Tavia Gilbert captures the spirit of this text, especially the author's passionate belief that all members of society should be treated fairly. In 2012 and 2013, Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux kept a journal of her visits to her local Auchan superstore, a chain in France roughly equivalent to a Walmart supercenter. What happened there is not as interesting as what Ernaux writes about it. Ernaux is a fascinating thinker, especially about commercialism and consumerism and the culture they engender. Besides the intense emotions, there are amusement and bemusement about the architecture of the store and parking lot, and about the meaning of the different styles and sizes of products that the store stocks.
Pub Date: 2023
Duration: 1 hr, 45 mins
Publisher: Yale Press 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:
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Narrator Emily Woo Zeller is an affable guide through this brisk introduction to paleoanthropology. Paleoanthropologist Sang-Hee Lee assumes that listeners aren't familiar with her field, and it's apparent in most of the lucid, bite-sized chapters on a variety of topics. Coupled with Zeller's polished delivery, the result is less a classroom experience and more akin to an audio museum tour. Zeller's smooth voice makes for easy listening--occasionally too easy, to the point of being lulling. And though the authors aim for a beginner-friendly approach, some chapters are still too dense. Listeners who don't already know the finer points of Homo erectus versus Homo habilis may be scratching their heads. But these are minor faults of an otherwise worthwhile popular science audiobook.
Pub Date:
Duration: 6 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781684410330
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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