Jeffrey Olsen
- 36
- reviews
- 38
- helpful votes
- 94
- ratings
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The Will to Power: The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche
- By: The Great Courses, Kathleen M. Higgins, Robert C. Solomon
- Narrated by: Kathleen M. Higgins, Robert C. Solomon
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,276
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,985
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,948
Who was Friedrich Nietzsche? This lonely and chronically ill, yet passionate, daring, and complex man is perhaps the most mysterious and least understood of all contemporary philosophers. Why are his brilliant insights so relevant for today? How did he become the most misinterpreted and unfairly maligned intellectual figure of the last two centuries?
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3 out of 5 stars
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Some strong points, but...
- By Anonymous User on 05-07-19
Excellent
Reviewed: 09-30-23
Worthwhile listen for anyone who wants to examen their own beliefs about themselves and about their life.
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The Return of the King
- Lord of the Rings, Book 3
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: Andy Serkis
- Length: 21 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 6,357
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 5,366
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Story5 out of 5 stars 5,349
The armies of the Dark Lord are massing as his evil shadow spreads even wider. Men, Dwarves, Elves, and Ents unite forces to battle against the Dark. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam struggle further into Mordor in their heroic quest to destroy the One Ring. The devastating conclusion of J. R. R. Tolkien’s classic tale of adventure, begun in The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Reader to rule them all....Andy Serkis
- By Sheryl McCallister on 09-17-21
- The Return of the King
- Lord of the Rings, Book 3
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: Andy Serkis
One of the great books of the 20th century.
Reviewed: 02-06-23
Tolkiens greatest work but Andy Serkis is obsessed with his own dramatic skills, which becomes agonizing. It is so clear that Andy is taken with his own skills, which takes away from the text.
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A Game of Thrones
- A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1
- By: George R.R. Martin
- Narrated by: Roy Dotrice
- Length: 33 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 146,634
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 127,353
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Story5 out of 5 stars 127,103
Winter is coming. Such is the stern motto of House Stark, the northernmost of the fiefdoms that owe allegiance to King Robert Baratheon in far-off King's Landing. There Eddard Stark of Winterfell rules in Robert's name. Far to the north, behind the towering Wall, lie savage Wildings and worse - unnatural things relegated to myth during the centuries-long summer, but proving all too real and all too deadly in the turning of the season. Yet a more immediate threat lurks to the south, where Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, has died under mysterious circumstances....
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4 out of 5 stars
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Terrible editing, though...
- By Kristie on 05-09-13
- A Game of Thrones
- A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1
- By: George R.R. Martin
- Narrated by: Roy Dotrice
Masterpiece
Reviewed: 10-09-22
Compelling and gripping storytelling development of fascinating characters and timeless themes touching topics of love and family, courage and honor and loyalty and duty and sacrifice. As good as storytelling as you will find.
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A Personal Odyssey
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,085
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 944
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Story5 out of 5 stars 941
Here is the gritty, powerful story of Thomas Sowell's life-long education in the school of hard knocks, a journey that took him from Harlem to the Marines, the Ivy League, and a career as a controversial writer, teacher, and economist in government and private industry. It is also the story of the dramatically changing times in which this personal odyssey took place.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Thomas Sowell: An American treasure!
- By Wayne on 06-30-20
- A Personal Odyssey
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
An extraordinary man.
Reviewed: 05-24-21
The voice of uncompromising wisdom. Flies in the face of currently popular distracting and confusing ideas.
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The Opioid Epidemic
- What Everyone Needs to Know
- By: Yngvild Olsen, Joshua M. Sharfstein
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 5
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Story5 out of 5 stars 5
The Opioid Epidemic: What Everyone Needs to Know is an accessible, nonpartisan overview of the causes, politics, and treatments tied to the most devastating health crisis of our time. Its comprehensive approach and Q&A format offer listeners a practical path to understanding the epidemic from all sides: the basic science of opioids; the nature of addiction; the underlying reasons for the opioid epidemic; effective approaches to helping individuals, families, communities, and national policy; and common myths related to opioid addiction.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Mother Goose narrates opioid epidemic
- By Jeffrey Olsen on 06-23-20
- The Opioid Epidemic
- What Everyone Needs to Know
- By: Yngvild Olsen, Joshua M. Sharfstein
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
Mother Goose narrates opioid epidemic
Reviewed: 06-23-20
How did they get Mother Goose to read this book on the opioid epidemic. The granny-like narrator sounds like she’s 100 years old! Is she sitting in a rocking chair, reading a bedtime story about opioids? Was she also knitting and doing crochets.? Its a good book, helpful albeit text-book-like but the narrator has no business reading this book. I could barely get through it because of her elderly voice! Yes I’ve heard her other narrative as well! Yikes! Is she the publisher’s grandmother or what?
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1 person found this helpful
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Stillness Is the Key
- By: Ryan Holiday
- Narrated by: Ryan Holiday
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,286
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,091
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,029
All great leaders, thinkers, artists, athletes, and visionaries share one indelible quality. It enables them to conquer their tempers. To avoid distraction and discover great insights. To achieve happiness and do the right thing. Ryan Holiday calls it stillness - to be steady while the world spins around you. In this book, he outlines a path for achieving this ancient, but urgently necessary way of living.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Needs to be read by a professional voice talent
- By Kindle Customer on 10-08-19
- Stillness Is the Key
- By: Ryan Holiday
- Narrated by: Ryan Holiday
Another Home Run by Ryan Hoiliday
Reviewed: 12-19-19
Ryan Holiday’s wisdom and polish grow as reflected in his latest written work of art “Stillness”. He simply does not disappoint but over delivers with each of his books.
