Listen free for 30 days
-
Between the World and Me
- Narrated by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $31.27
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
You may also enjoy...
-
The Water Dancer (Oprah’s Book Club)
- A Novel
- Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Narrated by: Joe Morton
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her - but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known. So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia’s proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North.
-
-
Fabulous Story
- By poppies4me on 2019-10-12
Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
-
The 1619 Project
- A New Origin Story
- Written by: Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine, Caitlin Roper - editor, and others
- Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Full Cast
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project” issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together 18 essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with 36 poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance.
-
-
Facts Matter
- By Anonymous User on 2022-03-11
Written by: Nikole Hannah-Jones, and others
-
We Were Eight Years in Power
- An American Tragedy
- Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Narrated by: Beresford Bennett
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"We were eight years in power" was the lament of Reconstruction-era Black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. Now Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the tragic echoes of that history in our own time: the unprecedented election of a Black president followed by a vicious backlash that fueled the election of the man Coates argues is America's "first White president".
Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
-
Race Matters, 25th Anniversary
- Written by: Cornel West
- Narrated by: Cornel West, JD Jackson
- Length: 4 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1993, on the one-year anniversary of the Los Angeles riots, Race Matters became a national best seller that has gone on to sell more than half a million copies. This classic treatise on race contains Dr. West's most incisive essays on the issues relevant to black Americans, including the crisis in leadership in the Black community, Black conservatism, Black-Jewish relations, myths about Black sexuality, and the legacy of Malcolm X.
-
-
Excellent insight.
- By Adam on 2020-10-14
Written by: Cornel West
-
How the Word Is Passed
- A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
- Written by: Clint Smith
- Narrated by: Clint Smith
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the listener on an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks—those that are honest about the past and those that are not—that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation's collective history, and ourselves.
-
-
Exceptional!
- By gene on 2021-10-13
Written by: Clint Smith
-
Minor Feelings
- An Asian American Reckoning
- Written by: Cathy Park Hong
- Narrated by: Cathy Park Hong
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong fearlessly and provocatively blends memoir, cultural criticism, and history to expose fresh truths about racialized consciousness in America. Part memoir and part cultural criticism, this collection is vulnerable, humorous, and provocative—and its relentless and riveting pursuit of vital questions around family and friendship, art and politics, identity and individuality, will change the way you think about our world.
-
-
Major Feelings!!
- By Angela on 2021-04-20
Written by: Cathy Park Hong
-
The Water Dancer (Oprah’s Book Club)
- A Novel
- Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Narrated by: Joe Morton
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her - but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known. So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia’s proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North.
-
-
Fabulous Story
- By poppies4me on 2019-10-12
Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
-
The 1619 Project
- A New Origin Story
- Written by: Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine, Caitlin Roper - editor, and others
- Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Full Cast
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project” issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together 18 essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with 36 poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance.
-
-
Facts Matter
- By Anonymous User on 2022-03-11
Written by: Nikole Hannah-Jones, and others
-
We Were Eight Years in Power
- An American Tragedy
- Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Narrated by: Beresford Bennett
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"We were eight years in power" was the lament of Reconstruction-era Black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. Now Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the tragic echoes of that history in our own time: the unprecedented election of a Black president followed by a vicious backlash that fueled the election of the man Coates argues is America's "first White president".
Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
-
Race Matters, 25th Anniversary
- Written by: Cornel West
- Narrated by: Cornel West, JD Jackson
- Length: 4 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1993, on the one-year anniversary of the Los Angeles riots, Race Matters became a national best seller that has gone on to sell more than half a million copies. This classic treatise on race contains Dr. West's most incisive essays on the issues relevant to black Americans, including the crisis in leadership in the Black community, Black conservatism, Black-Jewish relations, myths about Black sexuality, and the legacy of Malcolm X.
-
-
Excellent insight.
- By Adam on 2020-10-14
Written by: Cornel West
-
How the Word Is Passed
- A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
- Written by: Clint Smith
- Narrated by: Clint Smith
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the listener on an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks—those that are honest about the past and those that are not—that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation's collective history, and ourselves.
-
-
Exceptional!
- By gene on 2021-10-13
Written by: Clint Smith
-
Minor Feelings
- An Asian American Reckoning
- Written by: Cathy Park Hong
- Narrated by: Cathy Park Hong
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong fearlessly and provocatively blends memoir, cultural criticism, and history to expose fresh truths about racialized consciousness in America. Part memoir and part cultural criticism, this collection is vulnerable, humorous, and provocative—and its relentless and riveting pursuit of vital questions around family and friendship, art and politics, identity and individuality, will change the way you think about our world.
-
-
Major Feelings!!
