Showing results by narrator "Ray Porter" in All Categories

Why has punditry overtaken news, with so many media outlets pushing partisan agendas instead of information? Comedian Stephen Colbert's catchword "truthiness" has captured something essential about our age: that people are more comfortable with ideas that feel true, even if the evidence for those beliefs is thin.

From the introduction by Les Standiford: "The truth is that Miami, though naturally lovely, is a frontier town, perched on the border between the known and the rarely before experienced. The poet Richard Hugo once said that the natural place for the writer was on the edge, and 'edge' might well be the definitive word when it comes to this city... We are not only on the edge of the continent, we are to this country what New York was in Ellis Island's heyday, what the West Coast was in the middle of the 20th century.

The stories of The Path of Most Resistance feature curious nonconformists who find themselves pushing back against strange and oppressive social norms. They are mavericks who transgress the boundaries of convention in their strive for freedom and authenticity. No matter if they’re in a Silicon Valley office, the far reaches of space, or dystopian futures where relationships are subjected to totalitarian control, the characters show unshakable conviction in a world plagued with uncertainty.

For 20 years, Merge Records has remained true to their belief that you can sign bands because you love their music and respect what they're trying to do. As giant corporate labels struggle for survival, Merge has garnered a secure and growing fan base while releasing some of the best music of our time. Our Noise is the history of the much loved label as seen by those who were there. It features interviews with and profiles of now releases some of indie rock's biggest names.

The twisted trail of blood! Slicing and stabbing hand-to-hand for the bloody booty of war. Ramming a hijacked truck through the hell of enemy lines. Escaping over water made choppy by hot Japanese bullets. Defending a cave full of frightened American nurses from a brutal onslaught of killers. The Rat Bastards fight on, turning New Guinea into an island of savage slaughter. They’ll take on their own top brass, then roll flat the whole Jap army. For them, war isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.

The Landscaper has a secret. An ancient secret that will take you on an extraordinary adventure! You're invited to enter a secret garden-a landscape of unlimited proportions. It's a place where ordinary becomes extraordinary-and miracles, large and small happen. You'll enter this garden through an unassuming gate. It's the one that was opened to the Landscaper some years ago. Inside, you'll discover the secret-if you will pay the price!

In "The Death Song of Dwar Guntha", two old warriors prepare to ride into battle for the last time to save the future of Barsoom. Set in the world of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars, this story first appeared in the anthology Under the Moons of Mars.

Here is a guidebook to the facts and circumstances surrounding the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. The listener will examine the people, places, and timeline of that first Easter. But more than that, we delve into the prophecies of those events, given hundreds of years prior, as well what happened after Christ rose from the dead.

I volunteered to be a spy, not an assassin. I know this is war...but I just want to do what's right. If you ask me, none of us should be here - but no one gave me a choice. And I won't blindly follow orders. I am essential to the plan. And I will be a hero for my country. If I were normal, I wouldn't be old enough to join the army. But I'm not normal. I'm a weapon.

Fourteen-year-old Ellis is getting ready to leave the Southwest for a boarding school in the East. This means leaving behind the only real father he has ever known, Goat Man. Goat Man has been raising a herd of goats all the while teaching Ellis the meaning of stability, caretaking, and commitment. And when a skeptical Ellis returns for spring break, he and Goat Man will be forced to re-evaluate their relationship.

Every catastrophe has a beginning. For the opioid crisis in America, the seed was a drug called OxyContin. First hailed as a miracle drug for severe pain in the early 1990s, OxyContin went on to ignite a plague of addiction and death across America. Equal parts crime thriller, medical detective story and business exposé, Pain Killer is the origin story of the opioid crisis, a hard-hitting look at how a supposed wonder drug became the trigger for a national tragedy.

"The Last Command" was first published in the November 1965 issue of Bizarre! Mystery Magazine. Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) is regarded as one of the most influential science fiction writers of all time. He was named a grand master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Gary Foster's life is finally heading in the right direction. After years of trying, his wife, Beth, is pregnant, and he recently opened a business with his brother. But after collapsing suddenly, Beth is rushed to the hospital. Tests reveal a devastating diagnosis: an inoperable brain tumor. Their only hope is an expensive experimental treatment, with a cost that's out of their reach. And Beth's time is running out. Then a strange man approaches Gary and offers the money he needs, on one condition: that he kill someone, no questions asked. End one life to save another.

"History Lesson" was first published in the May 1949 issue of Startling Stories. Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) is regarded as one of the most-influential science fiction writers of all time. He was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

The Ascendant Humans have conquered Earth and banished mankind to a distant star. There, the refugees war in space over the resources rationed to them. In an orbital habitat, Commander Rylan Shaw labors against the inter-colony arms trafficking when an informant gives him horrific news. The ruthless cartel boss, Lilith, has stockpiled weapons of mass destruction. Worse, she has permission from the Wardens, humanity's robot overlords, to unleash them upon the system.

The great war with the Wyrmling Hordes is over, and mankind has lost. Lord Despair has gathered an army of fell creatures, planning to unleash them like a wildfire across the stars. Those who oppose him know that the battle is all but lost. Though they stand against the darkness, they cannot hope to win with arms. Indeed, they stand against him armed with little more than principles. Fallion and Tuul Ra, with only a handful of allies, must hope that with resolve and cunning alone they can win the day - before darkness closes upon them forever.

When a county employee is found shot to death in sun-drenched daylight while sitting in his county road grader, Undersheriff Bill Gastner is faced with puzzling questions. The simplest explanation - that an errant bullet from a careless target shooter’s rifle blew out Larry Zipoli’s brains - is soon discarded as inconsistencies surface. The fatal bullet shows no rifling marks, and investigation shows that the shooter walked directly toward the road grader, in full view of the victim - who did nothing to defend himself.

Listen to what happened next in the follow-up to the best-selling The Wolf of Wall Street, now a major motion picture directed by Martin Scorsese. In the 1990s Jordan Belfort became one of the most infamous names in American finance: a brilliant, conniving stock chopper. He was the Wolf of Wall Street, whose life of greed, power and excess was so outrageous it could only be true; no-one could make this up! But the day Jordan was arrested and taken away in handcuffs was not the end of the madness. Catching the Wolf of Wall Street tells of what happened next.

"The Food of the Gods" was first published in the May 1964 issue of Playboy. Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) is regarded as one of the most influential science fiction writers of all time. He was named a grand master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Following his departure from office, Ronald Reagan moved to the margins of public interest. But like Lincoln, who was also attacked for decades after his death, Reagan deserves to be regarded as one of our greatest presidents, an exemplar of true conservative values. In this bold and philosophical reevaluation, John Patrick Diggins reveals that Reagan was a far more active and sophisticated president than we ever knew.