-
The Women's House of Detention
- A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
This singular history of a prison, and the queer women and trans people held there, is a window into the policing of queerness and radical politics in the twentieth century.
The Women’s House of Detention, a landmark that ushered in the modern era of women’s imprisonment, is now largely forgotten. But when it stood in New York City’s Greenwich Village, from 1929 to 1974, it was a nexus for the tens of thousands of women, transgender men, and gender-nonconforming people who inhabited its crowded cells. Some of these inmates—Angela Davis, Andrea Dworkin, Afeni Shakur—were famous, but the vast majority were incarcerated for the crimes of being poor and improperly feminine. Today, approximately 40 percent of the people in women’s prisons identify as queer; in earlier decades, that percentage was almost certainly higher.
Historian Hugh Ryan explores the roots of this crisis and reconstructs the little-known lives of incarcerated New Yorkers, making a uniquely queer case for prison abolition—and demonstrating that by queering the Village, the House of D helped defined queerness for the rest of America. From the lesbian communities forged through the Women’s House of Detention to the turbulent prison riots that presaged Stonewall, this is the story of one building and much more: the people it caged, the neighborhood it changed, and the resistance it inspired.
Winner, 2023 Stonewall Book Award—Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Book Award
CrimeReads, Best True Crime Books of the Year
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
When Brooklyn Was Queer
- By: Hugh Ryan
- Narrated by: Hugh Ryan
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hugh Ryan's When Brooklyn Was Queer is a groundbreaking exploration of the LGBT history of Brooklyn, from the early days of Walt Whitman in the 1850s up through the queer women who worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II, and beyond. In intimate, evocative, moving prose, Ryan brings this never-before-told story of Brooklyn's vibrant and forgotten queer history to life.
-
-
A Love Letter
- By Jeffrey on 06-26-19
By: Hugh Ryan
-
Prequel
- An American Fight Against Fascism
- By: Rachel Maddow
- Narrated by: Rachel Maddow
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inspired by her research for the hit podcast Ultra, Rachel Maddow charts the rise of a wild American strain of authoritarianism that has been alive on the far-right edge of our politics for the better part of a century. Before and even after our troops had begun fighting abroad in World War II, a clandestine network flooded the country with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of the U.S. war effort and persuading Americans that our natural alliance was with the Axis, not against it.
-
-
The fight to keep democracy alive
- By Rex on 10-19-23
By: Rachel Maddow
-
Secret City
- The Hidden History of Gay Washington
- By: James Kirchick
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 26 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For decades, the specter of homosexuality haunted Washington. The mere suggestion that a person might be gay destroyed reputations, ended careers, and ruined lives. At the height of the Cold War, fear of homosexuality became intertwined with the growing threat of international communism, leading to a purge of gay men and lesbians from the federal government. In the fevered atmosphere of political Washington, the secret “too loathsome to mention” held enormous, terrifying power.
-
-
Exhausting snd enraging and disappointing
- By Frequent shopper! on 07-16-22
By: James Kirchick
-
Girls Can Kiss Now
- Essays
- By: Jill Gutowitz
- Narrated by: Jill Gutowitz
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jill Gutowitz’s life—for better and worse—has always been on a collision course with pop culture. There’s the time the FBI showed up at her door because of something she tweeted about Game of Thrones. The pop songs that have been the soundtrack to the worst moments of her life.
-
-
GOOD AND GAY
- By Sarah Griffin on 03-17-22
By: Jill Gutowitz
-
Let the Record Show
- A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993
- By: Sarah Schulman
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Coleman Williams, Sarah Schulman
- Length: 27 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In just six years, ACT UP, New York, a broad and unlikely coalition of activists from all races, genders, sexualities, and backgrounds, changed the world. Armed with rancor, desperation, intelligence, and creativity, it took on the AIDS crisis with an indefatigable, ingenious, and multifaceted attack on the corporations, institutions, governments, and individuals who stood in the way of AIDS treatment for all. Let the Record Show is a revelatory exploration - and long-overdue reassessment - of the coalition’s inner workings, conflicts, achievements, and ultimate fracture.
