by Laura Beers ; read by Tanya Eby ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 11, 2024
Tanya Eby gives a clear delivery in a precise style. She is an intelligent narrator who skillfully paces this heady appraisal of the famed English author George Orwell. These days the term "Orwellian" seems to be equally availed by the right, left, and center, all of whom appropriate his two most famous novels, ANIMAL FARM and 1984. This tightly argued, biographically based audiobook looks at the lasting influence of Orwell's complex ideas, which are too often considered to be simply anti-Soviet or libertarian. Unafraid to consider the writer as a whole, Beers points out: "He was a socialist but decidedly not a feminist." Beers reexamines Orwell's lesser-known reportage and reviews to make sense of our own era. His legacy is further burnished by this audiobook.
Pub Date: June 11, 2024
Duration: 6 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9798855536560
Publisher: Tantor Media
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
by Jason Zengerle ; read by Beth Hicks & Jason Zengerle ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 27, 2026
While author Zengerle provides a workmanlike reading of the lengthy prologue, Beth Hicks successfully presents an engaging, straightforward, and unadorned narration of the balance. Zengerle, a New York Times Magazine writer, presents a well-researched, if highly-opinionated, examination of the life and evolution of conservative pundit Tucker Carlson. Zengerle also examines the polarization of media covering American politics online and on cable networks, such as CNN and Fox News. Despite the author's sharply critical and, at times, angry rhetoric, Hicks manages to offer a calm and nuanced narration. Hicks delivers on this treatise profiling the American body politics' radicalization and extreme polarity in both the process itself and its coverage reporting.
Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
Duration: 9 hrs
DD ISBN: 9798217296149
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
by Mikhail Zygar ; read by Daniel Henning ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 11, 2025
Zygar, who was born at the beginning of the last decade of the USSR, is now an expatriate Russian journalist living in the West. In this audiobook he provides great detail on the interpersonal relationships among the various members of the Soviet ruling elite and how what seemed like an opportunity for "democracy" was muffed by all parties concerned. Henning's clear voice is easily understood. While his frequent mispronunciations of Russian names and words may be a distraction, the information he presents is interesting, and Zygar is a good writer. Henning's overall narration brings clarity to the decades-long decline and seemingly sudden demise of the Soviet Union.
Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2025
Duration: 22 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781797192918
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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