Showing results by author "Blake Carter" in All Categories

From the outside, it looks easy to explain. Rain. Trees. Coffee. A few volcanoes. People in fleece jackets who pretend they are not staring at the mountains even though they absolutely are. But that version of Washington leaves out nearly everything that matters. This is a history of a place built on contradiction. Rain forests and deserts. Ports and wheat fields. Counterculture coffee shops and irrigation canals. Fierce environmental protection alongside relentless industrial ambition. A state that argues constantly with itself and somehow survives stronger for it.

Georgia has always been the South’s wild card. It built empires from cotton, birthed legends of justice, produced presidents, shaped hip hop, hosted the world, and flipped national elections when no one was looking. But beneath the peaches and pageantry lies a history of resistance, reinvention, and relentless contradiction.

Irreverent Maine: Lobsters, Lumber, and Legendary Weirdness is a history that refuses to be polite. From the Wabanaki and the first bumbling European settlers to lobster feasts and lobster wars, from Civil War heroes and shipwrecked sailors to eccentric governors and ghost stories, this book tells Maine’s story with humor, grit, and a healthy dose of sarcasm.

Puerto Rico is more than beaches and postcards, it is a centuries-long experiment in survival, rebellion, and rhythm. From the first Taíno villages to the sugar empires, from Spanish fortresses to American bureaucracy, the island has been conquered, taxed, forgotten, and reborn more times than anyone can count. In Rum, Revolution, and Resilience, Jordan Blake Carter uncorks five hundred years of history with equal parts humor and honesty. The result is a portrait of an island that keeps rebuilding itself, through hurricanes, politics, and colonial hangovers without ever losing its flavor.

It's been almost a year since I've seen her, the only woman that's ever gotten under my skin, and made me wish I was a better man. More than just the washed up hockey player, turned sports journalist whose body is almost as scarred as his soul. Now, she's pregnant with my brother's baby. A baby he wants nothing to do with. And he's asked me to clean up his mess. I have no intention of offering her the deal he's laid out. I have a deal of my own. One that will finally make her mine.

Welcome to Florida, the only state that could turn a swamp into a spectacle and a scandal into a tourist attraction. From conquistadors chasing myths to retirees chasing golf balls, Sunburns, Scandals, and Swamp Things tells the story of America’s strangest state with humor, heart, and just enough truth to sting. Historian and essayist Jordan Blake Carter takes listeners on a wild ride through five centuries of chaos and charisma, uncovering the patterns that make Florida both paradise and punchline.

Arkansas has always been the state people forget about — until it suddenly crashes onto the front page with diamonds in cow pastures, dueling governors, civil rights battles, or a president from a town called Hope. Mocked as a land of barefoot hillbillies and moonshine stills, praised for its wild rivers and stubborn resilience, Arkansas has never fit neatly into anyone’s box. Irreverent History of Arkansas: Diamonds, Deliverance, and Razorbacks takes listeners on a wry, sharp-eyed tour through the state’s messy past.

In this clear, compassionate guide, Jordan Blake Carter offers practical tools and research-based insight to help you better understand the impacts of CPTSD—and begin the slow, steady process of healing. This audiobook combines trauma education with actionable strategies to support nervous system regulation, emotional resilience, and long-term recovery.

A pigeon with a shattered leg who saved two hundred soldiers. A sled dog who ran through Arctic storms to deliver life-saving medicine. A stray from Moscow who became the first living creature in space. Throughout history, animals have done far more than stand in the background. They’ve carried messages through battlefields, hauled explorers across frozen wilderness, rescued the lost, and even helped unlock the secrets of science. Some were celebrated with medals and monuments. Others faded into obscurity, their courage nearly forgotten.

When wealthy heiress Victoria Glass vanishes without a trace, seasoned detective Miles Harper expects another ordinary missing-person case. But the deeper he digs, the more the city itself seems to watch him.

New Hampshire’s industrial revolution didn’t unfold in quiet workshops. It exploded along the rivers in a storm of spinning frames, flooded mills, and enough cotton lint to make the mountains sneeze.

Wyoming may call itself the Equality State, but its history is anything but straightforward. Beneath the wide skies and cowboy swagger lies a story of contradictions: pioneers chasing dreams while leaving grave markers in wagon ruts, cattle barons hiring mercenaries to crush small ranchers, outlaws turning into tourist mascots, and politicians railing against federal overreach while cashing federal checks. And let’s not forget Yellowstone, where bears once begged for marshmallows and tourists still try to pet bison.

America tells itself it was born in freedom and perfected through progress. The truth is harder to look at. For more than two hundred years, the government has used its own armies and laws to control the very people it claims to protect, from the soldiers who crushed the Whiskey Rebellion to the police who fired on students at Kent State. Friendly Fire is a fearless and often darkly funny exploration of how power in America defends itself.

Every animal deserves safety, dignity, and love. Paws on the Ground shows you how to help—whether you have a spare room for fostering, a few hours to volunteer, or simply a voice to share adoption stories online.

Connecticut loves to market itself as reasonable, refined, and reliably well behaved. The truth is far more fun. Clocks, Constitution, and Contradictions dives into the offbeat, dramatic, and frequently ridiculous history hiding under the Nutmeg State’s polished veneer.

New York never learned to whisper. It shouts, sings, honks, and argues its way through four centuries of chaos, creativity, and contradiction. From the Haudenosaunee confederacy to Wall Street excess, from canal diggers to coffee-shop philosophers, Empire, Egos, and Everything Bagels takes listeners on a wild, witty ride through the Empire State’s tangled past.

In Blizzards, Banks, and Bakken: An Irreverent History of North Dakota, Jordan Blake Carter takes listeners on a journey across two centuries of stubborn survival. Meet the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara who built thriving river towns long before statehood. March with the populists who took over their own government in the name of fairness. Survive the Dust Bowl, the Depression, and the floods that nearly swallowed cities whole. Then stand in the glow of oil rigs and Friday-night stadium lights, watching a state still learning how to balance change with endurance.

In Gold, Guns, and Grizzlies, Jordan Blake Carter takes you through the hilarious, gritty, and often absurd history of the Treasure State. You’ll meet vigilantes who hanged more neighbors than outlaws, homesteaders who discovered optimism is not a substitute for rainfall, and tourists who thought bison were selfie-friendly.

Gumbo and Grit: A Not-So-Polite History of Louisiana dives into the state’s layered past with equal parts candor and wit. You’ll meet conquistadors and Cajuns, pirates and populists, enslaved laborers and jazz legends, all stirring the pot that made Louisiana what it is today.

From ancient myths to modern rituals, Jordan Blake Carter uncovers the shared values, moral codes, and deep questions that unite spiritual traditions across the globe. You’ll travel through history, meet prophets and sages, and see how faith, in its many forms, points toward compassion, justice, and hope.