-
-
Narration makes it difficult to enjoy
- By Katrine on 06-28-21
By: Sarah Schulman
-
Ten Steps to Nanette
- A Memoir Situation
- By: Hannah Gadsby
- Narrated by: Hannah Gadsby
- Length: 13 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gadsby grew up as the youngest of five children in Tasmania, where homosexuality was illegal until 1997. After moving to mainland Australia and receiving a degree in art history, they found themselves adrift, working itinerant jobs and enduring years of isolation punctuated by homophobic and sexual violence. When Gadsby was twenty-seven, a friend encouraged them to enter a stand-up competition. They won, and so began their career in comedy.
-
-
An emotional connection
- By John on 04-23-22
By: Hannah Gadsby
-
When Brooklyn Was Queer
- By: Hugh Ryan
- Narrated by: Hugh Ryan
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hugh Ryan's When Brooklyn Was Queer is a groundbreaking exploration of the LGBT history of Brooklyn, from the early days of Walt Whitman in the 1850s up through the queer women who worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II, and beyond. In intimate, evocative, moving prose, Ryan brings this never-before-told story of Brooklyn's vibrant and forgotten queer history to life.
-
-
A Love Letter
- By Jeffrey on 06-26-19
By: Hugh Ryan
-
Prequel
- An American Fight Against Fascism
- By: Rachel Maddow
- Narrated by: Rachel Maddow
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inspired by her research for the hit podcast Ultra, Rachel Maddow charts the rise of a wild American strain of authoritarianism that has been alive on the far-right edge of our politics for the better part of a century. Before and even after our troops had begun fighting abroad in World War II, a clandestine network flooded the country with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of the U.S. war effort and persuading Americans that our natural alliance was with the Axis, not against it.
-
-
The fight to keep democracy alive
- By Rex on 10-19-23
By: Rachel Maddow
-
Secret City
- The Hidden History of Gay Washington
- By: James Kirchick
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 26 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For decades, the specter of homosexuality haunted Washington. The mere suggestion that a person might be gay destroyed reputations, ended careers, and ruined lives. At the height of the Cold War, fear of homosexuality became intertwined with the growing threat of international communism, leading to a purge of gay men and lesbians from the federal government. In the fevered atmosphere of political Washington, the secret “too loathsome to mention” held enormous, terrifying power.
-
-
Exhausting snd enraging and disappointing
- By Frequent shopper! on 07-16-22
By: James Kirchick
-
Girls Can Kiss Now
- Essays
- By: Jill Gutowitz
- Narrated by: Jill Gutowitz
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jill Gutowitz’s life—for better and worse—has always been on a collision course with pop culture. There’s the time the FBI showed up at her door because of something she tweeted about Game of Thrones. The pop songs that have been the soundtrack to the worst moments of her life.
-
-
GOOD AND GAY
- By Sarah Griffin on 03-17-22
By: Jill Gutowitz
-
Let the Record Show
- A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993
- By: Sarah Schulman
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Coleman Williams, Sarah Schulman
- Length: 27 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In just six years, ACT UP, New York, a broad and unlikely coalition of activists from all races, genders, sexualities, and backgrounds, changed the world. Armed with rancor, desperation, intelligence, and creativity, it took on the AIDS crisis with an indefatigable, ingenious, and multifaceted attack on the corporations, institutions, governments, and individuals who stood in the way of AIDS treatment for all. Let the Record Show is a revelatory exploration - and long-overdue reassessment - of the coalition’s inner workings, conflicts, achievements, and ultimate fracture.
