This engaging book about the lives of 15 gifted boys and girls is served well by Kirsten Potter's captivating performance. Speaking clearly in a tone that fits these narratives, she modulates the drama in her voice with taste and sensitive timing. The prodigies that Hulbert profiles are both well known and obscure, and they're all interesting. With her gift for narrative propelling these stories, she chronicles how these children's extraordinary talent complicated their relationships with parents and other authority figures, and provoked controversy about how society should relate to them. Their exceptionality changed almost everything about their lives and made normal character development and even career success challenging. With insights highly relevant to the challenges of raising any child, this is a must-hear for those who have young people in their care.
Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2018
Duration: 12 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780525500391
Publisher: Random House 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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