Listen free for 30 days
-
Intellectuals and Society
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $35.05
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Buy it with
-
Black Rednecks and White Liberals
- Written by: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Hugh Mann
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This explosive new audiobook challenges many of the long-held assumptions about blacks, about Jews, about Germans and Nazis, about slavery, and about education. Plainly written, powerfully reasoned, and backed with a startling array of documented facts, Black Rednecks and White Liberals takes on the trendy intellectuals of our times as well as historic interpreters of American life.
-
-
I Was Enthrolled
- By DGFeijoo on 2019-03-22
Written by: Thomas Sowell
-
Knowledge and Decisions
- Written by: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 20 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This reissue of Thomas Sowell’s classic study of decision making, which includes a preface by the author, updates his seminal work in the context of The Vision of the Anointed. Sowell, one of America’s most celebrated public intellectuals, describes in concrete detail how knowledge is shared and disseminated throughout modern society. He warns that society suffers from an ever-widening gap between firsthand knowledge and decision making—a gap that threatens not only our economic and political efficiency but our very freedom.
-
-
Brilliant. Required material for modern humans
- By Matt on 2018-04-26
Written by: Thomas Sowell
-
Discrimination and Disparities
- Written by: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discrimination and Disparities challenges believers in such one-factor explanations of economic outcome differences as discrimination, exploitation, or genetics. It is listenable enough for people with no prior knowledge of economics. Yet the empirical evidence with which it backs up its analysis spans the globe and challenges beliefs across the ideological spectrum.
-
-
Essential to understanding the world in all times.
- By Conrad on 2019-01-19
Written by: Thomas Sowell
-
Wealth, Poverty, and Politics
- An International Perspective
- Written by: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: David Cochran Heath
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Wealth, Poverty, and Politics, Thomas Sowell, one of the foremost conservative public intellectuals in the country, argues that political and ideological struggles have led to dangerous confusion about income inequality in America. Pundits and politically motivated economists trumpet ambiguous statistics and sensational theories while ignoring the true determinant of income inequality: the production of wealth.
-
-
Perspective Shattering
- By Stefanie on 2021-05-28
Written by: Thomas Sowell
-
Basic Economics, Fifth Edition
- A Common Sense Guide to the Economy
- Written by: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 23 hrs and 47 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this fifth edition of Basic Economics, Thomas Sowell revises and updates his popular book on commonsense economics, bringing the world into clearer focus through a basic understanding of the fundamental economic principles and how they explain our lives. Drawing on lively examples from around the world and from centuries of history, Sowell explains basic economic principles for the general public in plain English.
-
-
Basic Fundamentals with a Helping of Bias
- By Bennymac on 2020-09-10
Written by: Thomas Sowell
-
Intellectuals and Race
- Written by: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Intellectuals and Race is a radical book in the original sense - one that goes to the root of the problem. The role of intellectuals in racial strife is explored in an international context that puts the American experience in a wholly new light. The book explores the incentives, the visions, and the rationales that drive intellectuals at the highest levels to conclusions that have often turned out to be counterproductive and even disastrous, not only for particular racial or ethnic groups but for societies as a whole.
-
-
great book
- By Amazon Customer on 2021-09-17
Written by: Thomas Sowell
-
Black Rednecks and White Liberals
- Written by: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Hugh Mann
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This explosive new audiobook challenges many of the long-held assumptions about blacks, about Jews, about Germans and Nazis, about slavery, and about education. Plainly written, powerfully reasoned, and backed with a startling array of documented facts, Black Rednecks and White Liberals takes on the trendy intellectuals of our times as well as historic interpreters of American life.
-
-
I Was Enthrolled
- By DGFeijoo on 2019-03-22
Written by: Thomas Sowell
-
Knowledge and Decisions
- Written by: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 20 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This reissue of Thomas Sowell’s classic study of decision making, which includes a preface by the author, updates his seminal work in the context of The Vision of the Anointed. Sowell, one of America’s most celebrated public intellectuals, describes in concrete detail how knowledge is shared and disseminated throughout modern society. He warns that society suffers from an ever-widening gap between firsthand knowledge and decision making—a gap that threatens not only our economic and political efficiency but our very freedom.
