Taibbi Exposes the Long Con

The con, briefly: economic bubbles are the intentional creation of corporations intending to bloat their earnings and enrich their boards at the expense of us who pay taxes or into pension funds, as our taxes are used to bailout the companies after their brazen behavior cripples themselves and the financial markets in which our pensions are invested.


Matt Taibbi provides convincing evidence of this in Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con that Is Breaking America.  We know a good portion of the summary is true, economic bubbles have occurred and caused havoc on financial markets and our lives, but Taibbi sees in these bubbles a pattern of intention, where big banks like Goldman Sachs have cheated in order to earn more money faster and have little fear of damaging their businesses thanks to a federal bailout safety net. 

Also, we put their former employees in charge of the Federal Reserve and the Treasury, and when I saw we, I mean Democratic and Republican presidents and congresses.  Mr. Taibbi explains that this is an issue to all Americans perpetrated by those from either party, even during election seasons when we and our media are obsessed with immigrants and negative campaign ads.

I don't want to make Griftopia sound boring--it's not at all dry.  Taibbi's outrage-filled narrative of events is readable and often humorous, but it's a dark, bitter sort of humor.  You may enjoy greatly the ridicule he heaps on Chicago Mayor Daley for leasing the city's parking meters to some Abu Daubi conglomerate for 75 years at one-fifth of the value those meters would have brought over that time period until you remember that you can't get free parking up there on Sundays or holidays because this private company says so.  Or that the city now has to pay this company in order to close streets for festivals--you know, some sort of fair reimbursement for the loss of funds to their parking meters. 

Laugh and cry and rage and laugh some more with Matt Taibbi's Griftopia--request it today!

Jonathan Ames's Double Life

 I don't know what's wrong with you people.

I ordered Jonathan Ames's The Double Life is Twice as Good [1] for the library, and when I saw it in the new book room, I put it on one of our display cubes.  It was on the top, face out, greeting you each time you went past to go to the coffee shop or use the Race Street entrance or whatever you were doing down there.  It must have been distracting, what you were doing, because you didn't notice this book.

I know I ordered it late--I don't know how I missed it.  I'll take a mulligan.  But it was sitting up there, proudly on display for some time before I took pity on it and checked it out myself.

The double life of the title refers the book's collection of previously published fiction and nonfiction short pieces.  Ames, who should appeal to fans of Chuck Klosterman [2], writes with humor and self-deprecation on topics ranging from the US Open to Marilyn Manson, from Corduroy to sex--at least as far as his nonfiction pieces are concerned.  I haven't gotten to the fiction section yet.  That's right, I'm not done with it, so you can't have it yet.  You should have grabbed it while it sat miserably unwanted on display.

The first piece in the collection, cleverly not put into either the fiction or nonfiction sections, is a fictional story Ames writes about himself called Bored to Death.  It's the basis for the HBO series of the same name [3].  Bored one day taking a break from his obsessive internet backgammon playing, Ames posts an ad on Craigslist selling his services as an unlicensed private detective.  Weeks later, playing internet backgammon, he receives a call from a young woman wanting to find her missing sister, and despite his lack of experience, he takes the case.  It's a good story, inspired by Chandler, Hammett, and Goodis, that serves well as an homage.  The HBO series just came in on hold for me today, and I'm looking forward to checking it out.

1. Request The Double Life Is Twice as Good--don't pass it up and let me down again.

2. Chuck Klosterman popped into my head a few times while reading Ames's book--I was mostly reminded of Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto, which makes sense as I was reading a collection of articles on largely pop culture topics.  See all we own by Chuck Klosterman.  Might as well see all we own by Jonathan Ames, too.

3.  Learn more about Bored to Death on IMDb, or request it be held for you when it's available.
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Understand the crash AND find it interesting

Oh friend, have you read The Big Short yet?  It's Michael Lewis's telling of people and banks involved in the 2008 (and continuing) crash and the actions that made it all happen.

Have you repeatedly heard the following phrases without thinking much about them?
Subprime loans
Mortgage crisis
Housing bubble
Credit default swaps

I can tell you that hearing these mentioned in the news after reading this book is much more interesting than it was before.