-
-
Narration makes it difficult to enjoy
- By Katrine on 06-28-21
By: Sarah Schulman
-
Ten Steps to Nanette
- A Memoir Situation
- By: Hannah Gadsby
- Narrated by: Hannah Gadsby
- Length: 13 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gadsby grew up as the youngest of five children in Tasmania, where homosexuality was illegal until 1997. After moving to mainland Australia and receiving a degree in art history, they found themselves adrift, working itinerant jobs and enduring years of isolation punctuated by homophobic and sexual violence. When Gadsby was twenty-seven, a friend encouraged them to enter a stand-up competition. They won, and so began their career in comedy.
-
-
An emotional connection
- By John on 04-23-22
By: Hannah Gadsby
-
Before We Were Trans
- A New History of Gender
- By: Dr. Kit Heyam Ph.D
- Narrated by: Dr. Kit Heyam Ph.D
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before We Were Trans illuminates the stories of people across the globe, from antiquity to the present, whose experiences of gender have defied binary categories. Blending historical analysis with sharp cultural criticism, trans historian and activist Kit Heyam offers a new, radically inclusive trans history, chronicling expressions of trans experience that are often overlooked, like gender-nonconforming fashion and wartime stage performance. Heyam looks to the past to uncover new horizons for possible trans futures.
-
-
The history we need right now
- By Daniel Hebert on 04-11-23
-
Gay New York
- Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940
- By: George Chauncey
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead
- Length: 18 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gay New York brilliantly shatters the myth that before the 1960s gay life existed only in the closet, where gay men were isolated, invisible, and self-hating. Drawing on a rich trove of diaries, legal records, and other unpublished documents, George Chauncey constructs a fascinating portrait of a vibrant, cohesive gay world that is not supposed to have existed. Gay New York forever changed how we think about the history of gay life in New York City, and beyond.
-
-
An Eye Opening History!
- By Nelson on 04-26-22
By: George Chauncey
-
Pageboy
- A Memoir
- By: Elliot Page
- Narrated by: Elliot Page
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“Can I kiss you?” It was two months before the world premiere of Juno, and Elliot Page was in his first ever queer bar. The hot summer air hung heavy around him as he looked at her. And then it happened. In front of everyone. A previously unfathomable experience. Here he was on the precipice of discovering himself as a queer person, as a trans person. Getting closer to his desires, his dreams, himself, without the repression he’d carried for so long. But for Elliot, two steps forward had always come with one step back.
-
-
Ah, I wish this were better. I'm disappointed.
- By Jackson Theofore Keys on 06-07-23
By: Elliot Page
-
Bad Gays
- A Homosexual History
- By: Huw Lemmey, Ben Miller
- Narrated by: Ben Allen
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We all remember Oscar Wilde, but who speaks for Bosie? What about those 'bad gays' whose un-exemplary lives reveal more than we might expect? Too many popular histories seek to establish heroes, pioneers and martyrs but, as Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller argue, the past is filled with queer people whose sexualities and dastardly deeds have been overlooked. Based on the hugely popular podcast series, Bad Gays subverts the notion of gay icons and queer heroes and asks what we can learn about LGBTQ+ history, sexuality and identity through its villains and baddies.
-
-
Stick with the history
- By John Bryan on 03-11-23
By: Huw Lemmey, and others
-
Angela Davis
- An Autobiography
- By: Angela Davis
- Narrated by: Angela Davis
- Length: 19 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Angela Davis has been a political activist at the cutting edge of the Black Liberation, feminist, queer, and prison-abolitionist movements for more than 50 years. Angela Davis: An Autobiography, first published and edited by Toni Morrison in 1974, is a powerful and commanding account of her early years in these struggles. Read by Angela Davis herself, this autobiography, told with warmth, brilliance, humor, and conviction, is a classic account of a life in struggle, with echoes in our own time.
-
-
Good story of an interesting person
- By Antuane Brown on 03-17-22
By: Angela Davis
-
Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments
- Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval
- By: Saidiya Hartman
- Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, Saidiya Hartman examines the revolution of black intimate life that unfolded in Philadelphia and New York at the beginning of the 20th century. Free love, common-law and transient marriages, queer relations, and single motherhood were among the sweeping changes that altered the character of everyday life and challenged traditional Victorian beliefs about courtship, love, and marriage.
