James Baldwin grew disillusioned by the failure of the civil rights movement to force America to confront its lies about race. In the era of Trump, what can we learn from his struggle? &#160; &ldquo;Searing, provocative, and ultimately hopeful . . .&#160;Begin Again&#160;challenges, illuminates, and points us toward if not a more perfect union then at least a more just one.&rdquo;&mdash;Jon Meacham &#160; We live, according to Eddie S. Glaude Jr., in the&#160;after times, when the promise of Black Lives Matter and the attempt to achieve a new America were challenged by&#160;the election of Donald Trump, a racist president whose victory represents yet another failure of America to face the lies it tells itself about race. &#160; We have been here before: For James Baldwin, the after times came in the wake of the civil rights movement, when a similar attempt to compel a national confrontation with the truth was answered with the murders of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. In these years, spanning from the publication of&#160;The Fire Next Time&#160;in 1963 to that of&#160;No Name in the Street&#160;in 1972, Baldwin transformed into a more overtly political writer, a change that came at great professional and personal cost. But from that journey, Baldwin emerged with a sense of renewed purpose about the necessity of pushing forward in the face of disillusionment and despair. &#160; In the story of Baldwin&rsquo;s crucible, Glaude suggests, we can find hope and guidance through our own after times, this Trumpian era of shattered promises and white retrenchment. Mixing biography&mdash;drawn partially from newly uncovered interviews&mdash;with history, memoir, and trenchant analysis of our current moment,&#160;Begin Again&#160;is Glaude&rsquo;s endeavor, following Baldwin, to bear witness to the difficult truth of race in America today. It is at once a searing exploration that lays bare the tangled web of race, trauma, and memory, and a powerful interrogation of what we all must ask of ourselves in order to call forth a new America. &#160; Advance praise for Begin Again &ldquo;A penetrating study of how the words of James Baldwin continue to have (often painful) relevance today. . . . In prose that is eloquent and impassioned&mdash;sometimes hopeful, sometimes not&mdash;the author presses his fingers on our bruises, the ones many of us would prefer to ignore. . . . Baldwin's genius glimmers throughout as Glaude effectively demonstrates how truth does not die with the one who spoke it.&rdquo;&mdash;Kirkus Reviews&#160;(starred review) Available for purchase at: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RFVCB11?tag=randohouseinc7911-20">Amazon</a><a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-8373827-11819508?sid=PRHD39095A662&url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9780525575344">Barnes & Noble</a><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-8373827-10747236?SID=PRHD39095A662--9780525575344&url=http://www.booksamillion.com/p/9780525575344">Books A Million</a><a href="http://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/book/9780525575320?utm_source=prh&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_term=301&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780525575320&utm_campaign=9780525575320">Hudson Booksellers</a><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525575320?aff=PenguinGroupUS">IndieBound</a><a href="http://www.powells.com/book/-9780525575320?utm_source=randomhouse&utm_campaign=randomhouse&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9780525575320">Powell's</a><a href="http://goto.target.com/c/128773/81938/2092?subId1=PRHD39095A662--9780525575320&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fs%3FsearchTerm%3D9780525575320">Target</a><a href="http://linksynergy.walmart.com/fs-bin/click?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&subid=0&offerid=183959.1&type=10&tmpid=273&u1=PRHD39095A662--9780525575320&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-ng.do%3F&RD_PARM2=search_query%3D9780525575320%2526ic%3D16_0%2526Find%3DFind%2526search_constraint%3D3920">Walmart</a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1462587140?at=11l3IH&ct=PRHD39095A662--9780525575344">Apple Books</a><a href="https://google.prf.hn/click/camref:1011ld4r/pubref:PRHD39095A662--9780525575344/destination:https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9780525575344&c=books">Google Play Store</a><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/link?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&offerid=258185.12829781935712206&type=2&u1=PRHD39095A662--9780525575344}&murl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kobo.com%2Fsearch%3FQuery%3D9780525575344">Kobo</a>

Begin Again by Eddie S. Glaude Jr., read by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.

