-
This Is Cuba
- An American Journalist Under Castro's Shadow
- Narrated by: David Ariosto
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 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 $20.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Fidel Castro is dead. Donald Trump was elected president. And to most outsiders, the fate of Cuba has never seemed more uncertain. Yet those who look close enough may recognize that signs of the next revolution are etched in plain view.
This is Cuba is a true story that begins in the summer of 2009 when a young American photo-journalist is offered the chance of a lifetime - a two-year assignment in Havana.
For David Ariosto, the island is an intriguing new world, unmoored from the one he left behind. From neighboring military coups, suspected honey traps, salty spooks, and desperate migrants to dissidents, doctors, and Havana’s empty shelves, Ariosto uncovers the island’s subtle absurdities, its Cold War mystique, and the hopes of a people in the throes of transition. Beyond the classic cars, salsa, and cigars lies a country in which black markets are ubiquitous, free speech is restricted, privacy is curtailed, sanctions wreak havoc, and an almost Kafka-esque goo of Soviet-style bureaucracy still slows the gears of an economy desperate to move forward.
But life in Cuba is indeed changing, as satellite dishes and internet hotspots dot the landscape and more Americans want in. Still, it’s not so simple. The old sentries on both sides of the Florida Straits remain at their posts, fists clenched and guarding against the specter of a Cold War that never quite ended, despite the death of Fidel and the hand-over of the presidency to a man whose last name isn’t Castro.
And now, a crisis is brewing.
In This Is Cuba, Ariosto looks at Cuba from the inside-out over the course of nine years, endeavoring to expose clues for what’s in store for the island as it undergoes its biggest change in more than half a century.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize)
- An American History
- By: Ada Ferrer
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo, Ada Ferrer - prologue
- Length: 23 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba, where a momentous revolution had taken power three years earlier. For more than half a century, the stand-off continued—through the tenure of ten American presidents and the fifty-year rule of Fidel Castro. His death in 2016, and the retirement of his brother and successor Raúl Castro in 2021, have spurred questions about the country’s future. Spanning more than five centuries, Cuba provides us with a front-row seat as we witness the evolution of the modern nation.
-
-
US Bash Job
- By Derek & Amber Witt on 04-14-22
By: Ada Ferrer
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
Havana Nocturne
- How the Mob Owned Cuba...and Then Lost It to the Revolution
- By: T. J. English
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Havana Nocturne takes listeners back to Cuba in the years when it was a veritable devil's playground for mob leaders Meyer Lansky and Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Thanks to strong ties with the island's brutal dictator, President Batista, the mob soon owned the biggest luxury hotels and casinos and launched an unprecedented tourist boom. But their dreams collided with those of Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and others.
-
-
Not for reactionaries
- By sunsolid on 02-17-09
By: T. J. English
-
Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba
- The Biography of a Cause
- By: Tom Gjelten
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this widely hailed book, NPR correspondent Tom Gjelten fuses the story of the Bacardi family and their famous rum business with Cuba's tumultuous experience over the last 150 years to produce a deeply entertaining historical narrative. The company Facundo Bacardi, launched in Cuba in 1862, brought worldwide fame to the island, and in the decades that followed, his Bacardi descendants participated in every aspect of Cuban life.
-
-
Brilliantly written , amazing performance .
- By RRV on 10-29-17
By: Tom Gjelten
-
Everyday Cuba for Non-Cubans: Beyond the Resort Cliché
- A Perspective on Contemporary Cuban Society, Struggles, and Opportunities for Economic Growth
- By: Araz Jahani
- Narrated by: Nick Young
- Length: 3 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What happens when you venture outside the boundaries of a prepackaged travel experience and truly expose yourself to the history, economics, and culture of a country other than your own? We are all familiar with the Cuban cliché: decaying colonial architecture, soulful salsa dancing, refreshing cocktails by the seaside - paradise, in a nutshell. We also share a superficial understanding of Cuba’s troubled political history and economic struggles over the last decades.
-
-
Good, except Chapter 6
- By onlychild on 02-18-23
By: Araz Jahani
-
Peach Blossom Spring
- A Novel
- By: Melissa Fu
- Narrated by: Eugenia Low
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1938 in China and, as a young wife, Meilin’s future is bright. But with the Japanese army approaching, Meilin and her four year old son, Renshu, are forced to flee their home. Relying on little but their wits and a beautifully illustrated hand scroll, filled with ancient fables that offer solace and wisdom, they must travel through a ravaged country, seeking refuge. Years later, Renshu has settled in America as Henry Dao. Though his daughter is desperate to understand her heritage, he refuses to talk about his childhood.
