by Jelani Cobb ; read by Kevin R. Free ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 14, 2025
Kevin R. Free portrays the dean of Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism in a fine style as he delivers selections from Cobb's reporting, commentaries, and observations. Free's pace and tone give the man his due. As Cobb astutely navigates the period from 2012 to 2024, he explores the wider meaning of the killings of unarmed Black men and bears witness. Looking farther back, he describes his own experiences at Jamaica High School and Howard University. He leavens this audiobook with eulogies for world figure Nelson Mandela, as well as PBS journalist Gwen Ifill and actor-activist Ruby Dee. Throughout all the selections, Free gets Cobb's voice--by turns journalistic, reflective and concerned.
Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2025
Duration: 15 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217159178
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
by Jonathan Kozol ; read by Jack Winston ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A
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
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by Carlos Barragán ; read by Nathan Luwa ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2026
The road to online romance has victims on both sides of the ocean.
Awards & Accolades
Our Verdict
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Nathan Luwa’s mastery of Nigerian accents lends authenticity to his narration and humanizes the four digital scammers profiled in this nonfiction exposé. Flush with wired money and gift cards, these youths (nicknamed Yahoo Boys) spend their nights trolling lonely Americans on the internet and their days living off hotel room service, buying Gucci for girlfriends and watered-down champagne for friends. They share backstories of extreme poverty and an inability to envision a future; Yahoo Boys don’t save or plan ahead, living from one romance scam to the next. The author has a personal stake in all this—his mother gave thousands of dollars to a Yahoo Boy posing as a U.S. soldier—and he spent months embedded among Yahoo Boys in Lagos.
The road to online romance has victims on both sides of the ocean.Pub Date: June 9, 2026
Duration: 9 hrs, 4 mins
DD ISBN: 9781250459060
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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