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The Men Who Stare at Goats
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Narrated by:
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Jon Ronson
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Written by:
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Jon Ronson
About this listen
In 1979, a secret unit was established by the most gifted minds within the US Army. Defying all known accepted military practice - and indeed, the laws of physics - they believed that a soldier could adopt the cloak of invisibility, pass cleanly through walls and, perhaps most chillingly, kill goats just by staring at them.
Entrusted with defending America from all known adversaries, they were the First Earth Battalion. And they really weren't joking. What's more, they're back and fighting the War on Terror.
The Men Who Stare at Goats reveals extraordinary - and very nutty - national secrets at the core of George W. Bush's War on Terror. With first-hand access to the leading players in the story, Ronson traces the evolution of these bizarre activities over the past three decades, and sees how it is alive today within US Homeland Security and post-war Iraq.
Why are they blasting Iraqi prisoners-of-war with the theme tune to Barney the Purple Dinosaur? Why have 100 de-bleated goats been secretly placed inside the Special Forces command centre at Fort Bragg, North Carolina? How was the US Military associated with the mysterious mass-suicide of a strange cult from San Diego? The Men Who Stare At Goats answers these, and many more, questions.
Jon Ronson is an award-winning writer and documentary maker. He is the author of many best-selling books, including Frank: The True Story that Inspired the Movie, Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries, The Psychopath Test, The Men Who Stare at Goats and Them: Adventures with Extremists. His first fictional screenplay, Frank, co-written with Peter Straughan, starred Michael Fassbender. He lives in London and New York City.
©2012 Jon Ronson (P)2016 Audible, LtdYou may also enjoy...
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The Psychopath Test
- A Journey Through the Madness Industry
- Written by: Jon Ronson
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- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Psychopath Test is a fascinating journey through the minds of madness. Jon Ronson's exploration of a potential hoax being played on the world's top neurologists takes him, unexpectedly, into the heart of the madness industry. An influential psychologist who is convinced that many important CEOs and politicians are, in fact, psychopaths teaches Ronson how to spot these high-flying individuals by looking out for little telltale verbal and nonverbal clues. And so Ronson, armed with his new psychopath-spotting abilities, enters the corridors of power.
-
-
Interesting narrative
- By Aaron Feldman on 2024-08-24
Written by: Jon Ronson
-
Them: Adventures with Extremists
- Written by: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Them began as a book about different kinds of extremists, but after Jon had got to know some of them - Islamic fundamentalists, neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klansmen - he found that they had one oddly similar belief: that a tiny, shadowy elite rule the world from a secret room. In Them, Jon sets out, with the help of the extremists, to locate that room. The journey is as creepy as it is comic, and along the way Jon is chased by men in dark glasses, unmasked as a Jew in the middle of a Jihad training camp, and more.
-
-
Not one of my favorites
- By Liv on 2021-03-19
Written by: Jon Ronson
-
Things Fell Apart
- Strange Stories from the History of the Culture Wars
- Written by: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 3 hrs and 43 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From taking the knee to transgender rights, wedge issues are everywhere in modern life - dividing opinions, polarising debate and tearing friendships and families apart. Even something as seemingly innocuous as wearing a facemask can provoke vicious disagreement. But how did we get here, and what does it mean for society going forward? In this gripping series, acclaimed writer and journalist Jon Ronson searches for the origin stories of the hostilities - the pebbles thrown in the pond, creating the ripples that led to where we are today.
Written by: Jon Ronson
-
Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries
- Written by: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jon Ronson is fascinated by madness, extraordinary behaviour and the human mind. He has spent his life investigating crazy events, following fascinating people and unearthing unusual stories. Collected here from various sources (including The Guardian and GQ America) are the best of his adventures.
-
-
So enjoyable!
- By Aaron Feldman on 2024-10-28
Written by: Jon Ronson
-
The Elephant in the Room
- A Journey into the Trump Campaign and the "Alt-Right"
- Written by: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
'But Hillary is a known Luciferian,' he tried. 'She's not a known Luciferian,' I said. 'Well, yes and no,' he said. In The Elephant in the Room, Jon Ronson, the New York Times best-selling author of The Psychopath Test, Them and So You've Been Publicly Shamed, travels to Cleveland at the height of summer to witness the Republican National Convention.
-
-
Provides insight into the so-called "alt-right"
- By Paul King on 2022-04-18
Written by: Jon Ronson
-
Frank
- The True Story that Inspired the Movie
- Written by: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 1 hr and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late 1980s Jon Ronson was the keyboard player in the Frank Sidebottom Oh Blimey Big Band. Frank wore a big fake head. Nobody outside his inner circle knew his true identity. This became the subject of feverish speculation during his zenith years. Together, they rode relatively high. Then it all went wrong. Twenty-five years later and Jon has co-written a movie, Frank, inspired by his time in this great and bizarre band. Frank is set for release in 2014, starring Michael Fassbender, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Domhnall Gleeson and directed by Lenny Abrahamson.
Written by: Jon Ronson
What the critics say
"Simultaneously frightening and hilarious." ( The Times)"
What listeners say about The Men Who Stare at Goats
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Blythe
- 2020-01-08
Weird all around
Sooo... I picked up this audiobook because I remembered seeing the trailer for the movie by the same name, and assumed it was a comedy. To my surprise, the original book is neither a comedy nor fiction - it's a completely serious and slightly horrifying true story of an English journalist very persistently attempting to uncover the history of the US military trying to create "psychic warriors" who can use mind powers to fight.
It's horrifying BECAUSE it's true, and so incredibly stupid in so many ways that it's mind-boggling that so much time, money, effort, and belief were spent on some of the things the author described. And in light of that, it's quite the opposite of a comedy, although there are obviously some humorous elements because the entire topic is so absurd. Clearly, the movie by the same name took elements of the story and put a set of fictional characters and a fictional story on top; still haven't seen the movie but no doubt it's more amusing.
The audiobook is actually read by the author himself, Jon Ronson, and while I appreciate him authentically telling his own story, his slightly lisping English accent just seemed a little bit mismatched for a book mainly about the American military, and made it even harder not to take seriously.
Overall not what I was expecting at all, so I guess read it if this kind of history interests you, but if not then probably give this one a miss.
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Overall
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- Amazon Customer
- 2021-08-13
Far out, man
I like spy stories, and I like laughing at new-agey nonsense. This combination of the two took it to the next level and I was engaged the whole time.
Jon could work on his voice acting, but he was entertaining nonetheless.
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