
The Argument Culture
Moving from Debate to Dialogue
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $10.35
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Deborah Tannen
About this listen
From the best-selling author of You Just Don't Understand comes another groundbreaking examination of the way we communicate - in public, in the media, in politics, in our courtrooms and classrooms - letting us see in a new way forces that are powerfully shaping our lives. We live in a pervasive warlike atmosphere that makes us approach anything we need to accomplish as a fight between two opposing sides - urging us to regard the world in an adversarial frame of mind. Tannen explores the roots of this argument culture, the role played by gender, and how other cultures suggest alternative ways to negotiate disagreement and mediate conflicts so that we, as a society, can find constructive and creative ways of resolving disputes and differences.
©1998 Deborah Tannen, All Rights Reserved (P)1998 Simon & Schuster Inc., All Rights ReservedListeners also enjoyed...
-
You Just Don't Understand
- By: Deborah Tannen
- Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Tannen illustrates how the best intentions can go painfully awry between spouses, family members, co-workers and friends. With You Just Don't Understand, you'll recognize yourself and your own efforts to be understood - and gain valuable insight to help you communicate better.
-
-
Deborah Tannen...
- By Douglas on 02-18-14
By: Deborah Tannen
-
That's Not What I Meant
- By: Deborah Tannen
- Narrated by: Deborah Tannen
- Length: 1 hr and 23 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You know the feeling: You thought you said exactly what you wanted to, but somehow a different message comes across. You end up feeling misunderstood...and the relationship that you're building -- at home, on the job, on a date, or in an interview -- slips a little further out of your control.
-
-
Miscommunicated Title
- By Sara on 04-20-20
By: Deborah Tannen
-
That's Not What I Meant
- The Sociolinguistics of Everyday Conversation - The Modern Scholar
- By: Professor Deborah Tannen
- Narrated by: Deborah Tannen
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The following series of lectures draws on linguistics, or the scientific study of language, to show the many ways in which language has a profound effect upon human relationships. These lectures address the various aspects and implications of what Professor Tannen calls "conversational style". It also looks at the dynamics of specific situations such as the workplace and classroom where the role of conversational style is of particular importance.
-
-
Awful
- By Maroy on 11-08-08
-
American Muckraker
- Rethinking Journalism for the 21st Century
- By: James O'Keefe
- Narrated by: James O'Keefe
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This seminal work of nonfiction recounts the new, journalistic mass movement of today. Compiled from more than a decade of investigative reporting, coupled with a vast reference of philosophical research, American Muckraker is the definitive guide of truth-telling in the video age.
-
-
Inspiring us to speak truth to power!
- By DavM on 01-26-22
By: James O'Keefe
-
I Only Say This Because I Love You
- How the Way We Talk Can Make or Break Family Relationships Throughout Our Lives
- By: Deborah Tannen
- Narrated by: Patricia Mulholland
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why does talk in families so often go in circles, leaving us tied up in knots? Linguist Deborah Tannen reveals why talking to family members is so often painful and problematic - even when we're all adults. Searching for signs of acceptance, we find signs of disapproval and rejection. Why do the seeds of family love so often yield a harvest of criticism? In I Only Say This Because I Love You, Tannen shows how important it is, in family talk, to learn to separate word meanings, or messages, from heart meanings, or metamessages.
By: Deborah Tannen
-
You're Wearing That?
- Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation
- By: Deborah Tannen
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was Tannen who first showed us that men and women speak different languages. Mothers and daughters speak the same language, but still often misunderstand each other, as they struggle to find the right balance between closeness and independence. Both mothers and daughters want to be seen for who they are, but tend to see the other as falling short of who she should be. Each overestimates the other's power and underestimates her own.
-
-
A little more clarity -
- By Ella on 03-22-06
By: Deborah Tannen
-
You Just Don't Understand
- By: Deborah Tannen
- Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Tannen illustrates how the best intentions can go painfully awry between spouses, family members, co-workers and friends. With You Just Don't Understand, you'll recognize yourself and your own efforts to be understood - and gain valuable insight to help you communicate better.
-
-
Deborah Tannen...
- By Douglas on 02-18-14
By: Deborah Tannen
-
That's Not What I Meant
- By: Deborah Tannen
- Narrated by: Deborah Tannen
- Length: 1 hr and 23 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You know the feeling: You thought you said exactly what you wanted to, but somehow a different message comes across. You end up feeling misunderstood...and the relationship that you're building -- at home, on the job, on a date, or in an interview -- slips a little further out of your control.
-
-
Miscommunicated Title
- By Sara on 04-20-20
By: Deborah Tannen
-
That's Not What I Meant
- The Sociolinguistics of Everyday Conversation - The Modern Scholar
- By: Professor Deborah Tannen
- Narrated by: Deborah Tannen
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The following series of lectures draws on linguistics, or the scientific study of language, to show the many ways in which language has a profound effect upon human relationships. These lectures address the various aspects and implications of what Professor Tannen calls "conversational style". It also looks at the dynamics of specific situations such as the workplace and classroom where the role of conversational style is of particular importance.