-
-
I Cried Every Listen
- By Anonymous User on 04-14-22
By: Melissa Fu
-
Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize)
- An American History
- By: Ada Ferrer
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo, Ada Ferrer - prologue
- Length: 23 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba, where a momentous revolution had taken power three years earlier. For more than half a century, the stand-off continued—through the tenure of ten American presidents and the fifty-year rule of Fidel Castro. His death in 2016, and the retirement of his brother and successor Raúl Castro in 2021, have spurred questions about the country’s future. Spanning more than five centuries, Cuba provides us with a front-row seat as we witness the evolution of the modern nation.
-
-
US Bash Job
- By Derek & Amber Witt on 04-14-22
By: Ada Ferrer
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
Havana Nocturne
- How the Mob Owned Cuba...and Then Lost It to the Revolution
- By: T. J. English
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Havana Nocturne takes listeners back to Cuba in the years when it was a veritable devil's playground for mob leaders Meyer Lansky and Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Thanks to strong ties with the island's brutal dictator, President Batista, the mob soon owned the biggest luxury hotels and casinos and launched an unprecedented tourist boom. But their dreams collided with those of Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and others.
-
-
Not for reactionaries
- By sunsolid on 02-17-09
By: T. J. English
-
Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba
- The Biography of a Cause
- By: Tom Gjelten
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this widely hailed book, NPR correspondent Tom Gjelten fuses the story of the Bacardi family and their famous rum business with Cuba's tumultuous experience over the last 150 years to produce a deeply entertaining historical narrative. The company Facundo Bacardi, launched in Cuba in 1862, brought worldwide fame to the island, and in the decades that followed, his Bacardi descendants participated in every aspect of Cuban life.
-
-
Brilliantly written , amazing performance .
- By RRV on 10-29-17
By: Tom Gjelten
-
Everyday Cuba for Non-Cubans: Beyond the Resort Cliché
- A Perspective on Contemporary Cuban Society, Struggles, and Opportunities for Economic Growth
- By: Araz Jahani
- Narrated by: Nick Young
- Length: 3 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What happens when you venture outside the boundaries of a prepackaged travel experience and truly expose yourself to the history, economics, and culture of a country other than your own? We are all familiar with the Cuban cliché: decaying colonial architecture, soulful salsa dancing, refreshing cocktails by the seaside - paradise, in a nutshell. We also share a superficial understanding of Cuba’s troubled political history and economic struggles over the last decades.
-
-
Good, except Chapter 6
- By onlychild on 02-18-23
By: Araz Jahani
-
Peach Blossom Spring
- A Novel
- By: Melissa Fu
- Narrated by: Eugenia Low
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1938 in China and, as a young wife, Meilin’s future is bright. But with the Japanese army approaching, Meilin and her four year old son, Renshu, are forced to flee their home. Relying on little but their wits and a beautifully illustrated hand scroll, filled with ancient fables that offer solace and wisdom, they must travel through a ravaged country, seeking refuge. Years later, Renshu has settled in America as Henry Dao. Though his daughter is desperate to understand her heritage, he refuses to talk about his childhood.
-
-
I Cried Every Listen
- By Anonymous User on 04-14-22
By: Melissa Fu
-
The Splendid and the Vile
- A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: John Lee, Erik Larson
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On Winston Churchill’s first day as prime minister, Adolf Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next 12 months, Hitler would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000 Britons. It was up to Churchill to hold his country together and persuade President Franklin Roosevelt that Britain was a worthy ally - and willing to fight to the end. In The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson shows how Churchill taught the British people "the art of being fearless."
-
-
John Lee’s narration is a struggle
- By Leslie Rathjens on 03-05-20
By: Erik Larson
-
Midnight in Chernobyl
- By: Adam Higginbotham
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
April 25, 1986 in Chernobyl was a turning point in world history. The disaster not only changed the world’s perception of nuclear power and the science that spawned it, but also our understanding of the planet’s delicate ecology. With the images of the abandoned homes and playgrounds beyond the barbed wire of the 30-kilometer Exclusion Zone, the rusting graveyards of contaminated trucks and helicopters, the farmland lashed with black rain, the event fixed for all time the notion of radiation as an invisible killer.
-
-
Midnight in Chernobyl is the book to listen to.
