-
Hold Fast
- The Unadulterated Story of the World’s Most Scandalous Website
- Narrated by: Trevor Aaronson, Sam Eifling, Michael Mooney
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $29.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Hold Fast is the uncompromising story of Backpage.com, the world’s most scandalous website, and the rise and fall of alternative weekly newspapers nationwide.
Over four decades, Michael Lacey and his business partner James Larkin built the largest, most influential company in alternative media—a colossal chain of muckraking newspapers that included The Village Voice, LA Weekly, Phoenix New Times, Dallas Observer, Miami New Times, and others. These alternative newspapers published writers who were fierce investigators, stylish storytellers, and astute cultural critics. These papers also published loads and loads of ads, including page after page of so-called “adult ads”—ambiguously written ads that appeared to offer illegal sexual services, but were nonetheless protected by the First Amendment.
As lucrative classified ads moved to the internet, cutting a hole in the money bag of newspapers everywhere, Lacey and Larkin founded Backpage.com, a classifieds website that would become synonymous with sex ads and scandal. The Justice Department alleges that Lacey and Larkin weren’t just newspapermen. They were, prosecutors say, the biggest pimps in the history of the world.
Reported, written, and hosted by three writers who once worked for Lacey’s newspaper chain—Trevor Aaronson, Sam Eifling, and Michael Mooney—Hold Fast is a romp through the weird history and boundary-pushing culture of alternative newspapers; the controversies surrounding Backpage.com and the government investigations; and fraught frontiers of free speech in America.
Great first listens
About the Creator
About the Creator
About the Creator
Related to this topic
-
Born a Crime
- Stories from a South African Childhood
- By: Trevor Noah
- Narrated by: Trevor Noah
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical.
-
-
Great book and perfect narration
- By MarilynArms on 12-15-16
By: Trevor Noah
-
Blues Brothers: The Arc of Gratitude
- By: Dan Aykroyd
- Narrated by: Dan Aykroyd
- Length: 1 hr and 56 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elwood Blues (aka Dan Aykroyd) is on another mission—to tell the full story of how two young actors went from blues lovers to Blues Brothers. In this fascinating audio documentary Aykroyd “gets the band back together”, taking listeners on a road trip through time—from late nights in the early days with John Belushi at Dan’s speakeasy in Toronto, to working with blues legends Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Ray Charles on The Blues Brothers movie, through the founding of House of Blues, the Blues Brothers 2000 sequel, and beyond.
-
-
You had to be there
- By 🔥 Phx17 🔥 on 07-26-24
By: Dan Aykroyd
-
Dear Cousin: The Stalking of Susan Fensten
- By: Ventureland
- Narrated by: Susan Fensten
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dear Cousin: The Stalking of Susan Fensten is the gripping true story of one woman's quest for long lost family. After the deaths of her sister and estranged father, Susan searches for relatives on an early online genealogy forum. When she meets cousins from her grandfather's other family, they're everything she'd hoped for—until it all goes to hell.
-
-
Harrowing Case, Excellent Production
- By C Lopez on 07-12-24
By: Ventureland
-
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
- A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
- By: Lori Gottlieb
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.
-
-
It was like a hallmark movie being waterboarded into my ears for 15 hours
- By Amazon Customer on 10-01-19
By: Lori Gottlieb
-
The Demon Next Door
- By: Bryan Burrough
- Narrated by: Steve White
- Length: 2 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author Bryan Burrough recently made a shocking discovery: The small town of Temple, Texas, where he had grown up, had harbored a dark secret. One of his high school classmates, Danny Corwin, was a vicious serial killer. In this chilling tale, Burrough raises important questions of whether serial killers can be recognized before they kill or rehabilitated after they do. It is also a story of Texas politics and power that led the good citizens of the town of Temple to enable a demon who was their worst nightmare.
