JANUARY 31, 2020
Alexa, what time is the big game?
We admit we don't follow many team sports, but we heard that in addition to Groundhog Day, something called the Superb Owl is happening this Sunday? We kid! Editor Rachel, for one, is a stealth sports fan. During Sunday's match, our sights will be set on the cheerleaders for whom we have a newly deepened respect after watching the documentary series Cheer. (Is anyone else watching?? We're obsessed!) There's just something about the sports narrative we can't get enough of—the competition, the teamwork, the heartbreak, the draaaaaama. In honor of great sports stories, we give you 20 of the best sports listens of all time.Politics are hot (dishes?)
When you hear the phrase the political world is heating up, your thoughts might not immediately go to tater-tot laden suppers, but such is the case as Minnesota-based Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar is hitting the Iowa circuit in advance of the caucuses—and incurring the ire of constituents there by referring to what they call casserole as hot dish. Ever the fans of regionalisms, we predicted that all things Minnesota would be trending, as we noted in our You Betcha! collection of listens centering on that Midwestern state.A voice that still echoes today (and is particularly timely)
This year, for Black History Month, we’re shining a spotlight on those who’ve taken the lead in shaping change and movement. Few people exemplify that quality like the late legendary comedian and activist Dick Gregory, who made waves when his autobiography was first published in 1964 with its deliberately incendiary title. Audible is bringing his memoir to audio for the first time, with an exclusive foreword from his son, Dr. Christian Gregory, who talked with editor Abby about why that word still carries so much weight and why his father’s message through activism endures.Take heart
Some wholehearted optimism is warranted after researchers at Osaka University recently succeeded in a partial transplant of a heart with lab-grown muscle cells. They hope the procedure will make full transplants in some cases unnecessary since the procedure is harrowing for surgeons and patients alike. But don’t take our word for it—hear this listen from a renowned heart surgeon on matters of life and death on the operating table.At least it was a fake skeleton?
Speaking of bodily wonders: in a recent tweet, the Arizona Department of Public Safety proclaimed:Think you can use the HOV lane with Skeletor riding shotgun? You’re dead wrong! ☠That’s right, a Southwest driver decided to shorten his commute by dressing up a plastic skeleton (in camo, oddly enough) and seating it next to him so he could drive in the HOV lane. At any rate, it didn’t work and officials were sure to make an example of the rule breaker. With no disrespect to this He-Man wannabe (you can’t blame a guy for trying) we have to wonder, what would She-Ra have done? (And, side note: if morbid stories are your jam, might we recommend Stiff by Mary Roach?)
Don't forget...
This newsletter is now available as a perfect-for-multitaskers Audio Edition. Click here to subscribe, and get it in your Audible library every Friday.ICYMI
- Jerry Craft’s New Kid is the first graphic novel to nab the Newbery at the ALA Youth Media Awards! The other winners are pretty darn spectacular, too.
- More than 100 writers have signed an open letter to Oprah Winfrey about Jeanine Cummins’s American Dirt.
- Achieve peak Gen X nonchalance by eavesdropping on a day in the life of Why We Can't Sleep author Ada Calhoun without leaving your couch…or spending a credit!
- When a 3-year-old girl’s dinosaur song starts with cucumbers and ends with us in a puddle of tears, we have to hope the next installment of the How Do Dinosaurs… series is “Say Good......bye.” 😭
- Because poignant, timely writing is what she does, Angie Thomas is naming a character in her upcoming book after Gianna Bryant 💔
- Stop what you’re doing (since you’ve finished this newsletter!) and read a heart-shattering excerpt from former Audible Editor Erin McReynolds’s forthcoming memoir. We always knew the woman could write!
Audiobooks in This Edition
-
The Senator Next Door
- A Memoir from the Heartland
- By: Amy Klobuchar
- Narrated by: Amy Klobuchar
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 184
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 151
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 150
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar has tackled every obstacle she's encountered - her parents' divorce, her father's alcoholism and recovery, her political campaigns and Washington's gridlock - with honesty, humor and pluck. Now, in The Senator Next Door, she chronicles her remarkable heartland journey, from her immigrant grandparents to her middle-class suburban upbringing to her rise in American politics.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Delightful Memoir
- By Jean on 09-16-15
-
Open Heart
- A Cardiac Surgeon's Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Table
- By: Stephen Westaby
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 194
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 170
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 168
In gripping prose, one of the world's leading cardiac surgeons lays bare both the wonder and the horror of a life spent a heartbeat away from death. When Stephen Westaby witnessed a patient die on the table during open-heart surgery for the first time, he was struck by the quiet, determined way the surgeons walked away. As he soon understood, this detachment is a crucial survival strategy in a profession where death is only a heartbeat away. In Open Heart, Westaby reflects on over 11,000 surgeries, showing us why the procedures have never become routine and will never be.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating!
