Showing results by narrator "Richard Stephens" in All Categories

Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. This anthology includes brand-new stories by: Tommy Moore, Jessica Breheny, Naomi Hirahara, Calvin McMillin, Liza Monroy, Elizabeth McKenzie, Jill Wolfson, Ariel Gore, Jon Bailiff, Maceo Montoya, Micah Perks, Seana Graham, Vinnie Hansen, Peggy Townsend, Margaret Elysia Garcia, Lou Mathews, Lee Quarnstrom, Dillon Kaiser, Beth Lisick, and Wallace Baine.

Let's face it. About 75 percent of the world is covered in water - and of that water nearly 97 percent of it can be found in the sea. Maritimers will tell you that there is a story for every wave that has ever washed upon the shoreline. Here are seven of them.

It's the year 2027. Extraterrestrials have finally responded to broadcast signals transmitted from Earth. President Elizabeth Schaefer creates a secret alliance with Bretta, a humanistic young female, who is seeking legal asylum for herself and over 200 refugees from another world. Together they must face an ominous galactic danger testing their strategies, strengths, and desires.

The word kundalini refers to an energy that everyone has within them, but that usually lies dormant. What this means is that the majority of people don't feel this energy and, much of the time, don't even know it exists. However, in a few rare cases, this energy can come to life, getting activated and aroused. Depending on the person and their knowledge, readiness, and viewpoint, this can be a joyous occasion or something that disturbs and frightens them a bit.

Raised in a secluded cottage, Keith has only ever known the outside world through the travels of his father. Yet, that all changes when he's forced from the comforts of his family home into a world he only envisioned. Now stranded in a thief's paradise, he begins to entwine the lives of others on a very personal and timely quest to discover the truth behind his secretive upbringing.

The testimony that the author has gleaned for this audiobook from the 30-year record of the House Un-American Activities Committee focuses on HUAC's treatment of artists, intellectuals, and performers. This highly readable and absorbing collection of significant excerpts from the hearings shows with painful clarity how HUAC grew from a panel that investigated possible subversive activities in a "dignified" manner to a huge, unrelenting accusatory finger from which almost no one was safe.

Bird flu has reached the shores of the UK, and MRSA cases have spiralled in our hospitals. Is a human bird flu pandemic a real possibility? What about MRSA - can it be controlled? Should the UK be doing more to prevent infectious diseases, or does it call for a global solution?

Pandemics takes a look under the covers and finds out if a major outbreak of an infectious disease is a real cause for concern.

What is global warming? Is the world really getting hotter? Is it our fault? What might happen and are we too late to act?

Our best-selling backgrounder, Global Warming, tackles the big questions around climate change. In only 120 minutes, this pithy pocket guide will quickly get you up to speed on the world's biggest issue.

Hear rare recordings from some of the world's most-respected poets reading their own works: Ezra Pound, "Old Men With Beautiful Manners"; W. B. Yeats, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"; Robert Graves, "A Last Poem"'; Edna St. Vincent Millay, "The Harp-Weaver"; Richard Eberhart, "The Groundhog"; Philip Levine, "Blasting from Heaven"; Marianne Moore, "The Mind Is an Enchanting Thing"; Stephen Spender, "What I Expected"; and Vachel Lindsay, "An Interpolation by Mr. Lindsay".

Frequent claims of foiled plots; tighter monitoring of suspects and stronger global terror laws. On the flip side, a new safe haven emerging for terrorists in Pakistan; stories of terror cells springing up throughout North Africa; numerous recruits from Europe's leading universities willing to sign up to the cause. Are Al Qaeda and its affiliates, responsible for the horrific attacks in New York, London and Madrid, finding it hard to be the force they once were, or should we be bracing ourselves for the next outrage?

Drink & Drugs: Culture of Excess? checks in and asks if there is a quick fix. How is Britain handling societal drugs and alcohol usage? And how does this compare with abroad? Are we so different in our indulgence to the seemingly more civilised Europeans?

Rising obesity is causing life expectancy to fall for the first time in centuries, costing the NHS £3. billion a year. So why we are fatter as a nation than we have ever been before? Is obesity a choice or an illness? And why is childhood obesity at epidemic levels? Fat: Eating ourselves to death? Looks at the complex recipe of modern life that leads to obesity and our options for reversing this trend, from individual to national action. Pocket Issue slims down the issue to give you some answers.

Three elderly tailors - a trouser-maker, a coat-maker and a waistcoat-maker - have been commissioned to make a bespoke suit for an up-and-coming politician. They have worked together for decades but have only met very rarely, although increasingly, these days, at their colleagues' funerals. The suit has been designed by Mrs White, a mysterious woman whom they've never met. Mrs White has imposed very strict rules about secrecy, and all off-cuts have to be returned to her.

Checks the balance of the current global credit squeeze and asks some key questions: How do global money markets work? Why did a US housing market crisis come to put our savings at risk? Is the situation similar to previous booms and busts? Have global governments done enough to alleviate the crunch? Can markets regulate themselves better in the future or is it time to keep our savings under the mattress? Pocket Issue looks behind the hype to uncover the facts behind the headlines.

Do you know your Hamas from your Hezbollah? What is the fighting about? Does the conflict encourage Islamic terrorism? Can there be peace in the region?

Middle East Conflict tackles the big questions in a pithy pocket guide. In under 110 minutes, you can sound knowledgeable when others don't.

Oil is running out, fossil fuels pollute - so which way should the UK turn to fuel our future? Is the Uk right to be investing in nuclear power, or should we rely on renewable energy sources? The Energy Crisis tackles the big questions in a pithy pocket guide, helping you to sound knowledgeable when others don't.

Cameras that can see through your clothes at 80 paces; council tax rising to cover increased CCTV needs; suggestions that Internet Service Providers should monitor customer usage in the comfort of their own homes; plus ID cards, fingerprint and eyeball recognition on the horizon. In the 21st century is there anywhere to hide? And if not, should there be? Big Brother: Who is watching you? twitches the curtain and takes a hard look at our increasingly hi-tech, zero privacy society.

What Luck, This Life begins in the aftermath of the space shuttle's break-up, as the people of Piney Woods watch their pastures swarm with searchers and reporters bluster at their doors. A shop owner defends herself against a sexual predator who is pushed to new boldness after he is disinvited to his family reunion. A closeted father facing a divorce that will leave his gifted boy adrift retrieves an astronaut's remains. An engineer who dreams of orbiting Earth joins a search for debris and instead uncovers an old neighbor's buried longing.

What's causing our current high food prices? Is organic food really better for us? Do we care about Fairtrade or food miles? Should we buy locally or from the supermarket?

Eating has been described as the "most political act we do on a daily basis", with our choices affecting our health, landscape, climate, and economy. Food: What Are We Really Eating? lifts the lid on food production and the dizzying array of food choices we face each time we shop.