- By Angela on 2021-04-20
Written by: Cathy Park Hong
-
The Skin We're In
- A Year of Black Resistance and Power
- Written by: Desmond Cole
- Narrated by: Desmond Cole
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Puncturing the bubble of Canadian smugness and naive assumptions of a post-racial nation, Cole chronicles just one year - 2017 - in the struggle against racism in this country. It was a year that saw calls for tighter borders when black refugees braved frigid temperatures to cross into Manitoba from the States, Indigenous land and water protectors resisting the celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday, police across the country rallying around an officer accused of murder, and more.
-
-
A must read!
- By denise on 2020-02-27
Written by: Desmond Cole
-
The Fire Next Time
- Written by: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Jesse L. Martin
- Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At once a powerful evocation of his early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice to both the individual and the body politic, James Baldwin galvanized the nation in the early days of the civil rights movement with this eloquent manifesto. The Fire Next Time stands as one of the essential works of our literature.
-
-
I had to listen to it a few times
- By Amazon Customer on 2018-09-24
Written by: James Baldwin
-
The Beautiful Struggle
- Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ta-Nehisi Coates' debut is an infectious, reflective memoir - a lyrical saga of surviving the crack-stricken streets of Baltimore in the '80s. Son of Vietnam vet and black awareness advocate Paul Coates - a poor man who set out to publish lost classics of black history - Ta-Nehisi drifts toward salvation at Howard University, while his ominous brother Big Bill finds his own rhythm hustling.
-
-
Wasn't sure
- By Me on 2020-10-27
Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
-
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
- Written by: Maya Angelou
- Narrated by: Maya Angelou
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age - and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. But years later, she learns about love for herself and the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors.
-
-
brilliant
- By Amanda on 2018-04-04
Written by: Maya Angelou
-
Difficult Women
- Written by: Roxane Gay
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The women in these stories live lives of privilege and of poverty, are in marriages both loving and haunted by past crimes or emotional blackmail. A pair of sisters, grown now, have been inseparable ever since they were abducted together as children and must negotiate the elder sister's marriage. A woman married to a twin pretends not to realize when her husband and his brother impersonate each other. A stripper putting herself through college fends off the advances of an overzealous customer.
Written by: Roxane Gay
-
I'm Still Here
- Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
- Written by: Austin Channing Brown
- Narrated by: Austin Channing Brown
- Length: 3 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Austin Channing Brown’s first encounter with a racialized America came at age seven, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools and churches, Austin writes, “I had to learn what it means to love blackness,” a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America’s racial divide as a writer, speaker, and expert helping organizations practice genuine inclusion.
-
-
Beautiful story telling
- By Alysia G on 2021-08-04
Written by: Austin Channing Brown
-
Ghost Forest
- A Novel
- Written by: Pik-Shuen Fung
- Narrated by: Pik-Shuen Fung
- Length: 3 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do you grieve, if your family doesn’t talk about feelings? This is the question the unnamed protagonist of GhostForest considers after her father dies. One of the many Hong Kong “astronaut” fathers, he stays there to work, while the rest of the family immigrated to Canada before the 1997 Handover, when the British returned sovereignty over Hong Kong to China. As she revisits memories of her father through the years, she struggles with unresolved questions and misunderstandings.
-
-
Elegant, Simple and Utterly Perfect
- By Karen W. Lam on 2022-06-17
Written by: Pik-Shuen Fung
-
How to Be an Antiracist
- Written by: Ibram X. Kendi
- Narrated by: Ibram X. Kendi
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the National Book Award-winning author of Stamped from the Beginning comes a “groundbreaking” (Time) approach to understanding and uprooting racism and inequality in our society and in ourselves—now updated, with a new preface.
-
-
Should be required reading
- By Ashleigh on 2020-06-03
Written by: Ibram X. Kendi
-
Notes of a Native Son
- Written by: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his twenties, the essays collected in Notes of a Native Son capture a view of Black life and Black thought at the dawn of the civil rights movement and as the movement slowly gained strength through the words of one of the most captivating essayists and foremost intellectuals of that era.
Written by: James Baldwin
-
God Is a Black Woman
- Written by: Christena Cleveland
- Narrated by: Robin Eller
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For years, Christena Cleveland spoke about racial reconciliation to congregations, justice organizations, and colleges. But she increasingly felt she could no longer trust in the God she’d been implicitly taught to worship—a white male God who preferentially empowered white men despite his claim to love all people. A God who clearly did not relate to, advocate for, or affirm a Black woman like Christena.
-
-
Not what I expected at all….
- By Rea Vanlie on 2023-05-29
Written by: Christena Cleveland
-
White Tears/Brown Scars
- How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color
- Written by: Ruby Hamad
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Called "powerful and provocative" by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, author of the New York Times best-selling How to Be an Antiracist, this explosive book of history and cultural criticism reveals how White feminism has been used as a weapon of white supremacy and patriarchy deployed against Black and Indigenous women and women of color.
-
-
A Must Read
- By Anonymous User on 2022-03-24
Written by: Ruby Hamad
-
The Bluest Eye
- Written by: Toni Morrison
- Narrated by: Toni Morrison
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is the story of 11-year-old Pecola Breedlove--a black girl in an America whose love for its blond, blue-eyed children can devastate all others--who prays for her eyes to turn blue: so that she will be beautiful, so that people will look at her, so that her world will be different. This is the story of the nightmare at the heart of her yearning and the tragedy of its fulfillment.