-
-
Odd narration choice
- By Amanda Fredericks on 03-08-19
By: Bryan Burrough
-
Pulse
- The Untold Story
- By: Trevor Aaronson
- Narrated by: Trevor Aaronson
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a gay nightclub in Orlando on June 12, 2016, the shooter, Omar Mateen, murdered 49 people and wounded 53 others. The attack was the deadliest act of violence against the LGBTQ+ community in US history and the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11. But there’s a story you haven’t heard. The FBI had a secret history with the shooter and his father. To obscure that history, the FBI pushed a false story that the media dutifully carried—that the attacker was a secretly gay Islamist extremist who had chosen to target Pulse and planned the attack for weeks.
-
-
Heart wrenching
- By Kaylee Charles on 07-21-24
By: Trevor Aaronson
-
Born a Crime
- Stories from a South African Childhood
- By: Trevor Noah
- Narrated by: Trevor Noah
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical.
-
-
Great book and perfect narration
- By MarilynArms on 12-15-16
By: Trevor Noah
-
Blues Brothers: The Arc of Gratitude
- By: Dan Aykroyd
- Narrated by: Dan Aykroyd
- Length: 1 hr and 56 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elwood Blues (aka Dan Aykroyd) is on another mission—to tell the full story of how two young actors went from blues lovers to Blues Brothers. In this fascinating audio documentary Aykroyd “gets the band back together”, taking listeners on a road trip through time—from late nights in the early days with John Belushi at Dan’s speakeasy in Toronto, to working with blues legends Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Ray Charles on The Blues Brothers movie, through the founding of House of Blues, the Blues Brothers 2000 sequel, and beyond.
-
-
You had to be there
- By 🔥 Phx17 🔥 on 07-26-24
By: Dan Aykroyd
-
Dear Cousin: The Stalking of Susan Fensten
- By: Ventureland
- Narrated by: Susan Fensten
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dear Cousin: The Stalking of Susan Fensten is the gripping true story of one woman's quest for long lost family. After the deaths of her sister and estranged father, Susan searches for relatives on an early online genealogy forum. When she meets cousins from her grandfather's other family, they're everything she'd hoped for—until it all goes to hell.
-
-
Harrowing Case, Excellent Production
- By C Lopez on 07-12-24
By: Ventureland
-
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
- A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
- By: Lori Gottlieb
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.
-
-
It was like a hallmark movie being waterboarded into my ears for 15 hours
- By Amazon Customer on 10-01-19
By: Lori Gottlieb
-
The Demon Next Door
- By: Bryan Burrough
- Narrated by: Steve White
- Length: 2 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author Bryan Burrough recently made a shocking discovery: The small town of Temple, Texas, where he had grown up, had harbored a dark secret. One of his high school classmates, Danny Corwin, was a vicious serial killer. In this chilling tale, Burrough raises important questions of whether serial killers can be recognized before they kill or rehabilitated after they do. It is also a story of Texas politics and power that led the good citizens of the town of Temple to enable a demon who was their worst nightmare.
-
-
Odd narration choice
- By Amanda Fredericks on 03-08-19
By: Bryan Burrough
-
Pulse
- The Untold Story
- By: Trevor Aaronson
- Narrated by: Trevor Aaronson
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a gay nightclub in Orlando on June 12, 2016, the shooter, Omar Mateen, murdered 49 people and wounded 53 others. The attack was the deadliest act of violence against the LGBTQ+ community in US history and the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11. But there’s a story you haven’t heard. The FBI had a secret history with the shooter and his father. To obscure that history, the FBI pushed a false story that the media dutifully carried—that the attacker was a secretly gay Islamist extremist who had chosen to target Pulse and planned the attack for weeks.
-
-
Heart wrenching
- By Kaylee Charles on 07-21-24
By: Trevor Aaronson
-
Serial Killers: Real and Imagined
- By: Emily Zarka, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Emily Zarka
- Length: 2 hrs and 56 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Monster stories aren’t just meant to entertain. They’re meant to inform, even educate. Above all, they ask us to question our own humanity. Nowhere is this truer than in stories of serial killers. What are the origins of this monstrous archetype? Why are we so fascinated with such gruesome terror? What do they reveal about our fears and anxieties? Explore these and other questions in Serial Killers: Real and Imagined, where public scholar Emily Zarka looks at the serial-killer trope across history, from murky 17th-century legends to 21st-century true-crime obsessions.