- By NH on 03-21-19
-
Alas, Babylon
- By: Pat Frank
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This true modern masterpiece is built around the two fateful words that make up the title and herald the end - “Alas, Babylon.” When a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, a thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly. But for one small town in Florida, miraculously spared, the struggle is just beginning, as men and women of all backgrounds join together to confront the darkness....
-
-
One apocalypse--hold the zombies
- By Lesley on 01-07-14
By: Pat Frank
-
The Pioneers
- The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The number one New York Times best seller by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough rediscovers an important chapter in the American story that's "as resonant today as ever" (The Wall Street Journal) - the settling of the Northwest Territory by courageous pioneers who overcame incredible hardships to build a community based on ideals that would define our country.
-
-
i would prefer david reading it
- By hooterwah on 05-07-19
By: David McCullough
-
The Ministry for the Future
- A Novel
- By: Kim Stanley Robinson
- Narrated by: Jennifer Fitzgerald, Fajer Al-Kaisi, Ramon de Ocampo, and others
- Length: 20 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Ministry for the Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, using fictional eyewitness accounts to tell the story of how climate change will affect us all. Its setting is not a desolate, post-apocalyptic world, but a future that is almost upon us - and in which we might just overcome the extraordinary challenges we face.
-
-
Great ideas, uneven narration
- By depthpsychologist on 12-09-20
-
Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse
- Inside the Collapse of Venezuela
- By: William Neuman
- Narrated by: Michael Manuel
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today, Venezuela is a country of perpetual crisis—a country of rolling blackouts, nearly worthless currency, uncertain supply of water and food, and extreme poverty. In the same land where oil—the largest reserve in the world—sits so close to the surface that it bubbles from the ground, where gold and other mineral resources are abundant, and where the government spends billions of dollars on public works projects that go abandoned, the supermarket shelves are bare and the hospitals have no medicine.
-
-
Excellent. A must read
- By John K on 04-17-22
By: William Neuman
-
New York
- The Novel
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 37 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York is the book that millions of Rutherfurd's American fans have been waiting for. A brilliant mix of romance, war, family drama, and personal triumphs, it gloriously captures the search for freedom and prosperity at the heart of our nation's history.
-
-
INCREDIBLE!
- By The Louligan on 11-18-09
-
We Hope for Better Things
- By: Erin Bartels
- Narrated by: Stina Nielsen
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Debut novelist Erin Bartels takes listeners on an emotional journey through time - from the volatile streets of 1960s Detroit to the Underground Railroad during the Civil War - to uncover the past, confront the seeds of hatred, and discover where love goes to hide.
-
-
Hidden gem of a book!
- By Caroline Sandlin on 01-04-19
By: Erin Bartels
-
Nomadland
- Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century
- By: Jessica Bruder
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the beet fields of North Dakota to the wilderness campgrounds of California to an Amazon warehouse in Texas, people who once might have kicked back to enjoy their sunset years are hard at work. Underwater on mortgages or finding that Social Security comes up short, they're hitting the road in astonishing numbers, forming a new community of nomads: RV and van-dwelling migrant laborers, or "workampers".
-
-
Eccentric Hobby? No--Survival Skills!
- By Gillian on 03-07-18
By: Jessica Bruder
-
The Next Pandemic
- On the Front Lines Against Humankind's Gravest Dangers
- By: Ali Khan, William Patrick
- Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An inside account of the fight to contain the world's deadliest diseases - and the panic and corruption that make them worse. The Next Pandemic is a firsthand account of disasters like anthrax, bird flu, and others - and how we could do more to prevent their return. It is both a gripping story of our brushes with fate and an urgent lesson on how we can keep ourselves safe from the inevitable next pandemic.
-
-
Many Outstanding Stories about Many Scary Microbes
- By aaron on 01-24-17
By: Ali Khan, and others
-
The Nazi Conspiracy
- The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill
- By: Brad Meltzer, Josh Mensch
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1943, as the war against Nazi Germany raged abroad, President Franklin Roosevelt had a critical goal: a face-to-face sit-down with his allies Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill. This first-ever meeting of the Big Three in Tehran, Iran, would decide some of the most crucial strategic details of the war. Yet when the Nazis found out about the meeting, their own secret plan took shape—an assassination plot that would’ve changed history.
-
-
Fabulous book!
