AudioFile’s Michele Cobb speaks with actor and author Whoopi Goldberg. Whoopi won the 2025 Audie Award for Narration by the Author for her memoir BITS AND PIECES: My Mother, My Brother, and Me. Whoopi is also a huge audiobook fan and dedicated listener, and in her acceptance speech at the Audies gala, she thanked all of the other narrators in the room for their work. Their conversation provides insights into the story of Whoopi's family, the hardest parts of narrating, and why Whoopi thinks that...
May 23, 2025•12 min•Ep. 1813
Popular podcasters Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson ask a complicated question: What’s wrong with how our government operates, and what needs to change? Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb dive into this thorough and intelligent discussion that sounds the alarm without sounding alarmist. Operation Warp Speed’s federal/private partnership to quickly create a COVID-19 vaccine is presented as a healthy example of how focus and efficiency can meet a nation’s most dire needs. Read our review of th...
May 22, 2025•8 min•Ep. 1812
Actor Jeremy Renner narrates his memoir about a freak accident and the resulting horrendous injuries he suffered on New Year’s Day 2023. AudioFile’s Michele Cobb and host Jo Reed discuss Renner’s moving efforts as he describes the support he received from loved ones and many others as he made a truly miraculous recovery. With audible emotion, Renner navigates his reflections on life and death. He makes clear his desire to help others who are experiencing daunting challenges. Read our review of t...
May 21, 2025•11 min•Ep. 1811
AudioFile’s Michele Cobb and host Jo Reed dig into this tell-all exposé written and performed by a former insider at Facebook. Author Sarah Wynn-Williams tells her personal story of her climb to the upper branches of management at Facebook and the disappointment she felt at every move. While acknowledging that most users consider Facebook a friendly, useful tool, Wynn-Williams perfectly articulates her concerns about what goes on behind the curtain. Read our review of the audiobook at our websit...
May 20, 2025•10 min•Ep. 1810
Golden Voice narrator Marin Ireland’s narration of this family dramedy maximizes the humor behind finding a half-sibling—only to find out there may be dozens more. Join host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb as they discuss Ireland’s subtle vocal shifts in balancing the story's deadpan humor and emotional depth. Ireland’s interpretation deepens the story’s themes of identity, family, and forgiveness, making the audiobook an immersive experience. Read our review of the audiobook at our website...
May 19, 2025•9 min•Ep. 1809
We’re revisiting host Jo Reed’s conversation with author Cynthia Leitich Smith and narrator Shaun Taylor-Corbett about collaborating on audiobooks, writing and narrating for young people, and representing Indigenous experiences and voices. Cynthia’s newest audiobook, FIREFLY SEASON, under her Heartdrum imprint for Harper Audio, has just been released. Looking for a teen summer listen? Check out AudioFile’s Teen AudioBook Club Pick: REZ BALL by Byron Graves and narrated by Jesse Nobess—also from ...
May 16, 2025•37 min•Ep. 1808
This thrill ride of an audiobook tells the many stories of those onboard Train 721, which crashed in Montparnasse station in October 1895. AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff and host Jo Reed discuss narrator Justin Avoth, who performs the drama at a good pace and keeps the story moving. Donoghue brings her plotting skills, eloquent style, and eye for social mores to the cast of fictional people who are on the train. Tension mounts as a young anarchist carries a homemade bomb, a baby is born, and, inexora...
May 15, 2025•7 min•Ep. 1807
Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss this audiobook’s stellar cast as they conjure the American Dust Bowl. Sophie Amoss’s narration shimmers as the Antidote, a "prairie witch" who takes verbal deposits; Asphodel Oletsky, a teen recently orphaned when her mom was murdered, is vividly portrayed by Elena Rey; and the masterful Mark Bramhall inhabits the sane, sensitive, long-suffering wheat farmer, Harp Oletsky. Highlights include dramatic dust and wind descriptions, a talking scarecr...
May 14, 2025•8 min•Ep. 1806
Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff talk about Laila Lalami’s dystopian novel, set in an uncomfortably near future. It’s narrated by an exceptional Frankie Corzo, who voices an innocent woman incarcerated for her dreams. Much of the narrative is the protagonist Sara’s thoughts, feelings, and reactions. The novel is reminiscent of Kafka and Orwell, had they lived in the Internet Age. Sara and her cohorts’ mysterious plight seem frighteningly possible. This eloquently written, Earphones Awa...
May 13, 2025•7 min•Ep. 1805
Shaun Taylor-Corbett narrates Jon Hickey’s powerful story of politics, corruption, and loyalty. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss the way that Taylor-Corbett, in an Earphones Award-winning performance, delivers the dialogue with restraint and intelligence and is masterful in bringing this compelling novel to life. Protagonist Mitch Caddo leads a conflicted life as an outsider with an Ivy League law degree and a "fixer" for the fictional Passage Rouge Nation. The plot revolves ar...