Lewis's gift in telling this story writing is taking a personal angle.  For most of the people we meet in The Big Short, we get a bit of their biographies, too.  We learn about their personalities and what it would be like to be around them.  And then we get to see their actions and reactions over the course of the crisis, and we are left to decide how we feel about them.

The brilliant guy who realizes that subprime mortgage-filled CDOs are going to tank in a big way and places a huge bet against them while major bond insurers and banks eagerly allow him to do so comes off as a David sort, with AIG and the banks in the role of Goliath.

But, while drawn into rooting for the little guy putting one over on the man, you realize that this behavior exacerbates the situation and impending crisis.  And it's hard to root for someone involved in a financial crash that resulted in billions of your tax dollars going to bank bailouts. 

The little guy isn't to blame, and really, this book doesn't look to assign blame.  To do so would be as complicated as the creative financial instruments that were at the heart of the problem.  Seriously, everyone was in on it--predatory lenders, banks confused by their own financial products, spineless ratings agencies who fail to provide accurate ratings, insurers who lived by those ratings without doing any other research, and so on.  Lewis recognizes that this was a series of bad decisions, beyond the control of any single person or corporation--and it was the system, the doomsday machine of the subtitle, that allowed the mess to happen.

What he gives us is a play by play--who did what, when, and why.  He delivers this story as though he were calling a boxing match, each new piece of information coming like another unbelievable, critical hit.  Unbelievable like the unbelievably stupid actions of the banks, rating agencies, and bond insurers.  Critical like each of these actions were to the collapse of the housing market and near collapse of our economy.
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David Rakoff's Half Empty

I see book trailers linked in some of the book industry sources I follow, but I rarely see book trailers that I care enough to check out.  Then along comes a book, and I think, "Now there's a book I'd like to see a trailer for."  And guess what?  There's no trailer for Half Empty, the new collection of autobiographical essays by David Rakoff [1].  According to the publisher, in his book, "Rakoff defends the commonsensical notion that you should always assume the worst, because you’ll never be disappointed." [2]

Try before you buy and check out NPR's Fresh Air from September 21 [3].  In addition to the audio over the interview, there are transcripts of interview highlights, a better intro than I could write, and an excerpt.

1. Check out Half Empty from the library
2. The publisher, Doubleday's site
3. Half Empty on NPR's Fresh Air

Four Fish

Freshly caught and cataloged today is Paul Greenberg's Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food.  He noticed the seasonal variety of fish steadily diminish in fish markets, whose space was increasingly taken up by the four fish of the title: salmon, sea bass, cod, and tuna.  So what, right?  I haven't read it, but given the interview and discussion I heard on Fresh Air, his work should appeal to fans of Michael Pollan. Think pescavore's dilemma, although Greenberg has a different approach.  He knows what he wants to eat, is curious why he his options are diminishing, and goes a step further to look at the broader effects of this seemingly small and personal change.

More info:
Check out Four Fish from the library
Fresh Air interview with author Paul Greenberg

Broke, USA

If you're curious, WILL's Focus 580 program interviewed Gary Rivlin, author of Broke, USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc.--How the Working Poor Became Big Business back in June.  The interview is archived for desk job lunch break listening.  I don't know why you wouldn't be curious, unless you've never heard of the book, and I'm about to help with that.

The phrase that pops up in reviews of this book is "poverty business."  I've never linked together all the businesses that people turn to in tough times, such as payday lenders, pawn shops, rent-to-own businesses, check cashers and the like, but Rivlin links them all as preying on the poor.  It seems obvious now.  And while I thought I was aware of the unfair nature of such businesses with their high interest rates, I was not aware of what Publisher's Weekly calls "customer service reps explicitly trained to mislead customers who appear 'gullible.'"  I'm still naive enough to be surprised at this, but maybe this book can help me get over that.

Warning: Broke USA is not recommended for folks with high blood pressure due to the likelihood that it will raise it even higher.  Ask your librarian if Broke USA is right for you.

Regretsy

Lots of popular blogs and websites have become books--it's almost cliche to mention it.  Some make the transition better than others, adding value to the original content that was, and usually still is, freely available online.  This is more important for some, like the well-done, not for the gentle Sh*t My Dad Says [original tweets, book], than others, like Nicholas Gurewich's Perry Bible Fellowship comic strip collection [original website, book].  In other instances, you get the impression that the publisher is going after that holiday/birthday novelty gift book market, simply republishing the original--and I'll note again, freely available--content in a codex (looking at you, LOLCats/Cheezburger bums).

