civilizations, and fed our ingenuity and greed for thousands of years. Without them, our modern world would not exist, and the battle to control them will determine our future. In Material World, Ed Conway embarks on an epic journey across continents, cultures, and epochs to reveal the underpinnings of modern life on Earth—traveling from the sweltering depths of the deepest mine in Europe to spotless silicon chip factories in Taiwan to the eerie green pools where lithium originates.
-
-
Insightful
- By Sam on 01-17-24
By: Ed Conway
-
Land Power
- Who Has It, Who Doesn't, and How That Determines the Fate of Societies
- By: Michael Albertus
- Narrated by: Braden Wright
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For millennia, land has been a symbol of wealth and privilege. But the true power of land ownership is even greater than we might think. In Land Power, political scientist Michael Albertus shows that who owns the land determines whether a society will be equal or unequal, whether it will develop or decline, and whether it will safeguard or sacrifice its environment.
-
-
Great stories of what countries are doing that we never hear about. This is led by working with the people. Excellent…..
- By Hal on 02-24-25
By: Michael Albertus
-
The Power and the Money
- The Epic Clashes Between Commanders in Chief and Titans of Industry
- By: Tevi Troy
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Acclaimed presidential historian Tevi Troy takes listeners on a riveting journey through the biggest battles between CEOs and the nation’s commander in chief. He unearths the untold stories—both political and personal—that have shaped America. The Power and the Money shows how some of the nation’s most important CEOs forged (and fumbled) relationships with the president, revealing an intricate web of power, where CEOs need presidents, and presidents need CEOs. Troy shows how each must step carefully—or risk unpredictable costs and collateral damage.
-
-
Completely disappointing
- By Amazon Customer on 11-29-24
By: Tevi Troy
-
The World in a Grain
- The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization
- By: Vince Beiser
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After water and air, sand is the natural resource that we consume more than any other - even more than oil. Every concrete building and paved road on Earth, every computer screen and silicon chip, is made from sand. And, incredibly, we're running out of it. The World in a Grain is the compelling true story of the hugely important and diminishing natural resource that grows more essential every day, and of the people who mine it, sell it, build with it - and sometimes, even kill for it.
-
-
History given is only reason it gets 2 stars.
- By Dennis on 07-23-19
By: Vince Beiser
-
The War Below
- Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives
- By: Ernest Scheyder
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The War Below reveals the explosive brawl among industry titans, conservationists, community groups, policymakers, and many others over whether the habitats of rare plants, sensitive ecosystems, Indigenous holy sites, and other places should be dug up for their riches.
-
-
Misses its chance at greatness
- By B L on 09-16-24
By: Ernest Scheyder
-
Volt Rush
- The Winners and Losers in the Race to Go Green
- By: Henry Sanderson
- Narrated by: Rory Barnett
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the twentieth century, wealth and power was dictated by access to oil. This century will have different kingmakers, perhaps different wars. We depend on a handful of metals and rare earths to power our phones and computers. Increasingly, we rely on them to power our cars and our homes. Whoever controls these finite commodities will become rich beyond imagining. Sanderson journeys to meet the characters, companies, and nations scrambling for the new resources.
-
-
Can someone edit out all the inhales?
- By Amazon Customer on 11-26-22
By: Henry Sanderson
-
Material World
- The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization
- By: Ed Conway
- Narrated by: Ed Conway
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sand, salt, iron, copper, oil, and lithium. These fundamental materials have created empires, razed civilizations, and fed our ingenuity and greed for thousands of years. Without them, our modern world would not exist, and the battle to control them will determine our future. In Material World, Ed Conway embarks on an epic journey across continents, cultures, and epochs to reveal the underpinnings of modern life on Earth—traveling from the sweltering depths of the deepest mine in Europe to spotless silicon chip factories in Taiwan to the eerie green pools where lithium originates.
-
-
Insightful
- By Sam on 01-17-24
By: Ed Conway
-
Land Power
- Who Has It, Who Doesn't, and How That Determines the Fate of Societies
- By: Michael Albertus
- Narrated by: Braden Wright
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For millennia, land has been a symbol of wealth and privilege. But the true power of land ownership is even greater than we might think. In Land Power, political scientist Michael Albertus shows that who owns the land determines whether a society will be equal or unequal, whether it will develop or decline, and whether it will safeguard or sacrifice its environment.
-
-
Great stories of what countries are doing that we never hear about. This is led by working with the people. Excellent…..
