Journalist Kara Swisher specializes in reporting on the Internet. Here she narrates her memoir with urgency and focus, providing a you-are-there history of Silicon Valley. With more than a decade of podcasting experience, Swisher has developed a well-honed, rapid-fire delivery; an aura of journalistic integrity; and a firsthand knowledge of tech history. Anecdotes abound on such topics as discussing the intricacies of lesbian pregnancy with Jeff Bezos and trying to encourage Mark Zuckerberg to remove his sweat-drenched hoodie during a public interview. There are plenty of reveals about the fake-it-til-you-make-it individuals who built tech culture. More importantly, Swisher serves as the Valley's outlier conscience--fearful of the future and optimistically pessimistic.
Pub Date: Feb. 27, 2024
Duration: 7 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781797175034
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Dr. Plotkin is an ethnobotanist who recounts his experiences searching for new medications in the Amazon rain forest. He makes an impassioned plea for the world to stop destroying this irreplaceable resource. Since the author reads his own work, we can rely on the pronunciation of some unusual botanical terms; however, his voice (presumably not trained for performance) lacks the enthusiasm and fascination the words suggest. Furthermore, with no chapter references and few pauses between sections, transitions, such as the change of location from Ecuador to Massachusetts, are awkward.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Cooper proves a sure guide for Levenson’s argument for the critical importance of vaccines.
Levenson argues that present-day anti-vaxxers like Robert Kennedy Jr. use historical arguments that may have had some validity when vaccines were first developed but have since been debunked and are now being recycled cynically. Mike Cooper’s energy and British accent ensure clear communication of the history and science behind the safe and effective vaccine system we have today. He occasionally employs a snarky tone that strikes just the right note as Levenson discusses Andrew Wakefield’s discredited beliefs about the link between vaccines and autism and Kennedy’s comparison of vaccines to genocide. Levenson takes on the philosophical question of individual rights and vaccine mandates but notes that state power is being used to prevent mandates that would ensure the health of all.
Cooper proves a sure guide for Levenson’s argument for the critical importance of vaccines.Pub Date: June 9, 2026
Duration: 3 hrs, 42 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217286645
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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