-
-
Utterly beautiful!
- By L.A. on 12-27-19
By: Saidiya Hartman
-
Hijab Butch Blues
- A Memoir
- By: Lamya H
- Narrated by: Ashraf Shirazi
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When fourteen-year-old Lamya H realizes she has a crush on her teacher—her female teacher—she covers up her attraction, an attraction she can’t yet name, by playing up her roles as overachiever and class clown. Born in South Asia, she moved to the Middle East at a young age and has spent years feeling out of place, like her own desires and dreams don’t matter, and it’s easier to hide in plain sight. To disappear. But one day in Quran class, she reads a passage about Maryam that changes everything: When Maryam learned that she was pregnant, she insisted no man had touched her.
-
-
Believe the Hype
- By Taz Ahmed on 09-30-23
By: Lamya H
-
The Viral Underclass
- The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide
- By: Steven W. Thrasher
- Narrated by: Dr. Jonathan M. Metzl, Steven W. Thrasher
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Having spent a ground-breaking career studying the racialization, policing, and criminalization of HIV, Dr. Thrasher has come to understand a deeper truth at the heart of our society: that there are vast inequalities in who is able to survive viruses and that the ways in which viruses spread, kill, and take their toll are much more dependent on social structures than they are on biology alone.
-
-
New Perspective
- By Colin Oldham on 01-05-23
-
Female Husbands
- A Trans History
- By: Jen Manion
- Narrated by: Kate Harper
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moving deftly from the colonial era to just before the First World War, Jen Manion uncovers the riveting and very personal stories of ordinary people who lived as men despite tremendous risk, danger, violence, and threat of punishment. Female Husbands weaves the story of their lives in relation to broader social, economic, and political developments in the United States and the United Kingdom while also exploring how attitudes toward female husbands shifted in relation to transformations in gender politics and women’s rights.
-
-
wouldn't recommend unless you're informed
- By Tessa on 02-02-22
By: Jen Manion
-
The Deviant's War
- The Homosexual vs. the United States of America
- By: Eric Cervini
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 15 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1957, Frank Kameny, a rising astronomer working for the US Military in Hawaii, received a summons to report immediately to Washington, DC. The Pentagon had reason to believe he was a homosexual, and after a series of humiliating interviews, Kameny - like gay men and women for generations - was promptly dismissed from the military. Unlike many others, though, Kameny fought back.
-
-
Big Surprise
- By elwood on 08-01-20
By: Eric Cervini
-
The Truths We Hold
- An American Journey
- By: Kamala Harris
- Narrated by: Kamala Harris
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The daughter of immigrants and civil rights activists, Vice President Kamala Harris was raised in an Oakland, California, community that cared deeply about social justice. As she rose to prominence as one of the political leaders of our time, her experiences would become her guiding light as she grappled with an array of complex issues and learned to bring a voice to the voiceless. In The Truths We Hold, she reckons with the big challenges we face together.
-
-
Great content, read if possible
- By TCamp72 on 03-07-19
By: Kamala Harris
-
Belly of the Beast
- The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness
- By: Da'Shaun L. Harrison, Kiese Laymon - foreword
- Narrated by: Da'Shaun L. Harrison
- Length: 3 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To live in a body both fat and Black is to exist at the margins of a society that creates the conditions for anti-fatness as anti-Blackness. Hyper-policed by state and society, passed over for housing and jobs, and derided and misdiagnosed by medical professionals, fat Black people in the United States are subject to socio-politically sanctioned discrimination, abuse, condescension, and trauma.