-
-
Awful
- By Maroy on 11-08-08
-
American Muckraker
- Rethinking Journalism for the 21st Century
- By: James O'Keefe
- Narrated by: James O'Keefe
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This seminal work of nonfiction recounts the new, journalistic mass movement of today. Compiled from more than a decade of investigative reporting, coupled with a vast reference of philosophical research, American Muckraker is the definitive guide of truth-telling in the video age.
-
-
Inspiring us to speak truth to power!
- By DavM on 01-26-22
By: James O'Keefe
-
I Only Say This Because I Love You
- How the Way We Talk Can Make or Break Family Relationships Throughout Our Lives
- By: Deborah Tannen
- Narrated by: Patricia Mulholland
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why does talk in families so often go in circles, leaving us tied up in knots? Linguist Deborah Tannen reveals why talking to family members is so often painful and problematic - even when we're all adults. Searching for signs of acceptance, we find signs of disapproval and rejection. Why do the seeds of family love so often yield a harvest of criticism? In I Only Say This Because I Love You, Tannen shows how important it is, in family talk, to learn to separate word meanings, or messages, from heart meanings, or metamessages.
By: Deborah Tannen
-
You're Wearing That?
- Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation
- By: Deborah Tannen
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was Tannen who first showed us that men and women speak different languages. Mothers and daughters speak the same language, but still often misunderstand each other, as they struggle to find the right balance between closeness and independence. Both mothers and daughters want to be seen for who they are, but tend to see the other as falling short of who she should be. Each overestimates the other's power and underestimates her own.
-
-
A little more clarity -
- By Ella on 03-22-06
By: Deborah Tannen
-
Exactly What to Say
- The Magic Words for Influence and Impact
- By: Phil M. Jones
- Narrated by: Phil M. Jones
- Length: 1 hr and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Often the decision between a customer choosing you over someone like you is your ability to know exactly what to say, when to say it, and how to make it count. Phil M. Jones has trained more than two million people across five continents and over 50 countries in the lost art of spoken communication. In Exactly What to Say, he delivers the tactics you need to get more of what you want.
-
-
Handful of Good Scripts
- By A. Yoshida on 05-28-18
By: Phil M. Jones
-
The Goodness Paradox
- The Strange Relationship Between Peace and Violence in Human Evolution
- By: Richard Wrangham
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Throughout history, even as daily life has exhibited calm and tolerance, war has never been far away, and even within societies, violence can be a threat. The Goodness Paradox gives a new and powerful argument for how and why this uncanny combination of peacefulness and violence crystallized after our ancestors acquired language in Africa a quarter of a million years ago.
-
-
Great book but maybe less suited to an audiobook
- By Melanie Virtue on 05-05-19
By: Richard Wrangham
-
Righteous Indignation
- Excuse Me While I Save the World
- By: Andrew Breitbart
- Narrated by: Jeremy Guskin
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Known for his network of conservative websites that draws millions of readers everyday, Andrew Breitbart has one main goal: to make sure the "liberally biased" major news outlets in this country cover all aspects of a story fairly. Breitbart is convinced that too many national stories are slanted by the news media in an unfair way. In Righteous Indignation, Breitbart talks about the key issues that Americans face, how he has aligned himself with the Tea Party, and how one needs to deal with the liberal news world head on.
-
-
Please get this book!
- By MacGregor on 07-09-11
By: Andrew Breitbart
-
The Nine
- Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
- By: Jeffrey Toobin
- Narrated by: Don Leslie
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on exclusive interviews with justices themselves, The Nine tells the story of the Supreme Court through personalities, from Anthony Kennedy's overwhelming sense of self-importance to Clarence Thomas' well-tended grievances against his critics to David Souter's odd 19th century lifestyle. There is also, for the first time, the full behind-the-scenes story of Bush v. Gore and Sandra Day O'Connor's fateful breach with George W. Bush, the president she helped place in office.
-
-
The Nine
- By Dc on 10-04-07
By: Jeffrey Toobin
-
The Death of Expertise
- The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters
- By: Tom Nichols
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
People are now exposed to more information than ever before, provided both by technology and by increasing access to every level of education. These societal gains, however, have also helped fuel a surge in narcissistic and misguided intellectual egalitarianism that has crippled informed debates on any number of issues. Today, everyone knows everything and all voices demand to be taken with equal seriousness, and any claim to the contrary is dismissed as undemocratic elitism.
-
-
Disappointing
- By iKlick on 09-10-17
By: Tom Nichols
-
The Political Brain
- The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation
- By: Drew Westen
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 16 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In politics, when reason and emotion collide, emotion invariably wins. In this landmark book, scientist and psychologist Drew Westen shows how electorates vote not with their heads but with their hearts, and how the marketplace that matters most is the marketplace of emotion - filled with values, images, analogies, moral sentiments, and moving oratory.
-
-
Really Bad
- By D. Martin on 07-01-12
By: Drew Westen
-
The Destruction of Hillary Clinton
- By: Susan Bordo
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A play-by-play of the political forces and media culture that vilified and ultimately brought down Hillary Clinton during her 2016 Presidential campaign. The Destruction of Hillary Clinton is an answer to the question many have been asking: how did an extraordinarily well-qualified, experienced, and admired candidate - whose victory would have been as historic as Barack Obama's - come to be seen as a tool of the establishment, a chronic liar, and a talentless politician?
