Tailspin
The People and Forces Behind America's Fifty-Year Fall - and Those Fighting to Reverse It
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Narrated by:
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Dan Woren
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By:
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Steven Brill
About this listen
In this revelatory narrative covering the years 1967 to 2017, Steven Brill gives us a stunningly cogent picture of the broken system at the heart of our society. He shows us how, over the last half-century, America's core values - meritocracy, innovation, due process, free speech, and even democracy itself - have somehow managed to power its decline into dysfunction. They have isolated our best and brightest, whose positions at the top have never been more secure or more remote. The result has been an erosion of responsibility and accountability, an epidemic of shortsightedness, an increasingly hollow economic and political center, and millions of Americans gripped by apathy and hopelessness.
By examining the people and forces behind the rise of big-money lobbying, legal and financial engineering, the demise of private-sector unions, and a hamstrung bureaucracy, Brill answers the question on everyone's mind: How did we end up this way? Finally, he introduces us to those working quietly and effectively to repair the damages.
At once a diagnosis of our national ills, a history of their development, and a prescription for a brighter future, Tailspin is a work of riveting journalism - and a welcome antidote to political despair.
©2018 Steven Brill (P)2018 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Persuasive, bracing...an essential read if you want to understand the pressures that have brought a sclerotic Uncle Sam to his knees." (Alexander C. Kafka, Los Angeles Review of Books)
“Tailspin distinguishes itself within the America Gone Wrong genre.... All of the book’s chapters on the law crackle with energy.... In a downbeat era, Tailspin offers some modest ammunition for hope.” (Daniel W. Drezner, The New York Times Book Review)
"Steven Brill's Tailspin does precisely what the daily torrent of news does not: make sense. The book is nothing less than a unified (and persuasive) theory of everything - including politics, business, culture - and it even includes several glimmers of hope amid the pervasive darkness." (Jeffrey Toobin, author of American Heiress)
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David Cay Johnston has made a name for himself as the defender of the common man, calling out the rich and powerful for cheating the system at the expense of everyone else. Whether he's exposing unjust loopholes in the tax code that help the rich get richer or pointing out how powerful corporations pocket government subsidies at excessive taxpayer expense, Johnston is an eloquent town crier for justice and equality.
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A must listen if you love or hate Trump
- By Rob D on 04-19-17
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New Deal or Raw Deal?
- How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America
- By: Burton Folsom Jr.
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In this shocking and groundbreaking new book, economic historian Burton Folsom, Jr., exposes the idyllic legend of Franklin D. Roosevelt as a myth of epic proportions. With questionable moral character and a vendetta against the business elite, Roosevelt created New Deal programs marked by inconsistent planning, wasteful spending, and opportunity for political gain---ultimately elevating public opinion of his administration but falling flat in achieving the economic revitalization that America needed.
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A must listen!
- By Book and Movie Lover on 06-14-09
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FDR's Folly
- How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression
- By: Jim Powell
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In the minds of historians and the American public alike, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was one of our greatest presidents, not least because he supposedly saved America from the Great Depression. But as historian Jim Powell reveals in this groundbreaking book, Roosevelt's New Deal policies actually prolonged and exacerbated the economic disaster.
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Scones for the Tea Party
- By Chiefkent on 06-11-12
By: Jim Powell
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A Capitalism for the People
- Recapturing the Lost Genius of American Prosperity
- By: Luigi Zingales
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Born in Italy, University of Chicago economist Luigi Zingales witnessed firsthand the consequences of high inflation and unemployment - paired with rampant nepotism and cronyism - on a country’s economy. This experience profoundly shaped his professional interests, and in 1988 he arrived in the United States, armed with a political passion and the belief that economists should not merely interpret the world, but should change it for the better.
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Enjoyable but a tad predictable.
- By Kevin on 12-24-12
By: Luigi Zingales
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Deadly Spin
- An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans
- By: Wendell Potter
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In June 2009, Wendell Potter made national headlines with his scorching testimony before the Senate panel on health care reform. This former senior vice president of CIGNA explained how health insurers make promises they have no intention of keeping, how they flout regulations designed to protect consumers, and how they skew political debate with multibillion-dollar public relations campaigns designed to spread disinformation.
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Must Read
- By Randy on 01-11-11
By: Wendell Potter
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The Best Worst President
- What the Right Gets Wrong About Barack Obama
- By: Mark Hannah
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Political analyst and Democratic campaign veteran Mark Hannah gives Barack Obama the victory lap he deserves in this compendium that takes the president's critics head-on and celebrates the president's many underappreciated triumphs.
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Thought-provoking
- By Jean on 07-11-16
By: Mark Hannah
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Armageddon
- How Trump Can Beat Hillary
- By: Dick Morris, Eileen McGann
- Narrated by: Ian Patterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Timed for the critical presidential election season, New York Times best-selling author and noted political commentator Dick Morris provides a strategy and position on the issues for Republicans to attract crucial new voters to the party in order to win back the White House in 2016 and put an end to the Obama agenda of ruinous socialism. By using new issues, attracting new voters, and offering new alternatives, Republicans can win the election of 2016 and save America!
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Informative and practical a must read
- By quentin on 06-30-16
By: Dick Morris, and others
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Broke
- The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth and Treasure
- By: Glenn Beck, Kevin Balfe
- Narrated by: Glenn Beck, Brian Sack
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In the words of Harvard economist Niall Ferguson, the United States is “an empire on the edge of chaos.” Why? Glenn Beck thinks the answer is pretty simple: Because we’ve turned our backs on the Constitution. Yes, our country is financially broke, but that’s just a side effect of our broken spirit, our broken faith in government, the broken promises by our leaders, and a broken political system that has centralized power at the expense of individual rights.
