The Secret Knowledge
On the Dismantling of American Culture
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Narrated by:
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Johnny Heller
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By:
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David Mamet
About this listen
For the past 30 years, David Mamet has been a controversial and defining force in theater and film, championing the most cherished liberal values along the way. In some of the great movies and plays of our time, his characters have explored the ethics of the business world, embodied the struggles of the oppressed, and faced the flaws of the capitalist system. But in recent years Mamet has had a change of heart. He realized that the so-called mainstream media outlets he relied on were irredeemably biased, peddling a hypocritical and deeply flawed worldview. In 2008 he wrote a hugely controversial op-ed for the Village Voice, "Why I Am No Longer a 'Brain-Dead Liberal,'" in which he methodically eviscerated liberal beliefs. Now he goes much deeper, employing his trademark intellectual force and vigor to take on all the key political and cultural issues of our times, from religion to political correctness to global warming. Mamet pulls no punches in his art or in his politics. And as a former liberal who woke up, he will win over an entirely new audience of others who have grown irate over America's current direction.
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Editorial reviews
Noted playwright David Mamet brings the zeal of a recent convert to his book, The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture read by Johnny Heller. Mamet attacks modern liberalism by taking on frequent conservative targets, for example, global warming, feminism, and liberal arts education; he tackles modern politics with the crisp, unbridled venom that is a hallmark of his dramatic work. This work is prose, not dialogue, yet Johnny Heller grabs onto the words and infuses them with biting emotional energy. Mamet's writing is award-winning and that talent is clearly apparent in The Secret Knowledge. Heller makes listening to the book a visceral experience as he sneers and spits some of Mamet's choicest criticisms of the left, frequently causing the listener to flinch at many of the author's statements. Through Heller's highly charged delivery, the author mounts scathing attacks on the loss of critical thinking skills, critical questioning skills, and higher education's complicity in that endeavor.
David Mamet's body of work, from riveting plays like Glengarry Glen Ross and American Buffalo to films such as Wag the Wog, as well as essays too numerous to mention, have given sharply critical, frequently ironic, and unquestionably brilliant comments on American life and whatever is referred to as The American Dream. In The Secret Knowledge, Mamet goes for the jugular of the liberal movement and its thrall in American politics, seeing no need to leave survivors. It is at the very least provocative. No doubt it will encourage many to welcome the respected American playwright and screenwriter to the conservative fold, while bringing forth outbursts reminiscent of Mamet's colorful dialogue from the liberal side. Carole Chouinard
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Now updated with a new introduction by number-one New York Times best-selling author Marianne Williamson, the 20th anniversary edition of Healing the Soul of America shares her timeless, visionary message of political healing. This is a time, according to Williamson, for Americans to return once again to our first principles, both politically and spiritually. Here, Williamson draws plans to transform the American political consciousness and encourage powerful citizen involvement to heal our society.
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Marianne for president!
- By Gina Pagano Rose on 02-19-19
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Someone Has to Say It
- The Hidden History of How America Was Lost
- By: Tom Kawczynski
- Narrated by: Jeff Winston
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Starting at the turn of the last century, this book lays out systematically how Americans have lost control of our government, of our civil society, of our schools, of our companies, and in many cases, even our families.
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Great and inspiring book
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By: Tom Kawczynski
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Weapons of Mass Instruction
- A Schoolteacher's Journey Through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling
- By: John Taylor Gatto
- Narrated by: Michael Puttonen
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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John Taylor Gatto's Weapons of Mass Instruction focuses on mechanisms of traditional education which cripple imagination, discourage critical thinking, and create a false view of learning as a byproduct of rote-memorization drills. Gatto's earlier book, Dumbing Us Down, introduced the now-famous expression of the title into the common vernacular. Weapons of Mass Instruction adds another chilling metaphor to the brief against conventional schooling.
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I will never see school the same
- By Nicole on 05-21-15
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America by Heart
- Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag
- By: Sarah Palin
- Narrated by: Sarah Palin
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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America by Heart is a highly personal testament to Sarah Palin's deep love of country, her strong roots in faith, and her profound appreciation of family. The book includes brief readings from classic and contemporary works that have moved and inspired her, as well as other Americans, both famous and obscure, whom she admires.
