Accessibility and balance make this an outstanding study of the complexities of adolescent bullying. Sharing the stories of three teenagers and looking at a variety of enabling factors and corrective responses, Bazelon says that simply punishing offenders seldom works, though legal action against schools has improved institutional responses to bullying. Rebecca Lowman’s exceptional performance brings off the tricky combination of relaxed youthful appeal and intellectual maturity. She’s also effective at delivering the narratives that dominate this multifaceted presentation, which includes advice for victims and parents. Lowman’s approach partners seamlessly with the author’s apparent mission: to encourage activism by exposing the fascinating interplay among destructive instincts, individual frailties, organizational resistance, social media, and the power of legal action to change culture.
Pub Date: Feb. 19, 2013
Duration: 11 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780385362801
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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