Social Science audiobooks

Off the Edge

By: Kelly Weill

Narrated by: Xe Sands

Length: 7 hours 13 minutes

Abridged: No

“A deep dive into the world of Flat Earth conspiracy theorists . . . that brilliantly reveals how people fall into illogical beliefs, reject reason, destroy relationships, and connect with a broad range of conspiracy theories in the social media age. Beautiful, probing, and often empathetic . . . An insightful, human look at what fuels... Read more

Across That Bridge

By: John Lewis

Narrated by: Keith David

Length: 5 hours 27 minutes

Abridged: No

From celebrated Congressman John Lewis comes an eyewitness account of history from a key member of the Civil Rights Movement and confidant to Martin Luther King Jr.

In turbulent times Americans look to the Civil Rights Movement as the apotheosis of political expression. As we confront a startling rise in racism and hate speech and remain a... Read more

Trainwreck

By: Sady Doyle

Narrated by: Alex McKenna

Length: 7 hours 34 minutes

Abridged: No

She’s everywhere once you start looking for her: the trainwreck. 
 
She’s Britney Spears shaving her head, Whitney Houston saying, “crack is whack,” and Amy Winehouse, dying in front of millions. But the trainwreck is also as old (and as meaningful) as feminism itself. 

From Mary Wollstonecraft—who, for decades after her death, was more famous for... Read more

Valley So Low

By: Jared Sullivan

Narrated by: Lee Osorio & Jared Sullivan

Length: 12 hours 43 minutes

Abridged: No

A riveting courtroom drama about the victims of one of the largest environmental disasters in U.S. history—and the country lawyer determined to challenge the notion that, in America, justice can be bought

For more than fifty years, a power plant in the small town of Kingston, Tennessee,  burned fourteen thousand tons of coal a day, gradually... Read more

The Men Who Killed the News

By: Eric Beecher

Narrated by: Eric Beecher

Length: 13 hours 26 minutes

Abridged: No

Crikey owner and ex-News Corp and Fairfax editor lifts the lid on the abuse of power by media moguls – from William Randolph Hearst to Elon Musk – and on his own unique experience of working for (and being sued by) the Murdochs.  

What’s gone wrong with our media? The answer: its owners. From William Randolph Hearst to Elon Musk, from the... Read more

History for Tomorrow

By: Roman Krznaric

Narrated by: Roman Krznaric

Length: 7 hours 30 minutes

Abridged: No

Brought to you by Penguin.

What can humankind’s rich history of radical revolts teach us about the power of disobedience to tackle the climate crisis? What inspiration could we take from eighteenth century Japan to create a regenerative economy today? How might understanding the origins of capitalism spark ideas for bringing AI under control?

In... Read more

Pockets

By: Hannah Carlson

Narrated by: Stephanie Cannon

Length: 6 hours 38 minutes

Abridged: No

A thought-provoking microhistory of the humble pocket that uncovers what pockets reveal about us—and why it matters.

It’s a subject that stirs up plenty of passion: Why do men’s clothes have so many pockets and women’s so few? In her captivating book, Hannah Carlson, a lecturer in dress history at the Rhode Island School of Design, shows us how... Read more

Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson's Creek

By: Thea Glassman

Narrated by: Christine Lakin

Length: 9 hours 2 minutes

Abridged: No

The untold stories of seven revolutionary teen shows (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, My So-Called Life, Dawson’s Creek, Freaks and Geeks, The O.C., Friday Night Lights, and Glee) that shaped the course of modern television and our pop cultural landscape forever.

The modern television landscape is defined by influential and ambitious shows for and... Read more

If Women Rose Rooted

By: Sharon Blackie

Narrated by: Sharon Blackie

Length: 13 hours 23 minutes

Abridged: No

In this life-changing book that blends myth, memoir, and modern-day mentors, renowned psychologist Dr. Sharon Blackie journeys from the wasteland of modern society to a place of nourishment and connection.



"Mind-blowing. An anthem for all we could be . . . I sincerely hope every woman who can read has the time and space to read it." —Manda Scott,... Read more

Wolfish

By: Erica Berry

Narrated by: Lessa Lamb

Length: 15 hours 36 minutes

Abridged: No

"Lessa Lamb narrates with a fine tone and timbre. She inhabits the youthful sound and elegant style of this layered audiobook. Her timing and sense of occasion add richness to its informed foray into all things wolf as she captures the drama, fear, and anxiety that underlie the immersive presentation." - AudioFile Magazine (Earphones Award... Read more

Waxing On

By: Ralph Macchio

Narrated by: Ralph Macchio

Length: 5 hours 13 minutes

Abridged: No

An instant New York Times Bestseller! 