-
-
Enjoyable Easy Read with a But
- By Molly Fitzgibbon on 07-25-24
By: Emily Zarka, and others
-
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
- By: Jack Weatherford
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Jack Weatherford
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in 25 years than the Romans did in 400. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization.
-
-
Golden Horde/Platinum Listen
- By Cynthia on 12-11-13
By: Jack Weatherford
-
Sneakerhead
- By: Amanda Eyre Ward
- Narrated by: Amanda Eyre Ward, Timothy Harrison Meckel
- Length: 1 hr and 55 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Amanda Eyre Ward's 13-year-old son, Harry, dove headfirst into the world of sneaker culture, she found herself baffled by his obsession with flashy, expensive shoes that seemed like mere status symbols. Determined to bridge the gap with her teenage son, Ward reluctantly decided to embrace the mantra of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em". As she shed her preconceptions and immersed herself in the quest to snag the latest drops, Ward discovered a community far richer than she had imagined.
-
-
Ima be honest.
- By Bryant SUPREME on 08-12-24
By: Amanda Eyre Ward
-
Coatbridge: The Disappearance of Moira Anderson
- By: Chalk and Blade
- Narrated by: Sandra Brown
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For decades, Sandra Brown’s life has been intertwined with someone she has never met: an eleven year-old girl named Moira Anderson – who disappeared from their hometown of Coatbridge, Scotland, in 1957. It became one of the oldest cold cases in Scottish history. Sandra lived just around the corner from Moira. She grew up hearing about the missing girl, whose memory haunted the town. But she never imagined that, one day, she would be the one trying to uncover what happened. Or that her search for answers would reveal secrets and lies so close to home.
-
-
Moving Story
- By White-Dobb on 07-05-24
By: Chalk and Blade
-
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
- As Told to Alex Haley
- By: Malcolm X, Alex Haley
- Narrated by: Laurence Fishburne
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Experience a bold take on this classic autobiography as it’s performed by Oscar-nominated Laurence Fishburne. In this searing classic autobiography, originally published in 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and Black empowerment activist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Human Rights movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American dream and the inherent racism in a society that denies its non-White citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.
-
-
it's Nearly perfect
- By Kerry on 09-16-20
By: Malcolm X, and others
-
A Land So Strange
- The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca
- By: Andres Resendez
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1528, a mission set out from Spain to colonize Florida. But the expedition went horribly wrong: Delayed by a hurricane, knocked off course by a colossal error of navigation, and ultimately doomed by a disastrous decision to separate the men from their ships, the mission quickly became a desperate journey of survival. Of the 300 men who had embarked on the journey, only four survived - three Spaniards and an African slave.
-
-
A worthwhile listen
- By Blake on 07-10-13
By: Andres Resendez
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side? In Going Infinite Lewis sets out to answer this question, taking listeners into the mind of Bankman-Fried.
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
Dirty Rocker Boys
- By: Bobbie Brown
- Narrated by: Bobbie Brown
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who could forget the sexy "Cherry Pie" girl from hair metal band Warrant's infamous music video? Bobbie Brown became a bona fide vixen for her playful role as the object of lead singer Jani Lane's desires. With her windblown peroxide mane, seductive scarlet lips, and flirtatious curves, she epitomized every man's fantasy. But the wide-eyed Louisiana beauty queen's own dreams of making it big in Los Angeles were about to be derailed by her rock-and-roll lifestyle.
-
-
LOVED IT!