-
-
Beautifully written, complex and compelling
- By lena carew on 10-16-24
By: Da'Shaun L. Harrison, and others
Critic reviews
“In this essential, abolitionist work, historian and author of When Brooklyn Was Queer Hugh Ryan uncovers the stories of this bewildering place and of the people who populated it.” (Electric Literature)
“By using queer history as a framework, Ryan makes the case for prison abolition stronger than ever. Part history text, part call to activism, this book is compelling from start to finish.” (BuzzFeed)
Featured Article: The Best LGBTQIA+ Listens by Queer Authors
We scoured the big and beautiful LGBTQIA+ canon to present some of our favorite queer-focused listens of all time. Truly great literature can foster a sense of belonging and the feeling of truly being seen. However, listeners on the hunt for the best LGBTQIA+ books out there know that finding stories about gay characters isn’t always easy. So, we’ve put together a series of lists detailing some of the best LGBTQIA+ listens available.
Related to this topic
-
When Brooklyn Was Queer
- By: Hugh Ryan
- Narrated by: Hugh Ryan
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hugh Ryan's When Brooklyn Was Queer is a groundbreaking exploration of the LGBT history of Brooklyn, from the early days of Walt Whitman in the 1850s up through the queer women who worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II, and beyond. In intimate, evocative, moving prose, Ryan brings this never-before-told story of Brooklyn's vibrant and forgotten queer history to life.
-
-
A Love Letter
- By Jeffrey on 06-26-19
By: Hugh Ryan
-
Street Poison
- The Biography of Iceberg Slim
- By: Justin Gifford
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From a career as a, yes, ruthless pimp in the '40s and '50s, Iceberg Slim refashioned himself as the first and still the greatest of the "street lit" masters, whose vivid books have made him an icon to such rappers as Ice-T, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg and a presiding spirit of "blaxploitation" culture.
-
-
A must read for all Robert Beck fans.
- By JMKIII58 on 09-15-16
By: Justin Gifford
-
Revolution’s End
- The Patty Hearst Kidnapping, Mind Control, and the Secret History of Donald DeFreeze and the SLA
- By: Brad Schreiber
- Narrated by: Brad Schreiber
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Revolution's End fully explains the most famous kidnapping in US history, detailing Patty Hearst's relationship with Donald DeFreeze, known as Cinque, the head of the Symbionese Liberation Army. Not only did the heiress have a sexual relationship with DeFreeze while he was imprisoned, she didn't know he was an informant and a victim of prison behavior modification.
-
-
Interesting spin
- By jay rollins on 08-29-20
By: Brad Schreiber
-
The Future Is History
- How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia
- By: Masha Gessen
- Narrated by: Masha Gessen
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
The author is an international treasure
- By ThreeGems on 10-16-17
By: Masha Gessen
-
Words Will Break Cement
- The Passion of Pussy Riot
- By: Masha Gessen
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The heroic story of Pussy Riot, who resurrected the power of truth in a society built on lies. On February 21, 2012, five young women entered the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. In neon-colored dresses, tights, and balaclavas, they performed a “punk prayer” beseeching the “Mother of God” to “get rid of Putin.” They were quickly shut down by security, and in the weeks and months that followed, three of the women were arrested and tried, and two were sentenced to a remote prison colony. But the incident captured international headlines, and footage of it went viral.
-
-
Therapy in these authoritarian times
- By Emeri Burks on 08-30-22
By: Masha Gessen
-
Out of Mao's Shadow
- The Struggle for the Soul of a New China
- By: Philip P. Pan
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Prize-winning journalist Philip P. Pan offers an unprecedented inside look at the momentous battle underway for China's future. On one side is the entrenched party elite determined to preserve its authoritarian grip on power. On the other is a collection of lawyers, journalists, entrepreneurs, activists, hustlers, and dreamers striving to build a more tolerant, open, and democratic China.
-
-
Great insight into changes in China
- By Paul on 04-14-09
By: Philip P. Pan
-
When Brooklyn Was Queer
- By: Hugh Ryan
- Narrated by: Hugh Ryan
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hugh Ryan's When Brooklyn Was Queer is a groundbreaking exploration of the LGBT history of Brooklyn, from the early days of Walt Whitman in the 1850s up through the queer women who worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II, and beyond. In intimate, evocative, moving prose, Ryan brings this never-before-told story of Brooklyn's vibrant and forgotten queer history to life.
