Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine

Latest Episodes:

AudioFile Favorites: BOSSYPANTS by Tina Fey, read by Tina Fey Sep 20, 2019

Show notes

The perfect audiobook if you need a laugh. This 2012 Audie winner for Audiobook of the Year is a great example of how an author narrating their own work can bring that extra something. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile Publisher Michele Cobb chat about how Tina Fey's challenges as a busy working mother are relatable and her comedy amplified through her perfectly delivered performance. It's one of AudioFile's favorites, and on the top of our recommended listening list. Published by Hachette Audio.

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Support for Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine comes from Paperback Classics, a new imprint from Oasis Family Media, bringing the best vintage pulp paperbacks to audio, including the 1960s cult-classic series Dark Shadows.

AudioFile Favorites: THE POET X by Elizabeth Acevedo, read by Elizabeth Acevedo Sep 19, 2019

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An audiobook you absolutely have to hear. Jo Reed and AudioFile Publisher Michele Cobb express their admiration for the author's poetic performance of her own work, one of AudioFile's favorites and a National Book Award and Carnegie Medal winner. Xiomara is a 15-year-old first-generation Dominican-American girl who finds her voice through poetry. Acevedo's performance chops pull the listener into Xiomara's world, making this audiobook the ideal way to experience this novel. Published by Harper Audio.

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AudioFile Favorites: HIDDEN FIGURES by Margot Lee Shetterly, read by Robin Miles Sep 18, 2019

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Robin Miles's narration brings out the heart in a story built on incredible science. Michele Cobb, AudioFile Publisher, and host Jo Reed discuss an AudioFile favorite that went on to become a hit movie. Forget about breaking the glass ceiling — these four black women worked for NASA as "computers" and were instrumental in breaking the sound barrier and paving the way for space exploration. Published by Harper Audio.

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AudioFile Favorites: HAMILTON by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy McCarter, read by Mariska Hargitay, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy McCarter [Intro] Sep 17, 2019

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"Hamilton: the Musical" is a cultural phenomenon, and the audiobook is a must-listen. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile Publisher Michele Cobb discuss their delight at this Audie Award Audiobook of the Year winner. It's an AudioFile favorite packed with behind-the-scenes insights into how a Broadway musical gets made. Narrated by superfan Mariska Hargitay along with Lin-Manuel Miranda himself reading the libretto footnotes. Published by Hachette Audio.

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AudioFile Favorites: BELOVED by Toni Morrison, read by Toni Morrison Sep 16, 2019

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The Pulitzer Prize-winning modern classic narrated by author Toni Morrison herself. Jo Reed and AudioFile publisher Michele Cobb start a week of episodes of AudioFile Favorites—audiobooks we love to recommend. BELOVED is a compelling and complicated tale with an emotional punch, where the wounds of slavery run deep. It has controversial characters and a musical pace that will stay with the listener. Published by Random House Audio.

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AudioFile Favorites: THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT by Alan Furst Sep 13, 2019

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With so many historical mysteries to choose from, why does Alan Furst's WWII noir make the AudioFile Favorites list? Host Jo Reed and Robin Whitten talk about the appeal and compare two versions of the audiobook. In Paris in the late 1930s, journalist Carl Weisz takes over an antifascist newspaper and is swept deeper into the international émigré community and the increasing danger of work for the Resistance. This 2007 spy novel has two audiobook versions—unabridged read by celebrated narrator George Guidall and a powerful abridgment, narrated by Alfred Molina.

Published by Simon & Schuster (Alfred Molina version) & Recorded Books (narrated by George Guidall).

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AudioFile Favorites: BORN A CRIME by Trevor Noah, read by Trevor Noah Sep 12, 2019

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The host of "The Daily Show" gives a candid, unflinching look at his South African childhood. Editor Robin Whitten and host Jo Reed talk about why this author-read memoir is one of AudioFile's go-to recommendations. Trevor Noah injects his candor and uses his wry humor with his innate storytelling and mimicry to leaven the story commenting on the absurdities of apartheid while giving a stark portrait of the repressive lives of Black South Africans.

Published by Audible.

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AudioFile Favorites: BEAUTIFUL RUINS by Jess Walter, read by Edoardo Ballerini Sep 11, 2019

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The charm of the Italian coast, movie star glamour, hope, and heartbreak are wrapped in a magical narration by Edoardo Ballerini. Editor Robin Whitten and host Jo Reed talk about why this audiobook performance makes the novel one of AudioFile's Favorites. Listeners start with an Italian innkeeper in the 1960s and and move all the way through present-day Hollywood with dozens of unforgettable characters: husbands and wives, lovers and dreamers, superstars and losers, all warmly and vividly portrayed by Ballerini. An Earphones and Audie Award winner.

Published by HarperAudio.

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AudioFile Favorites: THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman, read by Neil Gaiman Sep 10, 2019

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Gaiman's fantastic worlds are an absolute delight on audio, and listeners are especially lucky to get to experience this Newbery Award-winning middle grade fantasy in Gaiman's own voice. Host Jo Reed and Editor Robin Whitten chat about why THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is an AudioFile Favorite. Fans of AMERICAN GODS or GOOD OMENS may not know about Gaiman's children's audiobooks.This story of an orphaned boy—"Bod," short for Nobody—who is raised by ghosts in the local graveyard also features an array of mythological and supernatural characters. The storytelling is as good as it gets. There is a full-cast version of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK with Derek Jacobi and other well known actors, but Gaiman's single-voice performance has an intimate warmth and conveys a certain safety for young listeners during the scarier parts of the story.

Published by HarperAudio.

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AudioFile Favorites: THE GOLDEN COMPASS by Philip Pullman, read by Philip Pullman and a Full Cast Sep 09, 2019

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A window into Philip Pullman's fantastic universe is the way many listeners first entered the audiobook world. Editor Robin Whitten and host Jo Reed start a week of episodes of AudioFile Favorites—the audiobooks we always recommend. The first in the His Dark Materials trilogy sets the stage with miraculous creatures—daemons, armored bears, and witches—who join 12-year-old Lyra Belacqua in her quest for truth. The multi-actor cast of this audiobook version engages listeners from the opening scenes. THE GOLDEN COMPASS has stayed at the top of our favorites list for more than 20 years!

The BBC/HBO TV adaption "His Dark Materials" arrives later this fall, as does the second audiobook in Pullman's new series, THE BOOK OF DUST: THE SECRET COMMONWEALTH, narrated by Michael Sheen.

Published by Penguin Random House/Listening Library.

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