- By Hal on 02-24-25
By: Michael Albertus
-
The Power and the Money
- The Epic Clashes Between Commanders in Chief and Titans of Industry
- By: Tevi Troy
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Acclaimed presidential historian Tevi Troy takes listeners on a riveting journey through the biggest battles between CEOs and the nation’s commander in chief. He unearths the untold stories—both political and personal—that have shaped America. The Power and the Money shows how some of the nation’s most important CEOs forged (and fumbled) relationships with the president, revealing an intricate web of power, where CEOs need presidents, and presidents need CEOs. Troy shows how each must step carefully—or risk unpredictable costs and collateral damage.
-
-
Completely disappointing
- By Amazon Customer on 11-29-24
By: Tevi Troy
-
Cobalt Red
- How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives
- By: Siddharth Kara
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cobalt Red is the searing first-ever exposé of the immense toll taken on the people and environment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by cobalt mining, as told through the testimonies of the Congolese people themselves. Activist and researcher Siddharth Kara has traveled deep into cobalt territory to document the testimonies of the people living, working, and dying for cobalt.
-
-
A must read
- By Anonymous User on 02-01-23
By: Siddharth Kara
-
Offshore
- Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism
- By: Brooke Harrington
- Narrated by: Jennifer Walden
- Length: 4 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do the rich keep getting richer, while dodging the long arm of the law? The ultra-rich seem to live in a different world from the rest of us. That world is called offshore. Hidden from view, the world's ultra-rich can use offshore finance to escape tax obligations, labor and environmental safety regulations, campaign finance rules, and other laws that get in their way.
-
-
Informative
- By Seattle mom on 03-02-25
-
How the World Ran Out of Everything
- Inside the Global Supply Chain
- By: Peter S. Goodman
- Narrated by: Michael David Axtell
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In How the World Ran Out of Everything, award-winning journalist Peter S. Goodman reveals the fascinating innerworkings of our supply chain and the factors that have led to its constant, dangerous vulnerability. His reporting takes listeners deep into the elaborate system, showcasing the triumphs and struggles of the human players who operate it—from factories in Asia and an almond grower in Northern California, to a group of striking railroad workers in Texas, to a truck driver who Goodman accompanies across hundreds of miles of the Great Plains.
-
-
Must Read!
- By Adam W Jones on 10-05-24
By: Peter S. Goodman
-
Vanishing Treasures
- A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures
- By: Katherine Rundell
- Narrated by: Lenny Henry, Katherine Rundell
- Length: 3 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world is more astonishing, more miraculous, and more wonderful than our wildest imaginings. In this brilliant and passionately persuasive book, Katherine Rundell takes us on a globe-spanning tour of the world's most awe-inspiring animals currently facing extinction. This urgent, inspiring book of essays dedicated to 23 unusual and underappreciated creatures is a clarion call insisting that we look at the world around us with new eyes.
-
-
Passionate and Impassioning
- By Anonymous on 12-11-24
-
No Trade Is Free
- Changing Course, Taking on China, and Helping America's Workers
- By: Robert Lighthizer
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America is the first country in history to fund the rise of its rivals. We need to stop now, before it’s too late.
-
-
Useful for understanding USA policies in international trade.
- By Javier H. Eguino on 05-02-25
-
The Impossible Man
- Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius
- By: Patchen Barss
- Narrated by: Jonathan Beville
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When he was six years old, Roger Penrose discovered a sundial in a clearing near his house. Through that machine made of light, shadow, and time, Roger glimpsed a “world behind the world” of transcendently beautiful geometry. It spurred him on a journey to become one of the world’s most influential mathematicians, philosophers, and physicists. Penrose would prove the limitations of general relativity, set a new agenda for theoretical physics, and astound colleagues and admirers with the elegance and beauty of his discoveries.
-
-
Flawed
- By Michael on 01-12-25
By: Patchen Barss
-
Chip War
- The Quest to Dominate the World's Most Critical Technology
- By: Chris Miller
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You may be surprised to learn that microchips are the new oil—the scarce resource on which the modern world depends. Today, military, economic, and geopolitical power are built on a foundation of computer chips. Virtually everything—from missiles to microwaves—runs on chips, including cars, smartphones, the stock market, even the electric grid. Until recently, America designed and built the fastest chips and maintained its lead as the #1 superpower, but America’s edge is in danger of slipping, undermined by players in Taiwan, Korea, and Europe taking over manufacturing.
