Economics Politics & Current Affairs

21 LESSONS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

by Yuval Noah Harari

read by Derek Perkins

running time 11hrs 30mins

Yuval Noah Harari takes us on a thrilling journey through today’s most urgent issues. How can we protect ourselves from nuclear war, ecological cataclysms and technological disruptions? What can we do about the epidemic of fake news or the threat of terrorism? What should we teach our children? Are we still capable of understanding the world we have created?

ABOLITION. FEMINISM. NOW

by Miscellaneous

read by Gina Dent

running time 5hrs

This extraordinary book makes the most compelling case I've ever seen for the indivisibility of feminism and abolition, for the inseparability of gendered and state violence, domestic policing and militarism, the street, the home, and the world. Combining decades of analytical brilliance and organizational experience, the authors offer a genealogy of the movements that brought us here, lessons learned, battles won and lost, and the ongoing collective struggle to build a thoroughly revolutionary vision and practice.

BACK FROM THE BRINK: 1,000 DAYS AT NUMBER 11

by Alistair Darling

read by Bob Wildgust

running time 15hrs 42mins

This is the story of 1000 days of crisis. As Chancellor, Alistair Darling sanctioned the £37 billion bailouts of RBS and HBoS just minutes before their cash machines would have ceased to function. Here, Darling places the reader in the rooms where the destinies of millions weighed heavily on his shoulders.

CAN'T WE JUST PRINT MORE MONEY?

by Jack Meaning & Rupal Patel

read by Jack Meaning

running time 8hrs

Whether you're buying lunch, looking for a job, or applying for a mortgage, the thing we call 'the economy' is going to set the terms. A pity, then, that many of us have no idea how the economy actually works. That's where this book comes in. The Bank of England is Britain's most important financial institution, responsible for printing money, regulating banks and keeping the economy running smoothly. Now, the Bank's team take you inside their hallowed halls to explain what economics can - and can't - teach us about the world. Along the way, they offer intriguing examples of econ in action: in financial crises and Freddo prices, growth stages and workers' wages. Accessible, authoritative and surprisingly witty, this is a crash course in economics and why it matters.

DANGEROUS TO KNOW: A LIFE

by Chapman Pincher

read by Richard Simpson

running time 17hrs 30mins

As an investigative reporter, he struck terror into those trying to hide the murky secrets of state. His first splash, a top-secret account of the development of the atomic bomb, sparked a furious transatlantic row. Colourful, indiscreet and compelling, this life of a true journalistic colossus also reveals the secret history of the century he bestrode.

EDIBLE ECONOMICS: A HUNGRY ECONOMIST EXPLAINS THE WORLD

by Ha-Joon Chang

read by Homer Todiwala

running time 6hrs

In Edible Economics, Chang makes challenging economic ideas more palatable by plating them alongside stories about food from around the world. Structuring the book as a series of menus, Chang uses histories behind familiar food items - where they come from, how they are cooked and consumed, what they mean to different cultures - to explore economic theory. For Chang, chocolate is a life-long addiction, but more exciting are the insights it offers into post-industrial knowledge economies; and while okra makes Southern gumbo heart-meltingly smooth, it also speaks of capitalism's entangled relationship with freedom and unfreedom. Explaining everything from the hidden cost of care work to the misleading language of the free market as he cooks dishes like anchovy and egg toast, Gambas al Ajillo and Korean dotori mook, Ha-Joon Chang serves up an easy-to-digest feast of bold ideas.

FALL OF THE SHAH

by Steve Waters

read by Dana Haqjoo

running time 4hrs

Something is coming. What is on the horizon for the people of Iran? Can America's friendship with Iran survive? From Jimmy Carter's optimistic visit to Tehran in December 1977 to the trial of the state's enemies in 1979, this nine-part drama tells the story of the Iranian Revolution, where protestors took to the streets in support of the exiled religious leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, and the Shah requested help from an America already torn apart by its own conflicts. In a time of hope, of tyranny, of change, of oppression, in a tale of power, betrayal and fear, this true story will transport you to the 1970s, when the Iranian Revolution would change the world - forever.

THE GIRL FROM ALEPPO

by Christina Lamb & Nujeen Mustafa

read by Raghad Chaar

running time 6hrs 45mins

Nujeen Mustafa has cerebral palsy and cannot walk. This did not stop her braving inconceivable odds to travel in her wheelchair from Syria in search of a new life. Sharing her full story, Nujeen recounts the details of her childhood and disability, as well as the specifics of her harrowing journey across the Mediterranean to Greece and finally to Germany to seek an education and the medical treatment she needs.