Don't know about you, but we've really felt the need for a little more joy around here lately. We miss it, and as the world continues to turn upside down, we’re learning how to find it in new ways and in new places. So, Minisode Fifteen is dedicated to JOY, and the best thing about joy is that once you have a little of it you can find ways to pass it on, like a paper chain of joy spreading out across communities virtual and real. What's bringing you joy right now? Is reading a joyful act? Can finding joy be a practice? And as we get into what brings us joy, hopefully we’ll spread a little of that joy to you, and finally as usual give a few recommendations of things we’ve been into lately. This is our last show before we take our summer break in August, so we wish you all good things, and may you go to your joy.

Minisode Fifteen: Joy

OPRAH&rsquo;S BOOK CLUB PICK &bull;&#160;The Pulitzer Prize&ndash;winning, bestselling author of&#160;The Warmth of Other Suns&#160;examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions. &#160; &ldquo;An instant American classic.&rdquo;&mdash;Dwight Garner, The New York Times &ldquo;As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power&mdash;which groups have it and which do not.&rdquo; &#160; In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. &#160; Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people&rsquo;s lives and behavior and the nation&rsquo;s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people&mdash;including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball&rsquo;s Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others&mdash;she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. She documents how the Nazis studied the racial systems in America to plan their out-cast of the Jews; she discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against; she writes about the surprising health costs of caste, in depression and life expectancy, and the effects of this hierarchy on our culture and politics. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity. Beautifully written, original, and revealing,&#160;Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents&#160;is an eye-opening story of people and history, and a reexamination of what lies under the surface of ordinary lives and of American life today.

Caste (Oprah's Book Club) by Isabel Wilkerson, read by Robin Miles

Listen to an excerpt from LIVE FREE OR DIE by Sean Hannity and read by Sean Hannity

LIVE FREE OR DIE Audiobook Excerpt

When life feels depleted, does God care? I’m facing an onslaught of challenges, will God help? When life grows dark and stormy, does God notice? I’m facing the fear of death, will God help me? The answer in the life-giving miracles in the Gospel of John is a resounding yes.

In this book, Max will help you:

* Realize that Jesus is walking with you and lifting you out of your storms.
* Dwell in the grace of the cross, the miracle of the empty tomb, and the assurance of restoration power.
* Believe that God is your ever-present source of help.
* Recognize that you are never without hope or strength because you are never, ever, alone.

Today, take courage that you are stronger than you think because God is nearer than you know.

Download Audiobook

YOU ARE NEVER ALONE by Max Lucado | Day One

Listen to Rob Bell's EVERYTHING IS SPIRITUAL audiobook excerpt, read by the author.

This program is read by the author.

From Rob Bell, the New York Times bestselling author of Love Wins

This audiobook is an invitation to see your life in a new way.

Because we each have a story we're telling-
about who and where we come from,
what we've been through,
and what it all means-or doesn't mean.

These stories we tell can easily feel disjointed and fragmented,
like an endless series of events are happening to us without 
any particular coherence or point.

Just, you know, life.

But for thousands of years there's been another way of understanding
this experience we're all having here,
one that goes directly to the heart of those age-old questions
Who are we? And
What are we doing here?
And what does it all mean?

In this compelling and surprisingly subversive memoir,
Rob shows us this ancient wisdom, taking us through his history
and the history of the universe to show us something about each
our histories-
how all of it matters,
how everything we've been through forms a connected whole,
and how it's all been headed somewhere the whole time.

From the farthest reaches of the universe to the smallest cells in our bodies, Rob invites
us to see that there's something more going on here, something bringing us together
and guiding us into greater and greater wonder and awe at our own existence, showing
us how this world we call home is way more dynamic and mysterious and meaningful than we ever realized.

If you've every found yourself thinking
There's got to be me more than this.
this audiobook is for you.

Can your life get more fascinating,
more meaningful,
filled with more and more possibilities
surprising you year after year after year?
This book says yes.
Because everything is spiritual. 

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Essentials

Buy the audiobook

Everything Is Spiritual by Rob Bell, audiobook excerpt

Listen to an excerpt from FORTUNE AND GLORY by Janet Evanovich and read by Lorelei King

FORTUNE AND GLORY Audiobook Excerpt

Listen to an excerpt from DARK TIDES by Philippa Gregory and read by Louise Brealey

DARK TIDES Audiobook Excerpt

From the beginning of time, there have been many monumental questions that have perplexed the human race such as: Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? And... Who’s on first? 

