Are You There Alone – Suzanne O’Malley – Audio Book

Are You There Alone – Suzanne O’Malley : As a journalist, the author began covering the murders of Noah, John, Paul, Luke, and Mary Yates hours after their mother Andrea Yates drowned them in their suburban Houston home in June 2001. To answer critical questions, investigative reporter Suzanne O’Malley interviewed or witnessed the sworn testimony of nearly two hundred people, including Yates herself, her husband Rusty Yates, and their families.

O’Malley argues persuasively that under less extraordinary circumstances, a mentally ill woman would have been quietly offered a plea bargain and sent to a mental hospital under court supervision. But on March 13, 2002, Andrea Yates was found guilty of the murders of three of her five children. She is currently serving a life sentence and will not be eligible for parole until 2041.

O’Malley’s exclusive personal communications with Andrea Yates and her personal interviews with Rusty Yates allow her to offer fully realized portrayals of people at the center of this excruciating drama. In “Are You There Alone?” O’Malley makes an important contribution to our understanding the significance and ramifications of mental health issues within the criminal justice system.

This is a particular biography, the biography of Andrea Yates who murdered her 5 children and the search to understand what had happened to her during her life to arrive to this point of no return. But in this book O’Malley failt to take a long, hard and critical look à Rusty Yates. Shall we say that this book is not an account of the crime itsel, but more a study of the people, their behavior and failures that contributed to the “end” of Andrea Yates. A difficult book to read but worth it.

Arrogance – Bernard Goldberg – Audio Book

Arrogance – Bernard Goldberg : In Arrogance, Goldberg punctures the bubble in which the media elites live and work, a culture of denial where contrary views are not welcome. He shows how they base their stories on assumptions many Americans don’t share – which inevitably leads to biased reporting and slanted news. With blistering wit and passion, he names names and builds his case, revealing:

-How the media’s coverage of the Jayson Blair scandal missed far more serious problems at the New York Times. -How some of the toughest watchdogs in journalism became Hillary Clinton’s lapdogs. -Why the media refuse to shoot straight when the subject turns to guns. -Which CBS News icon is “transparently liberal, ” according to commentator Andy Rooney. -Why the only kind of diversity you cannot in a lot of newsrooms is a diversity of ideas. -How some journalists, like Bob Costas and Tim Russert, do get it – and how they think American journalism can be made better.

Arrogance is one of those rare programs that can change not only a powerful American institution … but the American landscape as well.

Arrogance by Bernard Goldberg is a truly enjoyable read. Goldberg doesn’t try to create a
vast left wing conspiracy tied to Islam or Communism, he just presents the facts as he sees them. Although himself a former insider, he really does know what he is talking about. But instead of wanting to put this book down, Goldberg gives the reader and/or listener the feeling that he not only loves the country he lives in, but also the profession that he’s chosen, and he has hope for the future.