Try free for 30 days
-
Why We're Polarized
- Narrated by: Ezra Klein
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $26.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also picked
-
Superforecasting
- The Art and Science of Prediction
- By: Philip Tetlock, Dan Gardner
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone would benefit from seeing further into the future, whether buying stocks, crafting policy, launching a new product, or simply planning the week's meals. Unfortunately, people tend to be terrible forecasters. As Wharton professor Philip Tetlock showed in a landmark 2005 study, even experts' predictions are only slightly better than chance. However, an important and underreported conclusion of that study was that some experts do have real foresight.
-
-
Of little value
- By Prophetmines on 22-02-2018
-
A Thousand Brains
- A New Theory of Intelligence
- By: Jeff Hawkins, Richard Dawkins - foreword
- Narrated by: Jamie Renell, Richard Dawkins
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For all of neuroscience's advances, we've made little progress on its biggest question: How do simple cells in the brain create intelligence? Jeff Hawkins and his team discovered that the brain uses map-like structures to build a model of the world - not just one model, but hundreds of thousands of models of everything we know. This discovery allows Hawkins to answer important questions about how we perceive the world, why we have a sense of self, and the origin of high-level thought.
-
-
Immensely exciting
- By Kaleb Peters on 14-03-2021
-
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
- By: Thomas Piketty, Arthur Goldhammer - translator
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 24 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories.
-
-
Required reading
- By Brett on 07-05-2017
-
Capital and Ideology
- By: Thomas Piketty, Arthur Goldhammer - translator
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 48 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Piketty’s best-selling Capital in the Twenty-First Century galvanized global debate about inequality. In this audacious follow-up, Piketty challenges us to revolutionize how we think about politics, ideology, and history. He exposes the ideas that have sustained inequality for the past millennium, reveals why the shallow politics of right and left are failing us today, and outlines the structure of a fairer economic system.
-
-
Worth the read!
- By Anonymous User on 30-05-2020
-
Why Nations Fail
- The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
- By: Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brilliant and engagingly written, Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine?
-
-
Single minded attempt to prove a point.
- By steve on 27-08-2018
-
Guns, Germs and Steel
- The Fate of Human Societies
- By: Jared Diamond
- Narrated by: Doug Ordunio
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Having done field work in New Guinea for more than 30 years, Jared Diamond presents the geographical and ecological factors that have shaped the modern world. From the viewpoint of an evolutionary biologist, he highlights the broadest movements both literal and conceptual on every continent since the Ice Age, and examines societal advances such as writing, religion, government, and technology.
-
-
good research, too many words
- By PatienceAllergy on 23-03-2017
-
Superforecasting
- The Art and Science of Prediction
- By: Philip Tetlock, Dan Gardner
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone would benefit from seeing further into the future, whether buying stocks, crafting policy, launching a new product, or simply planning the week's meals. Unfortunately, people tend to be terrible forecasters. As Wharton professor Philip Tetlock showed in a landmark 2005 study, even experts' predictions are only slightly better than chance. However, an important and underreported conclusion of that study was that some experts do have real foresight.
-
-
Of little value
- By Prophetmines on 22-02-2018
-
A Thousand Brains
- A New Theory of Intelligence
- By: Jeff Hawkins, Richard Dawkins - foreword
- Narrated by: Jamie Renell, Richard Dawkins
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For all of neuroscience's advances, we've made little progress on its biggest question: How do simple cells in the brain create intelligence? Jeff Hawkins and his team discovered that the brain uses map-like structures to build a model of the world - not just one model, but hundreds of thousands of models of everything we know. This discovery allows Hawkins to answer important questions about how we perceive the world, why we have a sense of self, and the origin of high-level thought.
-
-
Immensely exciting
- By Kaleb Peters on 14-03-2021
-
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
- By: Thomas Piketty, Arthur Goldhammer - translator
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 24 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories.