-
-
Well done and worth reading
- By Sharon S on 05-08-17
By: Susan Bordo
-
The Silencing
- How the Left Is Killing Free Speech
- By: Kirsten Powers
- Narrated by: Kristin Watson Heintz
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Life-long liberal Kirsten Powers blasts the Left's forced march towards conformity in an exposé of the illiberal war on free speech. No longer champions of tolerance and free speech, the "illiberal Left" now viciously attacks and silences anyone with alternative points of view. Powers asks, "Whatever happened to free speech in America?"
-
-
Audible censors fantastic book on free speech
- By Steven on 06-07-15
By: Kirsten Powers
-
End of Discussion
- How the Left's Outrage Industry Shuts Down Debate, Manipulates Voters, and Makes America Less Free (and Fun)
- By: Mary Katherine Ham, Guy Benson
- Narrated by: Mary Katharine Ham, Guy Benson
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this fresh and provocative new audiobook, Mary Katharine Ham and Guy Benson, dynamic Fox News and Townhall Media duo, expose how the Left exploits fake outrage to silence their political opponents - in public, on social media, at work, and even in their own homes. End of Discussion encourages all Americans who value the open exchange of ideas to fight back against this strategic effort to make America less free, less feisty, and less fun.
-
-
This is ABRIDGED!
- By Abby T. on 04-10-16
By: Mary Katherine Ham, and others
-
Culture Warrior
- By: Bill O'Reilly
- Narrated by: Bill O'Reilly
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bill O'Reilly is the very embodiment of the idea of a Culture Warrior, and in this book he lives up to the title brilliantly, with all the brashness and forthrightness at his command. He sees that America is in the midst of a fierce culture war between those who embrace traditional values and those who want to change America into a "secular-progressive" country.
-
-
A True Culture Warrior
- By Kevin on 10-13-06
By: Bill O'Reilly
-
Unlearning Liberty
- Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate
- By: Greg Lukianoff
- Narrated by: Philip Hodges
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For over a generation, shocking cases of censorship at America's colleges and universities have taught students the wrong lessons about living in a free society. Drawing on a decade of experience battling for freedom of speech on campus, First Amendment lawyer Greg Lukianoff reveals how higher education fails to teach students to become critical thinkers: by stifling open debate, our campuses are supercharging ideological divisions, promoting groupthink, and encouraging an unscholarly certainty about complex issues.
-
-
Excellent non partisan exploration of Campus Free Speech.
- By Joe on 08-30-20
By: Greg Lukianoff
-
Learning to Walk in the Dark
- Because Sometimes God Shows Up at Night
- By: Barbara Brown Taylor
- Narrated by: Barbara Brown Taylor
- Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the New York Times best-selling author of An Altar in the World, Barbara Brown Taylor’s Learning to Walk in the Dark provides a way to find spirituality in those times when we don’t have all the answers. Taylor has become increasingly uncomfortable with our tendency to associate all that is good with lightness and all that is evil and dangerous with darkness. Taylor asks us to put aside our fears and anxieties and to explore all that God has to teach us “in the dark.”
-
-
Words for the nudgings I couldn't quite articulate
- By Danielle on 12-18-15
What listeners say about The Argument Culture
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chad
- 04-28-22
Not my favorite
Not one of my favorite Deborah Tannen books.
sure, we certainly do need a way to defuse argumentative situations and figure out how to have constructive conversations - but this extremely short book felt more just a list of complaints about what's wrong with the world today.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- troy
- 01-06-20
Great analysis of where we are going wrong
A great book discussion how destructive our communication has become in society. Author lost me a bit on the gender chapter, but was very informative and understandable otherwise.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Gilad Seri
- 04-09-15
חשוב מאד
אהבתי את הגישה שלה. כדאי שכולם יאמצו. אותה, פה שם ובכל מקום. לוותר על תרבות הויכוח ולעבור להקשבה.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Philip Tirpak
- 07-12-16
Understanding the poisonous argument culture
Though written in the 1990s Deborah Tannen's explanations and analysis is spot on and demonstrates why the poisonous political climate has not changed. This is not only or primarily about the political climate though but also personal relationships. A must, listen and then get a copy of the book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nemo's mom
- 07-19-22
Information is dated
I love reading books by Dr. Tannen, because I find most of her information is still relevant today. However, this book was written when internet use was in its infancy so how people communicated in the mid-90s is much different than how it's done today. Overall there are still some good pieces of information.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- Jennifer
- 02-21-06
Poor recording
The recording is very poor. I had to turn up my volume very high and even then it was difficult to hear.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- QCLady
- 01-02-21
Abridged Abridged Abridged
I hate abridged books. If I wanted someone else determining what is important, I’ll get the Cliffs Notes. You do an injustice to the readers.
I didn’t see it was abridged or I never would have bought. I can’t fairly review this book because I don’t know what the rest of it says.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!