Dogs have been eating birds
for centuries, I’m sure. But one of my dogs recently captured and ate a New York City bird, and I don’t trust the birds that walk the trash-ridden streets of my city. So when my dog walker called me in a slight panic during the aforementioned incident, I quite literally ran out the Audible doors in a full-blown panic and rushed straight home to take my dog to the vet—where the vet then told me to go home, and I think implied that I worry too much (but I can’t be sure).The irony—not lost on me as the subway rambled across Manhattan on my way to Brooklyn that day—is that I’ve been listening to a great audiobook about the digestive system. While we’re here to talk about history, I have a hunch that you have a soft spot for some well-written nonfiction, too, and Gut delivers. It explains anything and everything you could ever want to know about the digestive system, and—bonus—it will gross out your friends at your next dinner party while simultaneously making them jealous of your knowledge. (I suggest waiting until after dessert to start hitting them with the factoids.) Anywho, I’ll let you digest that recommendation and get on with the rest of the newsletter. Enjoy!
- Kyle, Audible editor
-
The Indignities of Being a Woman
- By: Merrill Markoe, Megan Koester
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,727
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,484
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,470
The Indignities of Being a Woman candidly traces the history of womanhood and investigates how much things have really changed for womankind. By carefully x-raying areas such as body image, marriage, mental illness, fashion, and politics, this audiobook examines what it was like to be a woman in the past versus what it’s like now, when women are constantly told equality between the sexes exists but reality proves otherwise.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Insert Political Joke Here
- By Adam on 02-16-19
A celebration of women's history (and future)
Did you know that, in the entire history of the Academy Awards, only three Black women have ever won a gold statue for categories other than acting—and two of them came as recently as this February? More women are also in the US House of Representatives than ever before—even if accounting for only 23.4% of Congress—and the first-ever female Speaker of the House has regained her gavel in 2019. These new realities are achievements for women’s equality, but are also cause to reflect upon how far we have yet to go. After all, the future is female and it’s about damn time we all got on board.
Listen to Women
-
Murder by the Book
- The Crime That Shocked Dickens's London
- By: Claire Harman
- Narrated by: Andy Secombe
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 33
From the acclaimed biographer - the fascinating, little-known story of a Victorian-era murder that rocked literary London, leading Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, and Queen Victoria herself to wonder: Can a novel kill?
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Best Story Worst Narrator
- By Jan B on 10-08-19
One to watch out for
Now, I know I’m only feeding into the stereotype that book people adore nothing more than books about books, but so be it—I love listening to a good book about a book. Plus, when that book-within-a-book leads to the murder of a British aristocrat, you have me hook, line, and sinker. Have I used the word book
enough in the last couple sentences? OK, good. Anyway! True Crime was the genre of the moment in Dickens’s London—much as it is right now—and novelists (a somewhat new profession for the time, thanks to advances in printing) were churning out stories based on real-life depravity with haste. I won’t spill the beans on the whole story here, but it’s a real Mark David Chapman situation (RIP John Lennon) and you’re not going to want to miss out on such a killer listen.
The Pen Is Mightier
-
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
- By: Tom Wolfe
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,109
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 951
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 951
Tom Wolfe - one of the 20th century’s foremost voices in cultural criticism - went from local news reporter to international icon in 1968, with the publication of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Now voiced with vivacity and vigor by Audible Hall of Fame narrator Luke Daniels, the non-fiction swan-dive delves into the world of hippies, hedonism, and everything in between.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Maybe it resonated with a different time and place
- By S. Phillips on 04-11-19
An updated classic from a late-great
If Tom Wolfe is the king of counter-culture journalism in the United States, then The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test is his magnum opus. Add in Luke Daniels—one of the best narrators around—and this updated version is simply mind-blowing. Filled with far out acid trips, protest movements, the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang, and a wild goose chase by multiple law enforcement agencies from two countries, there is no shortage of intrigue to be delivered from Wolf and the Merry Pranksters here. Even though I wasn't around during the late 1960s when the hippie
movement caught fire, I sure enjoyed hearing about it.