Regretsy: Where DIY Meets WTF is one of those that does a good job of adding value, which comes in the form in the form of author Winchell's insights and humorous introductions.  This actually gives you some insight into the author as a person, which is a good thing when her creative work is making fun of other people's creative endeavors that they've posted for sale on Etsy.  She admits that some folks have different tastes and styles, but also notes that crushed Coca-Cola will cans never make good decor.  There's also a section at the end that collects the reactions of Etsy crafters to being featured on Regretsy, which range from excited to insulted.  If you enjoy well-done sarcasm, you should really check this out.

Welcome to Utopia

Somehow I heard or read about Welcome to Utopia by Karen Valby, either in one of those journals librarians read to keep up with new books or on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, or another radio show.  Whatever it was, the phrase "find a town untouched by popular culture," stands out in my mind.  That phrase defines the assignment given to Entertainment Weekly reporter Valby. 

It's kind of funny that EW would assign this to one of their staff.  It would be hilarious if People or one of those magazines did it.  I can hear the assignment being given by a laughing editor at US Weekly, doubting there could be such a town--which yahoo reporter should we send on this goose chase?--followed by a pause, then, "and if you find it, ask 'em why they're not reading our magazine." 

Personally, the tiniest bit of celebrity news mixed into my actual news ticks me right off, and a town untouched by that gossip...it's like El Dorado,but instead of streets of gold, they're just not covered with...useless information.  Maybe I'll start a commune...wait, I've seen that movie.

To get back to the book, Valby did find a town not as exposed to pop culture as others, actually named Utopia, in Texas.  What does that mean?  The Booklist review notes that "the town has no mayor, no stoplights, no fast-food restaurants, no chain stores, and no movie theater."

Valby wrote her article, which was published in 2006, but, according to an interview with Statesman.com, some of the townsfolk were unimpressed.  She spent more time in Utopia and gathered material for this book.  I recommend checking out the original article, or the excerpt from the first chapter at NPR, to see if the book would appeal to you.  It should be available here next week, but you can place your request now through the catalog.

I can't help it...

I'm plenty familiar with ye olde book cover/judgment cliche, but I like the cover of this book, and I want to read it.

Sorry Mr. Bear, I'll never call this number again.

If you'd like some actual substance, you can check out the Entertainment Weekly review of Sloane Crosley's How Did You Get This Number, and if that's still too brief, a longer one was published by the LA Times. 

Red Families v. Blue Families

I'm intrigued by the differences Naomi Cahn & June Carbone found between families in "red states" and those in "blue states."  Red Families v. Blue Families came to my attention by way of an All Things Considered interview with co-author June Carbone.  I was grabbed by the interview's intro, particularly:

"The states that voted Democratic in the last two presidential elections have the lowest rates of divorce and teen pregnancies. And the red states had the highest."

If that leaves you with questions, perhaps someone else asked them when the authors were on Talk of the Nation.  The transcript should provide some interesting reading while you're waiting for the book to be returned--place a request on it so we can notify you when it's available.

Absorb yourself in a microhistory--The Battery

Who got the idea for the humble battery, that powerful little gizmo that we depend on so much? Ever wonder about that when you're putting a new battery in your smoke alarms or you're recycling your batteries at The Urbana Free Library?

Well, wonder no more! We've just received Henry Schlesinger's book The Battery: How Portable Power Sparked a Technological Revolution.

This microhistory--a detailed story of one specific thing--will tell you all about the first battery, how batteries helped create new technology, how batteries are changing, and how these varied power sources demonstrate their impact on our lives.

Want to absorb yourself learning about the world of portable power? Place a hold via the catalog link on the book title,or give us a call at 217-367-4405.

A Cookbook for Everyone

Double Take: One Fabulous Recipe, Two Finished Dishes makes a cookbook out of a brilliant idea--recipes for dishes to make when serving omnivores and vegetarians that will keep everyone happy. I can see this working for couples, where half is a vegetarian; parents whose children have gone veg, (or veggie parents whose kids have gone omnivorous); and folks who host dinner parties attended by a mixed omni/veg crowd.