- By Kelleefornia on 09-02-14
By: Bobbie Brown
-
The Meaning of Mariah Carey
- By: Mariah Carey
- Narrated by: Mariah Carey
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It took me a lifetime to have the courage and the clarity to write my memoir. I want to tell the story of the moments - the ups and downs, the triumphs and traumas, the debacles and the dreams - that contributed to the person I am today. This book is composed of my memories, my mishaps, my struggles, my survival, and my songs. Unfiltered. I went deep into my childhood and gave the scared little girl inside of me a big voice. I let the abandoned and ambitious adolescent have her say, and the betrayed and triumphant woman I became tell her side.
-
-
Entertaining glitz glam smoke and mirrors - not the whole story.
- By Anonymous User on 10-04-20
By: Mariah Carey
-
The Debutante
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thirty years ago, award-winning journalist Jon Ronson stumbled on the mystery of Carol Howe—a charismatic, wealthy former debutante turned white supremacist spokeswoman turned undercover informant. In 1995, Carol was spying on Oklahoma’s neo-Nazis for the government just when Timothy McVeigh blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.
-
-
Interesting but not compelling
- By Gail Jester on 04-15-23
By: Jon Ronson
-
Helter Skelter
- The True Story of the Manson Murders
- By: Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 26 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the 20th century: the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? Now available for the first time in unabridged audio, the gripping story of this famous and haunting crime is brought to life by acclaimed narrator Scott Brick.
-
-
Everything I remembered about the case was wrong..
- By karen on 06-22-12
By: Vincent Bugliosi, and others
-
Dead Mountain
- The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident
- By: Donnie Eichar
- Narrated by: Donnie Eichar
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In February 1959, a group of nine experienced hikers in the Russian Ural Mountains died mysteriously on an elevation known as Dead Mountain. Eerie aspects of the incident—unexplained violent injuries, signs that they cut open and fled the tent without proper clothing or shoes, a strange final photograph taken by one of the hikers, and elevated levels of radiation found on some of their clothes—have led to decades of speculation over what really happened.
-
-
Mystery & Intrigue In The Ural Mountains
- By Sara on 06-30-15
By: Donnie Eichar
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
"I'll Get You!" Drugs, Lies, and the Terrorizing of a PTA Mom (true crime)
- By: Riley J. Ford
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
TRUE CRIME! PTA president Kelli Peters had a normal, happy life in Orange County, California, where she volunteered at her daughter's school, carpooled, and took care of her family. When a school parent angrily accused Kelli of keeping her son waiting during the afterschool pick-up, it appeared to be a simple confrontation with an overprotective mother. Kelli soon learned, however, that she was the target of a twisted plot against her that involved drugs, lies, schemes, and a campaign to ruin her life. The vendetta led to reputations tarnished, careers lost, secret lives uncovered, two ...
-
-
Could have been good
- By Dante D. on 05-18-24
By: Riley J. Ford
-
Pulse
- The Untold Story
- By: Trevor Aaronson
- Narrated by: Trevor Aaronson
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a gay nightclub in Orlando on June 12, 2016, the shooter, Omar Mateen, murdered 49 people and wounded 53 others. The attack was the deadliest act of violence against the LGBTQ+ community in US history and the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11. But there’s a story you haven’t heard. The FBI had a secret history with the shooter and his father. To obscure that history, the FBI pushed a false story that the media dutifully carried—that the attacker was a secretly gay Islamist extremist who had chosen to target Pulse and planned the attack for weeks.
-
-
Heart wrenching
- By Kaylee Charles on 07-21-24
By: Trevor Aaronson
-
Hell Hath No Fury
- A True Story of Wealth and Passion, Love and Envy, and a Woman Driven to the Ultimate Revenge
- By: Bryna Taubman
- Narrated by: Courtney Patterson
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dan Broderick was one of California's most successful attorneys; his wife, Betty, a beautiful socialite. But when Betty discovered Dan's hidden life, the façade of LaJolla's golden couple was shattered. What followed was a vicious five-year battle that finally ended in a shocking double murder. A Harvard Law School graduate, Dan manipulated the law to strip Betty of everything she loved: her home, her friends - even her children. When she frantically tried to fight back, he had her committed to a mental hospital.