-
-
Required reading
- By Brett on 07-05-2017
-
Capital and Ideology
- By: Thomas Piketty, Arthur Goldhammer - translator
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 48 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Piketty’s best-selling Capital in the Twenty-First Century galvanized global debate about inequality. In this audacious follow-up, Piketty challenges us to revolutionize how we think about politics, ideology, and history. He exposes the ideas that have sustained inequality for the past millennium, reveals why the shallow politics of right and left are failing us today, and outlines the structure of a fairer economic system.
-
-
Worth the read!
- By Anonymous User on 30-05-2020
-
Why Nations Fail
- The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
- By: Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brilliant and engagingly written, Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine?
-
-
Single minded attempt to prove a point.
- By steve on 27-08-2018
-
Guns, Germs and Steel
- The Fate of Human Societies
- By: Jared Diamond
- Narrated by: Doug Ordunio
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Having done field work in New Guinea for more than 30 years, Jared Diamond presents the geographical and ecological factors that have shaped the modern world. From the viewpoint of an evolutionary biologist, he highlights the broadest movements both literal and conceptual on every continent since the Ice Age, and examines societal advances such as writing, religion, government, and technology.
-
-
good research, too many words
- By PatienceAllergy on 23-03-2017
-
Bibi
- My Story
- By: Benjamin Netanyahu
- Narrated by: David Marantz, Benjamin Netanyahu
- Length: 25 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s sweeping, moving autobiography, one of the most formidable and insightful leaders of our time tells the story of his family, his path to leadership, and his unceasing commitment to defending Israel and securing its future. Through a host of vivid anecdotes, he narrates his own evolution from soldier to statesman, while providing a unique perspective on leadership, the fraught geopolitics of the Middle East, and his successful efforts to liberate Israel’s economy, which helped turn it into a global powerhouse of technological innovation.
-
-
A Lebanese man, now inspired by this great leader Bibi!
- By Anonymous User on 07-04-2023
-
Power Density
- A Key to Understanding Energy Sources and Uses
- By: Vaclav Smil
- Narrated by: Daniel Henning
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this book, Vaclav Smil argues that power density is a key determinant of the nature and dynamics of energy systems. Any understanding of complex energy systems must rely on quantitative measures of many fundamental variables. Power density—the rate of energy flux per unit of area—is an important but largely overlooked measure. Smil provides the first systematic, quantitative appraisal of power density, offering detailed reviews of the power densities of renewable energy flows, fossil fuels, thermal electricity generation, and all common energy uses.
-
-
A comprehensive review of evolving energy developments
- By Neil Brightwell on 24-07-2022
-
Bob Hawke
- Demons and Destiny
- By: Troy Bramston
- Narrated by: Troy Bramston
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This unprecedented biography of Hawke includes an exclusive series of interviews with him - the last that he gave - as well as unfiltered access to his extensive trove of personal papers. It features new interviews with more than 100 people who knew and worked with Hawke, including his family and friends, political and union colleagues, and rivals; advisers and public servants, and journalists, along with international contemporaries of Hawke such as George H. W. Bush, John Major, Brian Mulroney, James Baker and George Shultz.
-
-
A great story warts and all
- By Anonymous User on 18-04-2022
-
The Big Teal
- By: Simon Holmes à Court
- Narrated by: Simon Holmes à Court
- Length: 2 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
‘We will not achieve net zero in the cafes, dinner parties and wine bars of our inner cities.’ Little infuriated the forgotten people of the twenty-first century—women and younger voters, especially—more than Scott Morrison’s deluge of disparagement on the issues that mattered to them. The May 2022 election marked the great re-engagement of those ignored and patronised for too long on climate, integrity and gender equity.
-
-
A pivotal part of recent political history
- By Anonymous User on 18-01-2024
-
Red Zone
- China's Challenge and Australia's Future
- By: Peter Hartcher
- Narrated by: Peter Hartcher
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this incisive audiobook, Peter Hartcher reveals how decades of economic dependence left Australia open to the strategic ambitions of the most successful authoritarian regime in modern history. He shows how ideology, paranoia and Xi Jinping’s personal story have reshaped China and shines new light on Beijing’s overt and covert campaign for influence - over trade and defence, media and politics.
