"2019 was the year that I—an unabashed, hardcore, listen-at-all-times-of-the-day audiobook fanatic—fell in love with audio documentaries. They pulled me into their subjects in an immersive, sometimes even cinematic way, and have helped my nonfiction-resistant heart to open up to learning through listening (I’ve traditionally been more an entertainment/escape kind of gal). The best documentaries of the year have brought me deep into the world of soccer (and the lasting impact that heading can have on player’s brains); have rejuvenated my vestigial but not forgotten love of dinosaurs; and have swept me away to vastly different places—from the arctic to Harlem—almost as if I had visited in person.

But it was this year’s winner, Twisted, that most clearly demonstrates just what documentary in audio can do. From TV documentaries and news programs you’re probably familiar, at least cursorily, with the horrific case of Larry Nassar, the women’s gymnastics doctor who sexually abused countless young women during the course of his career. But unlike visual programming, Twisted was able to move beyond the picture of the girls as victims and Nassar as a monster (which they are and he is) in order to expose how the system failed these young women over and over again. It turns up the volume on the women’s distressed but determined voices as they plead for justice in complaint after complaint, and gives the listener hope that these stories will never be ignored again." —Emily, Audible Editor