-
-
A Love Letter
- By Jeffrey on 06-26-19
By: Hugh Ryan
-
Street Poison
- The Biography of Iceberg Slim
- By: Justin Gifford
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From a career as a, yes, ruthless pimp in the '40s and '50s, Iceberg Slim refashioned himself as the first and still the greatest of the "street lit" masters, whose vivid books have made him an icon to such rappers as Ice-T, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg and a presiding spirit of "blaxploitation" culture.
-
-
A must read for all Robert Beck fans.
- By JMKIII58 on 09-15-16
By: Justin Gifford
-
Revolution’s End
- The Patty Hearst Kidnapping, Mind Control, and the Secret History of Donald DeFreeze and the SLA
- By: Brad Schreiber
- Narrated by: Brad Schreiber
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Revolution's End fully explains the most famous kidnapping in US history, detailing Patty Hearst's relationship with Donald DeFreeze, known as Cinque, the head of the Symbionese Liberation Army. Not only did the heiress have a sexual relationship with DeFreeze while he was imprisoned, she didn't know he was an informant and a victim of prison behavior modification.
-
-
Interesting spin
- By jay rollins on 08-29-20
By: Brad Schreiber
-
The Future Is History
- How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia
- By: Masha Gessen
- Narrated by: Masha Gessen
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
The author is an international treasure
- By ThreeGems on 10-16-17
By: Masha Gessen
-
Words Will Break Cement
- The Passion of Pussy Riot
- By: Masha Gessen
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The heroic story of Pussy Riot, who resurrected the power of truth in a society built on lies. On February 21, 2012, five young women entered the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. In neon-colored dresses, tights, and balaclavas, they performed a “punk prayer” beseeching the “Mother of God” to “get rid of Putin.” They were quickly shut down by security, and in the weeks and months that followed, three of the women were arrested and tried, and two were sentenced to a remote prison colony. But the incident captured international headlines, and footage of it went viral.
-
-
Therapy in these authoritarian times
- By Emeri Burks on 08-30-22
By: Masha Gessen
-
Out of Mao's Shadow
- The Struggle for the Soul of a New China
- By: Philip P. Pan
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Prize-winning journalist Philip P. Pan offers an unprecedented inside look at the momentous battle underway for China's future. On one side is the entrenched party elite determined to preserve its authoritarian grip on power. On the other is a collection of lawyers, journalists, entrepreneurs, activists, hustlers, and dreamers striving to build a more tolerant, open, and democratic China.
-
-
Great insight into changes in China
- By Paul on 04-14-09
By: Philip P. Pan
-
Inside Scientology
- The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion
- By: Janet Reitman
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scientology, created in 1954 by a prolific sci-fi writer named L. Ron Hubbard, claims to be the world's fastest-growing religion, with millions of members around the world and huge financial holdings. Its celebrity believers keep its profile high, and its teams of "volunteer ministers" offer aid at disaster sites such as Haiti and the World Trade Center. But Scientology is also a notably closed faith, harassing journalists and others through litigation and intimidation, even infiltrating the highest levels of government to further its goals.
-
-
My cup of tea.
- By MWMcCabe on 08-09-11
By: Janet Reitman
-
Putin Country
- A Journey into the Real Russia
- By: Anne Garrels
- Narrated by: Anne Garrels
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Putin Country: A Journey into the Real Russia, Garrels crafts an intimate portrait of the nation's heartland. We meet ostentatious mafiosos, upwardly mobile professionals, impassioned activists, scheming taxi drivers with dark secrets, and beleaguered steel workers. We discover surprising subcultures, like the LGBT residents of Chelyablinsk who bravely endure an upsurge in homophobia fueled by Putin's rhetoric of Russian "moral superiority" yet still nurture a vibrant if clandestine community of their own.