These aren't recipes for meatless dishes that will satisfy omnivores. These recipes prepare common elements, as well as meat and alt-meat to mix in, creating similar but individualized meals for your discerning eaters. How cool is that?

More Than a Game

The fantasy football season has ended, but the real football playoffs are just around the corner. I often wish the football season were longer, but I understand the physical toll on the players and check my desire as being too selfish.

Former Baltimore Ravens coach and current Fox football commentator Brian Billick thinks a longer season is inevitable, according to his recent book More Than a Game. In a chapter on the future of the league, he notes that the profit-driven owners will likely realize that more money can be made off of 18 weeks of regular season. That still leaves me on the fence--Yay, more football! Boo, more injuries.

Billick divides the book up into chapters that cover the development of the current system of offense, defense, owners, quarterbacks, and so on, as well as some forecasting for the future. The final chapter of the book really gets fun, where he anticipates developments that make fans more involved, like broadcasting QB/coach play calling.

There is also a bit of timely foreboding information. Other commentators have noted that the ongoing negotiations between the owners and the NFL Players Association (the players' union) may lead to no football season in 2011. The contract must be made in 2010, or it is likely that the players will go on strike. Billick also notes that the contract could go bad, especially if the players succeed in removing the salary caps that have kept team spending in check, balancing team rosters and making the game more competitive.

Before reading this book, I had no idea about the current state of football, especially not with respect to the contract. I also learned of two reputable online sources to feed my football addiction: Peter King's Monday Morning Quartback column offers a fantastic summary of the weekend's games and the Football Outsiders have an amazing collection of unique statistics and measures. I'd recommend this brief book to any fans looking to get a deeper understanding of things. Now if only I can find an interesting book that discusses the formations and plays the commentators blab about during games...

Candid, Hilarious, and Fascinating

If you ever make it to the back page of Vanity Fair, you're probably familiar with the "Proust questionnaire."

We recently acquired a compilation of these illuminating VF interviews:


Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire: 101 Luminaries Ponder Love, Death, Happiness, and the Meaning of Life.

Simply put, it's a hoot.

One of my favorite respondents is artist Tom Waits (November, 2004):

On what occasion do you lie?
Who needs an occasion?

Which talent would you most like to have?
Being able to fix the truck.

What is your favorite occupation?
Blacksmith, ventriloquist, magician, jockey, train conductor, tree surgeon, and lion tamer.

What do you most value in your friends?
Jumper cables and a tow chain.

How would you like to die?
I don't think I would like it very much at all.

An archive of questionnaires can be found on VF's site.

Read my post...after these messages

I recently finished Ad Nauseam, a book from the editors of Stay Free! blogazine (used to be a zine, now a sometimes blog). The subtitle describes the book as a Survivor's Guide to American Consumer Culture, and while there isn't much on survival besides awareness and resisting zombifying consumerism, there's a VW bug-load of well-written, interesting pieces on consumer culture.

I grabbed the book because I loved Stay Free! The power of editing comes through in both, as many of the pieces are updated articles from the magazine. The pieces are concise, and between pieces on the neuroscience of advertising and interviews with sociologists, readers will find humorous pieces, such as parodies of mainstream ads. While the funny bits give the reader a break from the negative pieces, they do not detract from the message about how our culture is increasingly centered around the consumption of "goods," a term that helps frame the debate about consumption being beneficial as anything produced for consumption is "good."

I'd recommend this to folks who enjoyed No Logo, the humor found in McSweeney's, pop culture as analyzed by Chuck Klosterman, or who are tired of being told how smart they are by advertisers trying to convince them to buy.

Let Us Call to Mind Our Sins

Neil White's memoir In the Sanctuary of Outcasts recounts his life as a successful young journalist and regional magazine publisher, father of two, and happily married man.

His business and ambition allowed his family to live well and to socialize with the Mississippi Gulf Coast's elite.

When White's self-described media empire confronted tough financial times, he began to move money from account to account to make ends meet--a practice commonly known as check kiting.

The federal government prosecuted White, a court found him guilty of fraud, and he was sentenced to a 18 months in prison.

White knew that his crime and incarceration would inalterably change his life--but not in the ways he expected. This is where the story really begins.