- By Luke Einfeldt on 01-18-23
By: Brad Meltzer, and others
-
Manufacturing Consent
- The Political Economy of the Mass Media
- By: Edward S. Herman, Noam Chomsky
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 15 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this pathbreaking work, now with a new introduction, Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky show that, contrary to the usual image of the news media as cantankerous, obstinate, and ubiquitous in their search for truth and defense of justice, in their actual practice they defend the economic, social, and political agendas of the privileged groups that dominate domestic society, the state, and the global order.
-
-
Eye opening
- By EFM on 03-24-18
By: Edward S. Herman, and others
Related to this topic
-
The Big Truck That Went By
- How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster
- By: Jonathan M. Katz
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Jonathan M. Katz
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On January 12, 2010, the deadliest earthquake in the history of the Western Hemisphere struck the nation least prepared to handle one. Jonathan M. Katz, the only full-time American news correspondent in Haiti, was inside his house when it buckled along with hundreds of thousands of others. In this visceral first-hand account, Katz takes readers inside the terror of that day, the devastation visited on ordinary Haitians, and through the monumental--yet misbegotten--rescue effort that followed.
-
-
This story angered and cheered inside me
- By rifenbc on 03-01-19
By: Jonathan M. Katz
-
Age of Ambition
- Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China
- By: Evan Osnos
- Narrated by: Evan Osnos, George Backman
- Length: 16 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, Evan Osnos was on the ground in China for years, witness to profound political, economic, and cultural upheaval. In Age of Ambition, he describes the greatest collision taking place in that country: the clash between the rise of the individual and the Communist Party’s struggle to retain control.
-
-
Come back when you have a warrant!
- By Neuron on 11-06-15
By: Evan Osnos
-
China's Second Continent
- How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa
- By: Howard W. French
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An exciting, hugely revealing account of China’s burgeoning presence in Africa - a developing empire already shaping, and reshaping, the future of millions of people. A prizewinning foreign correspondent and former New York Times bureau chief in Shanghai and in West and Central Africa, Howard French is uniquely positioned to tell the story of China in Africa. Through meticulous on-the-ground reporting, French crafts a layered investigation of astonishing depth and breadth.
-
-
He knows Both Africa and China
- By Malick Tchakpedeou on 12-01-16
By: Howard W. French
-
A Continent for the Taking
- The Tragedy and Hope of Africa
- By: Howard W. French
- Narrated by: Mirron E. Willis
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In A Continent for the Taking, Howard W. French, a veteran correspondent for The New York Times, gives a compelling firsthand account of some of Africa's most devastating recent history. While he captures the tragedies that have repeatedly befallen Africa's peoples, French also opens our eyes to the immense possibility that lies in Africa's complexity, diversity, and myriad cultural strengths.
-
-
A story to pay your attention to
- By George on 04-30-13
By: Howard W. French
-
See You Again in Pyongyang
- By: Travis Jeppesen
- Narrated by: Will Collyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From terrifying missile tests, its unmissable Olympic cheering squad, and the war of words between President Trump and Kim Jong Un - not to mention stranger-than-fiction stories of purges and assassinations - news from North Korea has dominated global headlines. But what is life there actually like? In See You Again in Pyongyang, Travis Jeppesen, the first American to complete a university program in North Korea, culls from his experiences living, traveling, and studying in the country to create a multifaceted portrait of the country and its idiosyncratic capital city.
-
-
Save me from the hippie millennials with a PhD
- By Verified purchaser on 06-21-18
By: Travis Jeppesen
-
Children of Jihad
- By: Jared Cohen
- Narrated by: Jason Collins
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Classrooms were never sufficient for Jared Cohen; he wanted to learn about global affairs by witnessing them firsthand. While studying on a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford, he took a crash course in Arabic, read voraciously on the history and culture of the Middle East, and in 2004 he embarked on the first of a series of incredible journeys to the Middle East. In an effort to try to understand the spread of radical Islamist violence, he focused his research on Muslim youth.
-
-
Awakens hope
- By Diane on 09-23-08
By: Jared Cohen
-
The Big Truck That Went By
- How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster
- By: Jonathan M. Katz
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Jonathan M. Katz
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On January 12, 2010, the deadliest earthquake in the history of the Western Hemisphere struck the nation least prepared to handle one. Jonathan M. Katz, the only full-time American news correspondent in Haiti, was inside his house when it buckled along with hundreds of thousands of others. In this visceral first-hand account, Katz takes readers inside the terror of that day, the devastation visited on ordinary Haitians, and through the monumental--yet misbegotten--rescue effort that followed.
