Ariel Blake uses a bold voice to narrate this thought-provoking audiobook. Black Lives Matter cofounder Patrisse Cullors provides a handbook for becoming a 21st-century abolitionist--someone who contributes to replacing the "the modern-day white-supremacist, capitalist, racist patriarchy" that currently exists in the U.S. with a caring and dignified society. Blake steadily recites activities and directions. Chapters include guidelines for responding to injustices in everyday life, a checklist for how to communicate with others, and lists of what to read. While this work is an ambitious resource and Blake slowly and fluidly enumerates each of the 12 steps, as a handbook, it would also be useful in print so that users can more easily refer to specific parts when needed.
Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2022
Duration: 7 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781250819772
Publisher: Macmillan 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
An absorbing drama.
Reena Dutt takes listeners to Cleveland Heights, where Sam disappears the morning after a fight with her wife, Aliya. Umrigar’s text immerses listeners in both women’s experiences, switching perspectives deliberately. Dutt evinces grief, terror, and rage (alas, often conveyed in clunky figurative language) as Sam and Ali navigate this cataclysm, which is complicated by their status as a mixed-race, queer couple. Dutt’s voice for Ali is grave and deliberate, and for Sam, lighter but still firm. Secondary figures are also carefully characterized; the lead investigator and Ali’s Indian Muslim father are particularly well realized. Dutt’s attention to detail extends to the pronunciation of Ali’s name: correctly South Asian in the mouths of those who know her well, broadened to a nasal “alley” by Americans who don’t.
An absorbing drama.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
Duration: 11 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781668655023
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2026
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