When White arrived at a minimum-security facility in Carville, Louisiana, he encountered a forgotten population: men and women suffering from Hansen's disease, residents of the last leper colony in the United States.

Three men were sunbathing on a shuffleboard court. Another man was zipping around the grass on a small, motorized four-wheeler pulling a trailer full of garbage bags. He drove the vehicle in my direction and stopped in front of me. He turned off the engine and let out a loud howl like a coyote.

"You know they got lepers here, don't you?" he said.

"I've heard."

"And you're a convict, right?" he asked.

"I guess so."

The man smiled and said, "Then that makes you a lepercon!" He laughed, threw his head back, and howled again. Then he cranked the engine and drove up a ramp and into a hallway.

The patients who befriend White and share their personal stories--at times hesitantly and with suspicion--ultimately have the greatest impact on his "rehabilitation." This book strives to return that favor.

According to the publisher: "A portion of the author's proceeds go to IDEA, the National Hansen's Disease Museum, and advocacy groups protecting the rights of persons afflicted with Hansen's disease."

Audiobooks: Top New Non-Fiction Titles

Below you'll find our most popular non-fiction audiobooks, including comedy, history, politics, and more ... request one today!

1. The Story of the World, Volume 2: The Middle Ages, from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Renaissance / Susan Wise Bauer
   BOD/909/BAU
   
   
2. Dress to Kill / Eddie Izzard
   BOD/792.23/IZZ/1282
   
   
3. Unconditional Self-Acceptance / Cheri Huber
   BOD/158.1/HUB/1284
   
   
4. To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With / Bill Cosby
   BOD/792.23/COS/1331
   
   
5. The Story of the World, Volume I: Ancient Times, from the Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor / Susan Wise Bauer
   BOD/909/BAU
   
   
6. The Divine Comedy: Inferno; Purgatorio; Paradiso / Dante Alighieri
   BOD/851.15/DAN/1327
   
   
7. Putting the One Minute Manager to Work / K. Blanchard & R. Lorber
   BOD/658/BLA/1337
   
   
8. Glorious / Eddie Izzard
   BOD/792.23/IZZ/1283
   
   
9. Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon: An Audio Dramatization
   BOD/791.44/HAM
   
   
10. King Baby / Jim Gaffigan
    BOD/792.23/GAF/Q86
    
    
11. It's Pimpin' Pimpin' / Katt Williams
    BOD/792.23/WIL/1336
    
    
12. The Story of the World, Volume 3: Early Modern Times, from Elizabeth the First to the Forty-Niners / Susan Wise Bauer
    BOD/909/BAU
    
    
13. Positive Leadership / Kim Cameron
    BOD/654.8/CAM/1334
    
    
14. Masterpieces of the Imaginative Mind: Literature's Most Fantastic Works / Eric S. Rabkin
    BOD/823.08/RAB/Q87
    
    
15. Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts from the Heart of America / Garrison Keillor
    BOD/320.973/KEI/1346
    
    
16. Crashes, Booms, Panics and Government Regulation / Robert Sobel and Roger Lowenstein
    BOD/332.6/SOB/1332
    
    
17. Conversations with God, an Uncommon Dialogue, Book II / Neale Donald Walsch
    BOD/133.93/WAL/1330
    
    
18. An Introduction to The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck: Audio Guide / written and produced by Dan Stone
    BOD/813.52/STE/1311
    
    
19. An Introduction to The Call of the Wild by Jack London: Audio Guide / written and produced by Dan Stone
    BOD/813.52/LON/1312
    
    
20. An Introduction to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain: Audio Guide / written and produced by Adam Kampe
    BOD/813.4/TWA/1305
    

Our educational DVDs are growing by leaps and bounds!

We've recently revamped our educational DVD section on the second floor. Not only have we rearranged the display books for maximum viewing pleasure, but we've also added over 100 new titles to our collection. Our recent selections range from documentaries to travel films to how-tos to exercise programs to much more.



Here's a taste of some of the new titles waiting for you to take home and enjoy!

Radiant City
DVD/307.74/RAD
Discover the dark side of suburbia.

Please Vote For Me: An Experience in Democracy By Chinese 8-year-olds
DVD/324.72/PLE [in Mandarin]
School elections are the same all over, aren't they?