-
-
Interesting dive into Russia today
- By Keith on 03-25-16
By: Anne Garrels
-
No Escape
- The True Story of China's Genocide of the Uyghurs
- By: Nury Turkel
- Narrated by: Stewart Lang
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A powerful memoir by Nury Turkel lays bare China’s repression of the Uyghur people. Turkel is cofounder and board chair of the Uyghur Human Rights Project and a commissioner for the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
-
-
Powerfully Provocative
- By Amazon Customer on 06-01-22
By: Nury Turkel
-
The Story of Jane
- The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service
- By: Laura Kaplan
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1997, The Story of Jane recounts the evolution of Jane, the underground group in Chicago that performed abortion services before the procedure was legalized. An extraordinary history by one of its members, this is the first account of Jane's evolution, the conflicts within the group, and the impact its work had both on the women it helped and the members themselves.
-
-
Will we need Jane again?
- By kate2010 on 10-28-20
By: Laura Kaplan
-
The Eternal Nazi
- From Mauthausen to Cairo, the Relentless Pursuit of SS Doctor Aribert Heim
- By: Nicholas Kulish, Souad Mekhennet
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Aribert Heim worked at the Mauthausen concentration camp for only a few months in 1941 but left a devastating mark. According to the testimony of survivors, Heim euthanized patients with injections of gasoline into their hearts. He performed surgeries on otherwise healthy people. Some recalled prisoners' skulls set out on his desk to display perfect sets of teeth. Yet in the chaos of the postwar period, Heim was able to slip away from his dark past and establish himself as a reputable doctor and family man in the resort town of Baden-Baden.
-
-
Not certain about this one...
- By Nancy on 11-24-22
By: Nicholas Kulish, and others
-
Locking Up Our Own
- Crime and Punishment in Black America
- By: James Forman Jr.
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today, Americans are debating our criminal justice system with new urgency. Mass incarceration and aggressive police tactics - and their impact on people of color - are feeding outrage and a consensus that something must be done. But what if we only know half the story? In Locking Up Our Own, the Yale legal scholar and former public defender James Forman Jr. weighs the tragic role that some African Americans themselves played in escalating the war on crime.
-
-
Outstanding Book
- By Andrew on 12-13-17
By: James Forman Jr.
-
Damnation Island
- Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York
- By: Stacy Horn
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today it is known as Roosevelt Island. In 1828, when New York City purchased this narrow, two-mile-long island in the East River, it was called Blackwell's Island. There, over the next hundred years, the city would build a lunatic asylum, prison, hospital, workhouse, and almshouse. Stacy Horn has crafted a compelling and chilling narrative told through the stories of the poor souls sent to Blackwell's, as well as the period's city officials, reformers, and journalists (including the famous Nellie Bly). Damnation Island re-creates what daily life was like on the island....
-
-
Fascinating!
- By tamborine on 08-06-18
By: Stacy Horn
-
Malcolm X
- A Life of Reinvention
- By: Manning Marable
- Narrated by: G. Valmont Thomas
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Of the great figure in 20th-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than Malcolm X. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all before being felled by assassins' bullets at age 39. Through his tireless work and countless speeches he empowered hundreds of thousands of black Americans to create better lives and stronger communities while establishing the template for the self-actualized, independent African American man.
-
-
invites further reading on Malcolm X
- By connie on 05-14-11
By: Manning Marable
-
In Our Backyard
- Human Trafficking in America and What We Can Do to Stop It
- By: Nita Belles
- Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Human trafficking is not just something that happens in other countries. Nor is it something that just happens to "other people," such as runaways or the disenfranchised. Even kids in your own neighborhood can fall victim. But they don't have to.
-
-
A good entry to learning about HT
- By Justicepirate on 12-05-16
By: Nita Belles
-
When They Call You a Terrorist
- A Black Lives Matter Memoir
- By: Patrisse Cullors, asha bandele, Angela Davis - foreword
- Narrated by: Angela Davis - foreword, Angela Davis, Patrisse Cullors
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When They Call You a Terrorist is the essential audiobook for every conscientious American. From one of the cofounders of the Black Lives Matter movement comes a poetic audiobook memoir and reflection on humanity. Necessary and timely, Patrisse Cullors' story asks us to remember that protest in the interest of the most vulnerable comes from love.