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Finally book that has done the reasearch...
- By dah551 on 10-31-10
By: Glenn Beck, and others
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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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JFK and the Reagan Revolution
- A Secret History of American Prosperity
- By: Lawrence Kudlow, Brian Domitrovic
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Who invented supply-side economics - the idea that cutting tax rates can result in more growth, more prosperity at all income levels, and even more tax revenue flowing into the IRS? Most people would credit the economic team that advised Ronald Reagan in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But in fact supply-side economics came of age two decades earlier. And the first president who embraced it was one of the biggest icons of the Democratic Party - John F. Kennedy.
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Turn the speed up to 1 1/2 to 2 times
- By B. MIDDLETON on 09-15-16
By: Lawrence Kudlow, and others
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Bought and Paid For
- The Unholy Alliance Between Barack Obama and Wall Street
- By: Charles Gasparino
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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According to business reporter Charles Gasparino, President Obama is faking his outrage at Wall Street, and his calls for new policies to rein in banks that are "too big to fail" are just pabulum. In reality, Obama has climbed into bed with Wall Street CEOs, giving them what they want so they will support his liberal, big-government agenda.
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Revealing and Convincing
- By Walter on 10-24-11
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Shaky Ground
- The Strange Saga of the US Mortgage Giants
- By: Bethany McLean
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 3 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In 2008 the US Treasury put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into a life-support state known as "conservatorship" to prevent their failure - and worldwide economic chaos. The two companies, which were always controversial, have become a battleground. Today, Fannie and Freddie are profitable again but still in conservatorship. Their profits are being redirected toward reducing the federal deficit, which leaves them with no buffer should they suffer losses again.
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Details on the Culture and History of the GSEs
- By Jose on 10-15-15
By: Bethany McLean
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Reckless Endangerment
- How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon
- By: Gretchen Morgenson, Joshua Rosner
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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In Reckless Endangerment, Gretchen Morgenson, the star business columnist of The New York Times, exposes how the watchdogs who were supposed to protect the country from financial harm were actually complicit in the actions that finally blew up the American economy.
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Required reading
- By David on 10-24-11
By: Gretchen Morgenson, and others
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What listeners say about Tailspin
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amy Hine
- 10-28-18
Get ready to take back our country!
This was a well-written and researched macro perspective at the policies and leaders over the past 50 years and how it has led to (intended or not) consequences many of us now at the height of feeling the effects. Day to day news consumption is overwhelming in what each move or decision actually means, so to have a fact based view point from the last 5 decades gives the perspective we all need to start being active and well-educated in selecting our leaders. It takes very difficult concepts for regular Americans to digest, or even want to discuss, and brings them to light in a way that it can be conceived by all who are willing. Worth the read for everyone living in a democracy!
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1 person found this helpful
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- MMcKee
- 07-13-18
Maddeningly accurate!
This should be a must read for all Americans. If you are not furious by the end of the book, you missed the point. Our country has been stolen from us and Brill does a great job of telling us how it was done. Worth the time!!
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- Ted Lapis
- 03-02-19
Good Analysis, Backed by Data & Stories
“Tailspin” provides more than just a compelling narrative about how “We the People “ became “Us v Them,” over the course of some 50 years. Brill chronicles the hollowing out of America’s production capacity (and the good jobs), in exchange for (in the words of Simon & Garfunkel) “A pocketful of mumbles, such are promises.”
Brill’s narrative rings true. We have work to do!
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-28-18
Time to stop hitting the snooze button.
For years I convinced myself that just showing up and voting was enough. Not only was it not enough, but given the political/social anti democratic structural forces outlined in Tailspin, just voting may have been a waste of time. It is obvious to me now that my vote must be the result of being a part of a sustainable movement for concrete measures to improve life on this planet. This book outlined many, many of what should have been wake up calls, but me and those like me, just kept hitting the snooze button.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Aman Negassi
- 02-08-21
Speechless
Felt like my intellectual horizon has been expanded even while having many disagreements! A book for people of all political stripes!
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1 person found this helpful
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- SNL
- 06-03-18
constantly skipping choppy listening exp
a good book too bad it lacks flow due to skips in narratio patterns. had to piece segments together at times to complete thoughts and ideas presented
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2 people found this helpful
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- Lynn E. Smith
- 06-15-18
Required reading for all running for public office
This book contains the necessary talking points for Democratics to win in '18. We should All read it, but if the content was used correctly by candidates, they'd win in a landslide. Bravo!
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- Ellen Gilmartin
- 05-13-19
Non-partisan wake up call
This is a well researched and thorough book. It brings a lot of info I was familiar with together, and puts it together with a lot of new-to-me information. Together, these threads are woven into a very informative picture of extreme importance to our country. Every person who cares about the US and the future of democracy needs to read or listen to this book. Don’t miss it.
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- Anonymous User
- 04-23-19
America laid bare
One of the best books I've ever read on politics and ideas for change in America.
5 stars
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- Bradley A Joyce
- 07-07-22
good but flawed
Excellent explanation of most of the problems, but ultimately it is ridiculously overly optimistic -- so much so that it comes across as a justification for high end third-way/bipartisan DC fundraisers than it does like a real path forward.
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