-
-
This story angered and cheered inside me
- By rifenbc on 03-01-19
By: Jonathan M. Katz
-
Age of Ambition
- Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China
- By: Evan Osnos
- Narrated by: Evan Osnos, George Backman
- Length: 16 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, Evan Osnos was on the ground in China for years, witness to profound political, economic, and cultural upheaval. In Age of Ambition, he describes the greatest collision taking place in that country: the clash between the rise of the individual and the Communist Party’s struggle to retain control.
-
-
Come back when you have a warrant!
- By Neuron on 11-06-15
By: Evan Osnos
-
China's Second Continent
- How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa
- By: Howard W. French
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An exciting, hugely revealing account of China’s burgeoning presence in Africa - a developing empire already shaping, and reshaping, the future of millions of people. A prizewinning foreign correspondent and former New York Times bureau chief in Shanghai and in West and Central Africa, Howard French is uniquely positioned to tell the story of China in Africa. Through meticulous on-the-ground reporting, French crafts a layered investigation of astonishing depth and breadth.
-
-
He knows Both Africa and China
- By Malick Tchakpedeou on 12-01-16
By: Howard W. French
-
A Continent for the Taking
- The Tragedy and Hope of Africa
- By: Howard W. French
- Narrated by: Mirron E. Willis
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In A Continent for the Taking, Howard W. French, a veteran correspondent for The New York Times, gives a compelling firsthand account of some of Africa's most devastating recent history. While he captures the tragedies that have repeatedly befallen Africa's peoples, French also opens our eyes to the immense possibility that lies in Africa's complexity, diversity, and myriad cultural strengths.
-
-
A story to pay your attention to
- By George on 04-30-13
By: Howard W. French
-
See You Again in Pyongyang
- By: Travis Jeppesen
- Narrated by: Will Collyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From terrifying missile tests, its unmissable Olympic cheering squad, and the war of words between President Trump and Kim Jong Un - not to mention stranger-than-fiction stories of purges and assassinations - news from North Korea has dominated global headlines. But what is life there actually like? In See You Again in Pyongyang, Travis Jeppesen, the first American to complete a university program in North Korea, culls from his experiences living, traveling, and studying in the country to create a multifaceted portrait of the country and its idiosyncratic capital city.
-
-
Save me from the hippie millennials with a PhD
- By Verified purchaser on 06-21-18
By: Travis Jeppesen
-
Children of Jihad
- By: Jared Cohen
- Narrated by: Jason Collins
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Classrooms were never sufficient for Jared Cohen; he wanted to learn about global affairs by witnessing them firsthand. While studying on a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford, he took a crash course in Arabic, read voraciously on the history and culture of the Middle East, and in 2004 he embarked on the first of a series of incredible journeys to the Middle East. In an effort to try to understand the spread of radical Islamist violence, he focused his research on Muslim youth.
-
-
Awakens hope
- By Diane on 09-23-08
By: Jared Cohen
-
Strange Stones
- By: Peter Hessler
- Narrated by: George Backman
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Full of unforgettable figures and an unrelenting spirit of adventure, Strange Stones is a far-ranging, thought-provoking collection of Peter Hessler’s best reportage - a dazzling display of the powerful storytelling, shrewd cultural insight, and warm sense of humor that are the trademarks of his work. Over the last decade, as a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of three books, Peter Hessler has lived in Asia and the United States, writing as both native and knowledgeable outsider in these two very different regions.
-
-
funny, entertaining
- By Katherine on 08-02-13
By: Peter Hessler
-
The Year That Changed the World
- The Untold Story Behind the Fall of the Berlin Wall
- By: Michael Meyer
- Narrated by: Ed Sala
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! President Ronald Reagan's famous exhortation when visiting Berlin in 1987 has long been widely cited as the clarion call that brought the Cold War to an end. The United States won, so this version of history goes, because Ronald Reagan stood firm against the USSR; American resoluteness brought the evil empire to its knees. Michael Meyer, who was there at the time as a Newsweek bureau chief, begs to differ.
-
-
Great book about a great year for democracy.
- By Susan on 11-24-09
By: Michael Meyer
-
Midnight in Siberia
- A Train Journey into the Heart of Russia
- By: David Greene
- Narrated by: David Greene
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Through the stories of fellow travelers, Greene explores the challenges and opportunities facing the new Russia: a nation that boasts open elections and newfound prosperity yet still continues to endure oppression, corruption, and stark inequality. Set against the wintery landscape of Siberia, Greene’s lively travel narrative offers a glimpse into the soul of 20th century Russia: how its people remember their history and look forward to the future.
