Smooth Bourbon
An Education in Government, Google, and the CIA
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Narrated by:
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Giancarlo Maranzano
About this listen
Smooth Bourbon: An Education in Government, Google, and the CIA is the true story about one man's fateful intersection between American government, one of the most elusive organizations in the world, and one of the most powerful corporations in existence today. It delves deep into the framework of US government and touches on sobering problems inherent within the Constitutional design, while at the same time interweaving stories that range from intriguing to humorous.
Smooth Bourbon: An Education in Government, Google, and the CIA is intended for both high school- or college-level students who know very little about government and to better-informed listeners who are familiar with American government and are interested in hearing a fresh perspective. This audiobook is also intended for those interested in the intrigue around the CIA and for those interested in learning exactly what it's like to work for Google.
With college students in mind, this audiobook has easily accessible footnote citations to better facilitate research. It is organized in a binary fashion, with a chapter about the incredible experience of working for Google and going through the CIA's very secretive interview processes, followed by chapters that detail different aspects of national governance. Every other chapter can best be characterized as a lecture.
The real names and exact locations of all persons, except for the author, have been changed to protect the secrecy interests of the CIA and to provide confidentiality to all parties.
To be sure, Smooth Bourbon is not intended to be a comprehensive account of government, Google, or the CIA. It is more of gripping story about my making sense of three very-misunderstood entities. The following audiobook represents personal arguments, many of them backed by scholars.
©2017 Christopher Ortega (P)2018 Christopher OrtegaListeners also enjoyed...
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In Beyond the Messy Truth, Jones offers a blueprint for transforming our collective anxiety into meaningful change. Tough on Donald Trump but showing respect and empathy for his supporters, Jones takes aim at the failures of both parties before and after Trump's victory. He urges both sides to abandon the politics of accusation and focus on real solutions. Calling us to a deeper patriotism, he shows us how to get down to the vital business of solving, together, some of our toughest problems.
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I never hated anyone before
- By Joanna Bugajska on 11-17-17
By: Van Jones
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Better Off Without 'Em
- A Northern Manifesto for Southern Secession
- By: Chuck Thompson
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Let’s talk about secession. Not exactly the most suitable cocktail party conversation starter anywhere in the country, but take that notion deep into the heart of Dixie and you might find yourself running from the possum-hunting conservatives, trailer-park lifers, and prayer warriors Chuck Thompson encountered during the two years he spent traveling the American South asking the question: Would we be better off without ’em?
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What can I say? I loved it.
- By Blake on 03-02-14
By: Chuck Thompson
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Bannon
- Always the Rebel
- By: Keith Koffler
- Narrated by: William LeRoy
- Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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To understand the Trump White House, you need to understand Steve Bannon: what's driving him, what his true role is, and what he's trying to accomplish on behalf of the American middle class. White House reporter Keith Koffler penetrates the fog surrounding the mysterious senior White House advisor, tracing Bannon's wild and distinctly American path to the White House in this first-ever honest biography of the controversial figure.
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The "real" Steve Bannon! Great read!
- By Amazon Customer on 12-20-17
By: Keith Koffler
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My Story
- By: Julia Gillard
- Narrated by: Julia Gillard, Jennifer Vuletic
- Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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"I was prime minister for three years and three days. Three years and three days of resilience. Three years and three days of changing the nation. Three years and three days for you to judge." On Wednesday 23 June 2010, with the government in turmoil, Julia Gillard asked Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for a leadership ballot. The next day, Julia Gillard became Australia's 27th prime minister, and our first female leader.
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Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
- By Michael on 10-11-16
By: Julia Gillard
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Beautiful Country Burn Again
- Democracy, Rebellion, and Revolution
- By: Ben Fountain
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Beautiful Country Burn Again narrates a shocking year in American politics, moving from the early days of the Iowa Caucus to the crystalizing moments of the Democratic and Republican national conventions, and culminating in the aftershocks of the weeks following election night. Along the way, Fountain probes deeply into history, illuminating the forces and watershed moments of the past that mirror and precipitated the present, from the hollowed-out notion of the American Dream, to Richard Nixon’s Southern strategy, to the cult of celebrity that gave rise to Donald Trump.