May 12, 2025•6 min•Ep. 1804
AudioFile Editor Robin Whitten and host Jo Reed shine a spotlight on three delicious audiobooks all about the rich history of Chinese cuisine. For the youngest listeners, A BANQUET FOR CECILIA by Julie Leung and read by Cindy Kay tells the story of restaurateur Cecilia Chiang. For middle-grade listeners, Grace Lin’s CHINESE MENU, read by Lisa Ling, shares tales of iconic dishes and dragons, monks, emperors, and other heroes. And for grown-ups, the mouthwatering INVITATION TO A BANQUET, written a...
May 09, 2025•13 min•Ep. 1803
Vikas Adam masterfully draws listeners into this nonstop thriller featuring disgraced former NYPD detective Sami Kierce. AudioFile Editor Robin Whitten and host Jo Reed discuss the way that Adam expertly voices a wide range of characters, keeping listeners engaged. The story begins with a secret from more than 20 years earlier, when Sami, fresh from college, backpacked through Europe and had a brief romance with a beautiful American woman. Fast-forward to the present: Twists and turns come quick...
May 08, 2025•9 min•Ep. 1802
Host Jo Reed and AudioFile Editor Robin Whitten discuss this nonfiction audiobook chock full of ideas. Poet Maggie Smith’s newest audiobook offers all kinds of artists helpful advice about what she sees as the 10 essential elements of creativity: attention, wonder, vision, play, surprise, vulnerability, restlessness, tenacity, connection, and hope. Her light, sweet-sounding voice often assumes a poet’s studied rhythmic cadence as she narrates with beautifully clear enunciation. Smith’s advice is...
May 07, 2025•8 min•Ep. 1801
In Garcia’s debut thriller, the listening experience is memorable because each of the narrators is superb. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile Editor Robin Whitten discuss how the ensemble of narrators adds great depth to this audiobook, allowing listeners to immerse themselves in the richness of well-defined characters. A woman is presumably murdered on a business trip. All, of course, is not as it seems, and the mystery deepens with each passing moment. The result is a riveting audiobook that will keep...
May 06, 2025•8 min•Ep. 1800
The second novel in Joseph O’Connor’s proposed trilogy bristles with life. AudioFile Editor Robin Whitten and host Jo Reed discuss how superb performances from a talented cast reveal the thoughts and emotions of a group of righteous men and women who saved hundreds from Nazi brutality. An escape line called “The Choir” operates within Vatican walls. The group faces constant danger. The narrators portray ordinary people doing extraordinary things. O’Connor’s prose is lyrical, and each person’s st...
May 05, 2025•10 min•Ep. 1799
We’re revisiting host Jo Reed’s conversation with Golden Voice narrator Kevin R. Free. They discuss his impressive audiobook work, his acting career, and being named a 2023 Golden Voice narrator. Kevin is a multiple Earphones Award winner for a wide range of audiobooks, from children’s stories to literary fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and fantastic science fiction. There are few narrators who can match his versatility and perceptive performances across genres. Kevin has had an extraordinary caree...
May 02, 2025•44 min•Ep. 1798
On a visit to Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone, bestselling author John Green met Henry, a charismatic patient who looks much younger than his age due to the ravages of a tuberculosis infection on his body. They established a friendship, and Green's interest in the disease grew, leading him to become a supporter of Partners in Health and an advocate for reducing disparities in treatment. Host Jo Reed and contributor Alex Richey discuss the way that Green presents his own account of visi...
May 01, 2025•7 min•Ep. 1797
Jefferson White shows remarkable skill balancing a youthful cast with the sobering reality they must face. Twenty-four years before Katniss’s games, Haymitch, from District 12, must compete in the Hunger Games—with twice the tributes (competitors). AudioFile’s Alex Richey and host Jo Reed discuss how White’s perfect pacing adds intensity to the brutality of the games and lingering melancholy as Haymitch struggles to maintain his integrity as the people around him keep dying. Read our review of t...
Apr 30, 2025•8 min•Ep. 1796
Natalie Naudus embodies anxiety and fear of the supernatural with razor-sharp precision. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cora Zeng’s sister, Delilah, is murdered in a hate crime: The killer shouts “bat eater” before pushing her in front of a train. Now Cora is a crime-scene cleaner, and she’s noticed an increase in the unexplained murders of Asian women whose bodies are staged with bat corpses. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alex Richey discuss the way that Naudus’s meticulous pacing and a...
Apr 29, 2025•9 min•Ep. 1795
Gem Carmella narrates a magical novella inspired by traditional ballads. Sisters Esther and Ysabel use their musical talents to tend the enchanted willow their family has honored for generations. When an unwanted suitor appears, everything they love is suddenly at risk. AudioFile contributor Alex Richey and host Jo Reed discuss how Carmella’s narration perfectly blends the fantastical elements of fairy tales with the macabre elements of traditional murder ballads. Musical effects combine with Ca...
