Alexandra Robbins narrates her audiobook on the current state of the public teaching profession. Listeners familiar with the world of K-12 education only through popular media will want to listen closely. Robbins interviewed hundreds of educators and followed several through their workdays; her research has resulted in a mixture of compelling stories and sobering data. Classroom educators are often framed as heroes; Robbins reveals how this praise is used to demand free labor from underpaid professionals. Parents can be supportive but also threatening. Administrators expect students to pass through the system at almost any cost, compromising the integrity of educators' efforts. Robbins provides an authentic, earnest delivery as her voice captures the reality teachers are facing right now.
Pub Date: March 14, 2023
Duration: 10 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593671627
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Kozol’s shocking exposé of inequities in the funding of our public schools contrasts white suburban schools with those serving black and Hispanic populations. Interviews with students, teachers, and school administrators add eloquent testimony to Kozol’s disturbing presentation of facts. Narration by Jack Winston is clear and brisk, but the pace is unrelenting, with little pause for transition between scenes or chapters. Winston’s cool, detached voice contrasts with Kozol’s impasssioned and outraged message. The sheer repetition and magnitude of Kozol’s damning evidence is numbing; the narration gives no relief. Powerful medicine, most easily taken in small doses. Music signalling tape changes is jarringly inappropriate.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Eric Jason Martin narrates this timely treatise on writing and AI by longtime English professor and writer John Warner. The author emphasizes that Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT cannot think or write; they merely use algebraic algorithms to deliver tokens (AI-speak for words) that follow a plausible pattern. The author warns that by outsourcing human thought processes, we risk losing those abilities. He makes his case with considerable wit. However, Martin misses almost every chance to showcase the author's message. Ironically, he narrates in an almost robotic fashion. Despite this, his slow pacing and crisp enunciation give the listener every opportunity to mull this well-reasoned argument. Final chapters offer suggestions for when, why, and how to push back against the AI onslaught.
Pub Date: July 1, 2025
Duration: 7 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9798228499201
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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