-
-
Long String of NPR Short Reports
- By Sara on 04-13-15
By: David Greene
-
Once upon a Time in Russia
- The Rise of the Oligarchs and the Greatest Wealth in History
- By: Ben Mezrich
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The best-selling author of Bringing Down the House (63 weeks on the New York Times best seller list and the basis for the hit movie 21) and The Accidental Billionaires (the basis for the Academy Award-winning film The Social Network) delivers an epic drama of wealth, rivalry, and betrayal among megawealthy Russian oligarchs - and its international repercussions.
-
-
Oligarchs, Operatives, Explosives & Intrigue!
- By Michael J Canning on 07-26-16
By: Ben Mezrich
-
Street of Eternal Happiness
- Big City Dreams Along a Shanghai Road
- By: Rob Schmitz
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Modern Shanghai: a global city in the midst of a renaissance, where dreamers arrive each day to partake in a mad torrent of capital, ideas, and opportunity. Marketplace's Rob Schmitz is one of them. He immerses himself in his neighborhood, forging deep relationships with ordinary people who see in the city's sleek skyline a brighter future, and a chance to rewrite their destinies.
-
-
Deserving of better audio
- By Rachael on 02-19-18
By: Rob Schmitz
-
The Secretary
- A Journey with Hillary Clinton from Beirut to the Heart of American Power
- By: Kim Ghattas
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In November 2008, Hillary Clinton agreed to work for her former rival. As President Barack Obama's secretary of state, she set out to repair America's image around the world - and her own. For the following four years, BBC foreign correspondent Kim Ghattas had unparalleled access to Clinton and her entourage, and she weaves a fast-paced, gripping account of life on the road with Clinton in The Secretary.
-
-
Never got to the heart...
- By Mel on 04-17-13
By: Kim Ghattas
-
The Not-Quite States of America
- Dispatches from the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA
- By: Doug Mack
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone knows that the United States of America is made up of 50 states and, uh...some other stuff. The territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the US Virgin Islands are often neglected, but they are filled with American flags and national parks and US post offices and some four million people, many of whom are as proudly red-white-and-blue as any Daughter of the American Revolution.
-
-
Worthwhile Learning
- By Bessie Mae on 05-02-23
By: Doug Mack
-
China Road
- A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power
- By: Rob Gifford
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
National Public Radio's Beijing correspondent Rob Gifford recounts his travels along Route 312, the Chinese Mother Road, the longest route in the world's most populous nation. Based on his successful NPR radio series, China Road draws on Gifford's 20 years of observing first-hand this rapidly transforming country, as he travels east to west, from Shanghai to China's border with Kazakhstan. As he takes listeners on this journey, he also takes them through China's past and present while he tries to make sense of this complex nation's potential future.
-
-
An Outstanding Book on China
- By Sarda on 08-13-07
By: Rob Gifford
-
The People's Republic of Amnesia
- Tiananmen Revisited
- By: Louisa Lim
- Narrated by: Louisa Lim
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The People's Republic of Amnesia, NPR correspondent Louisa Lim charts how the events of June 4 changed China, and how China changed the events of June 4 by rewriting its own history. Lim reveals new details about those fateful days, including how one of the country's most senior politicians lost a family member to an army bullet, as well as the inside story of the young soldiers sent to clear Tiananmen Square.
-
-
great book and recording
- By Robert Peters on 06-14-16
By: Louisa Lim
-
Chinese Rules
- Mao's Dog, Deng's Cat, and Five Timeless Lessons from the Front Lines in China
- By: Tim Clissold
- Narrated by: Stephen Critchlow
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Exploring key episodes in that nation's long political, military, and cultural history, Clissold outlines five Chinese Rules, which anyone can deploy in on-the-ground situations with modern Chinese counterparts. These Chinese rules will enable foreigners not only to cooperate with China but also to compete with it on its own terms.
-
-
Two books in one, one excellent one boring
- By Ed Sander on 09-08-17
By: Tim Clissold
-
Madame President
- The Extraordinary Journey of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
- By: Helene Cooper
- Narrated by: Marlene Cooper Vasilic
- Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the harrowing but triumphant story of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, leader of the Liberian women's movement, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and the first democratically elected female president in African history.
