Listen free for 30 days
-
The Enigma of Clarence Thomas
- Narrated by: Larry Herron
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Politics & Activism
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £23.39
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Why We're Polarized
- By: Ezra Klein
- Narrated by: Ezra Klein
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Why We're Polarised, Klein reveals the structural and psychological forces behind America's descent into division and dysfunction. Neither a polemic nor a lament, this book offers a clear framework for understanding everything from Trump's rise to the Democratic Party's leftward shift to the politicisation of everyday culture. America is polarised, first and foremost, by identity. Everyone engaged in American politics is engaged, at some level, in identity politics.
-
-
A great guide to modern politics
- By Jake carbone on 25-04-20
-
Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone
- By: Astra Taylor
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is no shortage of democracy, at least in name, and yet it is in crisis everywhere we look. From a cabal of plutocrats in the White House to gerrymandering and dark-money campaign contributions, it is clear that the principle of government by and for the people is not living up to its promise. The problems lie deeper than any one election cycle. As Astra Taylor demonstrates, real democracy - fully inclusive and completely egalitarian - has in fact never existed. In a tone that is both philosophical and anecdotal, Taylor invites us to reexamine the term.
-
Capitalism and Slavery
- By: Eric Williams
- Narrated by: Bill Andrew Quinn
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Arguing that the slave trade was at the heart of Britain's economic progress, Eric Williams' landmark 1944 study revealed the connections between capitalism and racism and has influenced generations of historians ever since. Williams traces the rise and fall of the Atlantic slave trade through the 18th and 19th centuries to show how it laid the foundations of the Industrial Revolution, and how racism arose as a means of rationalising an economic decision.
-
Women, Race & Class
- Penguin Modern Classics
- By: Angela Y. Davis
- Narrated by: Angela Y. Davis, Natalie Simpson
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ranging from the age of slavery to contemporary injustices, this groundbreaking history of race, gender and class inequality by the radical political activist Angela Davis offers an alternative view of female struggles for liberation. Tracing the intertwined histories of the abolitionist and women's suffrage movements, Davis examines the racism and class prejudice inherent in so much of white feminism, and in doing so brings to light new pioneering heroines, from field slaves to mill workers, who fought back and refused to accept the lives into which they were born.
-
-
Powerful, Articulate and Relevant
- By LadyV on 21-06-21
-
From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation
- By: Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
- Narrated by: Mia Ellis
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this stirring and insightful analysis, activist and scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor surveys the historical and contemporary ravages of racism and the persistence of structural inequality such as mass incarceration and Black unemployment. In this context, she argues that this new struggle against police violence holds the potential to reignite a broader push for Black liberation.
-
-
Importante book and excellent performance
- By Katita on 12-03-21
-
Libertarianism
- A Primer
- By: David Boaz
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David Boaz presents the essential guidebook to the libertarian perspective, detailing its roots, central tenets, solutions to contemporary policy dilemmas, and future in American politics. He confronts head-on the tough questions frequently posed to libertarians: What about inequality? Who protects the environment? What ties people together if they are essentially self-interested?
-
-
US based Libertarianism
- By Amazon Customer on 05-11-10
-
Why We're Polarized
- By: Ezra Klein
- Narrated by: Ezra Klein
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Why We're Polarised, Klein reveals the structural and psychological forces behind America's descent into division and dysfunction. Neither a polemic nor a lament, this book offers a clear framework for understanding everything from Trump's rise to the Democratic Party's leftward shift to the politicisation of everyday culture. America is polarised, first and foremost, by identity. Everyone engaged in American politics is engaged, at some level, in identity politics.
-
-
A great guide to modern politics
- By Jake carbone on 25-04-20
-
Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone
- By: Astra Taylor
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is no shortage of democracy, at least in name, and yet it is in crisis everywhere we look. From a cabal of plutocrats in the White House to gerrymandering and dark-money campaign contributions, it is clear that the principle of government by and for the people is not living up to its promise. The problems lie deeper than any one election cycle. As Astra Taylor demonstrates, real democracy - fully inclusive and completely egalitarian - has in fact never existed. In a tone that is both philosophical and anecdotal, Taylor invites us to reexamine the term.
-
Capitalism and Slavery
- By: Eric Williams
- Narrated by: Bill Andrew Quinn
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Arguing that the slave trade was at the heart of Britain's economic progress, Eric Williams' landmark 1944 study revealed the connections between capitalism and racism and has influenced generations of historians ever since. Williams traces the rise and fall of the Atlantic slave trade through the 18th and 19th centuries to show how it laid the foundations of the Industrial Revolution, and how racism arose as a means of rationalising an economic decision.