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A CREDIT WELL SPENT
- By Garry on 11-25-10
By: Sarah Palin
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Let's Move On
- Beyond Fear & False Prophets
- By: Vicente Fox, Sulay Hernandez-Elhussein
- Narrated by: Thom Rivera
- Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Vicente Fox offers his unique viewpoint as a former head of state, avid historian, and true admirer of America’s constitutional ideals. He knows where a Trump presidency can lead—and it is nowhere good. Let’s Move On is a political manifesto written in Fox’s trademark, no-nonsense style where he both denounces Trump’s malignant anti-intellectualism and inspires people to rise up and resist.
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Inspirational, honest and thought provoking
- By Cristina on 06-18-23
By: Vicente Fox, and others
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A Fierce Discontent
- The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America, 1870-1920
- By: Michael McGerr
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
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The Progressive Era witnessed the nation's most convulsive upheaval, a time of radicalism far beyond the Revolution or anything since. In response to the birth of modern America, one small group of middle-class Americans seized control of the nation and attempted to remake society from bottom to top. They accomplished an astonishing range of triumphs, yet the progressive movement collapsed as the war came to an end amid race riots, strikes, high inflation, and a frenzied Red scare.
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A well balanced take
- By Ryan Mooney on 04-17-21
By: Michael McGerr
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This Noble Land
- My Vision For America
- By: James A. Michener
- Narrated by: Arthur Addison
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
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This Noble Land is Michener's most personal statement about America, an examination of the issues that threaten to fragment and undermine the nation - racial conflict, the widening gulf between rich and poor, the decline of education, the inadequacies of our health care system - as well as a thought-provoking prescription for sustaining our "outstanding success". First published shortly before Michener's death, This Noble Land stands as a wake-up call for a troubled era, infused with the wisdom and passion of a lifetime.
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A startling realization
- By Amazon Customer on 08-15-15
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Guardian of the Republic
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- By: Allen West, Michele Hickford
- Narrated by: Allen West
- Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Over the course of the past few decades, Allen West has had many titles bestowed on him, among them Lt. Colonel, U.S. Representative, "Dad", and Scourge of the Far Left. He rose from humble beginnings in Atlanta where his father instilled in him a code of conduct that would inform his life ever after. Throughout his years leading troops, raising a loving family, serving as Congressman in Florida's 22nd district, and emerging as one of the most authentic voices in conservative politics, West has never compromised the core values on which he was raise.
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Inspiring and heartfelt.
- By Josh on 05-07-14
By: Allen West, and others
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Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story
- King Legacy Series #1
- By: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s account of the first successful large-scale application of nonviolent resistance in America is comprehensive, revelatory, and intimate. King described his book as "the chronicle of 50,000 Negroes who took to heart the principles of nonviolence, who learned to fight for their rights with the weapon of love, and who, in the process, acquired a new estimate of their own human worth."
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A look into the mind of Dr King
- By Georgia Burns on 02-06-16
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Anarchism and Other Essays
- By: Emma Goldman
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Among the men and women prominent in the public life of early 20th-century America there are but few whose names are mentioned as often as that of Emma Goldman. Yet the real Emma Goldman is almost quite unknown. Here are powerful, penetrating, prophetic essays on direct action, the role of minorities, prison reform, puritan hypocrisy, and violence.
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Critical reading for today's world
- By Darwin on 02-27-17
By: Emma Goldman
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The Conservative Heart
- How to Build a Fairer, Happier, and More Prosperous America
- By: Arthur C. Brooks
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Conservative Heart, Arthur C. Brooks contends that after years of focusing on economic growth and traditional social values, it is time for a new kind of conservatism - one that helps the vulnerable without mortgaging our children's future. In Brooks' daring vision, this conservative movement fights poverty, promotes equal opportunity, celebrates earned success, and values spiritual enlightenment. It is an inclusive movement with a positive agenda to help people lead happier, more hopeful, and more satisfied lives.
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Outstanding recitation of conservatism!
- By GLENNO on 08-06-15
By: Arthur C. Brooks
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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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What listeners say about The Secret Knowledge
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Stephen Breen
- 01-13-20
It's Mamet ergo BRILLIANT!!!
An intellectual house party indictment of Leftist psychosis. Of course anyone who reads Hayek, Sowell and Steele must obviously be a racist homophobe as per doctrinaire social progressivism.
Mamet's use of Latin also defines him as a sychophant of the evil patriarchy.
