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  The Han Dynasty - Golden Age of...

  Jun Liu

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  The Han Dynasty, one of the most influential periods in Chinese history, emerged from the collapse of the Qin Dynasty in 206 BCE. After years of harsh rule under Qin Shi Huang, widespread unrest and rebellion led to the fall of the Qin. In the power vacuum that followed, Liu Bang, a commoner-turned-military leader, rose to prominence and ultimately established the Han Dynasty. His leadership and political acumen laid the foundation for a dynasty that would last over four centuries, shaping China’s governance, culture, and identity. 
  Liu Bang, later known as Emperor Gaozu, was originally a minor official under the Qin. Unlike his aristocratic rivals, he came from humble origins, making him a unique figure in Chinese history. As the Qin administration crumbled due to heavy taxation and forced labor policies, numerous factions vied for control. The most significant of these was the Chu-Han Contention, a prolonged struggle between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, a powerful general of noble descent. Liu Bang, known for his ability to rally support from various social classes, ultimately defeated Xiang Yu at the Battle of Gaixia in 202 BCE. This victory marked the official beginning of the Han Dynasty, with Liu Bang declaring himself emperor. 
  Once in power, Liu Bang sought to distance his rule from the harsh legalist policies of the Qin. He adopted a more lenient and pragmatic approach, blending Confucian ideals with centralized governance. Although he retained elements of Qin’s bureaucratic structure, he reduced the severity of laws and punishments, earning the trust of the people. To ensure stability, he granted land and titles to his loyal followers, creating a semi-feudal system that allowed regional kings to govern under the central authority of the emperor. This balance between centralization and decentralization was a defining characteristic of early Han rule.

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  Pop Song Piracy - Disobedient...

  Barry Kernfeld

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  The music industry’s ongoing battle against digital piracy is just the latest skirmish in a long conflict over who has the right to distribute music. Starting with music publishers’ efforts to stamp out bootleg compilations of lyric sheets in 1929, Barry Kernfeld’s Pop Song Piracy details nearly a century of disobedient music distribution from song sheets to MP3s. 
    
  In the 1940s and ’50s, Kernfeld reveals, song sheets were succeeded by fake books, unofficial volumes of melodies and lyrics for popular songs that were a key tool for musicians. Music publishers attempted to wipe out fake books, but after their efforts proved unsuccessful they published their own. Pop Song Piracy shows that this pattern of disobedience, prohibition, and assimilation recurred in each conflict over unauthorized music distribution, from European pirate radio stations to bootlegged live shows. Beneath this pattern, Kernfeld argues, there exists a complex give and take between distribution methods that merely copy existing songs (such as counterfeit CDs) and ones that transform songs into new products (such as file sharing). Ultimately, he contends, it was the music industry’s persistent lagging behind in creating innovative products that led to the very piracy it sought to eliminate.

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  Greatest Mystery Shows Volume 5...

  Various Various

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  OASIS AUDIO CLASSIC RADIO SHOWCASE SERIES   Oasis Audio has gone into the vaults and dusted off the very earliest form of audio book, old time radio shows, for our listeners. Introduced episode by episode by Jim Engel, old time radio authority and board member of the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago, this series of classic radio shows is sure to have something for everyone. Celebrity casts and top-notch writers made the 1920s through the early 1950s, the golden era of radio. The series features seven exciting themes with 100 episodes in each. That is 700 classic radio programs in all.   Greatest Mystery Shows   Before TV’s The Twilight Zone, there was radio’s The Inner Sanctum Mystery, Lights Out!, The Weird Circle, and so many other great mysteries starring Orson Welles, Jane Wyman, Dana Andrews, Edmond O’Brien, James Cagney and more. 100 great Mystery classics in ten volumes. Volume 5 Inner Sanctum Mystery 2-6-45 Death in Depths with Santos OrtegaInner Sanctum Mystery 2-20-45 No Coffin for The Dead with Les TremayneInner Sanctum Mystery 4-10-45 The Bog-Oak Necklace with Miriam HopkinsInner Sanctum Mystery 5-15-45 The Black Art with Larry HainesLights Out! 1-26-43 The Projective Mr. Drogan with Edgar BarrierLights Out! 3-16-43 Dream with Lou MerrillLights Out! 4-27-43 Execution with Mercedes McCambridgeLights Out! 8-24-43 Sub-Basement with Joseph Kearns & Bea BenaderetThe Lux Radio Theatre 11-22-48 The Big Clock with Ray Milland & Maureen O’SullivanThe Unexpected 7-18-47 Birthday Present with Marsha Hunt