THE HABIT OF EXCELLENCE: WHY BRITISH ARMY LEADERSHIP WORKS

by Lt Col Langley Sharp

read by Lt Col Langley Sharp

running time 9hrs

The Habit of Excellence, Lieutenant Colonel Langley Sharp MBE - head of the Centre for Army Leadership, part of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst - distils over three centuries of the Army's experience in the art, science and practice of leadership. Exploring questions that are fundamental to leadership in any area of life - how to build trust and cohesion, achieve a balance between control and delegation, and deliver results in the face of adversity - the book draws on Lt Col Sharp's own experience and the latest research in military history, business, sociology, psychology and behavioural science. Going far beyond the latest leadership fads, The Habit of Excellence is for any leader committed to maximising the effectiveness of their teams and unlocking the potential of their people - and themselves.

I AM MALALA

by Malala Yousafzai

read by Archi Panjabi

running time 10hrs

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fighting for her right to an education., she almost paid the ultimate price. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

JERKS AT WORK: TOXIC COWORKERS AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT THEM

by Tessa West

read by Kirsten Potter

running time 6hrs 30mins

Have you ever watched a colleague charm the pants off management while showing a competitive, Machiavellian side to the lower ranks? They don't hesitate to throw peers under the bus, but their boss is oblivious to their bad behaviour. What about a constantly interrupting colleague? Or an over-bearing manager? While these jerks stress us out in small ways throughout the day, they aren't technically breaking any rules, so we're expected just to put up with them. Until now. Tessa West draws on a decade of original research to profile classic workplace archetypes giving advice to anyone who's ever hidden in the bathroom to cry at work. She digs deep into the inner workings of each bad apple, exploring their motivations and insecurities, and offers clever strategies for stopping each type of jerk in their tracks.

KILLER IN THE KREMLIN

by John Sweeney

read by John Sweeney

running time 9hrs 30mins

In a disturbing expose of Putin's sinister ambition, Sweeney draws on thirty years of his own reporting - from the Moscow apartment bombings to the atrocities committed by the Russian Army in Chechnya, to the annexation of Crimea and a confrontation with Putin over the shooting down of flight MH17 - to understand the true extent of Putin's long war. Drawing on eyewitness accounts and compelling testimony from those who have suffered at Putin's hand, we see the heroism of the Russian opposition, the bravery of the Ukrainian resistance, and the brutality with which the Kremlin responds to such acts of defiance, assassinating or locking away its critics, and stopping at nothing to achieve its imperialist aims.

THE LAZARUS HEIST

by Geoff White

read by Geoff White

running time 8hrs 30mins

Meet the Lazarus Group, a shadowy cabal of hackers accused of working on behalf of the North Korean state. It's claimed that they form one of the most dangerous criminal enterprises on the planet, having stolen more than $1bn in an international crime spree. Their targets allegedly include central banks, Hollywood film studios and even the British National Health Service. North Korea denies the allegations, saying the accusations are American attempts to tarnish its image. In this staggering, global investigation, award-winning journalist Geoff White examines how the hackers have harnessed cutting-edge technology to launch a decade-long campaign of brazen and merciless raids on its richer, more powerful adversaries. It's not just money they're after. The Lazarus Group's tactics have been used to threaten democracies, gag North Korea's critics and destabilize global peace

MADE IN BRITAIN

by Evan Davis

read by Evan Davis

running time 7hrs 45mins

This book is about the things that Britain produces in order to pay its way in the world. From manufacturing to technology, design and the services industries, Made in Britain provides a cutting edge analysis - via entertaining stories - about what we make and why it matters.

THE NEW CENTURY

by Eric Hobsbawm

read by Michael St. John

running time 6hrs 15mins

Looking back over the last decade of the twentieth century, the author tries to understand today's world. He questions current international relations and the impact of popular global culture on all aspects of life.

ON TYRANNY AND ON UKRAINE

by Timothy Snyder

read by Timothy Snyder

running time 10hrs

In this exclusive audiobook edition, which includes eight hours of new content, Timothy Snyder combines the original On Tyranny (2017) - twenty lessons on how history can instruct our response to the rise of tyranny around the world today - with twenty new lessons that answer the questions everyone is asking about Russia's war on Ukraine. With forays into history, he clarifies the causes of the Russian invasion and the meaning of Ukrainian resistance, and explains the war's connections to threats to democracy around the world. Linking past and present, and speaking only from notes, Snyder delivers an important call to arms and roadmap for resistance, providing invaluable ideas for how we can preserve our freedoms in the uncertain years to come. This is the long view we all need, given to us right now by a leading expert.

PADDY'S LAMENT: IRELAND 1846 - 1847 PRELUDE TO HATRED

by Thomas Gallagher

read by Paul Connell

running time 14hrs

Ireland in the mid-1800s was primarily a population of peasants, forced to live on a single, moderately nutritious crop: potatoes. Suddenly, in 1846, an unknown and uncontrollable disease turned the potato crop to inedible slime, and all Ireland was threatened.