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Must read
- By Gerald Moore on 11-01-18
By: Ben Fountain
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All Things Possible
- Setbacks and Success in Politics and Life
- By: Andrew M. Cuomo
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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In this full and frank memoir - a personal story of duty, family, justice, politics and resilience - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo reflects on his rise, fall, and rise in politics, and recounts his defining personal and political moments and tough but necessary lessons he has learned along the way.
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I Love This Book AND the Guvnor (Governor, I Know)
- By Igi M. on 09-02-20
By: Andrew M. Cuomo
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Faces at the Bottom of the Well
- The Permanence of Racism
- By: Derrick Bell, Michelle Alexander - foreword
- Narrated by: Brad Raymond
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In Faces at the Bottom of the Well, civil rights activist and legal scholar Derrick Bell uses allegory and historical example to argue that racism is an integral and permanent part of American society. African American struggles for equality are doomed to fail so long as the majority of Whites do not see their own wellbeing threatened by the status quo. Bell calls on African Americans to face up to this unhappy truth and abandon a misplaced faith in inevitable progress.
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This is a classic for a reason.
- By Adam Shields on 12-01-20
By: Derrick Bell, and others
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The Future Is History
- How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia
- By: Masha Gessen
- Narrated by: Masha Gessen
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Award-winning journalist Masha Gessen's understanding of the events and forces that have wracked Russia in recent times is unparalleled. In The Future Is History, Gessen follows the lives of four people born at what promised to be the dawn of democracy. Each of them came of age with unprecedented expectations, some as the children and grandchildren of the very architects of the new Russia, each with newfound aspirations of their own - as entrepreneurs, activists, thinkers, and writers, sexual and social beings.
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The author is an international treasure
- By ThreeGems on 10-16-17
By: Masha Gessen
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God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy
- By: Mike Huckabee
- Narrated by: Mike Huckabee
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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In Mike Huckabee's new book God, Guns, Grits and Gravy, he asks the question, "Have I been taken to a different planet than the one on which I grew up?" The New York Times best-selling author explores today's American culture, drawing from his travels as a presidential candidate to present average, small-town people and families, and their optimistic resilience in the face of hard times.
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Review
- By Dorothy Ella on 02-13-15
By: Mike Huckabee
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Undelivered
- The Never-Heard Speeches That Would Have Rewritten History
- By: Jeff Nussbaum
- Narrated by: Adam Gifford, Brian Bowles, Elisa Roth, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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A fascinating insight into notable speeches that were never delivered, showing what could have been if history had gone down a different path. For almost every delivered speech, there exists an undelivered opposite. These "second speeches" provide alternative histories of what could have been if not for schedule changes, changes of heart, or momentous turns of events.
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Recognize that this is a profoundly partisan book
- By Scott on 11-05-23
By: Jeff Nussbaum
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Unrigged
- How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy
- By: David Daley
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Following Ratf--ked, his “extraordinary timely and undeniably important” (New York Times Book Review) expose of how a small cadre of Republican operatives rigged American elections, David Daley emerged as one of the nation's leading authorities on gerrymandering. In Unrigged, he charts a vibrant political movement that is rising in the wake of his and other reporters' revelations.
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A must-read to uphold democracy!
- By Steve Kelem on 09-09-20
By: David Daley
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Stranger [Spanish Edition]
- By: Jorge Ramos
- Narrated by: Jorge Ramos, Harold Leal
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Jorge Ramos, periodista galardonado con premios Emmy, reconocido presentador del Noticiero Univisión y considerado "la voz de los sin voz" de la comunidad latina, fue expulsado de una rueda de prensa del candidato presidencial Donald Trump en Iowa en el año 2015 tras cuestionar sus planes sobre inmigración.