-
-
Brilliant. Required material for modern humans
- By Matt on 2018-04-26
Written by: Thomas Sowell
-
Discrimination and Disparities
- Written by: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discrimination and Disparities challenges believers in such one-factor explanations of economic outcome differences as discrimination, exploitation, or genetics. It is listenable enough for people with no prior knowledge of economics. Yet the empirical evidence with which it backs up its analysis spans the globe and challenges beliefs across the ideological spectrum.
-
-
Essential to understanding the world in all times.
- By Conrad on 2019-01-19
Written by: Thomas Sowell
-
Wealth, Poverty, and Politics
- An International Perspective
- Written by: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: David Cochran Heath
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Wealth, Poverty, and Politics, Thomas Sowell, one of the foremost conservative public intellectuals in the country, argues that political and ideological struggles have led to dangerous confusion about income inequality in America. Pundits and politically motivated economists trumpet ambiguous statistics and sensational theories while ignoring the true determinant of income inequality: the production of wealth.
-
-
Perspective Shattering
- By Stefanie on 2021-05-28
Written by: Thomas Sowell
-
Basic Economics, Fifth Edition
- A Common Sense Guide to the Economy
- Written by: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 23 hrs and 47 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this fifth edition of Basic Economics, Thomas Sowell revises and updates his popular book on commonsense economics, bringing the world into clearer focus through a basic understanding of the fundamental economic principles and how they explain our lives. Drawing on lively examples from around the world and from centuries of history, Sowell explains basic economic principles for the general public in plain English.
-
-
Basic Fundamentals with a Helping of Bias
- By Bennymac on 2020-09-10
Written by: Thomas Sowell
-
Intellectuals and Race
- Written by: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Intellectuals and Race is a radical book in the original sense - one that goes to the root of the problem. The role of intellectuals in racial strife is explored in an international context that puts the American experience in a wholly new light. The book explores the incentives, the visions, and the rationales that drive intellectuals at the highest levels to conclusions that have often turned out to be counterproductive and even disastrous, not only for particular racial or ethnic groups but for societies as a whole.
-
-
great book
- By Amazon Customer on 2021-09-17
Written by: Thomas Sowell
-
The Road to Serfdom, the Definitive Edition
- Text and Documents
- Written by: F. A. Hayek, Bruce Caldwell - editor
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unimpeachable classic work in political philosophy, intellectual and cultural history, and economics, The Road to Serfdom has inspired and infuriated politicians, scholars, and the public for half a century. Originally published in 1944 - when Eleanor Roosevelt supported the efforts of Stalin, and Albert Einstein subscribed lock, stock, and barrel to the socialist program - The Road to Serfdom was seen as heretical for its passionate warning against the dangers of state control over the means of production.
-
-
Mandatory reading for the apathetic masses
- By Amazon Customer on 2021-11-28
Written by: F. A. Hayek, and others
-
Speechless
- Controlling Words, Controlling Minds
- Written by: Michael Knowles
- Narrated by: Michael Knowles
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Number one nationally best-selling author and political commentator Michael Knowles masterfully traces the history and effects of political correctness from the early 20th century to the present, revealing its insidious roots, exposing the power-hungry language architects behind its ever-growing control, and examining what this concerted manipulation of speech means for the future of American culture, politics, and minds.
-
-
classic Knowles
- By mike on 2021-07-13
Written by: Michael Knowles
-
Unmasked
- Inside Antifa's Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy
- Written by: Andy Ngo
- Narrated by: Cecil Harold
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Andy Ngo was attacked in the streets by antifa in the summer of 2019, most people assumed it was an isolated incident. But those who'd been following Ngo's reporting in outlets like the New York Post and Quillette knew that the attack was only the latest in a long line of crimes perpetrated by antifa.
-
-
Must read!
- By Sean Field on 2021-03-13
Written by: Andy Ngo
-
Free to Choose
- A Personal Statement
- Written by: Milton Friedman, Rose Friedman
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milton Friedman and his wife, Rose, teamed up to write this most convincing and readable guide, which illustrates the crucial link between Adam Smith's capitalism and the free society. They show how freedom has been eroded and prosperity undermined through the rapid growth of governmental agencies, laws, and regulations.