Dancing With The Stars: Latin Cardio Dance
DVD/613.715/DAN
Exercize with Maks, Ashly and Kym.

Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens
DVD/779.092/LEI
Get to know well-known photographer Annie Leibovitz through interviews with her subjects and with the photographer herself.

Memorial Stadium: True Illini Spirit
DVD/796.068/MEM
Hear the history of the stadium, share fond memories, and enjoy visual images of Memorial Stadium in this documentary of the University of Illinois' football facility.

Man of Aran
DVD/941.748/MAN
View Robert Flaherty's quasi-documentary of the hard life in the 1930s off the west coast of Ireland.

Trouble the Water
DVD/976.335/TRO
An aspiring rapper films her experiences before, during and after Hurricane Katrina. Produced by former Urbana resident Carl Deal and his partner, Tia Lessin, this documentary has drawn strong local interest.


Check back with us often to see what other new films we've added to our documentary and non-fiction collection. We welcome recommendations.

What Is History and What Is Myth?

It was with utter stupefaction that I read James Palmer's The Bloody White Baron: The Extraordinary Story of the Russian Nobleman Who Became the Last Khan of Mongolia.

If you happen to be a fan of world history at the end of The Great War;

if you are keen for details charting the tensions between Russia, China, Japan, an assortment of Eastern peoples, and their various beliefs, customs, and religions;

and if you are intrigued (and mortified) by stories of "obstinate and violent" child flunkies who become delusional, sadistic military leaders, why ... you simply cannot ask for more.

Palmer writes in his introduction,

This book tells the story of Freiherr Roman Nikolai Maximilian von Ungern-Sternberg, the last khan of Mongolia, who in one short year rose from being a Russian nobleman to incarnate God of War and returned Khan. In Mongolia he was lauded as a hero, feared as a demon and, briefly, worshiped as a God ...

Like all good conquerors, he was rumored to have left hidden treasure behind him, plundered from monasteries and buried on the steppe ... Like his Baltic forefathers, he was a lost crusader, a bloody-handed pillager driven by both an intense religious fanaticism and devotion to the joy of slaughter ...

I began [writing The Bloody White Baron] in a greater spirit of scepticism than when I finished it; too many of the oddest stories turned out to be confirmed by reliable witnesses ...

Who would have thought, after all, that Ungern really did keep wolves in his house? Or marry a Chinese princess? Or pause on a reconnaissance mission, in the middle of a hostile city, to chastise an enemy soldier for being asleep on duty?

There is very little to like about Ungern himself. He was an appalling human being in almost every way ...

And this, of course, makes for fascinating reading.

Bonus tip:

Check out Rhys Hughes' book, A New Universal History of Infamy, which provides fictionalized accounts of real scoundrels, starting with Baron Ungern-Sternberg.

Top 20 Nonfiction Audiobooks

A funny thing happened this past fall.

I placed an order for stand-up comedy albums ... and they've been going out the door like crazy!

Below you'll find a list of our most popular nonfiction audiobooks added in the last six to eight months.

The majority--to my continuing surprise--are the work of comics frequently seen on Comedy Central and elsewhere.

1. Anticipation / Lewis Black


2. These Are Jokes / Demetri Martin


3. From Heaven / Todd Barry


4. Doing My Time / Jim Gaffigan


5. Rules of Enragement / Lewis Black


6. Comedy Death Ray (feat. David Cross, Patton Oswald, and many others)


7. Do You Believe in Gosh? / Mitch Hedberg


8. Luther Burbank Perf. Arts Center Blues / Lewis Black


9. Called Out of Darkness / Anne Rice


10. Jesus Is Magic / Sarah Silverman


11. Assassin / Margaret Cho


12. The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die / John B. Izzo


13. Wake up: A Life of the Buddha / Jack Kerouac


14. Live in: Nerd Rage / Brian Posehn


15. Emotionally Unavailable (Expanded ed.) / Bill Burr


16. Why Do I Do This? / Bill Burr


17. The Last Lecture / Randy Pausch


18. American Religious History, Part 1 / Patrick Allitt


19. The Apostle Paul / Luke Timothy Johnson


20. America (The Audiobook) / Jon Stewart

Be sure to check out (the late) Mitch Hedberg's other albums, and get ready for the arrival of Jim Gaffigan's newest, King Baby.