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- Ginger Hollander
- 05-27-20
Extremely Refreshing
I really enjoyed hearing the thoughtful and rational responses to some of the most bewildering ideas and beliefs of today’s society and I believe this book truly shares the insights and genuine feelings of the American People it’s comments aligned with the common people’s interests. Very well written and presented.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Arturo Yisrael Garzon
- 12-25-16
what was left
A the theme is more than interesting and it is a social fenomenum which I have observed all over the many countries I have travel too. what I cannot foresee is where all of this changes will lead to.
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-30-11
A Consevative Milestone
First, Johnny Heller has to be my favorite Audible narrators... a great gravely voice and an engaging reading. So the book has that going for it right out of the gate. Mamet's writing is smooth and flows like a stream of consciousness in essay after essay. His sentences are constructed informally, or conversationally, yet always with erudition. You get the sense that this is writer who lives what he speaks. Thomas Sowell's prose is in the same category of delivering dense nuggets of wisdom while crafting a clever and quotable sentence. I would love to say this book holds something for everyone, but I don't know whether liberals will read this book. I would hope they do, this book presents truth and wisdom and life experience wrapped in expert prose, it is a joy to listen to. But I don't think liberals like to challenge their innate sense of moral superiority by opening up their philosophy and egos to criticism, no matter how savory. We conservatives are fortunate to be living in a time when great thinkers and wordsmiths are now fleshing out the philosophy of our movement, recapturing and retooling the old wisdom of our great culture, and to be able to hear all these ideas brought to life in well-crafted works both written and spoken. This book is a notable milestone on the road to rediscovery of our American identity, who we are and what we envision for our future and our children's future. I dare say it is the "Common Sense" of our generation. In this battle of visions for America's future they have Krugman, we have Sowell; they have Maddow, Olberman and Sharpton, and we have Prager, Bennett, and Medved. They have most of Hollywood and we now have Mamet.. I'll take those odds all day long.
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14 people found this helpful
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- James Kelly
- 03-21-15
A great story told by a great storyteller
The Author has great credibility with his experience, expertise and history with theater.
Filled with rational clear argument explaining the folly--and destructive nature--of liberalism.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Schaun Adams
- 04-04-22
Intellectually Honest and Courageous Author
I love this book, it expanded my thinking. He addresses a wide variety of topics with compassion and honesty.
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- David
- 07-01-16
Why he's not a liberal
I listened to David Mamet's screed (and that's mostly what this book is, a screed) with interest. While I have not gone fully over to the conservative side, like Mamet, I too am a former liberal who has left the leftist camp. So I was hoping to get some insight as to what caused Mamet, a big-name Hollywood director and playwright who used to be very much a fellow traveler in Hollywod, to abandon his leftism and join the Dark Side.
But he apparently doesn't have much insight to offer - he goes into no more depth than he did in his famous Village Voice column, 'Why I Am No Longer a 'Brain-Dead Liberal'. He merely speaks of becoming gradually disillusioned, of seeing the world in a more "realistic" light, and mostly attributes it to being a director, who unlike actors and others Hollywood types, actually has to deal with working people and thus sees how the world really works. From all his kvetching about the media and the left's treatment of Israel, though, I suspect that was the single biggest factor. It's true that Israel tends to be a fault-line in leftist politics: all good liberals sympathize with the Palestinians and despise the Israelis except for, uh, liberal Jews. Methinks the tribalism here should be obvious, and an obvious counterpoint to Mamet's confident assertion that liberal politics is entirely driven by emotion while conservatives come to their positions by cold, hard reason, but one thing this book makes clear is that his shift did not make him any more objective than he was before.
I don't disagree with him about Israel and the Palestinians, mind - I just don't see how he can claim that his beliefs are nobler and truer just because he's seen the light and abandoned "brain-dead leftism."
Where I agree with Mamet is where he goes after the easy targets: dumb college students, dumber Hollywood celebrities, and smug hipster leftists in general. The derogatory term "SJW" (Social Justice Warrior) was not yet in vogue in 2011 when Mamet wrote this, but these are the people he's talking about, and the people who have driven me away from mainstream liberalism in disgust.
That said, his Secret Knowledge, as he admits himself, is not secret, but neither is it really knowledge. It's just a book-length assertion of conservative talking points as fact. Some of it is risible: global warming is obviously a hoax because liberals, and Obama is obviously a terrible president because liberals, and the government is obviously bad at everything because liberals, and so on and so on. He goes on extended rants about how FDR was the worst president ever and socialism is evil, and dips into the well for yet another salvo against Jane Fonda.
