The hosts of the "Call Your Girlfriend" podcast prove to be warm, open, and matter-of-fact as they share personal details about the path their friendship has taken. Sounding comfortable and natural behind the mic, Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman trade off narrating as they chronicle how they met, maintained a long-distance friendship, supported each other's careers, took the leap to becoming business partners, and navigate the specific challenges of their interracial friendship. But BIG FRIENDSHIP is also prescriptive, making a compelling case for putting in the effort to sustain these essential relationships in our lives. A bonus of the audiobook is that many of the experts on relationships, technology, and more that Sow and Friedman cite chime in to deliver their own quotes.
Pub Date: July 14, 2020
Duration: 5 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781797107110
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Griffiths narrates her poetic memoir, marked by two traumatic life events, with precision. Griffiths' emotive narration takes measure of the joys and sorrows she experiences in tender moments spent with her best friend, Kamilah Aisha Moon, a talented poet, as they share a deep connection and support each other's work. Despair comes on "the best and worst day" of her life, when Aisha dies on the same day that Griffiths weds author Salman Rushdie. Despite her own marital bliss, Griffiths is consumed by an overwhelming grief, and it has only begun to subside a year later when Rushdie is stabbed, nearly fatally. Again, Griffiths is plunged into depression. This story of love and loss is as strong in emotion as it is in poignant imagery and lyricism.
Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
Duration: 8 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217176441
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Only author Roy Wood Jr. could have imbued this narration with such empathy as he unflinchingly tells his life story, a cautionary tale for his newborn son. The comedian and actor recounts his complicated relationship with his own, mostly absent, father--a civil rights leader and respected radio announcer with another family who never divorced Wood's mother. She forced her estranged husband to take her and Wood Jr. in after a misadventure by young Roy. Wood Sr. dispensed wisdom and advice to hundreds but was judgmental and aloof to the one person who needed him most, his son. Even so, Wood Jr. learned what to do and not to do from his father and the other men who floated in and out of his life.
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
Duration: 8 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217165780
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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