In The History of Sketch Comedy, Emmy and Peabody-winning actor, writer and producer Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele, The Prom, Jingle Jangle) embarks listeners on an epic, insightful and utterly entertaining voyage through the annals of sketch comedy. Key takes us from the early flatulence jokes of Ancient Greece and the acting troupes of Europe in the 1500s, to the rise of The Second City in Chicago and his own comedy origins on the ball fields near Detroit’s 8 Mile. Equal parts masterclass, personal odyssey and virtuoso performance; Key dissects the landmark characters, concepts and performers that pushed the boundaries and forged new ground in the comedy pantheon, and along the way reveals his own experiences of discovering and being influenced by them. Over the course of ten half-hour chapters, one of the most beloved voices of our time treats listeners to a private, millennia-spanning interpretation of sketch comedy history, from its humble past to its immodest present.

The History of Sketch Comedy Trailer

A tense, page-turning psychological drama about the making and breaking of a family, about a woman whose experience of motherhood is nothing at all what she hoped for--and everything she feared Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting, supportive mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had. But in the thick of motherhood's exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter--Violet rejects her mother, screams uncontrollably, and becomes a disturbing, disruptive presence at her preschool. Or is it all in Blythe's head? Her husband, Fox, says she's imagining things. What he sees is an overwhelmed wife who can't cope with the day-to-day grind. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well. Then their son Sam is born--and with him, Blythe has the natural, blissful connection she'd always imagined with her child. Even Violet seems to love her little brother. But when life as they know it is changed in an instant, the devastating fall-out forces Blythe to face the truth. Here, we see the making and breaking of a family in crystalline detail, and what it feels like when women are not believed. The Push is a tour de force you will read in a sitting, an utterly immersive pageturner that will challenge everything you think you know about motherhood, about our children, and about what happens behind the doors of even the most perfect-looking families. . . Available for purchase at: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087BL9MML?tag=randohouseinc7911-20">Amazon</a><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9781984881670">Barnes & Noble</a><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-8373827-10747236?SID=PRHD39095A662--9781984881670&url=http://www.booksamillion.com/p/9781984881670">Books A Million</a><a href="https://bookshop.org/a/2186/9781984881663?prhc=PRHD39095A662">Bookshop.org</a><a href="http://www.hudsonbooksellers.com/book/9781984881663?utm_source=prh&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_term=301&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9781984881663&utm_campaign=9781984881663">Hudson Booksellers</a><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781984881663?aff=penguinrandom">IndieBound</a><a href="http://www.powells.com/book/-9781984881663?utm_source=randomhouse&utm_campaign=randomhouse&utm_content=PRHD39095A662--9781984881663">Powell's</a><a href="http://goto.target.com/c/128773/81938/2092?subId1=PRHD39095A662--9781984881663&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fs%3FsearchTerm%3D9781984881663">Target</a><a href="https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=9781984881663">Walmart</a><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1508884455?at=11l3IH&ct=PRHD39095A662--9781984881670">Apple Books</a><a href="https://google.prf.hn/click/camref:1011ld4r/pubref:PRHD39095A662--9781984881670/destination:https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9781984881670&c=books">Google Play Store</a><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/link?id=VD9*lkiWNd8&offerid=258185.12829781935712206&type=2&u1=PRHD39095A662--9781984881670}&murl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kobo.com%2Fsearch%3FQuery%3D9781984881670">Kobo</a>

The Push by Ashley Audrain, read by Marin Ireland

Twelve early pieces never before collected that offer an illuminating glimpse into the mind and process of Joan Didion. Mostly drawn from the earliest part of her astonishing five-decade career, the wide-ranging pieces in this collection include Didion writing about a Gamblers Anonymous meeting, a visit to San Simeon, and a reunion of WWII veterans in Las Vegas, and about topics ranging from Nancy Reagan to Robert Mapplethorpe to Martha Stewart. Here are subjects Didion has long written about -- the press, politics, California robber barons, women, the act of writing, and her own self-doubt. Each piece is classic Didion: incisive and, in new light, stunningly prescient.

Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didion, read by Kimberly Farr

Harper Audio proudly traces its roots back to 1952, when Dylan Thomas first recorded for our Caedmon label. For more than five decades, HarperAudio/Caedmon has been synonymous not only with distinguished poets reading their works, but also with equally distinguished authors and readers performing classic and contemporary texts.

YOU ARE NEVER ALONE by Max Lucado | Day One

HarperAudio US

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