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Opium
- How an Ancient Flower Shaped and Poisoned Our World
- By: John H. Halpern, David Blistein
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 42
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
Opium tells the extraordinary and at times harrowing tale of how we arrived at today's crisis, "mak[ing] timely and startling connections among painkillers, politics, finance, and society" (Laurence Bergreen). The story begins with the discovery of poppy artifacts in ancient Mesopotamia, and goes on to explore how Greek physicians and obscure chemists discovered opium's effects and refined its power, how colonial empires marketed it around the world, and eventually how international drug companies developed a range of powerful synthetic opioids that led to an addiction epidemic.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Opium a poor excuse for a better history.
- By Jeffrey Olsen on 09-12-19
- Opium
- How an Ancient Flower Shaped and Poisoned Our World
- By: John H. Halpern, David Blistein
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
Opium a poor excuse for a better history.
Reviewed: 09-12-19
The narrator is the worst, absolutely horrible! His contrived, misconceived and misanthropic reading style was so annoyingly off the mark I could not stand it. I had to fast forward many times and I have read and listened to every major text written on Opium from Martin Booth’s Opium, to Gabor Mate’s “In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts to “The US of Opium” among many many others. This text bogs down horribly in the history of colonialism and trade having little to do with the Opium story. It’s simply not a good book. And what do you know the authors even get yet another word in on “racism” oh please spare me!
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8 people found this helpful
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Writing Creative Nonfiction
- By: Tilar J J. Mazzeo, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Tilar J J. Mazzeo
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 722
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 628
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Story4 out of 5 stars 621
Bringing together the imaginative strategies of fiction storytelling and new ways of narrating true, real-life events, creative nonfiction is the fastest-growing part of the creative writing world. It's a cutting-edge genre that's reshaping how we write (and read) everything from biographies and memoirs to blogs and public speaking scripts to personal essays and magazine articles.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Not what I expected but useful
- By Nancy on 04-14-14
- Writing Creative Nonfiction
- By: Tilar J J. Mazzeo, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Tilar J J. Mazzeo
Tilar J. J. Mazzeo; Fell in love with her Mastery
Reviewed: 05-30-19
I Can’t say enough about the compelling and masterful craftsmanship of Professor Mazzeo in her teaching of writing. So thorough and well presented I found myself returning to her presentation time after time. She made the effort of crafting a learning experience on writing nonfiction. Not only was her material well presented but I found her very fascinating and interesting as well. Thank you for your contribution. Well done!
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Ten Drugs
- How Plants, Powders, and Pills Have Shaped the History of Medicine
- By: Thomas Hager
- Narrated by: Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,902
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,242
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,224
Beginning with opium, the “joy plant,” which has been used for 10,000 years, Thomas Hager tells a captivating story of medicine. His subjects include the largely forgotten female pioneer who introduced smallpox inoculation to Britain, the infamous knockout drops, the first antibiotic, which saved countless lives, the first antipsychotic, which helped empty public mental hospitals, Viagra, statins, and the new frontier of monoclonal antibodies. This is a deep, wide-ranging, and wildly entertaining book.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Engrossing to physicians & lay persons alike
- By C. White on 03-08-19
- Ten Drugs
- How Plants, Powders, and Pills Have Shaped the History of Medicine
- By: Thomas Hager
- Narrated by: Angelo Di Loreto
Great writing on history and impact of Drugs
Reviewed: 04-26-19
This is a great piece of witting, reading and very strong audible performance on the history and narrative surrounding a number of drugs of significant impact. I was fascinated by the personal stories of the various individuals who had roles to play in bringing impactful drugs to bare on society. Some individuals cited were fairly obscure yet Thomas Hager did a wonderful job of pointing out their unique sacrifices, contributions and sometimes the misadventures played out which perhaps might have been missed by historians or news sources of the epoch. Hager did an especially insightful job of developing the dialogue and discourse concerning drugs like opiates which play a dual role of helping and hurting society. Exceptionally well done! I would certainly like to hear more from this author and narrator on the same or related topics.
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The Biology of Desire
- Why Addiction Is Not a Disease
- By: Marc Lewis PhD
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 499
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 422
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 414
The psychiatric establishment and rehab industry in the Western world have branded addiction a brain disease based on evidence that brains change with drug use. But in The Biology of Desire, cognitive neuroscientist and former addict Marc Lewis makes a convincing case that addiction is not a disease and shows why the disease model has become an obstacle to healing. Lewis reveals addiction as an unintended consequence of the brain doing what it's supposed to do - seek pleasure and relief - in a world that's not cooperating.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An important addition to understanding addiction.
- By Jeff M on 02-28-16
- The Biology of Desire
- Why Addiction Is Not a Disease
- By: Marc Lewis PhD
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
Beautifully written and very nicely communicated
Reviewed: 04-20-19
Some of the best writing I have ever read or listened to on the narrative of addiction as experienced by several individuals. The case studies served as both stories exceptionally well told and clinical examples of the neurobiological process of addiction. I was a bit skeptical about his strong opinions against the medical disease model of addiction. I wasn’t exactly clear on what a better labeling of addiction would be. Is Lewis saying we should adhere strictly to addiction as a “psychological / behavioral “ “disorder” or what a “condition” or a “problem” of the brains behavioral circuitry? Isn’t it all semantics. Addiction is all the above do doesn’t that fit a disease model?
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