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  A Rare Recording of Film Icon...

  Dorothy Dandridge

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  Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922 to September 8, 1965) was an American actress and singer. She was the first African-American film star to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for Carmen Jones (1954). Dandridge had also performed as a vocalist in venues such as the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater. During her early career, she performed as a part of the Wonder Children, later the Dandridge Sisters, and appeared in a succession of films. In 1959, Dandridge was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Porgy and Bess. The following recordings are from a television interview in 1954, Dandridge's presentation of the Film Editing Oscar at the 1955 Academy Awards, and a speech at a freedom rally at Wrigley Field on May 26, 1963.

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  Ride or Die - A Feminist...

  Shanita Hubbard

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  Cultural criticism and pop culture history intertwine in this important book, which dissects how hip hop has sidelined Black women's identity and emotional well-being.    Do you have a “ride or die chick” in your life? A “ride or die chick” is a Black woman who holds down her family and community. She’s that friend or family member that you can call up in the middle of the night to bail you out of jail, if ever needed, and you know she’ll show up and won’t ask any questions. She does anything for her family, friends, and significant other, even at the cost of her own well-being. “No” is not in her vocabulary. She’s beloved by you and many others, but her ride or die trope becomes a problem when she does it indiscriminately. Her self-worth is connected to how much labor she can provide for others. She goes above and beyond for everyone in every aspect of her life—work, family, church, and often it’s not reciprocated, and a “ride or die chick” doesn’t require it to be because she’s a “strong Black woman.” To her, love should be earned, and there’s no limit to what she’ll do for it.   In this book, author, adjunct professor of sociology, and former therapist, Shanita Hubbard disrupts the “ride or die” complex, and argues that this way of life has left Black women exhausted, overworked, overlooked, and feeling depleted. She suggests that Black women are to susceptible this mentality because it’s normalized in our culture. It rings loud in our favorite hip-hop songs, and it even shows up in the most important relationship we will ever have—the one with yourself.   Compassionate, candid, hard-hitting, and 100% unapologetic, Ride-or-Die melds Hubbard’s entertaining conversations with her Black girlfriends and her personal experiences as a redeemed “ride-or-die chick” and a former “captain of the build-a-brother team” to fervently dismantle cultural norms that require Black women to take care of everyone but themselves.  Ride or Die urges you to expel the myth that your self-worth is connected to how much labor you provide others, and guides you toward healing. Using hip hop as a backdrop to explore norms that are harmful to Black women, Hubbard shows the way you may be unknowingly perpetuating this harm within your relationships. Hubbard urges you to pull the plug on the “ride or die chick.”

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  101 Amazing Facts About Clowns

  Jack Goldstein

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  From ancient Egypt to the modern-day circus, the role of the clown can be traced throughout history. But how much do you really know about the profession that takes comedy very seriously? This fascinating audiobook takes the reader on a journey through the ages, explaining how clowns such as the whiteface and auguste came to be. You'll hear about history's best-loved performers such as Joseph Grimaldi, the father of modern clowning, and learn about the origin of terms used today such as the ‘clown alley’. If you want to know why blue make-up is supposed to bring bad luck, and who the literary world’s first ever killer clown was, then this is the audiobook for you.

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