-
-
Everyone should listen!
- By Mary J. Bunker on 01-26-18
By: Patrisse Cullors, and others
-
Unspeakable
- The Story of Junius Wilson
- By: Susan Burch, Hannah Joyner
- Narrated by: Corey Johnson
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Junius Wilson (1908-2001) spent 76 years at a state mental hospital in Goldsboro, North Carolina, including 6 in the criminal ward. He had never been declared insane by a medical professional or found guilty of any criminal charge. But he was deaf and Black in the Jim Crow South. Unspeakable is the story of his life.
-
-
Nuanced look at a complicated case of injustice
- By Karla on 08-06-24
By: Susan Burch, and others
-
The Savage City
- By: T. J. English
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the early 1960s, uncertainty and menace gripped New York, crystallizing in a poisonous divide between a deeply corrupt, cynical, and racist police force, and an African American community buffeted by economic distress, brutality, and narcotics. On August 28, 1963 - the day Martin Luther King Jr. declared "I have a dream" on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial - two young white women were murdered in their Manhattan apartment. Dubbed the Career Girls Murders case, the crime sent ripples of fear throughout the city, as police scrambled fruitlessly for months to find the killer.
-
-
I Highly Recommend This Book!
- By R on 05-15-13
By: T. J. English
What listeners say about The Women's House of Detention
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 06-20-22
As promised, a stunner of a book.
Rave reviews by Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, smart magazines, and scholars all agreed. The book is one of those rare cross-genre works of impeccable research that reads like a page-turning best-seller you just can’t put down. Metzger’s reading is on key, her intonations in tune with the outrageous history of this notorious jail, balancing sympathetic notes in providing the stories of women whose lives were marred not only within its walls but by aftereffects for years.
Who knew there was a time in New York when police cracked down hard on women for the crime of wearing pants? Hugh Ryan has brought to light in stunning detail a slew of societal crimes committed through generations by a homophobic and misogynistic culture. Everyone who cares about human rights and government-sponsored cruelty and bigotry should read this book, as well as those concerned about flaws in the justice system in America.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Timothy D. McMath
- 07-13-22
A moving history of a forgotten women’s prison
Ryan tells the story of the Women’s House of Detention, a prison that was in the center of Greenwich Village for most of the 20th century. Along the way, he tells the surprisingly moving and queer story of incarcerated women in our criminal legal system. I learned a lot but was never bored.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jillian
- 01-15-24
Thought provoking and Important
An important book about Queer history and the incarceration of women and trans masculine people. Overall it’s a stunning book, but painful topic to read and explore.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Robert F. Madaras
- 04-04-23
Illuminating.
I learned so much. Read this to understand the black and gay rights movements. Loved the book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Andy
- 10-23-24
Every Queer Woman and Trans Masc should read
It is the history of our people. Surviving the best way they knew how. There is a depth, richness and complexity to our history. Understanding it is so grounding.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JP
- 12-19-23
essential herstory!
incredible insights into a chapter in Greenwich Village history that demands to be studied and not forgotten. also a vital part of US carceral system and queer relationships and development of identity
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Oliver
- 07-03-22
absolutely stunning
this book, was enthralling. I found it entirely engaging and it left me wanting more history on the women and trans mascs of Greenwich village.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- maria Martinez
- 02-23-23
Moving and an important education for all
This book changed my view of New York landscape and I will forever view with deference and respect my elder queer sisters of Greenwich Village . Women House of Detention is reflection of chilling, forgotten history that need to be told to everyone and not cemented over . History does repeat itself .
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Madrona Bellerose
- 05-24-22
very interesting
a good lesson in queer history before the Stonewall riots. I am glad I picked up this book after the NPR interview.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Shana
- 06-24-22
excellent excellent book
The information presented was thorough and captivating. I will recommend to others queer and straight alike
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful