
Read This to Get Smarter
About Race, Class, Gender, Disability, and More
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Narrated by:
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Blair Imani
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By:
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Blair Imani
About this listen
An approachable guide to being an informed, compassionate, and socially conscious person today - from discussions of race, gender, and sexual orientation to disability, class, and beyond - from critically acclaimed historian, educator, and author Blair Imani.
We live in a time where it has never been more important to be knowledgeable about a host of social issues, and to be confident and appropriate in how to talk about them. What's the best way to ask someone what their pronouns are? How do you talk about racism with someone who doesn't seem to get it? What is intersectionality, and why do you need to understand it? While it can seem intimidating or overwhelming to learn and talk about such issues, it's never been easier thanks to educator and historian Blair Imani, creator of the viral sensation "Smarter in Seconds" series of videos.
Accessible to learners of all levels - from those just getting started on the journey to those deeply versed in social justice - Read This to Get Smarter covers a range of topics including race, gender, class, disability, oppression, relationships, family, and beyond. This essential guide is a radical but warm and nonjudgmental call-to-arms, structured in such a way that you can read it cover-to-cover or start with any topic you want to learn more about.
With Blair Imani as your teacher, you'll "get smarter" in no time, and be equipped to intelligently and empathetically process, discuss, and educate others on the crucial issues we must tackle to achieve a liberated, equitable world.
©2021 Blair Imani (P)2021 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
What is the impact of surveillance capitalism on our right to free speech? The internet once promised to be a place of extraordinary freedom beyond the control of money or politics, but today corporations and platforms exercise more control over our ability to access information and share knowledge to a greater extent than any state. In Silicon Values, leading campaigner Jillian York looks at how our rights have become increasingly undermined by the major corporations' desire to harvest our personal data and turn it into profit.
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Amazing book about social media platform issues
- By chris boutte on 04-02-21
By: Jillian York
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Unapologetic
- A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements
- By: Charlene Carruthers
- Narrated by: Charlene Carruthers
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing on Black intellectual and grassroots organizing traditions, including the Haitian Revolution, the US civil rights movement, and LGBTQ rights and feminist movements, Unapologetic challenges all of us engaged in the social justice struggle to make the movement for Black liberation more radical, more queer, and more feminist. This audiobook provides a vision for how social justice movements can become sharper and more effective through principled struggle, healing justice, and leadership development.
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I learned a lot
- By Mickey on 10-28-18
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How Fascism Works
- The Politics of Us and Them
- By: Jason Stanley
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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As the child of refugees of World War II Europe and a renowned philosopher and scholar of propaganda, Jason Stanley has a deep understanding of how democratic societies can be vulnerable to fascism: Nations don’t have to be fascist to suffer from fascist politics. In fact, fascism’s roots have been present in the United States for more than a century.
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A Warning Too Clear to Ignore
- By Chip Auger on 10-30-18
By: Jason Stanley
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I Am Not Who You Think I Am
- By: Eric Rickstad
- Narrated by: Steven Weber
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Wayland Maynard is just eight years old when he sees his father kill himself, finds a note that reads I am not who you think I am, and is left reeling with grief and shock. Who was his father if not the loving man Wayland knew? Terrified, Wayland keeps the note a secret, but his reasons for being afraid are just beginning.
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Dear Steven Weber,
- By Julie Ann on 10-07-21
By: Eric Rickstad
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All the Things We Never Said
- By: Yasmin Rahman
- Narrated by: Zehra Jane Naqvi
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Sixteen-year-old Mehreen is overwhelmed by her anxiety and depression, and she doesn't believe anyone in her life will understand if she tries to talk about it. She's been thinking about suicide for a while when she discovers a website called MementoMori.com. The site matches people with partners and assigns them a date on which to end their lives, together. Mehreen is partnered with Cara and Olivia, strangers dealing with their own struggles.
By: Yasmin Rahman
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The Sum of Us
- What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together
- By: Heather McGhee
- Narrated by: Heather McGhee
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Heather McGhee’s specialty is the American economy—and the mystery of why it so often fails the American public. From the financial crisis of 2008 to rising student debt to collapsing public infrastructure, she found a root problem: racism in our politics and policymaking. But not just in the most obvious indignities for people of color. Racism has costs for white people, too. It is the common denominator of our most vexing public problems, the core dysfunction of our democracy and constitutive of the spiritual and moral crises that grip us all.
