LETTERS by Oliver Sacks, Kate Edgar [Ed.], read by James Langton, Kate Edgar

Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine

#Theater #Books #Arts #Robin Whitten #AudioFile Magazine

39:33

"The basic premise of the event is that hunters hunt rattlesnakes from the surrounding environment all across West Texas, and bring them into the roundup for the weekend. And during the roundup, these snakes are kept in a pit and then, one by one, beheaded and skinned in front of in front of audiences." - Elizabeth MeLampy Elizabeth MeLampy is a lawyer dedicated to animal rights and protection, and her passion for this work shines through in her latest book, Forget the Camel, the Madcap World of Animal Festivals and What They Say About Being Human . To research the book, Elizabeth traveled across the country, immersing herself in a wide range of animal festivals — from the Iditarod dog sled race to the rattlesnake roundup in Sweetwater, Texas. Elizabeth examines these festivals as revealing microcosms of our broader relationship with animals. Whether it's rattlesnake hunts, frog-jumping contests, ostrich races, or groundhog celebrations, these events reflect the ways humans use animals to express cultural identity, community pride, and historical traditions. Yet beneath the pageantry and excitement lies a deeper question: Is our fascination with these spectacles worth the toll it takes on the animals involved? With compassion and insight, Elizabeth invites readers to consider whether there’s a more ethical and empathetic way to honor our stories — one that respects both animals and the traditions they inspire. Please listen, share and read, Forget the Camel. It will be released on April 8th, 2025. https://apollopublishers.com/index.php/forget-the-camel/…

about a year ago 6:25

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Dr. Sacks was a prodigious researcher, tireless clinician, voracious reader, competitive weight lifter, indefatigable traveler, influential neurologist, and long-winded correspondent. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff discuss James Langton’s narration of Sacks’s letters, through which he seems to inhabit the great man’s extraordinary mind. These revealing and erudite letters testify to Sacks's appetite for study, need to communicate, and insatiable yearning to solve problems.

Read our review of the audiobook at our website. Published by Penguin Audio.

Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1752 episodes

LETTERS by Oliver Sacks, Kate Edgar [Ed.], read by James Langton, Kate Edgar

Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine

published about a year ago

MP3•Episode home

Read our review of the audiobook at our website. Published by Penguin Audio.

Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1752 episodes

#Theater #Books #Arts #Robin Whitten #AudioFile Magazine

Alle episoder

1
A LANGUAGE OF DRAGONS by S.F. Williamson, read by Henrietta Meire 6:56

2 days ago6:56

6:56

Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alex Richey discuss how narrator Henrietta Meire shows remarkable vocal range in this young adult audiobook featuring multiple human and dragon languages and accents. Vivian aims for an internship studying dragon languages, but when her parents are arrested as rebels, she sets free a dragon that starts a civil war. Desperate, she accepts a job as a code breaker to help the war effort and is tasked with deciphering the one dragon language that has eluded scholars. Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s website https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/268477/ Published by Harper Audio. Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
JANUARIES by Olivie Blake, read by Alexandra Palting, Daniel Henning, David Monteith, Ferdelle Capistrano, Olivie Blake, Stephanie Németh-Parker, Steve West 7:14

3 days ago7:14

7:14

A full cast of narrators, including the author, delivers this enchanting collection of short stories about love, magic, and betrayal. AudioFile’s Alex Richey and host Jo Reed discuss how each of the 14 stories is tenderly delivered by an emotionally committed narrator. Some standouts include Stephanie Németh-Parker as a woman who grants wishes at a bridge during the full moon and David Monteith portraying a man who accidentally kills the woman he intends to marry, only for her to come back and haunt him. Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s website https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/256526/ Published by Macmillan Audio. Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
DEATH OF THE AUTHOR by Nnedi Okorafor, read by Liz Femi, Anthony Oseyemi, Jason Culp, Chris Djuma 7:05

4 days ago7:05

7:05

Liz Femi is the primary narrator of this meta-narrative about a paraplegic Nigerian American woman and her unexpected rise to fame. Suddenly unemployed, Zelu risks writing a novel unlike any she’s ever written before, a futuristic sci-fi epic about androids who exist after humanity becomes extinct. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alex Richey discuss how Femi’s distinct voices and the rest of the narrators’ performances complement each character's personality, thoroughly enriching this Earphones Award-winning audiobook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
LISTEN TO YOUR SISTER by Neena Viel, read by Kristolyn Lloyd, Eric Lockley, Zeno Robinson 7:15

5 days ago7:15

7:15

AudioFile’s Alex Richey and host Jo Reed discuss how this fantastic ensemble of narrators excel equally at emotionally connecting to complicated emotional characters, elevating colloquial language, and enhancing mysterious, violent horrors. Kristolyn Lloyd portrays 25-year-old Calla as she struggles to hold her life together. Calla would do anything to keep her brothers alive and safe, but neither sibling listens to her. When Calla’s brutal nightmares come to life, the siblings must escape to a remote cabin in the woods. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
HEAVENLY TYRANT by Xiran Jay Zhao, read by Rong Fu 7:43

6 days ago7:43

7:43

Narrator Rong Fu returns in the next audiobook in the Iron Widow series. Zetian has awakened Qin Zheng, legendary emperor of Huaxia from centuries past. He desires a complete overhaul of Huaxia to eliminate corruption and misogyny, but despite a common goal, it is still one Zetian is forced into. AudioFile’s Alex Richey and host Jo Reed discuss how Rong Fu skillfully adjusts her accent when voicing Qin Zheng, using a British accent most of the time, and switching to a different accent as he changes dialects. Her depictions of old and new characters are easily distinguishable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
Behind the Mic with Marshall Karp and January LaVoy 31:03

