The Lies That Bind
Rethinking Identity
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Narrated by:
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Kwame Anthony Appiah
About this listen
We all know how identities - notably, those of nationality, class, culture, race, and religion - are at the root of global conflict, but the more elusive truth is that these identities are created by conflict in the first place.
In provocative, entertaining chapters, Kwame Anthony Appiah interweaves keen-edged argument with engrossing historical tales - from Anton Wilhelm Amo, the 18th-century African child who became an eminent European academic, to Italo Svevo, the literary genius who changed countries without leaving home - and reveals the tangled contradictions within the stories that define us. The concept of the sovereign nation, Appiah tells us, is incoherent. Our everyday notions of race are the detritus of discarded science; the very idea of Western culture is a shimmering mirage. These beliefs, and more, are crafted from confusions - confusions Appiah sorts through to imagine a more hopeful future.
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"The author narrates his own work and does a terrific job. His reassuring, playful voice, tinged with a British accent, is immediately friendly and knowledgeable....overall, Appiah can count himself a double-threat." (AudioFile)
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- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Struggling to reconcile the Muslim society he was living in as a scientist and physician and the religion he was being raised in, Ali A. Rizvi eventually lost his faith. Discovering that he was not alone, he moved to North America and promised to use his new freedom of speech to represent the voices that are usually quashed before reaching the mainstream media - those of Atheist Muslims.
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An honest book
- By Naeem Rahim on 11-28-16
By: Ali A. Rizvi
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Atheism for Dummies
- By: Dale McGowan PhD
- Narrated by: Paul Mantell
- Length: 15 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Atheism For Dummies offers a brief history of atheist philosophy and its evolution, explores it as a historical and cultural movement, covers important historical writings on the subject, and discusses the nature of ethics and morality in the absence of religion. A simple, yet intelligent exploration of an often misunderstood philosophy.
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Great topic...irritating narrator
- By Duke Playbent on 10-26-14
By: Dale McGowan PhD
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An African American and Latinx History of the United States
- By: Paul Ortiz
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Spanning more than 200 years, An African American and Latinx History of the United States is a revolutionary, politically charged narrative history arguing that the "Global South" was crucial to the development of America as we know it. Ortiz challenges the notion of westward progress, and shows how placing African American, Latinx, and Indigenous voices unapologetically front and center transforms American history into the story of the working class organizing against imperialism.
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I had to return
- By Andrew Alvarez on 05-19-20
By: Paul Ortiz
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The Metaphysical Club
- By: Louis Menand
- Narrated by: Henry Leyva
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Abridged
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Hardly a club in the conventional sense, the organization referred to in the title of this superb literary hybrid (part history, part biography, part philosophy) consisted of four members and probably existed for less than nine months.
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The Great American Experiment
- By Victoria on 12-08-03
By: Louis Menand
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Racecraft
- The Soul of Inequality in American Life
- By: Karen E. Fields, Barbara J. Fields
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Most people assume that racism grows from a perception of human difference: the fact of race gives rise to the practice of racism. Sociologist Karen E. Fields and historian Barbara J. Fields argue otherwise: the practice of racism produces the illusion of race, through what they call “racecraft.” And this phenomenon is intimately entwined with other forms of inequality in American life. So pervasive are the devices of racecraft in American history, economic doctrine, politics, and everyday thinking that the presence of racecraft itself goes unnoticed.
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A loose collection of essays
- By Texas Mama on 11-18-21
By: Karen E. Fields, and others
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The Enlightenment
- And Why It Still Matters
- By: Anthony Pagden
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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One of our most renowned and brilliant historians takes a fresh look at the revolutionary intellectual movement that laid the foundation for the modern world. Liberty and equality. Human rights. Freedom of thought and expression. Belief in reason and progress. The value of scientific inquiry. These are just some of the ideas that were conceived and developed during the Enlightenment, and which changed forever the intellectual landscape of the Western world.
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A thorough political tract rather than history
- By Jacobus on 03-08-14
By: Anthony Pagden
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What Are We Doing Here?
- By: Marilynne Robinson
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Marilynne Robinson has plumbed the human spirit in her renowned novels, including Lila and Gilead, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this new essay collection she trains her incisive mind on our modern political climate and the mysteries of faith. Whether she is investigating how the work of great thinkers about America, like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Alexis de Tocqueville, inform our political consciousness or discussing how beauty informs and disciplines daily life, Robinson's peerless prose and boundless humanity are on full display.
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Unpersuasive and a bit repetitive
- By Adam Shields on 03-07-18
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Why You Think the Way You Do
- The Story of Western Worldviews from Rome to Home
- By: Glenn S. Sunshine
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Why You Think the Way You Do traces the development of the worldviews that underpin the Western world. Professor and historian Glenn S. Sunshine demonstrates the decisive impact that the growth of Christianity had in transforming the outlook of pagan Roman culture into one that—based on biblical concepts of humanity and its relationship with God—established virtually all the positive aspects of Western civilization.