-
-
No tears for Dan Broderick
- By Tia's Mom on 03-30-21
By: Bryna Taubman
-
American Dreamer: Who Was Jay Gatsby?
- By: Blanchard House
- Narrated by: Joe Nocera
- Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just before the small-time bootlegger Max Gerlach died, he tried to reveal his secret: he was the inspiration for the mysterious Jay Gatsby. It’s a nice story, but was he telling the truth? Veteran reporter Joe Nocera and producer Poppy Damon investigate this century-old literary mystery and uncover untold secrets about the Great American Novel.
-
-
A Podcast review of “ who was Scot Fitzgerald?”
- By William Richardson on 08-11-24
By: Blanchard House
-
The Terror Factory
- Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism
- By: Trevor Aaronson
- Narrated by: Scott Drummond
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A groundbreaking work of investigative journalism, The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism exposes how the FBI has, under the guise of engaging in counterterrorism since 9/11, built a network of more than 15,000 informants whose primary purpose is to infiltrate Muslim communities to create and facilitate phony terrorist plots so that the Bureau can then claim it is winning the war on terror.
-
-
A must read
- By Ahmed Ebrahim on 10-08-20
By: Trevor Aaronson
-
Deputy Mayor Putin
- By: Maeve McQuillan
- Narrated by: Fiona Shaw, Gwilym Lee
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How did a once faceless bureaucrat, a man whose own wife said he was born under the sign of the vampire, become the idealized face of Russian manhood and its authoritarian leader? Deputy Mayor Putin examines the man behind the myth. We will explore how Putin’s formative years shaped and drove him and how the supporting cast of characters he gathered along the way helped him get to the Kremlin’s inner sanctum.
-
-
Interesting
- By T J on 03-02-24
By: Maeve McQuillan
-
"I'll Get You!" Drugs, Lies, and the Terrorizing of a PTA Mom (true crime)
- By: Riley J. Ford
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
TRUE CRIME! PTA president Kelli Peters had a normal, happy life in Orange County, California, where she volunteered at her daughter's school, carpooled, and took care of her family. When a school parent angrily accused Kelli of keeping her son waiting during the afterschool pick-up, it appeared to be a simple confrontation with an overprotective mother. Kelli soon learned, however, that she was the target of a twisted plot against her that involved drugs, lies, schemes, and a campaign to ruin her life. The vendetta led to reputations tarnished, careers lost, secret lives uncovered, two ...
-
-
Could have been good
- By Dante D. on 05-18-24
By: Riley J. Ford
-
Pulse
- The Untold Story
- By: Trevor Aaronson
- Narrated by: Trevor Aaronson
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a gay nightclub in Orlando on June 12, 2016, the shooter, Omar Mateen, murdered 49 people and wounded 53 others. The attack was the deadliest act of violence against the LGBTQ+ community in US history and the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11. But there’s a story you haven’t heard. The FBI had a secret history with the shooter and his father. To obscure that history, the FBI pushed a false story that the media dutifully carried—that the attacker was a secretly gay Islamist extremist who had chosen to target Pulse and planned the attack for weeks.
-
-
Heart wrenching
- By Kaylee Charles on 07-21-24
By: Trevor Aaronson
-
Hell Hath No Fury
- A True Story of Wealth and Passion, Love and Envy, and a Woman Driven to the Ultimate Revenge
- By: Bryna Taubman
- Narrated by: Courtney Patterson
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dan Broderick was one of California's most successful attorneys; his wife, Betty, a beautiful socialite. But when Betty discovered Dan's hidden life, the façade of LaJolla's golden couple was shattered. What followed was a vicious five-year battle that finally ended in a shocking double murder. A Harvard Law School graduate, Dan manipulated the law to strip Betty of everything she loved: her home, her friends - even her children. When she frantically tried to fight back, he had her committed to a mental hospital.