-
-
Economic Masterwork
- By Kindle Customer on 2020-06-02
Written by: Milton Friedman, and others
-
Economic Facts and Fallacies
- Written by: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Economic Facts and Fallacies is designed for people who want to understand economic issues without getting bogged down in economic jargon, graphs, or political rhetoric. Writing in a lively manner that does not require any prior knowledge of economics, Thomas Sowell exposes some of the most popular fallacies about economic issues, including many that are widely disseminated in the media and by politicians.
-
-
Every person needs to hear this
- By Amazon Customer on 2017-10-30
Written by: Thomas Sowell
-
Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom
- Written by: Dr. Patrick Moore
- Narrated by: Amy L. Strayer
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It dawned on me one day that most of the scare stories in the media today are based on things that are either invisible, like CO2 and radiation, or very remote, like polar bears and coral reefs. Thus, the average person cannot observe and verify the truth of these claims for themselves. They must rely on activists, the media, politicians, and scientists - all of whom have a huge financial and/or political interest in the subject - to tell them the truth.
-
-
Great book and insightful
- By Richard Leger on 2021-07-20
Written by: Dr. Patrick Moore
Publisher's Summary
This is a study of how intellectuals as a class affect modern societies by shaping the climate of opinion in which official policies develop, on issues ranging from economics to law to war and peace.
The thesis of Intellectuals and Society is that the influence of intellectuals is not only greater than in previous eras but also takes a very different form from that envisioned by those like Machiavelli and others who have wanted to directly influence rulers. It has not been by shaping the opinions or directing the actions of the holders of power that modern intellectuals have most influenced the course of events, but by shaping public opinion in ways that affect the actions of power holders in democratic societies, whether or not those power holders accept the general vision or the particular policies favored by intellectuals. Even government leaders with disdain or contempt for intellectuals have had to bend to the climate of opinion shaped by those intellectuals.
Intellectuals and Society not only examines the track record of intellectuals in the things they have advocated but also analyzes the incentives and constraints under which their views and visions have emerged. One of the most surprising aspects of this study is how often intellectuals have been proved not only wrong, but grossly and disastrously wrong in their prescriptions for the ills of society-- and how little their views have changed in response to empirical evidence of the disasters entailed by those views.
More from the same
What listeners say about Intellectuals and Society
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Hareishun S
- 2022-06-22
More Facts, not rhetoric, from Dr. Sowell
An excellent review of the negative effects that intellectuals can have, and their arrogant motivations.
Written in 2007, it is hauntingly predictive of the damage the intellectuals have done to Western society.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 2022-04-07
Must read!
Sowell has a way of opening your eyes to the fallacies that become embedded during a busy life.
-
Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 2022-01-24
eye opening to failure of the teachers and profs
very good professors who are so high on thier own thoughts fail In the general protection of the people they believe they know better than practically driven results in history should always be learned not filtered for personal gain
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nick
- 2021-09-30
An Expose on Troubled Interface of Society and Intellectuals
A very well argued and presented position by a man of high intellect. Very well worth not just reading but also studying.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 2021-08-31
I have read many great books but this one is #1
By a large margin this is the greatest book I have ever read. I am going to do what ever I can to get others to read it. The most relevant book of our time. Should be required reading for anyone wanting to understand modern society.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- matthew
- 2021-07-10
Incredible
Might be the best book I have ever [read]. Sowell is truly brilliant and does a great job of making his case.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- HarryH
- 2021-04-18
Incredibly well written
Unfortunately, those that really need to listen to this book will shy from it. It's a fantastic read and well worth your time.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Paul
- 2021-03-27
Thomas Sowell is masterful
Great evaluation of so called intellectuals who negatively influence our society . This book is a great reference point to The current scamdemic lockdowns were being forced to endure . I love how Sowell uses historical references to back up his positions . He’s a brilliant man . This was my 1st T. SOWELL read & I must say I’m blown away . Bravo must read .
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tyrel O'Bray
- 2019-08-07
Pleasant to listen to, loved it for the most part
Loved the book. Narration was perfect and easy to listen to. I thought Sowell's conception of the vision of the annointed was right on the money in the attitudes of lots of people, not just intellectuals. The stuff on war was interesting, although I am skeptical of some of Sowell's views on that topic. I agreed with almost everything else.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rodrigo Viriato
- 2018-10-13
Mind opening book
Book explains why and how intellectuals exercise disastrous influences on society with detailed explanations and an abundance of examples.