-
-
Enlightening
- By Jean on 04-28-17
By: Helene Cooper
-
The Last Palace
- Europe's Turbulent Century in Five Lives and One Legendary House
- By: Norman Eisen
- Narrated by: Jeff Goldblum
- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Norman Eisen moved into the US ambassador’s residence in Prague, returning to the land his mother had fled after the Holocaust, he was startled to discover swastikas hidden beneath the furniture in his new home. These symbols of Nazi Germany were remnants of the residence’s forgotten history, and evidence that we never live far from the past. From that discovery unspooled the twisting, captivating tale of four of the remarkable people who had called this palace home. Their story is Europe’s....
-
-
Great book despite goldblum’s narration
- By Fernando Ferrante on 01-19-19
By: Norman Eisen
What listeners say about This Is Cuba
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MIKE
- 03-12-21
great overview on Cuba very interesting
I've read quite a bit on Cuba and watched quite a few documentaries this fit right in with those and was very informative seemed very accurate and was enjoyable
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- john svikhart
- 10-07-24
Great historical story
Easy to follow and very entertaining i feel it is a great way to get to know about cuba
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Andy Moriarty
- 12-13-18
David Ariosto has done a great job with this.
I have spent a lot of time in Cuba myself and wondered why no one has done a book like this before. The answer (I suspect) is that journalists affiliated with a network or newspaper, can not write about what they see and experience in Cuba without risking their accreditation and losing accreditation for their entire network. So Mr. Ariosto wrote this AFTER leaving Cuba and after leaving his job with CNN, therefore not putting his own job or CNN's accreditation at risk. Being in Cuba often feels like being in another dimension, an alternate universe, and Mr. Ariosto has nailed this. I hope to see more work from Mr. Ariosto on other conflict situations in the future. He also did a really good job on the reading. So this book has my recommendation. For reference I am the author of the graphic novel Ticket to Havana which is available on Amazon and on www.comixology.com
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Giorgio Bonmassar
- 01-17-19
Very well written book by a journalist.
I enjoyed the journalistic style, the wealth of information and how the author grasped the spirit of the cuban people. I feel that it is a must read before traveling to Cuba.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Fly Girl
- 09-07-20
Very well done and personal
I enjoyed the format of this book. It being in the first person made it seem like you were in a conversation with the author and not just being TOLD something. I especially enjoyed his “compare and contrast” with Venezuela.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Adding
- 03-11-23
A complete review of the real Cuba
Having grown in and spent many of school years among Cubans of varying classes and generations, I have heard many stories about the "real" Cuba. This book seems to mend the many radically different stories into the one single story with many aspects and experiences
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- N A Jones
- 02-05-19
great insight into Cuban life
This was a great review of the life in Cuba, its people, the history, and an americans experience living there.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lamme
- 05-13-21
A ring side seat perspective. Fascinating. Read like a novel.
Through his residence as a Cuba based journalist, Ariosto shares both a travelers “first experience” perspective of this culturally rich island that’s been locked into a decaying time capsule while still providing clear insight into the complex history of Fidel’s Cuba. Only people who know Cuba or read this book, can fully appreciate its title. Ariosto provides the often lacking context to what led to the Castro led revolution as well as their seemingly bipolar policies running it - many worth highly lauding and others condemnable ... much like that of the US of A’s!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Maria Herrera
- 02-08-19
A slice of an interesting life
Not just a review of the regular tired old caricatures but a thoroughly engaging painting of the complex reality that Cuba is. Things are never as they appear in so many things of life and when living as a journalist in Cuba that adage is additionally fueled. As the daughter of a Cuban man I thought this was careful and fair assessment of the reality that exists on the island. Having spent two weeks in Havana and it’s outskirts in early 2014 I was curious how the author viewed the developments of the last few years and here again the book is insightful and valuable. Well done!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- AmazonCustomer
- 12-15-18
Memoir and history
I've always been fascinated with Cuba. I hope someday to travel there. In the meantime, I read up what I can about the island and its people.
This is both a memoir of the author's stay in Cuba in 2009-2010 as well as the contemporary history of Cuba. David Ariosto interviews the Cuban commoner and tells us their personal story of the shop vendor, the maid, the taxi driver, the dissident in Miami. Ariosto knows the island well and interjects the listener with history and how it relates to Cubans today.
My only complaint is that he speaks rather fast at times, but you do get used to the pace.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!