THE QUIET BEFORE

by Gal Beckerman

read by Feodor Chin

running time 12hrs

The Quiet Before is a grand panorama, stretching from the 17th-century correspondence that jump-started the scientific revolution to the groundswell of the Chartists, the liberation movement on the Gold Coast and the underground network of samizdat publications in Soviet Russia - even the encrypted apps used by epidemiologists fighting the pandemic in the shadow of an inept administration. Beckerman shows that defining social movements - from decolonisation to feminism - thrive when they are given the time and space to gestate.

THE RACIAL CODE: TALES OF RESISTANCE AND SURVIVAL

by Nicola Rollock

read by Sara Powell

running time 7hrs

The Racial Code is an unprecedented examination of the hidden rules of race and racism that govern our lives and how they maintain the status quo. Interweaving narrative with research and theory, acclaimed expert Nicola Rollock uniquely lays bare the pain and cost of navigating everyday racism -- and compels us to reconsider how to truly achieve racial justice.

SHE'S IN CTRL: HOW WOMEN CAN TAKE BACK TECH

by Anne-Marie Imafidon

read by Anne-Marie Imafidon

running time

Our eyes are now open to the dangerous fact that our technology is built by a series of big decisions made by a small number of people, mainly men. It means our technology is derived from the gender, nationality and beliefs of a section of society whose lived experience may not chime with your own. The tech world might feel beyond reach, particularly if you're a woman. But in She's In CTRL Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, a dynamic advocate for women in STEM, insists that technology is not an unchangeable and unquestionable force. It is not the preserve of the elite. It is in our homes and in our hands. Rather than feeling powerless to make changes to the way tech works and fails, she argues that it's time to get into the room where the decisions are made. Or, better yet, create our own tech rooms.She's In CTRL is an inspirational narrative about how women must play a part in ensuring a future that's evenly distributed.

THINKING IN COLOUR

by Gary Younge

read by Miscellaneous

running time 2hrs 30mins

Author, broadcaster and sociology professor Gary Younge has won several awards for his books and journalism covering topics such as the civil rights movement, inequality and immigration. In this documentary collection, the former Guardian US correspondent turns his attention to current American political and social issues, including populist conservatism, and African American identity.

UNSCRIPTED

by Rachel Abrams & James B. Stewart

read by Robert Petkoff

running time 12hrs 23mins

'Addicted to Succession? Well here's the real thing.' Hollywood Reporter The shocking inside story of how dysfunction misconduct and scandal almost brought down one of Hollywood's greatest companies. Unscripted is the inside story of the struggle to control one of the world's great entertainment empires. It is the story of the last great Hollywood mogul Sumner Redstone: the ninety-something founder of Paramount Global who well into his dotage and facing a scandalous lawsuit proves increasingly unable to run the sprawling company he has built. It is the story of his daughter Shari Redstone: Sumner's heir apparent who despite being groomed for power for six decades struggles to assert her authority over the company and her family's legacy. And it is the story of her challenger Leslie Moonves: the well-liked CEO of CBS who plots a coup to take control of the business - until news leaks that he is facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct (allegations he has spent years trying to hush up). The result is damning portrait of how money and power works in Hollywood now. It illuminates an industry struggling to adapt to the revolution brought by streaming #MeToo and Black Lives Matter. And it reveals the lengths people will go to in pursuit of power - and the carnage that ensues when they do.

THE VICAR OF BAGHDAD

by Andrew White

read by Bob Rollett

running time 5hrs 25mins

This is a fascinating insight into life in the Middle East through the eyes of a mediator. It is written by a man struggling against illness and, at the same time, trying to maintain the trust of opposing factions. The situation was volatile and danger was always close by.

WEAPONS OF MATH DESTRUCTION

by Cathy O'Neil

read by Cathy O'Neil

running time 6hrs 30mins

We live in the age of the algorithm. Increasingly, the decisions that affect our lives—where we go to school, whether we get a loan, how much we pay for insurance—are being made not by humans, but by mathematical models. In theory, this should lead to greater fairness: everyone is judged according to the same rules and bias is eliminated. And yet, as Cathy O'Neil reveals in this urgent and necessary book, the opposite is true. The models being used today are opaque, unregulated and incontestable, even when they're wrong. Most troubling, they reinforce discrimination. O'Neil calls on modellers to take more responsibility for their algorithms and on policy makers to regulate their use. But in the end, it's up to us to become more savvy about the models that govern our lives. This important book empowers us to ask the tough questions, uncover the truth and demand change.