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Prophetic City
- Houston on the Cusp of a Changing America
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
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Publisher's summary
Sociologist Stephen Klineberg presents “a trailblazing study” (Kirkus Reviews) that shows how the city of Houston has emerged as a microcosm for America’s future - based on a meticulously researched 38-year study of its changing economic, demographic, and cultural landscapes.
Houston, Texas, long thought of as a traditionally blue-collar Black/White Southern city, has transformed into one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse metro areas in the nation, surpassing even New York by some measures.
With a diversifying economy and large numbers of both highly skilled technical jobs in engineering and medicine and low-skilled minimum-wage jobs in construction, restaurant work, and personal services, Houston has become a magnet for the new divergent streams of immigration that are transforming America in the 21st century. And thanks to an annual systematic survey conducted over the past 38 years, the ongoing changes in attitudes, beliefs, and life experiences have been measured and studied, creating a compelling data-driven map of the challenges and opportunities that are facing Houston and the rest of the country.
In Prophetic City, we’ll meet some of the new Americans, including a family who moved to Houston from Mexico in the early 1980s and is still trying to find work that pays more than poverty wages. There’s a young man born to highly educated Indian parents in an affluent Houston suburb who grows up to become a doctor in the world’s largest medical complex, as well as a White man who struggles with being prematurely pushed out of the workforce when his company downsizes.
“Eye-opening and accessible” (Publishers Weekly), this timely and groundbreaking audiobook tracks the progress of an American city like never before. Houston is at the center of the rapid changes that have redefined the nature of American society itself in the new century and is where, for better or worse, we can see the American future emerging.
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A timely argument for why the US and the West would benefit from accepting more immigrants. Impassioned, rigorous, and richly stocked with memorable stories and characters, This Land Is Our Land is a timely and necessary intervention and a literary polemic of the highest order.
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Greatly informative. wonderful narrated
- By ADEDZWA Dooyum Sartor on 06-29-19
By: Suketu Mehta
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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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The Ones We've Been Waiting For
- How a New Generation of Leaders Will Transform America
- By: Charlotte Alter
- Narrated by: Charlotte Alter
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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A new generation is stepping up. There are now 26 millennials in Congress - a fivefold increase gained in the 2018 midterms alone. In The Ones We've Been Waiting For, Time correspondent Charlotte Alter defines the class of young leaders who are remaking the nation - how grappling with 9/11 as teens, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, occupying Wall Street and protesting with Black Lives Matter, and shouldering their way into a financially rigged political system has shaped the people who will govern the future.
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Born before the lint roller invented
- By ML Sadler on 03-05-20
By: Charlotte Alter
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Triumph of the City
- How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier
- By: Edward Glaeser
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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America is an urban nation. More than two thirds of us live on the three percent of land that contains our cities. Yet cities get a bad rap: they're dirty, poor, unhealthy, crime ridden, expensive, environmentally unfriendly. Or are they? As Edward Glaeser proves in this myth-shattering book, cities are actually the healthiest, greenest, and richest (in cultural and economic terms) places to live.
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Urbanophile Brain Candy
- By Clay Downing on 12-18-15
By: Edward Glaeser
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The 9.9 Percent
- The New Aristocracy That Is Entrenching Inequality and Warping Our Culture
- By: Matthew Stewart
- Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In 21st century America, the top 0.1 percent of the wealth distribution have walked away with the big prizes even while the bottom 90 percent have lost ground. What’s left of the American Dream has taken refuge in the 9.9 percent that lies just below the tip of extreme wealth. Collectively, the members of this group control more than half of the wealth in the country - and they are doing whatever it takes to hang on to their piece of the action in an increasingly unjust system.
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Fantastic
- By Davena on 01-05-23
By: Matthew Stewart
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That Used to Be Us
- How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back
- By: Thomas L. Friedman, Michael Mandelbaum
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 16 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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America has a huge problem. It faces four major challenges, on which its future depends, and it is failing to meet them. In That Used to Be Us, Thomas L. Friedman, one of our most influential columnists, and Michael Mandelbaum, one of our leading foreign policy thinkers, analyze those challenges - globalization, the revolution in information technology, the nation's chronic deficits, and its pattern of energy consumption - and spell out what we need to do now to rediscover America and rise to this moment.