-
-
No tears for Dan Broderick
- By Tia's Mom on 03-30-21
By: Bryna Taubman
-
American Dreamer: Who Was Jay Gatsby?
- By: Blanchard House
- Narrated by: Joe Nocera
- Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just before the small-time bootlegger Max Gerlach died, he tried to reveal his secret: he was the inspiration for the mysterious Jay Gatsby. It’s a nice story, but was he telling the truth? Veteran reporter Joe Nocera and producer Poppy Damon investigate this century-old literary mystery and uncover untold secrets about the Great American Novel.
-
-
A Podcast review of “ who was Scot Fitzgerald?”
- By William Richardson on 08-11-24
By: Blanchard House
-
The Terror Factory
- Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism
- By: Trevor Aaronson
- Narrated by: Scott Drummond
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A groundbreaking work of investigative journalism, The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism exposes how the FBI has, under the guise of engaging in counterterrorism since 9/11, built a network of more than 15,000 informants whose primary purpose is to infiltrate Muslim communities to create and facilitate phony terrorist plots so that the Bureau can then claim it is winning the war on terror.
-
-
A must read
- By Ahmed Ebrahim on 10-08-20
By: Trevor Aaronson
-
Deputy Mayor Putin
- By: Maeve McQuillan
- Narrated by: Fiona Shaw, Gwilym Lee
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How did a once faceless bureaucrat, a man whose own wife said he was born under the sign of the vampire, become the idealized face of Russian manhood and its authoritarian leader? Deputy Mayor Putin examines the man behind the myth. We will explore how Putin’s formative years shaped and drove him and how the supporting cast of characters he gathered along the way helped him get to the Kremlin’s inner sanctum.
-
-
Interesting
- By T J on 03-02-24
By: Maeve McQuillan
-
The Magadh Mystery
- By: Christopher Doyle
- Narrated by: Swetanshu Bora, Dave Riddhi, Suyash Barve, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vidya is a young archaeologist who has spent her entire childhood listening to the stories of the Magadh Mystery, but neither Vidya nor her brother believed these stories. When Vidya’s father-like colleague found some inscriptions from the Magadh Dynasty during an excavation and was killed soon after, she had no choice but to set out on this journey to unravel the Magadh Mystery.
-
-
Fun adventure
- By Carol Bailey on 05-02-24
-
Exposed
- The Ashley Madison Hack
- By: Sophie Elmhirst, Maria Luisa Tucker
- Narrated by: Sophie Nélisse
- Length: 3 hrs and 13 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of people–looking to cheat on their partners–signed up for Ashley Madison in the early 2000s, seeking a private space to share their public desires. The promise of discretion was shattered in the summer of 2015, when anonymous hackers stole the company’s cache of user information and published it worldwide. The result? One of the most shocking data breaches of the internet age. Overnight, millions of unfaithful spouses had their real names, addresses and sexual preferences published online in a searchable database that anyone could browse.
-
-
Hard to feel sorry for the cheaters
- By Kim Kormylo on 02-21-24
By: Sophie Elmhirst, and others
-
Quiet Time
- By: Derek B. Miller
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert and Mkiwa Livingston are happily ensconced in their tranquil life in Geneva, Switzerland, when Robert's best friend drops dead from a brain aneurysm, sparking a mid-life crisis. Nostalgic for the New England of his youth, Robert begs his wife for a chance to go back to his native America. As the Livingstons settle into their new home in Marblehead, Massachusetts, they - along with the rest of the country - become engrossed in a popular TV show called Quiet Time, about a family who decide to give up all electronic devices and smartphones for one year.
-
-
starts out good. becomes preachy and boring
- By lonnelle neavear on 04-04-21
By: Derek B. Miller
-
The Debutante
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thirty years ago, award-winning journalist Jon Ronson stumbled on the mystery of Carol Howe—a charismatic, wealthy former debutante turned white supremacist spokeswoman turned undercover informant. In 1995, Carol was spying on Oklahoma’s neo-Nazis for the government just when Timothy McVeigh blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.