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"Christian's view of the western world"
- By Bradley on 03-21-10
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Culture and Imperialism
- By: Edward Said
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 19 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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A landmark work from the intellectually auspicious author of Orientalism, this book explores the long-overlooked connections between the Western imperial endeavor and the culture that both reflected and reinforced it. This classic study, the direct successor to Said's main work, is read by Peter Ganim ( Orientalism).
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BRAVO, AUDIBLE!! WE NEED MORE SAID!! REAL BOOKS!!
- By AnthonyStevens on 02-27-11
By: Edward Said
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The Tyranny of Clichés
- How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas
- By: Jonah Goldberg
- Narrated by: Jonah Goldberg
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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According to Goldberg, if the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist, the greatest trick liberals ever pulled was convincing themselves they’re not ideological. Today “objective” journalists and academics and “moderate” politicians peddle some of the most radical arguments by hiding them in homespun aphorisms.
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I enjoyed it...and I'm a Democrat!!
- By Private. on 05-14-12
By: Jonah Goldberg
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could use an accompanying pdf
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Good start
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What listeners say about The Lies That Bind
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Audrey A. Freudenberg
- 05-04-21
Identity Politics Demystified
The investments that leaders of various stripes and creeds have made in exacerbating the natural human tendency towards essentialist identities are beautifully repudiated here, suggesting that the reader, now understanding origins, can be set free, to restate and celebrate what brings them joy, to curb (with a wit and humor which may be like the author’s but will nevertheless be their own and a source of happy pride), the obfuscation, the hate, that have spoiled our capacity both to own and to own up. Delightful.
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- Rahul
- 04-02-23
wonderful listen
ideas explained well.
Etymology of various commonly used terms was clearly explained.
worth listening a few times to get in all the names
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- Craig C.
- 05-07-19
Different perspectives
Including class as an identity group was helpful since it is commonly left out. It seems to be an overlay to all of the major identity groups.
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1 person found this helpful
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- A. Bowler
- 02-06-24
Mind blown!
This is my new favorite book. It should be required reading for anyone who thinks of themselves as a member of the human race. It's a nice touch that the author reads the book since his own personal identity is the starting point for the book's exploration. And although the work has real academic credibility, it's also totally accessible and down to Earth.
I can't recommend this enough. Buy it!
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- Frank
- 10-22-18
Not full of SJW nonsense
I was skeptical at first. The last thing I need is to listen to some SJW drone on about micro-agressions and intersectionality. The book does contain a robust discussion of intersectionality, without the meaningless word salad that usually accompanies such piffle.
I was also quite irritated, at first, at the idea that "western culture" isn't really a thing. It sounds a bit like the racist trope of "white people have no culture", which often follows the laughable claim the people of color cannot be racist. However, he eventually gets to his actual point, that "western culture" is actually a fairly new concept, and the ideals we ascribe to western culture are hardly universal within countries that claim the western identity. I don't entirely disagree, but I do appreciate the author's attempts to not obfuscate the real progress that has been made by, what I call, western culture.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
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11 people found this helpful
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- j mason
- 04-18-19
Riveting discussion of Identity, Class, Movement of Culture around the World and More
I loved this book. It is in some ways a series of stories about the development and migration of culture around the world. It weaves concepts of race, religion, power, human rights, wealth, nobility, slavery, prejudice, literature and philosophy into notions of how we see or identify ourselves and others. It is sometimes laugh out loud funny, many times troubling, fascinating and learned. The author has a complex personal family history that leads to the authenticity of his views and opinions.
I learned so much. Much to ponder deeply as I reflect on the book.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Christina Beck
- 08-10-19
Fresh air for identity consideration
Appiah effectively describes, considers, and invites wonder about the ways we experience and judge identities. Religion, gender, race, class (including money, education, and social connections) are all tested and questioned and asked to hold up to a test of whether they indeed divide humanity or whether we make the mistake of projecting “essential” identity qualities on complicated humans and flatten our opportunities for reliable and humane relationships.
Highly recommended - especially the audio version read by the author. (For those of us who are audio learners)
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- Christopher Leighten
- 12-10-20
Very good summary of identity
Appiah writes an extremely well thought through summary of identity and the various ways the concept of identity intersects with our personal and social lives.
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- chetyarbrough.blog
- 11-27-22
DEMOCRACY'S STORM
“The Lies That Bind” examines the role of religion, culture, and government in society. Kwame Anthony Appiah casts a lifebuoy to those swimming in the stormy sea of democracy.
The democracy of which Appiah writes is one in which rule-of-law, freedom within the limits of rule-of-law, and equal opportunity are evident. However, contrary to Langston Hughes' poem, the sea is not calm. Democracies' sea is stormy because its principles are inconsistently practiced.
Appiah offers insight to how democracy can be improved. The key is equality of opportunity which implies democracy needs to focus on safety-net' issues which entail more help for lower- and middle-class income earners. In democracy, that means election of leaders who are willing to ensure equality of opportunity for all.
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- Roozbeh
- 12-02-18
Fascinating and lovely!
I really enjoyed listening to this book and the lovely and engaging voice of Appiah.
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1 person found this helpful