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We have met the enemy and it is us.... Pogo
- By Soudant on 09-16-11
By: Thomas L. Friedman, and others
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Viral Justice
- How We Grow the World We Want
- By: Ruha Benjamin
- Narrated by: Ruha Benjamin
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Long before the pandemic, Ruha Benjamin was doing groundbreaking research on race, technology, and justice, focusing on big, structural changes. But the twin plagues of COVID-19 and anti-Black police violence inspired her to rethink the importance of small, individual actions. Part memoir, part manifesto, Viral Justice is a sweeping and deeply personal exploration of how we can transform society through the choices we make every day.
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Fantastic book!
- By Avie Kearney on 05-21-23
By: Ruha Benjamin
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A Collective Bargain
- Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy
- By: Jane McAlevey
- Narrated by: Jane McAlevey
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In A Collective Bargain, longtime labor organizer, environmental activist, and political campaigner Jane McAlevey makes the case that unions are a key institution capable of taking effective action against today’s super-rich corporate class. Since the 1930s, when unions flourished under New Deal protections, corporations have waged a stealthy and ruthless war against the labor movement. And they’ve been winning.
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Disappointing
- By Ellen on 01-26-20
By: Jane McAlevey
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The South Side
- A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation
- By: Natalie Y. Moore
- Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In this intelligent and highly important narrative, Chicago native Natalie Moore shines a light on contemporary segregation on the South Side of Chicago through reported essays, showing the lives of these communities through the stories of people who live in them. The South Side shows the important impact of Chicago's historic segregation and the ongoing policies that keep it that way.
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Eyeopening!
- By Ladybug on 09-07-16
By: Natalie Y. Moore
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The Big Sort
- Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart
- By: Bill Bishop, Robert G. Cushing
- Narrated by: Paul Brion
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2004, journalist Bill Bishop coined the term "the big sort". Armed with startling new demographic data, he made national news in a series of articles showing how Americans have been sorting themselves into alarmingly homogeneous communities - not by region or by state but by city and even neighborhood. Over the past three decades, we have been choosing the neighborhoods (and churches and news shows) compatible with our lifestyles and beliefs.
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Build the Wall?
- By Amazon Customer on 01-23-19
By: Bill Bishop, and others
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Arguing with Socialists
- By: Glenn Beck
- Narrated by: Glenn Beck, Jeremy Lowell
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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In Arguing with Socialists, New York Times best-selling author Glenn Beck arms listeners to the teeth with information necessary to debunk the socialist arguments that have once again become popular, and proves that the free market is the only way to go. With his trademark humor, Beck lampoons the resurgence of this bankrupt leftist philosophy with thousands of stories, facts, and arguments for anyone who is willing to ask the hard questions.
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Its great...whatever
- By Jon on 04-08-20
By: Glenn Beck
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Americans Against the City
- Anti-Urbanism in the Twentieth Century
- By: Steven Conn
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 16 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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An aversion to urban density and all that it contributes to urban life, and a perception that the city was the place where "big government" first took root in America fostered what historian Steven Conn terms the "anti-urban impulse." In this provocative and sweeping audiobook, Conn explores the anti-urban impulse across the 20th century, examining how the ideas born of it have shaped both the places in which Americans live and work, and the anti-government politics so strong today.
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Excellent book
- By M. M. Conroy on 09-19-20
By: Steven Conn
What listeners say about Prophetic City
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- R. Karabekian
- 03-25-21
Masterpiece
This book provides incredible insights into Houston’s origin story, its cultural evolution, and its role in shaping the future of America. Houston is the most culturally diverse major city in the United States and provides a window into the future of what a truly multicultural America looks like.
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- Chrissi Qu
- 09-16-23
Great in-depth examination of Houston
I really enjoyed this book and I’ve recommended it for several people. If you live, visit, and/or love Houston, I highly recommend you dive in to this book!
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- Danny
- 11-09-20
As Goes Houston, So Does the US
I've been in Houston over 20 years and I've enjoyed getting a history lesson on the city, along with a forewarning on the necessary changes needed to ensure its future. Particularly, Houston's need to address education in a meaningful way, to enable its business community to continue to thrive.