-
Women, Race & Class
- Penguin Modern Classics
- By: Angela Y. Davis
- Narrated by: Angela Y. Davis, Natalie Simpson
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ranging from the age of slavery to contemporary injustices, this groundbreaking history of race, gender and class inequality by the radical political activist Angela Davis offers an alternative view of female struggles for liberation. Tracing the intertwined histories of the abolitionist and women's suffrage movements, Davis examines the racism and class prejudice inherent in so much of white feminism, and in doing so brings to light new pioneering heroines, from field slaves to mill workers, who fought back and refused to accept the lives into which they were born.
-
-
Powerful, Articulate and Relevant
- By LadyV on 21-06-21
-
From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation
- By: Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
- Narrated by: Mia Ellis
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this stirring and insightful analysis, activist and scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor surveys the historical and contemporary ravages of racism and the persistence of structural inequality such as mass incarceration and Black unemployment. In this context, she argues that this new struggle against police violence holds the potential to reignite a broader push for Black liberation.
-
-
Importante book and excellent performance
- By Katita on 12-03-21
-
Libertarianism
- A Primer
- By: David Boaz
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David Boaz presents the essential guidebook to the libertarian perspective, detailing its roots, central tenets, solutions to contemporary policy dilemmas, and future in American politics. He confronts head-on the tough questions frequently posed to libertarians: What about inequality? Who protects the environment? What ties people together if they are essentially self-interested?
-
-
US based Libertarianism
- By Amazon Customer on 05-11-10
-
Home in the World
- A Memoir
- By: Amartya Sen
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Where is 'home'? For Amartya Sen home has been many places - Dhaka in modern Bangladesh, where he grew up; the village of Santiniketan, where he was raised by his grandparents as much as by his parents; Calcutta, where he first studied economics and was active in student movements and Trinity College, Cambridge, to which he came aged 19. Sen brilliantly recreates the atmosphere in each of these.
-
-
Inappropriate reader, perhaps?
- By Jane on 04-08-22
-
War for Eternity
- The Return of Traditionalism and the Rise of the Populist Right
- By: Benjamin R. Teitelbaum
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since the early 20th century, Traditionalism has defined itself against modernity and Enlightenment values. Traditionalist thinkers such as René Guénon and Julius Evola celebrated hierarchy, denounced the idea of progress and regarded liberal secularism, capitalism and communism as aligned forces working to replace social, cultural and political norms. Through exclusive interviews and deep historical context, Teitelbaum reveals the radical worldview infusing the thinking of powerful actors and inspiring a renegade reinterpretation of humanity, geopolitics and history.
-
-
Revelations on a global scale.
- By Anonymous User on 28-07-20
-
Antiracist Generation
- How to Cure the World from Racism and Discrimination in 2020
- By: Malcom Maud
- Narrated by: Tabatha
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The outrage and protests over the senseless killing of George Floyd along with the brutality and unsensitivity often shown by the police against Black men have caused the general public to stop and consider racism as a serious issue in this country. It has been a problem for many, many years. Overcoming racism will not be easy, but it is a worthy goal.
-
Anti-Racism Race, Racism, Racists & You
- An Introduction to Racism Education for Kids, Teenagers, Adults & Parents
- By: Byron X Black
- Narrated by: Jason Offen
- Length: 3 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Are you sick of racism? Can you see us building better solutions to a racist world? Now is the time to educate our children, friends, and family into creating a non-racist future for all. Byron X Black is a lead psychological and historical expert. Specializing with African American clients, he is a leading mindset coach and confidence speaker and business mentor at mindset mastership.
-
-
Recommended
- By Margaret Zimmer on 25-11-20
-
The Stakes
- America at the Point of No Return
- By: Michael Anton
- Narrated by: Dan Crue
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two months before the 2016 presidential election, an anonymously published essay titled "The Flight 93 Election" rallied conservatives to charge the cockpit by voting for Trump. Michael Anton, the author of that controversial viral essay, now says that the last few years have only served to prove his Flight 93 thesis: The left has become more aggressive, more vindictive, and more dangerous - and the stakes have never been higher.
-
Guilty by Reason of Insanity
- Why the Democrats Must Not Win
- By: David Limbaugh
- Narrated by: Jeff Gurner
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Number-one national best-selling author David Limbaugh warns Americans about the 2020 elections - and why the Democratic Party must not win.
