APRIL 17, 2020

We may be losing count of the days we've been in quarantine, but we Audibilites are grateful that we have been able to safely shelter in place. So we're lending a helping hand to those in need and facing food insecurity through this partnership. In other news:

We Are Hear For Each Other (pun fully intended!)

Because we don’t think physical isolation should keep us from shared experiences, we’re launching new Hear For Each Other Listening Clubs, where we can come together to talk about the things we love, like storytelling and narrators and plotlines and characters—exactly the kinds of things that can help us manage this shared surreal moment we are in. There’ll be clubs to suit your different listening moods, and we’re kicking things off with our Feel-Good Fiction club, which will be listening to Graeme Simsion’s delightful The Rosie Project, narrated by Dan O’Grady. Join Editor Tricia Ford over on Facebook Monday through Friday of next week to dive into this tale of a socially inept professor’s journey to finding a love he never expected. Let’s have some fun, feel-good conversations together!

Jim Henson would be proud, we think

We can always count on Sesame Street to address tough issues that affect kids. In their latest special, ''Elmo's Playdate,'' the cast tackles social distancing, and what it's like to video chat with friends, teachers, and grandparents who you can't see in person. For those of us whose kids have been living this reality, the episode had special poignancy and resonance. And we were especially happy to see Anne Hathaway and Lin-Manuel Miranda among the guest cameos!

Ah, rats!

If you need another reason to stay indoors and shelter in place aside from community responsibility, recent reports have shown that your local rats have transformed from loveable, omnipresent nuisances to roaming hordes of ruthless cannibals. With grocery stores and restaurants shuttered, food sources for rodents in urban areas have dwindled. As a result, rats nationwide are engaging in turf war, battling it out in spurts of intraspecies violence, and even resorting to eating one another to stay alive. No need for panic, though: experts studying this behavior have indicated that, at large, humans have nothing to worry about and that the likelihood of infestation on a massive scale is low. But as local officials put together new pest control plans, it’s probably for the best that we leave the streets to our four-legged, long-tailed pals.

Take the cannoli—and other food, and supplies, too

Concern is growing in Italy as local officials are reporting that the Mafia has begun to distribute food and other materials to those in need. It seems particularly prevalent in the South, where there are so many people who are out of work and not accounted for by the government. In Naples, the legendary Camorra crime network has begun making home deliveries to the poorest areas of the city. Officials are urging Italians to remember that these are not gifts, as so often the gestures come with recruitment efforts or later debts to be paid.

The stuff that dreams are made of

In polite society, we don’t talk much about dreams: it’s considered boring. But with much of the world on lockdown, not only does ''polite societ'' feel like an ancient relic, many of us are reporting having weirder, more vivid dreams. Is this a quirk of isolation—the more mundane and repetitive our days, the more fantastical and elaborate our nights—or a subconscious processing of trauma? In either case, the nocturnal mysteries of our shadow selves are anything but boring. From dream programming and lucid dreaming to psychoanalysis and Tibetan dream yoga, unlock the secrets of oneirology in these 10 essential listens about dreams.

Listen to this…

Audiobooks in This Edition

The Rosie Project Audiobook By Graeme Simsion cover art
The Rats Audiobook By James Herbert cover art
Gomorrah Audiobook By Roberto Saviano cover art
The Selection Audiobook By Kiera Cass cover art
Neither Snow nor Rain Audiobook By Devin Leonard cover art
Street Gang Audiobook By Michael Davis cover art