Apr 28, 2025•7 min•Ep. 1794
Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Laura Rossi highlight three recent Earphones Award-winning audiobooks. AudioFile awards Earphones to exceptional audio experiences—it’s our version of a starred review, specifically for the audiobook. Laura and Jo discuss Rachel Syme’s fun “Guide to Modern Correspondence,” SYME’S LETTER WRITER, read by the author; Curtis Sittenfeld’s short story collection SHOW DON’T TELL, performed by seven narrators including the author; and Patti Callahan Henry’s novel THE STORY S...
Apr 25, 2025•17 min•Ep. 1793
Listeners don't just experience a fascinating historical drama—they also become steeped in a bloody gothic Western. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Stephen Cummings discuss the stellar performances that are the center of this compelling listening experience. Narrator Marin Ireland fully embodies the beleaguered humanities professor who, while deep diving into the campus archive, discovers the story of her ancestors. Complete with creative production touches, the result is a dark, satisfying listen....
Apr 24, 2025•11 min•Ep. 1766
Narrator Angel Pean's stand-out performance is essential here. AudioFile’s Stephen Cummings and host Jo Reed discuss how her storytelling skill fully embodies these characters and the detailed and occasionally magical world they inhabit. Junie, an enslaved girl in 1800s Alabama, lives with the loss of her sister, Minnie, whose death is a weight on her conscience. An encounter with Minnie's ghost changes Junie's life, opening a new path that could include escaping her captors. The rich listening ...
Apr 23, 2025•8 min•Ep. 1791
Listeners don't need to be superfans of ice skating to be drawn into this audiobook. The world of pairs skating competition provides the setting for a story of young, elite athletes who are fighting for Olympic gold. AudioFile’s Stephen Cummings and host Jo Reed discuss how the narrations are uniformly exceptional in this audiobook structured as an oral history. Standouts include Christine Lakin as the complicated lead; her voice captures a mix of focused competitiveness and messy relationships....
Apr 22, 2025•9 min•Ep. 1790
Host Jo Reed and contributor Stephen Cummings discuss how Dion Graham continues his stellar work with Mosley's Joe King Oliver series, bringing heart and rough edges in equal measure. Here, the private investigator's Grandma B has a dying wish: Locate her long-missing son. Oliver's complicated relationship with his father is heightened as the search brings new insights into the man. Graham, in top form, captures the grit of this New York City noir, embodying the wide cast of suspects, cops, and ...
Apr 21, 2025•8 min•Ep. 1789
AudioFile’s Aurelia Scott and host Jo Reed discuss this clever historical mystery with a fabulous twist. It’s centered around Charlotte Holmes, a young woman with a gift for "discernment" and getting into trouble, who has secrets worth protecting. Golden Voice Narrator Kate Reading is masterful in her portrayals. Reading's aristocratic British voices are spot-on, and her acting is outstanding. She depicts all types of characters—funny, touching, romantic, suspenseful, haughty, old, young, wealth...
Apr 18, 2025•14 min•Ep. 1788
This audiobook begins with plans for a wedding and goes on to include . . . nearly everything else. AudioFile’s Leslie Fine and host Jo Reed discuss MacLeod Andrews’s excellence as a narrator: gentle, funny, sharp, and intuitive. When Cece and Charlie's special day—officiated by Charlie's troubled friend, Garrett—moves in an unexpected direction, Andrews captures the characters' interactions without dramatic excess. Andrews maintains a warm and reliable voice that rewards the listener who spends...
Apr 17, 2025•9 min•Ep. 1787
Singer-songwriter Neko Case narrates her memoir, and host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Leslie Fine discuss the way she brings to it a vitality and dynamism that give the listener a sense of actually being with her as she falls victim to manipulation by her mother, beginning at age 8. Case allows us to feel the tumult and trauma of impoverishment, neglect, and a steady stream of dislocations and relocations. The passion with which Case expresses her love of nature, horses, and music is palpable and ce...
Apr 16, 2025•8 min•Ep. 1786
AudioFile reviewer Leslie Fine and host Jo Reed discuss Kimberly Farr’s narration of this collection of Mary Oliver’s poems. Many of Oliver’s poems are about God or nature, and sometimes it’s difficult to find the line between them. Her world was full of many delights and, had she lived to hear them, Farr’s interpretations of her poems would have been among them. There is some melancholy in this collection—although not much—and Farr’s marvelous vocal talents bring that out as much as the great j...
Apr 15, 2025•8 min•Ep. 1785
Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Leslie Fine discuss how a trio of narrators portray teens from different eras and settings: from Hanna and Sophie, two Polish teens, in 1939, to 1980 West Berlin, where Jenny adjusts to her family’s move from Dallas, to Brooklynite Miles, who solves the mysterious disappearances of two girls sixty years earlier. Narrators January LaVoy, Jeremy Carlisle Parker, and Major Curda heighten their performances as the story’s tension increases and connections become clear. R...
Apr 14, 2025•9 min•Ep. 1784