-
-
Thought provoking...well done narrative
- By MalMelMac on 2019-08-21
Written by: Toni Morrison
Publisher's Summary
Number-one New York Times best seller
National Book Award winner
Named one of Time’s Ten Best Nonfiction Books of the Decade
Pulitzer Prize finalist
National Book Critics Circle Award finalist
Hailed by Toni Morrison as “required reading”, a bold and personal literary exploration of America’s racial history by “the most important essayist in a generation and a writer who changed the national political conversation about race” (Rolling Stone).
Named one of the Most Influential Books of the Decade by CNN
Named one of Paste’s Best Memoirs of the Decade
Named one of the Ten Best Books of the Year by The New York Times Book Review • O: The Oprah Magazine • The Washington Post • People • Entertainment Weekly • Vogue • Los Angeles Times • San Francisco Chronicle • Chicago Tribune • New York • Newsday • Library Journal • Publishers Weekly
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis.
Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race”, a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men - bodies exploited through slavery and segregation and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?
Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’ attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son - and listeners - the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder.
Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.
What the critics say
"Ta-Nehisi Coates's delivery of his own book is so memorable because the material is charged with emotion and a tone of self-disclosure. There's also a highly personal sense of connection between himself and his audience because of his frequent use of 'you.'" (AudioFile)
"The language of Between the World and Me, like Coates's journey, is visceral, eloquent, and beautifully redemptive.... This is required reading." (Toni Morrison)
Editorial Review
With poetic language and an unpausable pace, Ta-Nehisi Coates shares his heartbreaking experience of growing up as a Black male in the United States in a deeply personal letter to his son–and for the world. Between the World and Me is an honest, beautifully written letter from one Black man to his son. It dives into history from slavery to segregation, and doesn’t shy away from the modern-day shame of America’s systemic racism. Coates paints a picture with words, creating a compelling portrait of race that invites anyone, of any background or culture, to understand and connect with this heartbreaking yet profoundly impactful narrative. This audiobook offers a story of humanity and dignity in all its ugliness and beauty, and one that Coates shares through his own voice as the narrator. Listen to his pauses that speak volumes, his powerful tone that resonates, and his authentically human voice that illustrates the pain that only one who has lived through it all could know. A National Book Award winner, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a number-one New York Times best seller, and featured on countless ‘best books of the year’ lists, Between the World and Me is an important must-listen for everyone.
More from the same
What listeners say about Between the World and Me
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- t
- 2017-11-08
what a book that was
a gripping account from beginning to end of a life and struggle of being black. no one should have to endure injustice like this sadly so very many people do. I'm not black myself amd cant comprehend how it is to live life that way but I could connect on a few issues raised later in the book. this book is poetic and honest and so well written. I'm sad it wasn't longer. this book was recommend to me by a friend who was studying it in school and I absolutely recommend it to everyone else
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- sheena
- 2020-06-20
So far away yet so close. A beautiful book.
In this yellow body I wondered my role in this moment on Earth. Empathy seems hollow ,and I do not know how to be closer and do more. This book and his own reading breaks my heart and raise me up again and again. The experiences seem so foreign yet so deeply close. A beautiful book that I recommend for everyone.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rebecca Peterson
- 2020-12-17
Heart wrenchingly beautiful prose
Every human should have to listen to Ta-Nehisi Coates read this story and hear this history
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Delvin
- 2020-12-13
Speechless!
This is a work of inspiring art! I hope that everyone truly gets the gravity of what's being read. Not filter it through our biases (if possible) and get the truth in this. Every culture needs to hear what's happening outside their walls.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kerryanne H
- 2020-09-11
Beautifully written
I believe every parent and their child should read this book. No matter the race. Humanity and dignity is spoken through each story. I can relate to so much of this book. It was a beautiful, heartmoving read/ listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2018-04-17
Heartwrenchingly beautiful!
Gorgeous writing. Thank you for this gift. I'm grateful that this story exists! Accessible and challenging at the same time.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Marianne
- 2023-03-07
What an amazing writer.
I love that he narrated his story.
So honest and poetic. I couldn't stop listening. Highly recommend
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ashley
- 2023-02-25
beautiful and necessary reading
this should be required reading for everyone. this is absolutely beautiful, honest, confronting, and important.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 2023-02-03
An essential understanding
Beautifully written and read. The way he weaves experience through his life and his legacy, his child, is so impactful. I wish that the yt Americans, the bigoted Americans, could really listen and hear and feel these words.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2023-01-26
excellent
a short, easy, powerful listen. everyone could benefit from reading or listening to 'Between the World and Me'. over the last several years, I have been learning and unlearning a lot. but hearing the author's story through a personal letter to his son was compelling.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!