-
-
Very entertaining
- By alvin on 06-06-2023
-
The Power of Crisis
- How Three Threats – and Our Response – Will Change the World
- By: Ian Bremmer
- Narrated by: Willis Sparks
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this revelatory, unnerving, and ultimately hopeful book, Bremmer details how domestic and international conflicts leave us unprepared for a trio of looming crises—global health emergencies, transformative climate change, and the AI revolution. Today, Americans cannot reach consensus on any significant political issue, and US and Chinese leaders behave as if they’re locked in a new Cold War. We are squandering opportunities to meet the challenges that will soon confront us all.
-
-
An eye opening and important read
- By Amazon Customer on 03-09-2022
Publisher's Summary
A Barack Obama and a Bill Gates Summer Reading Pick 2022
A New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestseller
America's political system isn't broken. The truth is scarier: it's working exactly as designed.
In Why We're Polarized, Ezra Klein reveals the structural and psychological forces behind America's deep political divisions, revealing how a system filled with rational, functional parts can combine into a dysfunctional whole. Neither a polemic nor a lament, this book offers a clear framework for understanding everything from Trump's rise to the Democratic Party's leftward shift to the politicisation of everyday culture.
Klein shows how and why American politics polarised in the twentieth century, what that polarisation did to Americans' views of the world and one another, and how feedback loops between polarised political identities and polarised political institutions drive the system toward crisis. This revelatory book will change how you look at politics, and perhaps at yourself.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Critic Reviews
"This book helped me understand modern politics better." (Bill Gates, Summer Reading Pick 2022)
"Superbly researched and written." (Francis Fukuyama, The Washington Post)
"It's been a long time since I learned so much from one book." (Rutger Bregman author of Utopia for Realists)
More from the same
Author
What listeners say about Why We're Polarized
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rebecca Wilson
- 16-11-2020
Fascinating and Insightful
I am from Australia and was intrigued and shocked in 2016 when Trump won the Presidential election. With my limited understanding of the American political system I couldn’t fathom how someone with Trumps repugnant character, morals and ideologies could make it to this position of power. This book has changed that. Ezra Klein effortlessly presents his incredible intelligence, experience and insights into this fascinating observation of the current political climate in the US. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Love it
- 26-04-2020
The sincerity I’ve come to expect from Klein
After years of listening to Ezra on the Ezra Klein show on the Vox podcast I built a familiarity with his way of thinking.
It was refreshing to hear the fruits of his labor and analysis on such a systemic and often undocumented explanation for the times we live in. He presents his research and weedsy review of social and political polarisation with humour and sincerity.
His underlying points were centred around the unique American experiment and history of the last 70-80 years and offers critiques of his own industry and of himself in a careful and considered way.
He focussed on the differences between the two major parties, and the convergence of the 20th century and especially the Clinton era that saw politics become more zero sum than an egalitarian means for governing.
He outlines how sorting played a significant role in today’s polarized world. And also how identities are activated for political opportunism, how race and status mobilises the right while the left competing with a broader identity class struggles to be all things to more people.
He gave examples of group think that were quite telling showing examples how a group could disadvantage themselves just so as they appear to disadvantage out groups or others. Our tribal minds at work.
The expression of negative politics is stronger in mobilising groups than giving people something to vote for as fear of the other catalyses.
The cast of the other is a strong threat multiplier.
Overall a very good read. Enjoyed Ezra’s narration and would definitely recommend it to anyone concerned about the state of politics around the world and not just America.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Elliott
- 06-09-2020
Insightful
Incredibly insightful book which provides an understanding of the complex structures such as the internet, media, race, demographic changes, political donations, and many other structures that interact with human psychology to cause the polarised nature of modern politics.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cedric Hodges
- 31-10-2020
A bit preachy but pretty balanced and informative
Could get a bit preachy at times, but this was quite informative and did a reasonable job of holding the line.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!