-
-
Interesting but not compelling
- By Gail Jester on 04-15-23
By: Jon Ronson
-
Chasing Boaz Manor
- By: Leah McLaren
- Narrated by: Serinda Swan
- Length: 3 hrs and 56 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Boaz Manor was a finance wunderkind. He started a hedge-fund company in Canada and later burst onto Wall Street with a product that could transform the crypto market. By all accounts, he was incredibly hard-working. Possibly brilliant. And...a shameless con man who ended up wanted in multiple countries. Chasing Boaz Manor explores Boaz’s schemes through the perspective of those he left in his wake.
-
-
Drawn out and unresolved waste of time
- By DC on 06-06-24
By: Leah McLaren
-
How I Helped O. J. Get Away with Murder
- The Shocking Inside Story
- By: Mike Gilbert
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The shocking tale told in How I Helped O. J. Get Away with Murder is unlike anything you've read before. It isn't Mike Gilbert's "version" of what happened'; it's the unvarnished truth - the truth about O. J., the murders, and the infamous trial, not as Gilbert imagined or would like it to be, but how it actually was.
-
-
Wow
- By Erin on 06-11-10
By: Mike Gilbert
-
Love Until Death
- The Sudden Demise of a Music Icon and a Trail of Mystery and Alleged Murder
- By: Mark Seal
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2019, veteran journalist Mark Seal began investigating the suspicious death of music mogul Peter Ikin. Just 32 days before he was found dead in his Paris hotel room, Ikin had married a handsome, debonair Frenchman named Alexandre, who would claim to be entitled to his late husband’s fortune. As Seal dug into the case, he had no idea that tracing the incredible life of Alexandre Despallieres would take him from Paris to London to Beverly Hills, and unspool a web of intricate plots and deceptions.
-
-
NEVER ENDING😑
- By Beth on 06-24-22
By: Mark Seal
-
French & Saunders Titting About (Series 5)
- By: Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders
- Narrated by: Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once again, the legendary comedy duo unearth six vitally important subjects... and then tit about about them. From surviving on a desert island to being eaten by a cardboard crocodile, Dawn and Jennifer will entertain, inform and thoroughly tit about for your pleasure. (Batteries not included.)
-
-
Just what I needed
- By Jeanine on 07-26-24
By: Dawn French, and others
-
The Crimes of Dorian Gray
- By: Arvind Ethan David
- Narrated by: Lexi Underwood, Neil Brown Jr., Richard Schiff, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 42 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This gripping fictional true crime podcast delves into the story of the enigmatic Dorian Gray, a vigilante who changed the world, rewriting history in the blood of her victims. Her targets were the titans of their era—billionaires, movie stars, politicians. Dorian said they had one thing in common: they had all committed crimes against women. They were rapists, abusers, master manipulators. Dorian left evidence of their heinous offenses with their bodies, and then she vanished without a trace.
-
-
Riveting!
- By Theresa D. on 05-08-24
-
Nut Jobs: Cracking California's Strangest $10 Million Dollar Heist
- An Audible Original
- By: Marc Fennell
- Narrated by: Marc Fennell
- Length: 3 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s the $10 million heist you’ve never heard of. In a matter of months, dozens of truckloads disappeared from American highways. But what were they carrying? Nuts. Marc Fennell takes you into a rabbit hole of crime syndicates, stolen identities and private investigators that will change the way you think about food forever. Eighty per cent of the world’s almonds are grown in the heart of California, but this journey will take you to Italy, the Spanish coast, deep under the earth and even into space.
-
-
Could have been interesting if...
- By M Ren on 06-09-20
By: Marc Fennell
-
Swing State
- By: Rebecca Gilman
- Narrated by: Anne E. Thompson, Bubba Weiler, Kirsten Fitzgerald, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 25 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a recently widowed woman in rural Wisconsin notices her husband’s toolbox is missing, she calls the authorities—and unwittingly starts a chain of events that will forever change her community. What begins as a disarmingly simple mystery blooms into an exploration of loss, the fragility of the environment, and what it means to connect and heal.