9 days ago31:03

31:03

Author Marshall Karp and narrator January LaVoy join AudioFile’s Michele Cobb for a conversation about Marshall’s latest novel, DON’T TELL ME HOW TO DIE - a mystery-turned-thriller where January LaVoy’s superb talent brings an array of dimension to Karp’s carefully crafted characters. Marshall is the author of over a dozen crime fiction novels - including the popular NYPD Red series, co-written with James Patterson - and January is an award-winning narrator who has voiced books by Nora Roberts, Dean Koontz, and John Grisham to name just a few. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
Celebrating the 2025 Audies Winners 6:51

10 days ago6:51

6:51

Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss the 2025 winner for Best Fiction Narrator, awarded this week at the 30th annual Audie Awards. Listen to hear their conversation and a clip from the winner! You can catch up with the Audie Awards ceremony livestream: https://www.youtube.com/live/DZ6KZvPtgEA And see the full list of this year’s finalists at the Audio Publishers Association website: https://www.audiopub.org/2025audies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
Celebrating the 2025 Audie Awards 10:34

11 days ago10:34

10:34

Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss the 2025 winners for Audiobook of the Year and the Best Nonfiction Narrator, awarded at last night’s Audie Awards gala. Listen to hear their conversation and a clip from the winner! And you can catch up with the Audie Awards ceremony livestream: https://www.youtube.com/live/DZ6KZvPtgEA And see the full list of this year’s finalists at the Audio Publishers Association website: https://www.audiopub.org/2025audies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
Previewing the 2025 Audie Awards 8:23

12 days ago8:23

8:23

Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb preview the 2025 Audie Awards! This year the Audies’ 30th anniversary will be celebrated with a gala event in New York City, and with a livestream that audiobook lovers can watch from the comfort of home. Listen in as Jo and Michele discuss some of the highlights to watch for in this year’s Audie Awards. Follow along with the Audie Awards ceremony tonight: https://www.youtube.com/live/DZ6KZvPtgEA And see the full list of this year’s finalists at the Audio Publishers Association website: https://www.audiopub.org/2025audies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
AudioFile Favorites: PLAYGROUND 7:35

13 days ago7:35

7:35

Richard Powers’s PLAYGROUND is a 2025 Audie Award Finalist for Audiobook of the Year. We’re revisiting host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff’s discussion of how the six narrators' words flow forth, immersing the listener in four central characters and the minute details that comprise their respective worlds. Sections lack titles or labels, so the distinct voice of each narrator is key to distinguishing which story is which. The performances of narrators Edoardo Ballerini, Robin Siegerman, Eunice Wong, Pun Bandhu, Krys Janae, and Kevin R. Free are equally deft; in fact, there is a consistency in pace and tone that makes this complex story accessible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
LAKE OF SOULS: AudioFile Favorites 7:39

16 days ago7:39

7:39

Adjoa Andoh narrates a short story collection of speculative fiction by Ann Leckie. We’re revisiting host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly discussion of this 2025 Audie Award Finalist in Science Fiction. This collection includes works in the worlds of the Imperial Radch and the Raven Tower, as well as stand-alone pieces. Andoh’s stellar skills are on display in every piece, making the stories of gods, humans, and other assorted beings incredibly compelling. A stunning performance by a master narrator. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
SYSTEM COLLAPSE: AudioFile Favorites 7:45

17 days ago7:45

7:45

We’re revisiting this discussion from Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Emily Connelly about this 2025 Audie Award Finalist in Science Fiction. Kevin R. Free is the perfect voice for Murderbot, the rogue security unit who would rather just be watching serials, but is protecting its humans — and having a mental breakdown. In a story that takes place immediately after NETWORK EFFECT, Murderbot, ART, and their humans continue to assist colonists on a planet marked for corporate salvage. Free’s depiction of Murderbot’s unresolved mental trauma is harrowing, especially as it digs into its memories to find the possible sources. There is plenty of action, too, as the team faces possible corporate and alien dangers and corruption Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
THE REAL EDUCATION OF TJ CROWLEY: AudioFile Favorites 6:30

18 days ago6:30

6:30

Grant Overstake’s audio drama details racial strife in Wichita, Kansas, in 1968. We’re revisiting Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Alan Minskoff’s discussion of this 2025 Audie Award Finalist in Young Adult. A seventh-grade boy’s life becomes upended when a Black family moves in next door. The narrators of this fraught coming-of-age story are excellent. The audio drama has moments of remarkable verisimilitude: from the play-by-play announcing of a basketball game to the whirring of a helicopter in Vietnam. Performed by a gifted cast, this slice of our history stays with the listener. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
REDNECKS: AudioFile Favorites 6:37

19 days ago6:37

6:37

Ramiz Monsef performs Taylor Brown’s historical novel set during the Battle of Blair Mountain in the early 1920s. We’re revisiting Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Kendra Winchester’s discussion about this 2025 Audie Award Finalist in Fiction that will keep listeners on edge until the very last second. Lebanese American “Doc Moo” Muhanna serves as a medical doctor during the Mine Wars. Monsef’s narration enlivens the characters as they give listeners various perspectives on these historical events. Monsef skillfully performs many different accents, and maintains the tension as the action of the novel picks up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
KNIFE: AudioFile Favorites 7:39

20 days ago7:39