Markovits challenges the U.S.'s self-proclaimed meritocratic system and argues that it is a false system that only reinforces inequality through resource- and opportunity-hoarding among the elite. Fred Sanders narrates the audiobook in a deliberate style that can be helpful, particularly when Markovits explains the mechanisms that prevent an equal system of opportunity based upon skills: the harvesting of wealth without work by elites, private and prestigious education inaccessible to most people, and networks of influence in work that limit people's opportunities. Sanders's delivery has a staccato intonation that wears on listeners. Yet, with his deep pitch, slightly raspy timbre, and overall genial tone, he keeps people listening while Markovits's prose keeps them engaged.
Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
Duration: 14 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593107461
Publisher: Penguin 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
Block calls into question the validity of the home-schooling system, having personally experienced many of its failures.
Block narrates his own memoir of being home-schooled by his mother for five years in the 1990s. Aside from a few math lessons, young Stefan is left to his own devices and uses his time to watch television or wander outside. By the time he re-enters the public school system in ninth grade, he is woefully behind, both academically and socially. Although Block’s story is filled with emotional trauma, including an overbearing mother and bullying from fellow students, his narration is unsentimental, as if he expected his life to be this way. The steel in his voice conveys his resilience and determination.
Block calls into question the validity of the home-schooling system, having personally experienced many of its failures.Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
Duration: 7 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781488237102
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: March 25, 2026
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