Bookseller Created
Politics and Prose Black History Month Picks
Send as gift
Add to Wish List
Almost ready!
In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.
Log in Create account
Limited-time offer
Get two free audiobooks!
Now’s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, we’ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.
Sign up todayCalling In
Narrator
Loretta J Ross
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn more
Length
8 hours 39 minutes
Language
English
From a pioneering Black feminist and MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, an urgent and exhilarating memoir-manifesto-handbook about how to rein in the excesses of cancel culture so we can truly communicate and solve problems together.
In 1979, Loretta Ross was a single mother who’d had to drop out of Howard University. She was working at Washington, DC’s Rape Crisis Center when she got a letter from a man in prison saying he wanted to learn how to not be a rapist anymore. At first, she was furious. As a survivor of sexual violence, she wanted to write back pouring out her rage. But instead, she made a different choice, a choice to reject the response her trauma was pushing her towards, a choice that set her on the path towards developing a philosophy that would come to guide her whole career: rather than calling people out, try to call even your unlikeliest allies in. Hold them accountable—but do so with love.
Calling In is at once a handbook, a manifesto, and a memoir—because the power of Loretta Ross’s message comes from who she is and what she’s lived through. She’s a Black woman who’s deprogrammed white supremacists, a survivor who’s taught convicted rapists the principles of feminism. With stories from her five remarkable decades in activism, she vividly illustrates why calling people in—inviting them into conversation instead of conflict by focusing on your shared values over a desire for punishment—is the more strategic choice if you want to make real change. And she shows you how to do so, whether in the workplace, on a college campus, or in your living room.
Courageous, awe-inspiring, and blisteringly authentic, Calling In is a practical new solution from one of our country’s most extraordinary change-makers—one anyone can learn to use to transform frustrating and divisive conflicts that stand in the way of real connection with the people in your life.
Loretta J. Ross is an activist, professor, and public intellectual. In her five decades in the human rights movement, she’s deprogramed white supremacists, taught convicted rapists the principles of feminism, and organized the second-largest march on Washington (surpassed only by the 2017 Women’s March). A cofounder of the National Center for Human Rights Education and the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, her many accolades and honors include a 2022 MacArthur Fellowship and a 2024 induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Today, Ross is an associate professor at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and a partner with 14th Strategies Consultants, with which she runs “Calling In” training sessions at organizations around the country.
Loretta J. Ross is an activist, professor, and public intellectual. In her five decades in the human rights movement, she’s deprogramed white supremacists, taught convicted rapists the principles of feminism, and organized the second-largest march on Washington (surpassed only by the 2017 Women’s March). A cofounder of the National Center for Human Rights Education and the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, her many accolades and honors include a 2022 MacArthur Fellowship and a 2024 induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Today, Ross is an associate professor at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and a partner with 14th Strategies Consultants, with which she runs “Calling In” training sessions at organizations around the country.
Featured in this playlist...
Audiobook details
Author:
Loretta J Ross
Narrator:
Loretta J Ross
ISBN:
9781797186696
Length:
8 hours 39 minutes
Language:
English
Publisher:
Simon & Schuster Audio
Publication date:
February 4, 2025
Edition:
Unabridged
Libro.fm rank:
#10,829 Overall
Genre rank:
#497 in Politics & Economy
Reviews
“Calling in is far more crucial to human survival than calling out, and Loretta J. Ross has written a personal and political book that proves it! There is no one whose experience I would trust more.”—Gloria Steinem “A master class in constructive confrontation—and Loretta J. Ross is the ideal teacher, with profound insights about how to get through to others and maintain your own dignity along the way.”
—Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and host of the podcast Re:Thinking “A survival guide for American progressives. If you are on the left and want to make lasting change in our world, please read this book.”
—Amanda Ripley, New York Times bestselling author of High Conflict “What a refreshing and necessary book. Loretta J. Ross has offered us an escape hatch here—with wisdom, experience, and integrity. We would all do well to follow her lead.”
—Abigail Disney, activist and philanthropist “A highly recommended, necessary read for anyone who finds themself grating against those with different political beliefs. Ross’s book has plenty of potential for discussions and healing relations between friends and family and maybe even strangers.”
—Library Journal "A rich and compelling narrative. Courageous, practical and ultimately, very hopeful."
—BookPage (Starred Review) "Loretta J. Ross delivers her audiobook in an authentic-sounding voice. A longtime activist, Ross provides a detailed discussion on the practice of “calling in” people who need education and support on difficult issues. This is different from “calling out” someone, either in person or on social media, an approach Ross asserts may feel good in the moment but has limited positive impact. Ross is open about her own life experiences and education, which provided insights on how to connect with people where they are. Her work includes group facilitation for incarcerated men and an extended interaction with a former white supremacist. Both are examples of how “calling in” is demanding but meaningful. Ross’s voice reflects the compassion and intellect necessary for this work.' "With humor and grace, Ross... offers advice on how to find harmony among those with diametrically opposing viewpoints."
—Booklist Expand reviews
Start gifting
Libro.fm for Business
Start a membership, get two free audiobooks