- By Jason on 03-09-19
-
Stiff
- The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Shelly Frasier
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,223
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,143
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,139
For two thousand years, cadavers have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I worked with cadavers for years, but....
- By POQA on 11-11-12
-
Origin of a Hero
- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Book 1
- By: Tracey West
- Narrated by: Rachel Jacobs
- Length: 1 hr and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 14
She doesn't need a hero. She is a hero. On a planet called Etheria, two forces battle for control. The Horde, with its skillfully trained soldiers and advanced technology, has one goal: to conquer all of Etheria in the name of Hordak. The other force, the Rebellion, is made up of princesses and has been fighting to maintain harmony and freedom for all of Etheria's people. Hidden among them all is a hero to be. Her destiny was written by the First Ones a thousand years ago. Now she is about to rise again.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
fun story of the origin of netflix she-ra
- By Jayeson on 02-21-22
-
New Kid
- By: Jerry Craft
- Narrated by: Jesus Del Orden, Nile Bullock, Robin Miles, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 511
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 398
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 396
Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds - and not really fitting into either one.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The best little story for your whole family
- By Citizen M on 03-20-19
-
Nigger
- An Autobiography
- By: Dick Gregory, Dr. Christian Gregory - introduction, Robert Lipsyte
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi, Dr. Christian Gregory
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,228
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,094
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,086
Fifty-five years ago, in 1964, an incredibly honest and revealing memoir by one of the America's best-loved comedians and activists, Dick Gregory, was published. With a shocking title and breathtaking writing, Dick Gregory defined a genre and changed the way race was discussed in America.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
PLEASE don't pass this book up!
- By D on 05-06-20
-
The Senator Next Door
- A Memoir from the Heartland
- By: Amy Klobuchar
- Narrated by: Amy Klobuchar
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 184
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 151
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 150
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar has tackled every obstacle she's encountered - her parents' divorce, her father's alcoholism and recovery, her political campaigns and Washington's gridlock - with honesty, humor and pluck. Now, in The Senator Next Door, she chronicles her remarkable heartland journey, from her immigrant grandparents to her middle-class suburban upbringing to her rise in American politics.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Delightful Memoir
- By Jean on 09-16-15
-
Open Heart
- A Cardiac Surgeon's Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Table
- By: Stephen Westaby
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 194
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 170
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 168
In gripping prose, one of the world's leading cardiac surgeons lays bare both the wonder and the horror of a life spent a heartbeat away from death. When Stephen Westaby witnessed a patient die on the table during open-heart surgery for the first time, he was struck by the quiet, determined way the surgeons walked away. As he soon understood, this detachment is a crucial survival strategy in a profession where death is only a heartbeat away. In Open Heart, Westaby reflects on over 11,000 surgeries, showing us why the procedures have never become routine and will never be.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating!
- By Jason on 03-09-19
-
Stiff
- The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Shelly Frasier
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,223
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,143
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,139
For two thousand years, cadavers have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I worked with cadavers for years, but....
- By POQA on 11-11-12
-
Origin of a Hero
- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Book 1
- By: Tracey West
- Narrated by: Rachel Jacobs
- Length: 1 hr and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 14
She doesn't need a hero. She is a hero. On a planet called Etheria, two forces battle for control. The Horde, with its skillfully trained soldiers and advanced technology, has one goal: to conquer all of Etheria in the name of Hordak. The other force, the Rebellion, is made up of princesses and has been fighting to maintain harmony and freedom for all of Etheria's people. Hidden among them all is a hero to be. Her destiny was written by the First Ones a thousand years ago. Now she is about to rise again.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
fun story of the origin of netflix she-ra
- By Jayeson on 02-21-22
-
New Kid
- By: Jerry Craft
- Narrated by: Jesus Del Orden, Nile Bullock, Robin Miles, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 511
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 398
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 396
Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds - and not really fitting into either one.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The best little story for your whole family
- By Citizen M on 03-20-19
-
Nigger
- An Autobiography
- By: Dick Gregory, Dr. Christian Gregory - introduction, Robert Lipsyte
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi, Dr. Christian Gregory
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,228
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,094
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,086
Fifty-five years ago, in 1964, an incredibly honest and revealing memoir by one of the America's best-loved comedians and activists, Dick Gregory, was published. With a shocking title and breathtaking writing, Dick Gregory defined a genre and changed the way race was discussed in America.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
PLEASE don't pass this book up!
- By D on 05-06-20