Sure, there are legitimate points here, but if you are trying to sell conservatism in the 21st century, can't you do better than ranting about Hanoi Jane?
One of Mamet's targets throughout the book is the government, and he repeatedly asserts that government agencies are terrible at everything, and government workers are lazy and unmotivated almost by definition, because they supposedly have no incentive to actually get anything done, let alone do it well. This is of course an article of faith among many conservatives, who see even the slightest touch of socialism (for example, believing in some social welfare) as indistinguishable from advocating hardcore Marxism, and who assume that all government workplaces are essentially Soviet-style bureaucracies as described by Kafka.
Now, I may be revealing my own tribalism here, but as a government employee myself, I'm just going to say that Mamet is flat-out wrong here. I am not really offended by his characterization of government workers, but it's as if the only government employees he's ever encountered were at the DMV or the IRS.
There is an entire field of study on workplace management and how to motivate people, but the bottom line is that it's simply not true that working for the government intrinsically robs you of motivation or work ethic. Most people want to do meaningful, useful, and interesting work. If allowed to do so, in conditions that are not too unpleasant, this has proven in many studies to be even more of a motivating factor than money. Yeah, there are people who will always go for the higher paycheck, but the average person is really only motivated by money up to a certain point. After basic needs and wants are met, all but the most ambitious or cut-throat workers just want to feel useful and not too bored.
This is definitely my experience in a fairly large and bureaucratic government agency. While we may make jokes about those employees who have "retired in place" - meaning they have essentially stopped doing any work and are just occupying a desk while waiting to retire - they are actually pretty rare. Most people want to work, and contra Mamet, they want to do their work well, and they want to improve things, and they want their projects and their organization to be successful. They do not want to just come to work every day and go through the motions while filling out a timesheet because they work for the government and thus can't be fired.
I don't think Mamet is being dishonest, I think he just reveals the limits of his own understanding and experience, while berating liberals for their own inability to comprehend conservatives because so few of them actually interact with conservatives.
So, in summary, The Secret Knowledge will probably fire up those who are already converts to the cause and regular readers of National Review. Its short chapters are just bullet points of conservative ideology. David Mamet is a far better writer than the likes of Ann Coulter or Bill O'Reilly. He makes his points with literary style rather than bombast and vitriol. (Well, there is some vitriol.) But it's pretty much the same message. So this book is unlikely to win over your liberal friends and make them question their beliefs.
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11 people found this helpful
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- R. King
- 12-19-16
A Very Interesting Perspective
A thought provoking introspection from someone raised in a liberal environment who comes to question that dogma. A brilliantly written piece that explains much about the why, then counter-points that with some of the unintended but inescapable consequences and the reasons that belief system was ultimately rejected by the author.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Flavius Krakdaddius
- 12-07-11
Well-Written, But Unconvincing
Mamet's foray into political writing is interesting, and not without its merits. He is a gifted writer and an intelligent man who has had the benefit of 60+ years of life, and much of what he has to say reflects this.
But, as Mamet admits, he is a rather new convert to conservatism, and as such, makes some of the missteps common to 'new believers.' While in many cases I agreed with Mamet's position, I often found the that the logic by which he supports his notions is fuzzy. This is not to say he's mistaken--again, I agree with many of his arguments, but were I not already predisposed toward his contention, I don't think I would be convinced. Mamet's view of conservatism seems to be one that is at times, almost unapologetically cruel, and I don't think it needs to be.
Having said this, "The Secret Knowledge" is still very much worth a listen, if not least for some insights into Mamet's own struggles with political thought and for the writing.
The narrator is very appropriate for the material, and does a good job.
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- S. Pike
- 06-18-13
Interesting
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Well, I'd recommend this to a friend if like me they aren't associated with any political party and all they really know about political party's in America is what they learned in a text book. This book is pretty good at explaining the viewpoints of the different point of view and explain what Right and Left mean and what the wards that are flung around like liberal and conservative mean and how that meaning has changed over the years.
What other book might you compare The Secret Knowledge to and why?
Economics in One Lesson and The Road to Serfdom because both link politics to economics and explain how economics is one of the motivating forces in shaping politics. The economics is more simple and road to Serfdom needs several reads.
What about Johnny Heller’s performance did you like?
He was easy to understand and nice to listen to.
What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?
What being Left and Right means and clarifying the ideals of the two party's with their realities.
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