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Good book but Recording tech is poor. Glitches
- By Jeannepup on 02-25-21
By: Heather McGhee
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White Rage
- The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide
- By: Carol Anderson
- Narrated by: Pamela Gibson
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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As Ferguson, Missouri, erupted in August 2014 and media commentators across the ideological spectrum referred to the angry response of African Americans as 'Black rage', historian Carol Anderson wrote a remarkable op-ed in the Washington Post showing that this was, instead, 'white rage at work. With so much attention on the flames,' she wrote, 'everyone had ignored the kindling.'
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Good History, Was Hoping For More Insight
- By Mike on 09-08-16
By: Carol Anderson
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Erasing History
- By: Jason Stanley
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Combining historical research with an in-depth analysis of our modern political landscape, Erasing History issues a dire warning for America and the world: the worst fascist movements of humanity’s past began in schools; the same place so many of today’s right-wing political parties have trained their most vicious attacks. Yale professor Jason Stanley exposes the true danger of the right’s tactics and traces their inspirations and funding back to some of the most dangerous ideas of human history.
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The bias attitude of the author
- By Elizabeth ohanna on 09-30-24
By: Jason Stanley
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The New Jim Crow
- Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, 10th Anniversary Edition
- By: Michelle Alexander
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Seldom does a book have the impact of Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow. Since it was first published in 2010, it has been cited in judicial decisions and has been adopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads; it helped inspire the creation of the Marshall Project and the new $100 million Art for Justice Fund; it has been the winner of numerous prizes, including the prestigious NAACP Image Award; and it has spent nearly 250 weeks on the New York Times best seller list.
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Shocking, Important and Brilliant
- By Tim on 10-06-14
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On Tyranny
- Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
- By: Timothy Snyder
- Narrated by: Timothy Snyder
- Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience.
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History does not repeat, but it does instruct.
- By Darwin8u on 11-19-18
By: Timothy Snyder
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Parable of the Sower
- By: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Lynne Thigpen
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
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God is change. That is the central truth of the Earthseed movement, whose unlikely prophet is 18-year-old Lauren Olamina. The young woman's diary entries tell the story of her life amid a violent 21st-century hell of walled neighborhoods and drug-crazed pyromaniacs - and reveal her evolving Earthseed philosophy. Against a backdrop of horror emerges a message of hope: if we are willing to embrace divine change, we will survive to fulfill our destiny among the stars.
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Dystopia before dystopia was cool...
- By Amber on 05-28-14
What listeners say about Read This to Get Smarter
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Nolan Rains
- 10-20-22
Incredibly Important & Well Done!!
Blair is an outstanding educator. If you have seen her teaching via social media, it’s evident she has an incredible talent for making complex topics clear and deliverable… and she does not disappoint with this book. I really enjoyed hearing it narrated by her, as she also is a great speaker who helped bring the content together. I am so grateful to have found Blair! Truly a visionary.
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- Erick Jenkins
- 03-14-23
Economic Missteps
This is an amazingly informative book on all social topics. I highly recommend this book for any type of sensitivity training and lesson planning around human rights (gender studies, respectful workplace, etc). My one critique of the book is how economics is taught in the context of the book. As a person who has read plenty of economic works, the way the author approaches casual listeners on this topic is abrasive in nature and incorrect. The assumption the author makes that capitalism is inherently racist is patently false. Capitalism, as defined by Adam Smith in the wealth of nations, has been the diversifying factor in our society.
The economic portion portrays such a harsh notion of capitalism for novices who most likely do not read economic theory and philosophy. I highly recommend Wealth of Nations, The General Theory, and Socialism: Utopian and Scientific.
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- Mayra Rodriguez
- 03-09-22
great book to smarten up
Enjoyed the book. Sometimes it's a lot to go through but that's the point. Great way to smarten up.
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- Kendra
- 02-24-22
Informative
I throughly enjoyed this book. I’ve learned a lot. I’m going to share with others!!!!
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- Mz.Mona
- 04-04-22
Amazing
Read this book to get smarter on A-LOT of different topics, topics you think you’re educated on… let’s just say there’s ALWAYS more to learn!
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- FA Fryar
- 01-23-22
I AM Smarter
So many things I didn't consider before. Now I am more aware I will have more respectful interactions with people. There were some topics presented I wish to explore further and now know how to do it respectfully. Thank you Blair. I left a lovely IG message for you. It basically says, thank you.
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- Lashauna Lumsden
- 10-24-23
Top Tier
Excellent book had for a year but my mental state was not ready to digest its contents. After listening the book I am so happy that I’m not in a state to receive its contents. It was profound mind blowing some of the events I fact checked as I really did not know and now thinking I need the physical copy to have in my collection. I will definitely be listening (or reading) this book again so I can make notes. And the reflection questions top tier. Very inspirational keep writing, I for one is here for it!
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