I would say that this book is fundamental to understand present times.
-
Overall

- Justin
- 2010-05-06
Biased but good
Wow! I have to admit this was a book that forced me to look up quite a few words, but it was worth it to figure out exactly what concept the author was trying to convey. This book has strong biases against "Intellectuals" as defined by the author, but he makes excellent points on how society is sometimes hindered by the elitist mentality that is becoming more prevalent in our higher education system graduates and government officials.
To sum up the author's concept as best I can: There is a select, but growing group of individuals who feel that society should be run by the smartest and most educated. That this group of select few will do a better job of running society and deciding what is best for the not-so-educated, not-so-smart masses.
He fundamentally believes that this approach is complete folly.
The author repeatedly challenges this concept and gives numerous examples (some good and some really biased) of how this method of leading society is flawed.
Well worth the read if only to challenge yourself to look at things differently.
38 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Kindle Customer
- 2013-08-17
I find Thomas Sowell fascinating
I have to confess that I find Thomas Sowell fascinating. I read his book “Economic Facts and Fallacies” and I have read many more. I enjoy watching him one “Youtube.” The man has a fantastic mind, he is able to tie real problems and solutions to real outcomes. He does not need to invent, slander or use pejoratives to attach those that disagree. His logic, history, facts and reality prove him right over and over again
.
I love this book. I enjoyed every bit of it, and I love how Dr. Sowell ties every bit of the intelligentsia’s rhetoric back facts, numbers, reality, and history. The book follows Dr. Sowell’s thoughts on most of the materials I have read. There is nothing new here, except the ability to read Dr. Sowell’s thought. He is unapologetic, honest and forthright. Unlike the Intellectuals who will attack him personally, he has honor, and real intelligence. This work will never rise to fame, as he pulls the blinds open on the Intelligentsia, but it is a great read, even if you don’t care for Thomas Sowell.
36 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- Benjamin
- 2010-02-10
Ignore the Leftists who review based off Summaries
I've read many reviews of Dr. Sowell's books and I think it's a common occurrence that those who often review his books with a single star read a few summaries whereby they feel they have become knowledgeable enough to review his works. The reviewers on this page are doing a considerable disservice by writing politically charged reviews before they even read the book.
With that said, I agree with a previous reviewer that "Intellectuals and Society" is a rehashing of some of Dr. Sowell's previous works, but it is nevertheless an excellent account with contemporary additions of the history of intellectual influence on culture.
It's ironic that the reviewer who called Dr. Sowell "anti-intellectual" was actually contributing to the truth of his thesis that intellectuals are not in favor of intellectual history, they are only in favor of promoting their own particular world view.
The ideas have been hashed out in many of his previous works, but some of the contemporary additions are worth the buy. If you have never read Thomas Sowell, "Intellectuals and Society" is an excellent introduction as it is very accessible.
36 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Gare&Sophia
- 2012-12-05
An efficient attack on liberal philosophy.
This author is intelligent and mission oriented. He has taken the liberal line and found many cogent attacks on its margins and fissures. His tone is condsending, and he can be quite harsh. However, if you are a liberal I recommend this book to understand the conservative line. If you are a conservative this book will fit very well into your worldview.
He makes so good point about how the liberal model, that we can do better, is often at variance with actual experience. Yet, a good innoculation to his retoric would be the books; The working poor, and The new Jim Crow. These books counter all of the arguments that are passionately offered in this work.
However, all in all, I found this book to be informative and interesting.
35 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- Amazon Customer
- 2010-02-02
Very Good, But Re-warmed Visions of the Annointed
I am a big fam of Thomas Sowell's writings and have been since I read Visions of the Annointed a few years ago. That said, having read the former, I was disappointed that this book was really little more than a re-warmed version of VOtA. If you have read VOtA, I would not suggest thsi book. If not, It is a worthy read and sheds light on the tricks played by intellectuals and the followers to skew reality to match their vision.
29 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- John Robert BEHRMAN
- 2010-04-08
So?