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Decepcionante narración
- By Amazon Customer on 08-23-18
By: Jorge Ramos
What listeners say about Smooth Bourbon
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- John Edward
- 06-26-18
A 2-in-1 DEFINITE MUST LISTEN AND READ!!
What i love about Chris Ortega's Smooth Bourbon is that it's a great introduction into American politics and government, past and present, and you get an amazing story of a smart, well educated young man from less than humble roots and hardships, who managed to overcome many obstacles in life, and somehow managing to get the attention of two powerful establishments.
The book has amazing pacing: one chapter is a captivating story, with the next chapter a lesson. It achieves that perfect balance of never filling like its too little or too much. I listened to Smooth Bourbon during long distance road trips, and it always had my attention. I look forward to seeing and hearing what Chris Ortega writes next.
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- Irving Rios
- 06-29-18
Loved this audible book
Very good observations, experiences. Great author, and excellent narrator very clear and easy to follow.
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- Philo
- 02-08-19
Pretty much as advertised
Here we get a pretty solid high school-to-early college level civics lesson (similar to what I teach in college), and a paint-by-numbers tour of entry-level recruitment pathways at google and CIA. These are not from an elite perspective but from the perspective of a pretty (for all one can tell here, middling-) smart person knocking on the door and walking through the process. The latter never gets an inch past the surface. This guy is not at all quantitative (he admits being bad at math), so he was, in my view, nowhere near anything that really matters in these organizations. He would have been recruited differently if he really had anything. His motivational speechifying and cheerleading is completely standard. This could be useful for someone interviewing there, though this info of interviewing techniques is pretty widely available.
The google and CIA parts have zero depth, though. We see nothing of the structure or workings of these organizations, or any deep views or paths into them. I thought there might be something about the nexus of USA's constitutional structure, and particular current (perhaps problematic) features and moves of these organizations. There is zero of that sort here. CIA and google might as well be the Boy Scouts (or actually, even less controversial). This guy is wide-eyed and grateful and either uncritical or unwilling to say anything of substance about this. That makes him a model ex-employee but for me, a write-off as an author. Sorry, the career path out of federal USA for many is a book, but with some beef. Of course, for a high-schooler aspiring to work at these places, that may be beside the point. Enjoy your innocence while it lasts! But it was marketed to me too.
Don't get me wrong: I am proud to be in a country that has a path for a guy like this (or like me). It's a spectacular place, for many of us, and that comes through in this book. His cheeriness is genuine, well-founded and pleasing. He's a scrappy guy who reaches for tools and uses them. He is certainly not a whiner. If everybody was in this guy's range, I would feel darn good about my country.
My impression (listening to this fellow's reciting of his interview Q and A) is that google interviewers read him as a good BS'er, a fast talker, not really a serious deep problem-solver. I thought his interview answers were superficial and ludicrous, but google hired him (with job title unstated). So whatever he did at google, and for whatever time, both of which are oddly skirted by, was (I'm guessing) probably a PR related kind of thing at some organizational surface level. And that's what this book winds up being: a love-note to the US Navy, google, CIA, and the USA, which is fine. But any deep, dark corners of, or conflicts within, any of these things, are not here. (The political science part does hint at some possible tensions within our USA institutional framework, but nothing startling, and it isn't pursued.) Well, there was a little sense of oddness in the description of the perhaps aggressively politicized (to hear it) google PR culture, and its idiosyncracies interacting with employees about that. This is an apparatchik's-eye-view.
The most disappointing part for me? This author doting on the free food at google (and wasting my time on that) truly showed him as (IMO) an intellectual and consumerist mediocrity. Such preoccupations mean I would never let him within a thousand miles of anything important in my firm. What's worse, google employees circulating critiques of the food day to day as if it mattered is a contrary indicator, to me, of google's survival potential. Either there is a layer of total morons there this guy was immersed in, or that organization is growing weak-brained and decadent. I found this part repugnant and too long.
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