Since The Karate Kid first crane-kicked its way into the pop culture stratosphere in June 1984, there hasn’t been a week Ralph Macchio hasn’t heard friendly shouts of “Wax on, wax off” or “Sweep the leg!” Now, with Macchio reprising his role as Daniel LaRusso in the #1 ranked Netflix show Cobra Kai, he is... Read more

Dying of Politeness

By: Geena Davis

Narrated by: Geena Davis

Length: 7 hours 36 minutes

Abridged: No

From two-time Academy Award winner and screen icon Geena Davis, the surprising tale of her “journey to badassery”—from her epically polite childhood to roles that loaned her the strength to become a powerhouse in Hollywood.At three years old, Geena Davis announced she was going to be in movies. Now, with a slew of iconic roles and awards under... Read more

Wastelands

By: Corban Addison

Narrated by: Rob Shapiro

Length: 16 hours 15 minutes

Abridged: No

"Beautifully written, impeccably researched, and told with the air of suspense that few writers can handle, Wastelands is a story I wish I had written." —From the Foreword by John Grisham
 
The once idyllic coastal plain of North Carolina is home to a close-knit, rural community that for more than a generation has battled the polluting practices... Read more

My Body

By: Emily Ratajkowski

Narrated by: Emily Ratajkowski

Length: 5 hours 16 minutes

Abridged: No

This program is read by the author.

"Ratajkowski shares thoughts on sexuality, feminism, and power dynamics in a nuanced way that will have listeners looking for more from her." —AudioFile

"The essays are more impactful when you hear Ratajkowski read them, which she does with sincere emotion." —Shondaland

"My Body offers a lucid examination of the... Read more

Being Seen

By: Elsa Sjunneson

Narrated by: Elsa Sjunneson

Length: 6 hours 36 minutes

Abridged: No

A deafblind writer and professor explores how the misrepresentation of disability in books, movies, and TV harms both the disabled community and everyone else.

As a deafblind woman with partial vision in one eye and bilateral hearing aids, Elsa Sjunneson lives at the crossroads of blindness and sight, hearing and deafness—much to the confusion of... Read more

Seek You

By: Kristen Radtke

Narrated by: Kristen Radtke

Length: 1 hour 58 minutes

Abridged: No

From the acclaimed author of Imagine Wanting Only This—a timely and moving meditation on isolation and longing, both as individuals and as a society. • One of Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2021

There is a silent epidemic in America: loneliness. Shameful to talk about and often misunderstood, loneliness is everywhere, from the most major of... Read more

When the Stars Begin to Fall

By: Theodore R. Johnson

Narrated by: Theodore R. Johnson

Length: 9 hours 24 minutes

Abridged: No

A bold, thought-provoking pathway to the national solidarity that could, finally, address the ills of racism in America

“Racism is an existential threat to America,” Theodore R. Johnson declares at the start of his profound and exhilarating book. It is a refutation of the American Promise enshrined in our Constitution that all men and women are... Read more

Running Out

By: Lucas Bessire

Narrated by: John Chancer

Length: 6 hours 19 minutes

Abridged: No

Finalist for the National Book Award This audiobook narrated by John Chancer recounts an intimate reckoning with aquifer depletion in America's heartland The Ogallala aquifer has nourished life on the American Great Plains for millennia. But less than a century of unsustainable irrigation farming has taxed much of the aquifer beyond repair.... Read more

Four Lost Cities

By: Annalee Newitz

Narrated by: Chloe Cannon

Length: 8 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes listeners on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world, Newitz explores the rise and fall of four ancient cities, each the center of a sophisticated civilization: the Neolithic site... Read more

Under a White Sky

By: Elizabeth Kolbert

Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman

Length: 6 hours 21 minutes

Abridged: No

AudioFile Magazine’s Best Audiobooks of 2021

The New York Times bestselling author of The Sixth Extinction and Field Notes from a Catastrophe returns to humanity’s transformative impact on the environment in Under a White Sky.

That man should have dominion “over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” is a... Read more

Long Time Coming

By: Michael Eric Dyson

Narrated by: Michael Eric Dyson

Length: 4 hours 46 minutes

Abridged: No

"As a narrator, the reverence and tenderness Dyson communicates in his letters--addressed to victims of racist violence Elijah McClain, Emmett Till, Eric Garner, Breonna Taylor, Hadiya Pendleton, Sandra Bland, and the Rev. Clementa Pinckney--invoke the experience of listening in on a holy epistle. Don't miss this." -- AudioFile Magazine

This... Read more

Stakes Is High

By: Mychal Denzel Smith

Narrated by: Mychal Denzel Smith

Length: 3 hours 30 minutes

Abridged: No

Brave, clear-eyed, and passionate, Stakes Is High is the book we need to guide us past crisis mode and through an uncertain future.

The events of the past decade have forced us to reckon with who we are and who we want to be. We have been invested in a set of beliefs about our American identity: our exceptionalism, the inevitable rightness of our... Read more

Having and Being Had

By: Eula Biss

Narrated by: Alex McKenna

Length: 7 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY TIME , NPR, INSTYLE, AND GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

“A sensational new book [that] tries to figure out whether it’s possible to live an ethical life in a capitalist society. . . . The results are enthralling.” —Associated Press 

A timely and arresting new look at affluence by the New York... Read more

Recollections of My Nonexistence

By: Rebecca Solnit

Narrated by: Rebecca Solnit

Length: 6 hours 41 minutes

Abridged: No

Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize for Biography
Longlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Writing

An electric portrait of the artist as a young woman that asks how a writer finds her voice in a society that prefers women to be silent, from the author of Orwell's Roses

In Recollections of My Nonexistence, Rebecca Solnit describes her... Read more