If you want to listen to a book about bad things intellectuals say, this is for you. If you want to listen to a book about the effect of intellectuals on society, this is not for you.
I picked this book up because my first reaction was "oh, they're not important," and the spine says he thinks they are. He then proceeds to critique intellectualism, rather than show its import.
It's not really about "how" intellectuals influence society, it's about the annoying things lefties say and why they're annoying and why they've been wrong. Fine. So what?
Nothing in this book says a thing about whether the bad influence of intellectuals is (1) abnormal, (2) solvable, (3) important, or (4) anything else. Nor does he show how his arguments are peculiar to intellectuals - for example, he points out that lots of intellectuals supported Hitler. This is true. How many? Were there more or fewer intellectuals among his supporters than non-intellectuals? That he critiques this intellectual lapse in others and then indulges in it undermines his credibility.
When he defines intellectuals, he's very consistent (people who trade in ideas as an occupation), but he does not enforce that consistency throughout the book. You hear the definition at the beginning and end, and it's never mentioned in the middle. He has some strange lacunae in his thought regarding intellectuals - For example, he never says that economists are intellectuals, yet sometimes he says that intellectuals need to study more economics, and other times he calles Keynes and Galbraith (lefty economists) intellectuals. Similarly, it's very unclear whether he considers judges intellectuals.
28 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- Adriana
- 2010-09-19
Silly me
Before I downloaded this book I read reviews from readers and thought they were biased. It should have been a clue that the only good reviews came from people that actually felt inspired to "look up words" as a result of this book.
I wish I could say something good about it. Maybe, maybe, his analysis of the pre-war France has some redeeming value, but you can get that somewhere else without having to suffer through the rest of the book.
The rest of the book is a long rant against 'the anointed," which would be all the leftist intellectuals that he does not agree with. He makes generalized assertions about what other people think and believe, why they believe it, without any supporting evidence. He talks at length about misinformation and evidence that is being ignored, forgetting to present much more than generalized ball-park statistics you'd get on Wikipedia. There was one instance of 'evidence' he presented in his book to show how the intellectuals misinform the public: he actually used national averages of crime rates to dismiss arguments based on local averages of crime rates. Hello, statistics 101: you can't do that! It's apples and oranges.
Anyone with a college degree would be one of the anointed and very dangerous to all living things. Slavery, racism, domestic violence, the horrors of the Vietnam war (yes, he argues that the war should have been fought until victory was achieved, whatever that meant, and victory was possible - sound familiar?), poverty, all that are merely inventions of the anointed. They were not all that bad!
It's rediculous that he does not even bother (probably because he has no clue) with the empirical branches of the disciplines he disparages. The validation of their theories do come from actual empirical evidence, which I wished the author knew how to interpret. I suppose theoretical physics and mathematics is similarly useless per his definition.
25 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Wayne
- 2015-12-07
Dr. Thomas Sowell is a national treasure
I continue to write reviews of the very best of the many hundreds books in my Audible library that I listened to before I started routinely writing reviews. Intellectuals and Society is fits in that category.
Sowell is a PhD economist who also is black. His economics books are best read and studied in printed format, but his books, columns, and essays on history, culture, and and current events are a great fit for the audiobook format. Dr. Sowell is now in his 80's but he remains prolific. On my list of public people I most admire he ranks #1!
In this audiobook Sowell makes the case that most intellectuals are arrogant and lack common sense, and that their views have far more sway on public opinion and policy than is justified. His case is a strong one that is supported by a multitude of examples.
18 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- Justin
- 2010-04-25
A Must Read
This book is a must read for everyone, both Right and Left. The Right will agree with almost everything in this book. The Left, well if you have an open mind, you might learn a thing or two.
A good companion to this book would be Hayek's "Intellectuals and Socialism" and Mises "Liberalism" and "Socialism." I'd r also recommend reading Conflict of Visions, before this book, since Dr. Sowell pulls a lot of material from it.
18 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- Andrew
- 2010-02-05
Couldn't finish
While Sowell may be making good points, I thought his ideas hypocritical. He blasted academics and intellectuals as overstepping their expertise, but his opinions of historical outcomes obviously were overstepping his expertise as well. Unless he could actually be the "annoited one".
18 people found this helpful