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- Michael Pittman
- 11-10-22
Phenomenal Factual Synopsis of Houston
This book gives the reader a perfect breakdown of the city of Houston’s past present and future. If you are in a Houston geek or someone looking to learn more about this city for historical and/or decision making purposes, then I highly suggest reading this book.
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- J.D.
- 07-10-20
Not what it claims to be
This book was one I was very excited to read, but ended up being very disappointed with. I apologize in advance for the length of this review, but these are the kind of books that really bother me. It’s billed as a book “based on a thirty-eight year study of its [Houston’s] economic, demographic and cultural landscapes.” Instead this book is instead a political diatribe couched in the idea that it’s an impartial study or work of science. As someone from the center, who is more of a numbers and statistics person, I find this slight of hand a bit offensive.
This book very much leans to the left. Once again I find myself trying to dissect a political book from the center, for those who are more interested in facts than rhetoric. It’s pretty hard with this one, but I will try my best...
It begins with a brief history of the City of Houston, and its founding. The history of the city itself is very spot on, though even here little credit is given to the mentality of the people and instead is given to government help. The city is portrayed as immoral one minute, but then the morality of those moving to Houston from other parts of the country (ie. Ken Lay) is questioned. It’s as if the actual history of the city is fighting with the author’s narrative.
Though, it’s after the city’s history that the book becomes more and more an opinion piece. Often the author says things like the facts or statistics are “real and indisputable,” however those facts or statistics are never presented. They are obviously “indisputable” when the statistics or sources are not presented! It’s impossible to verify the statistics. The moments that statistics are present are when they back up the author’s premise. Breakdowns of the stats are not given when they could contradict the author’s point of view.
The author’s biases are on full display throughout the book. At one point the author laments to an interviewee “lack of progress on Social Justice issues.” While this may be a logical complaint, it seems like it would be better made by the interviewee rather than the interviewer. At another point the author gloats that the “closed minded church based socially conservative religiosity” is diminishing. At another point describing a volunteer who helped Hurricane Katrina refugees the author calls her, “as right wing crazy as they come.” These seem like unnecessary commentary.
Very few center or right leaning politicians or businesspersons are interviewed. Often when they are, such as former Republican Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, the author asks why they didn’t do more to solve the problems they may talk about. The same is never asked of the former Democratic politicians. While Democrat Bob Lanier is portrayed negatively, none of the other mayors are really questioned. The corruption under current mayor Sylvester Turner is never mentioned, despite it being a big enough issue that he faced a general election challenge from Dwight Boykins in his own party. When he does quote someone from the right side of the political spectrum the come from the very very far right.
When talking about Houston floods, the other makes some good points. Though here again it would seem that facts and numbers are not included.
The author’s distain for the oil industry is readily apparent. Again the author ignores facts and figures in place of personal opinion. The Industry that built the city of Houston is treated more as a detriment than an advantage.
The statement is made that the oil companies do not do enough to benefit the city’s many charities and activities. This is an odd statement considering they sponsor the Houston Zoo (ConocoPhillips, P66, Marathon, Lyondell, Centpoint Energy, TXU Energy), the Houston Museum of Natural Science (Chevron, Exxon, ConocoPhillips, Shell, Oxy, Transocean, Marathon, and more), the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts (Enbridge, CenterPoint, Schlumberger, etc) and Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo (BP, NRG, Hess, Shell, P66 and more) among others. Even the author’s own surveys are sponsored by Richard Kinder’s foundation, who was an Enron executive and founder of Kinder-Morgan. This makes the author’s statements on this subject a bit disingenuous.
Honestly, this review would need to be a book of its own to point out all the skewed information presented in this book. For those looking for someone to be an echo chamber for their political beliefs will find this book to be a good read. However, anyone who is looking for an honest fact filled book on a metro area that is the size of Massachusetts will find this book doesn’t fit the bill. While it’s still worth reading, this book is not what it purports to be. Overall, giving it 2 stars seems generous, but 1 star would be too harsh.
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1 person found this helpful