-
-
Guilty
- By ZOE R on 26-11-19
-
The Condemnation of Blackness
- Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America
- By: Khalil Gibran Muhammad
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lynch mobs, chain gangs, and popular views of black Southern criminals that defined the Jim Crow South are well known. We know less about the role of the urban North in shaping views of race and crime in American society. Chronicling the emergence of deeply embedded notions of black people as a dangerous race of criminals by explicit contrast to working-class whites and European immigrants, this fascinating book reveals the influence such ideas have had on urban development and social policies.
-
The Great Divide
- The Conflict Between Washington and Jefferson That Defined a Nation
- By: Thomas Fleming
- Narrated by: David Rapkin
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
History tends to cast the early years of America in a glow of camaraderie, when there were, in fact, many conflicts between the Founding Fathers--none more important than the one between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Their disagreement centered on the highest, most original public office created by the Constitutional Convention: the presidency. It also involved the nation's foreign policy, the role of merchants and farmers in a republic, and the durability of the union.
-
Stop the Hate: How to Fight Racism and Asian Hate
- Discrimination Around the World: Black Lives Matter
- By: Dan Gan
- Narrated by: Robert L Duncan
- Length: 3 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Recently, the topic of discrimination is spiking across the country. Crimes out of hate and races happen over and over again, both including Asian hate and Black Lives Matter. We are so tired of this nonsense, and we want to stop the hate once for all. Innocent people are dying just because of their look and skin tone. This is ridiculous! We have to stop this craziness. In this audiobook, we will deeply talk about different stereotypes against minorities and crime cases all over the world! If you are one of anti-racism, this audiobook is a perfect fit for you.
-
-
Interesting history and analysis
- By Daisy Days on 11-05-22
-
Dismantling America
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
These wide-ranging essays - on many individual political, economic, cultural, and legal issues - have as a recurring, underlying theme the decline of the values and institutions that have sustained and advanced American society for more than two centuries. This decline has been more than erosion. It has, in many cases, been a deliberate dismantling of American values and institutions by people convinced that their superior wisdom and virtue must override both the traditions of the country and the will of the people.
-
-
excellent book.
- By William John HAWKINS on 15-01-22
-
The Future of Freedom
- Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad
- By: Fareed Zakaria
- Narrated by: Ned Schmidtke
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
American democracy is, in many people's minds, the model for the rest of the world. Fareed Zakaria points out that the American form of democracy is one of the least democratic in use today. Members of the Supreme Court and the Federal Reserve, institutions that fundamentally shape our lives, are appointed, not elected. The Bill of Rights enumerates a set of privileges to which citizens are entitled, no matter what the majority says. By restricting our democracy, we enhance our freedom.
-
-
Far from boring
- By Amazon Customer on 05-12-21
-
Intellectuals and Society
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
One of the most important books of this century
- By George Dunbar on 22-02-19
Summary
The Enigma of Clarence Thomas is a groundbreaking revisionist take on the Supreme Court justice everyone knows about but no one knows.
Most people can tell you two things about Clarence Thomas: Anita Hill accused him of sexual harassment, and he almost never speaks from the bench. Here are some things they don’t know: Thomas is a Black nationalist. In college he memorized the speeches of Malcolm X. He believes white people are incurably racist.
In the first examination of its kind, Corey Robin - one of the foremost analysts of the right - delves deeply into both Thomas’s biography and his jurisprudence, masterfully reading his Supreme Court opinions against the backdrop of his autobiographical and political writings and speeches. The hidden source of Thomas’s conservative views, Robin shows, is a profound skepticism that racism can be overcome. Thomas is convinced that any government action on behalf of African-Americans will be tainted by racism; the most African-Americans can hope for is that white people will get out of their way.
There’s a reason, Robin concludes, why liberals often complain that Thomas doesn’t speak but seldom pay attention when he does. Were they to listen, they’d hear a racial pessimism that often sounds similar to their own. Cutting across the ideological spectrum, this unacknowledged consensus about the impossibility of progress is key to understanding today’s political stalemate.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Enigma of Clarence Thomas
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Zen
- 28-09-19
Fascinating book but too many mispronunciations
Dear Audible: Please use your influence with audiobooks producers to ensure that narrators get basic pronunciations right. I enjoyed Larry Herron's warm and clear voice, but he mispronounced way too many words. For example, "peremptory" was repeatedly pronounced "pre-emptory," "mores" was pronounced phonetically, and a number of fairly common names were mispronounced. While this might not be a big deal to some, it's fingernails across a chalkboard to me and suggests a lack of care. It also sometimes sends me running to the dictionary to make sure I haven't been mispronouncing those words all these years. IMO, mispronounced words/names in an audiobook are about as bad as misspellings in print books. Come on, man!
