"I Wonder What's in It," an 1899 poem by Harvey Washington Wiley, read in Dr. Seuss-style by Kirsten Potter, raises questions about the food listeners eat. Wiley, long the Agriculture Department's chief chemist, devoted his life to answering that question. Listeners may become uneasy about the borax, chalk, and other substances that were common before the 1906 Food & Drug Act. Potter adds humor, shock, and an indignant tone with her inflections and voices. An emphatic defense of "embalmed meat" seems ridiculous, while editorials defending Wiley take on a solemn air. Potter demonstrates the place Wiley's most famous study--dubbed the Poison Squad, for its tests on human subjects--had in U.S. culture with her entertaining reading of period articles and songs.
Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018
Duration: 11 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780525639893
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
James Michener tells the real stories behind the man and his books. The recording is read with skill and consistency although the reader does little to enhance the robust, larger-than-life incidents related in the book. Due to the first-person narrative format, there is no opportunity for the narrator to change his voice. This makes some chapters monotonous as they go on and on in the typical Michener style. The listener may also become confused because the stories are not told chronologically. This is not a great choice for the audio format, but Michener fans may stick with it to the end.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 22 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
In a quest for a sense of inner contentment and self-worth, Gloria Steinem brings the reader on a journey of investigation and discovery. Steinem reads the text herself in a straightforward and friendly, but not intimate, presentation which is so easy to listen to it invites repetition--thus ensuring the painless relearning of the lessons of the book. It's difficult to tell from the reading that this audiobook is abridged; each section can stand alone. Nonetheless, the listener wished the book were unabridged. Steinem left me wanting to learn more.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Dove Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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