Get Trippy
New Releases
-
Sea People
- The Puzzle of Polynesia
- By: Christina Thompson
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 950
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 820
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 817
A thrilling, intellectual detective story that looks deep into the past to uncover who first settled the islands of the remote Pacific, where they came from, how they got there, and how we know.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Long Lost History
- By Than on 04-19-19
-
Shoot for the Moon
- The Space Race and the Extraordinary Voyage of Apollo 11
- By: James Donovan
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 277
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 255
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 254
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon, a moment forever ingrained in history. Perhaps the world's greatest technological achievement - and a triumph of American spirit and ingenuity - the Apollo 11 mission, and the entire Apollo program, was a mammoth undertaking involving more than 410,000 men and women dedicated to putting a man on the Moon and winning the Space Race against the Soviets.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Well Told, But Over Plowed Ground
- By John on 07-24-19
-
A History of America in Ten Strikes
- By: Erik Loomis
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 170
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 149
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 148
Powerful and accessible, A History of America in Ten Strikes challenges all of our contemporary assumptions around labor, unions, and American workers. In this brilliant book, labor historian Erik Loomis recounts ten critical workers’ strikes in American labor history that everyone needs to know about (and then provides an annotated list of the 150 most important moments in American labor history in the appendix).
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
great read
- By Perscors on 03-17-19
-
Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait?
- Alice Paul, Woodrow Wilson, and the Fight for the Right to Vote
- By: Tina Cassidy
- Narrated by: Amanda Carlin
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
An eye-opening, inspiring, and timely account of the complex relationship between notable suffragist Alice Paul and President Woodrow Wilson in her fight for women’s equality.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Every American of voting age should read this book.
- By Amazon Customer on 03-28-19
-
Sea People
- The Puzzle of Polynesia
- By: Christina Thompson
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 950
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 820
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 817
A thrilling, intellectual detective story that looks deep into the past to uncover who first settled the islands of the remote Pacific, where they came from, how they got there, and how we know.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Long Lost History
- By Than on 04-19-19
-
Shoot for the Moon
- The Space Race and the Extraordinary Voyage of Apollo 11
- By: James Donovan
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 277
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 255
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 254
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon, a moment forever ingrained in history. Perhaps the world's greatest technological achievement - and a triumph of American spirit and ingenuity - the Apollo 11 mission, and the entire Apollo program, was a mammoth undertaking involving more than 410,000 men and women dedicated to putting a man on the Moon and winning the Space Race against the Soviets.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Well Told, But Over Plowed Ground
- By John on 07-24-19
-
A History of America in Ten Strikes
- By: Erik Loomis
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 170
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 149
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 148
Powerful and accessible, A History of America in Ten Strikes challenges all of our contemporary assumptions around labor, unions, and American workers. In this brilliant book, labor historian Erik Loomis recounts ten critical workers’ strikes in American labor history that everyone needs to know about (and then provides an annotated list of the 150 most important moments in American labor history in the appendix).
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
great read
- By Perscors on 03-17-19
-
Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait?
- Alice Paul, Woodrow Wilson, and the Fight for the Right to Vote
- By: Tina Cassidy
- Narrated by: Amanda Carlin
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
An eye-opening, inspiring, and timely account of the complex relationship between notable suffragist Alice Paul and President Woodrow Wilson in her fight for women’s equality.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Every American of voting age should read this book.
- By Amazon Customer on 03-28-19
About the Editor
With tastes as varied as his shoe collection, editor Kyle will listen to just about anything; however, his go-to listens deal with the consequences of human nature: history, politics, religion, and true crime. His favorite pastime is taking long walks with his dogs while devouring a great story from Audible, of course. Follow him on Twitter @_EditorKyle.