That said, I appreciate Audible's providing a PDF of footnotes and I hope it will be better about including notes and visual materials that have not been included with many other audiobooks.
As to the content of the book, I've always been interested in what fuels Thomas' unconventional and sometimes ugly jurisprudence. Mainly using Thomas' speeches, articles, and opinions, Robin sets out some provocative but well-supported theories. In Robin's view, Thomas is intent on destroying liberal remedies to racial injustice because they only exacerbate the problem. As one remedy, Thomas generalizes his grandfather's response to racism by being a good capitalist and patriarch as the prescription for how all other black people (or black males) should conduct themselves, apparently without much regard for their own widely varying circumstances. As Robin puts it, "At the heart of Justice Thomas’s jurisprudence, then, is a belief that the market is effective and politics is pointless." That's actually a relatively tame notion of Robin's and there's much more; please read reviews such as those in the NYT and NR for far better analyses.
Thomas' life story is in some ways compelling and his views are important in the debate on race, but AFAIC, it's a shame that someone with such a bleak and severe outlook on race, law, and society is sitting on our Supreme Court. Though I'm not entirely sold on Robin's views, this book is engaging, informative and very readable (or listenable) given the sometimes complex subject matter.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Brandon Lee
- 22-12-19
Wow! Unbelievably thorough and "squarely" written
The narration was excellent. "Race, Capitolsm, and Constitution" each showcases man and the United States tension and battle to contain nature and man/societies existence within that nature.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Terrence Franklin
- 30-07-22
Enlightening, Disheartening
The author's assessment of Thomas is grim and fearsome. Through Thomas's opinions and public pronouncements, the author describes Thomas's dystopian vision of an America that will never overcome its racism, through political institutions.
Thomas's view is that if we let the Constitution do what it was meant to do that Black men will eventually understand that political answers to the effects of racism are futile, and that Black men (yes, men. Women should follow) must be forced to accept their patriarchal role as leaders and struggle for economic independence to fight for their families.
If this is his vision--dark, hopeless, cynical, then the worst thing about it is his unique position of power to impose it on everyone else as he sits on the Court until he dies or retires.
The reader was good, but there were some odd emphases "privileges, or immunites" instead of "privileges or immunities" or a misquote of Oliver Wendell Holmes. I wonder if the author had a chance to listen
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- michael j hemming
- 15-07-22
A Conservative Black Nationalist
Clarence Thomas has a different view of a black persons struggle to succeed in this country. He is critical of the civil rights laws for black Americans but used those laws to achieve success in this country. He was definitely influenced by his grandfather who raised him, but has no respect for the poor black females who end up on welfare with children born out of wedlock. I was left with the impression that he believes separate but equal is fine. He seems to be a hypocrite. He was only able to achieve success by using the civil rights laws that he rejects.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Keith Swanson
- 26-01-22
Learned some things
It revealed some things I didn't know about Thomas and confirmed things I did. I had no clue that he started as a young radical Black Nationalist and a Black Panther. The book never really explained what really changed his world view.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Charles T Olson
- 13-10-21
Defining the judge through his action
I think the enigma is better understood although some of the central conflicts in his character are not addressed it's more of a declarative piece about how he thinks by indirectly arguing through facts of his life. I don't know if he really proves his thesis but it does lend a lot of new information and insight about this guy who appears to be in the main stream of the direction of the supreme Court
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Samantha
- 14-12-20
interesting biography pp
Enjoyed the presentation, just thought there should be a little more context given to Thomas's ideas.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Robert A Westfall
- 02-10-20
interesting and vital
really fascinating biography and analysis of a person and politics I (and I assume many others) had little understanding of before. Corey's suggestion that we interrogate the premises and assumptions he lays out in Thomas's politics which the left often shares is especially urgent and compelling
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- HANS MULLER
- 18-05-20
Finished it in a single day!
A fascinating if unnerving intellectual biography. I will read Thomas' court decisions in a different light from this point onward.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- jacob
- 06-10-19
The single worst book ever written.
This book is nothing more than propaganda, full of lies and ignominious statements about Clarence Thomas. The performance is amateur at best, and the book was written poorly. The author should be ashamed of this body of work.
10 people found this helpful