-
-
Great history, but could poor narration
- By Lily Wong on 10-26-22
By: Chris Miller
-
Think You'll Be Happy
- Moving Through Grief with Grit, Grace, and Gratitude
- By: Nicole Avant
- Narrated by: Nicole Avant
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nicole Avant—diplomat, philanthropist, filmmaker—grew up surrounded by some of the most extraordinary artists of our time: Bill Withers, Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, Sidney Poitier. Her parents—entertainment mogul, Clarence Avant, and legendary philanthropist, Jacqueline Avant—turned their home into a place of refuge and inspiration for a generation of geniuses. Nicole drew on that magical upbringing to create a stellar career in the music business, become the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, and produce critically acclaimed award-winning films and documentaries.
-
-
Religious
- By Shannon M. Holt on 11-18-23
By: Nicole Avant
-
The Last Kilo
- Willy Falcon and the Cocaine Empire That Seduced America
- By: T. J. English
- Narrated by: Christian Barillas
- Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Despite what Scarface might lead one to believe, violence was not the dominant characteristic of the cocaine business. It was corruption: the dirty cops, agents, lawyers, judges, and politicians who made the drug world go round. And no one managed that carousel of dangerous players better than Willy Falcon.
-
-
Just wow unbelievable
- By Jose herrera on 01-01-25
By: T. J. English
-
All or Nothing
- How Trump Recaptured America
- By: Michael Wolff
- Narrated by: Michael Wolff, Holter Graham
- Length: 14 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Fire and Fury delivers a breathtaking insider account of the 2024 Trump campaign—undoubtedly the wildest, most unpredictable campaign in U.S. history, including multiple criminal trials, two assassination attempts, and a sudden switch of opponents.
-
-
Trump is a D**k
- By valerie on 03-02-25
By: Michael Wolff
-
The Prize
- The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power
- By: Daniel Yergin
- Narrated by: Michael David Axtell
- Length: 46 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Now with an epilogue that speaks directly to the current energy crisis, The Prize recounts the panoramic history of the world’s most important resource—oil. Daniel Yergin’s timeless book chronicles the struggle for wealth and power that has surrounded oil for decades and that continues to fuel global rivalries, shake the world economy, and transform the destiny of men and nations. This updated edition categorically proves the unwavering significance of oil throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first by tracing economic and political clashes over precious “black gold.”
-
-
Great book!
- By Javier H. Eguino on 04-09-25
By: Daniel Yergin
-
Money, Lies, and God
- Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy
- By: Katherine Stewart
- Narrated by: Patricia Rodriguez
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why have so many Americans turned against democracy? In this deeply reported book, Katherine Stewart takes us to conferences of conspiracy-mongers, backroom strategy gatherings, and services at extremist churches, and profiles the people who want to tear it all down.
-
-
Describes a well funded international fascist cult
- By marwalk on 03-24-25
What listeners say about Power Metal
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 02-26-25
The scope and scale of the metal issue
That the author travelled as much as he did in pursuit of the story speaks to his passion for pursuit of the full story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jerry Hoffmeister
- 12-09-24
Fascinating, dire, hopeful
The author successfully navigates the line between "we are in the midst of an environmental catastrophe of our own making" and "here are practical solutions real people are currently using to fix this problem." The descriptions of different metals, how they are mined and used, and the impacts, is fascinating. Highly recommend.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ben Weissman
- 11-21-24
Excellent book by Vince Beiser
Instant classic from Vince Beiser. A true breath of fresh air: well-written, nicely balanced between breadth and depth. Mr. Beiser takes the reader on a multi-leg journey from the cobalt mines of the Congo to the lithium pools of the Atacama salt flats.
What makes this book so good is Mr. Beiser's ability to deftly contextualize each level of the process, from the materials themselves to their economic impact to their environmental and human costs.
This is an important addition to the pantheon of contemporary materials science non-fiction, joining the likes of The War Below and Cobalt Red.
Another fantastic feature of this book, one that is far too often lacking in similar publications, is the set of tangible policy recommendations set forth by Mr. Beiser in the last two chapters.
This is also the only area of the book where Mr. Beiser does, in my opinion, become slightly myopic--though, again--with a more panoptic view than most.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- O. D. S
- 11-21-24
Misleading title
I purchased this book in the hopes of learning more about the metals and their use. However, this book doesn’t contain much about that. It should be something along the lines of «Mining - and how it is destroying the life for everyone and everything close to one»
Don’t missunderstand. The reader reads well, the content is somewhat interesting, but I don’t know which rock you have lived under if you think the working conditions in a Congolese mine is fine. So not really much new information for those that have paid attention
So the book if fine if you want to dig deeper into the problematic sides of metals. If you on the other hand wants to learn about metals and their use or importance; look elsewhere
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- marc mccluskey
- 12-13-24
Nice Outline for Dangers and Opportunities
Details about recycling process and opportunities were good. Balance opportunities are better discussed in a follow up work rather than by 15 mins at end.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!