-
-
We can all relate
- By Wdj on 03-21-24
By: Rebecca Gilman
-
Trace of Doubt
- By: Samantha Weinberg
- Narrated by: Samantha Weinberg
- Length: 4 hrs and 29 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1985, a brilliant young British DNA scientist Helena Greenwood is found murdered in her front garden in a quiet suburb in California. The police believe they know the killer’s identity but there’s no evidence against him, and the only thing linking him to the crime is the fact he’d been charged with sexually assaulting Helena just a few months previously.
-
-
Waste of her energy
- By shannon j on 01-27-24
What listeners say about Hold Fast
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- SammyInCO
- 04-17-24
Exceptional
As a native of Phoenix, I only had half of the story. A wonderful and informative listen!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stacey J
- 04-17-24
Very engaging listen
Thank you to On The Media for highlighting this story and sending me to this story. Excellent listen!! I highly recommend!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MICHELE CROMER
- 08-06-24
Great Interesting Listen!
I had no idea about this. I was a reader of alternative papers in the early 2000’s and enjoyed reading the backpage, it was most interesting!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ronda
- 06-02-24
Very interesting
I had never heard of this incident. It was very interesting. Times changed and the internet changed everything. I enjoyed the listen and learned a lot. Well done!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Troy Harris
- 07-30-24
Fascinating Insights
Other than the fake drama Audible introduces with their background music, this was an excellent listening experience. Learned a lot. My heart goes out to the sex workers who lost their voice and faced increased risk due to the moralizing jerks who shut down BackPage.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Miamimama
- 04-13-24
Blackbeard's diary basically
A well done capture of morally ambiguous pirates in the waning days of American journalism as we knew it. As someone privileged to ride along for a bit in the young writer churn& burn factory, I can attest Lacey and Co. were the best, the worst -- always a hell of a ride.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- kyungil
- 04-24-24
Raw and unfiltered
Absolutely love the storytelling. I would be listening and find myself absorbed in the story. Mike Lacey is what the story is…. Raw and unfiltered. The “no f*cks” given attitude really makes this a movie for your ears.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- DHK
- 07-24-24
Before Backpage, there was journalism
Learning the history of gonzo journalism starting w/the 70s/80s, entrepreneurship, capitalism, and the reasons local alt-newspapers imploded is important for anyone who engages w/American society to understand. The story follows the typical newsworthy yet anticipated, 50-year culture cycle- beginning and ending on headlines reporting the latest method(s) to control women. Informative, educational story. Blissfully limited political content. Will be listening again for missed info.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- trisula
- 04-19-24
So good
Deep, nuanced, exactly like things used to be. Not telling you what to think, telling you what happened. Skepticism rules. Anything else and the reader thinks you take him for a rube.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stephen Lemons, reader and scribe
- 04-29-24
1A R.I.P.
Backpage fell victim to a modern-day witch hunt and Messrs. Lacey and Larkin became the targets of a governmental overreach only surpassed by that wreaked on Julian Assange. The lesson? Freedom of speech is a chimera, and you defy the federal government at your peril. Backpage, a massive website filled with Constitutionally-protected speech, was intentionally taken down and destroyed so that it could not be rebuilt -- without so much as a warrant. Lacey, Larkin, and four co-defendants bravely endured the full prosecutorial weight of the U.S. government for more than five years. Larkin was hounded to suicide. Two worker bees at Backpage were fully acquitted, but not before having their names trashed, their lives ruined. Three men, all in their 70s, now face the prospect of death in prison. Even if their convictions are overturned on appeal, the government has extracted from each its pound of flesh and then some. I hope this podcast is the beginning of a paradigm shift in a media narrative that has unthinkingly echoed the talking points of the powerful and the mendacious.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful