Narrators Kirsten Potter and Leon Nixon deliver assured performances of the women and men who helped shape nineteenth- and twentieth- century American history and culture through their explorations of its terrain, flora, and fauna--and the lands beyond. These individuals represent diverse perspectives that will take listeners outside traditional narratives of exploratory conquest. They range from well-known figures like Sacagawea and Laura Ingalls Wilder to less-well-known Americans like intrepid mountain man James Beckwourth and Arctic explorer Matthew Henson. Both Potter and Nixon create balanced and well-paced listening experiences, drawing listeners' focus to the indelible impressions these figures left on their contemporaries and on history. This audiobook provides a solid base for further exploration of this topic.
Pub Date: 2024
Duration: 9 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063227439
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Narrator Mark Deakins provides appropriately measured enthusiasm for Mark Synnott's account of sailing his 47-foot boat, POLAR SUN, through the Northwest Passage. Synnott funds his plans by selling the idea of searching for nineteenth-century explorer Sir John Franklin's tomb to National Geographic, among others. The author alternates between his own nautical adventure and the Franklin story. Previously ignored Inuit oral history was critical in locating Franklin's two ships a few years ago, but now Synnott experiences disinterest or suspicion from current Inuit residents who question whether his search is as pointless as Franklin's expedition. When the action flags, Deakins maintains his energy to keep the listener involved, and he sounds distinctly careful in his pronunciations of the multiple Inuit names and places.
Pub Date: 2025
Duration: 12 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217019915
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Rick Bass delivers these essays--old and new--at a deliberate pace and a careful tempo. His voice sounds kindly and literary. Reared in Texas, he retains a slight twang and the long vowels of that region ("fi-er", "why l" and "e-quator"). That he is soulful, sincere, and aspirational matters more. A fiction writer and essayist, he is also an environmental activist, and a number of these texts center on the horrific aftermath--asbestosis and mesothelioma--of the mining that took place near his adopted home in the Yak Valley of Montana. His appreciation of friend and fellow environmentalist Barry Lopez, along with Ernest Hemingway and nature itself, plus his decimation of W.R. Grace, the mine owner at the heart of one the biggest lawsuits ever filed, makes this collection memorable.
Pub Date: 2024
Duration: 10 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781696614313
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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