Two articulate researchers discuss fascinating brain scan studies that show how blood flow to specific parts of the brain changes when we are more or less controlling, are overloaded with mental static, feel agitated, or see ourselves as separated from others. The tasteful urgency in Fred Stella's performance fits this groundbreaking research; his phrasing and vocal quality are unfailing throughout this audio. The authors show how practices like meditation not only change blood flow in the moment but also create longer-lasting brain connections that can alter our habitual approaches to many aspects of life. By making the neurological underpinnings of mental states so concrete, and drawing on so many cultures for examples, they provide enough anchors to give this audio both familiarity and excitement from start to finish.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2016
Duration: 6 hrs, 45 mins
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
A steady, warm voice carries this journey of self-examination and spiritual stillness.
Justin Chien narrates Li’s memoir with authority and warmth, his measured cadence suited to the material. The audiobook follows the martial arts icon’s survival of a devastating tsunami and his gradual embrace of Buddhism, his own mortality, and purpose beyond fame. Chien shifts fluidly from the swagger of action movie stardom to a humbler, more contemplative register once the narrative turns reflective. His voice carries real weight during passages on impermanence, never overplaying the emotion and letting the gravity of the material speak for itself. Chien’s pace slows just enough for the ideas to settle, drawing listeners into a genuinely reflective experience.
A steady, warm voice carries this journey of self-examination and spiritual stillness.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
Duration: 6 hrs, 37 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217021567
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2026
Listeners will find much worth discovering in the lives of these vanguards of American intellectual life.
Kevin R. Free’s voice is the perfect vehicle for this fascinating portrait of a remarkable group of artists, philosophers, abolitionists, and social reformers who all happened to live in Concord, Massachusetts in the 19th century. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott and her father, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller, and many others called themselves transcendentalists and became the first truly American philosophical movement. With his genial delivery, Free is up to the task of narrating this complicated account of many intersecting lives; his inflections add character to the correspondence and inject life into the often formal writings the Circle left behind.
Listeners will find much worth discovering in the lives of these vanguards of American intellectual life.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
Duration: 9 hrs, 53 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668132777
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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