Peter Jay Fernandez's performance of this audiobook is sincere and engrossing. With impeccable pacing and an appealing deep voice, he brings to life the experiences of Kent Garrett and 17 of his classmates who entered Harvard in 1959, the largest Black freshmen class the university had seen. Garrett and Ellsworth intersperse the experiences of those young men at Harvard with extensive interviews about their lives many decades later. It's a fascinating mix of the momentous and the wry. The young men sat at "the Black table" in the dining hall, debated integration after Malcolm X visited campus, and were introduced at parties to a rare Black female student. They entered Harvard as Negroes and graduated as African-Americans. Fernandez is a perfect conduit to Garrett's informal and amiable style.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2020
Duration: 10 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781980056089
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
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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