MAY 31, 2019

We’re in full-on TGIF mode, and not for the normal reasons. BookCon comes to NYC this weekend and Audible will be there! If you’re planning on attending, please check out our panels: Author Ann M. Martin will be speaking to The Baby-Sitters Club narrators on Saturday, and then on Sunday we’re hosting a conversation featuring romance authors Alyssa Cole and Emma Chase, along with some seriously smexy voices. Hope to see you there! Now onto the news:

The truth is…almost…out there?!

Navy pilots have reported seeing UFOs, including a giant Tic Tac lookalike, says the New York Times. While the article emphasizes the objects are not NECESSARILY extraterrestrial in origin (party poopers!), the report represents another teensy peek into the shadowy Pentagon group that studies unidentified aerial phenomena. Once the domain of tin-hat types and fringe conventions—a topic Jon Ronson mined in Lost at Sea—flying saucers are finally cruising into the mainstream, thanks in part to folks like literal rockstar-ufologist Tom DeLonge. In other words, we are definitely not alone in suspecting we are not alone.

It’s also not just you who’s feeling the burn(out).

We’ve been ahead of the curve on this whole the burnout struggle is real thing for a while now (👋, January 11 edition of this newsletter!), but there’s something highly validating in the World Health Organization declaring burnout an officially diagnosable syndrome in its updated edition of the International Classification of Diseases. So now that we have this big deal authority on our side: how do we manage burnout? We can learn more about it via researchers Emily and Amelia Nagoski, and we can shed habits that exacerbate it (we recommend Drop the Ball, from Lean In launch team leader Tiffany Dufu). The WHO is also developing evidence-based guidelines on mental well-being in the workplace. BRB, taking a personal day to celebrate.

History in the making.

Congratulations to Newark native Lonnie Bunch, the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, who has now been named the 14th secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Bunch is both the first historian and first African American to lead the museum complex, after a career filled with breaking barriers and building on a vision. With all of those bona fides, we think Lonnie might soon find himself joining the likes of fellow Newark notables Sarah Vaughan and Allen Ginsberg with a conference room in our headquarters named after him.

Fun with fungi.

Since headphones are basically part of an Audible editor’s official uniform, our ears perked up when we heard about Korvaa, a new headphone prototype made out of, well, mushrooms. Or, to get really technical, the gorgeous, chestnut-colored leather is made out of fungal mycelium, and the fine mesh that cocoons the ears is biosynthetic spider silk. While the prototype is far from market ready, it does show that beautiful consumer products can be made out of environmentally sustainable materials. And if we were asked to test these, we wouldn’t be mad about it. (Just saying.)

She’s the coolest.

Who’s ready to hang out with Mindy Kaling again? The actress and activist announced this week that she has a new essay collection coming out next year with Amazon Original Stories. Many of the stories will focus on her new role as a mother, and bonus: she will narrate the Audible edition!
Till Next Week!
—the audible editors

Audiobooks in This Edition

Kristy's Great Idea Audiobook By Ann M. Martin cover art
The Truth About Stacey Audiobook By Ann M. Martin cover art
Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries Audiobook By Jon Ronson cover art
Chasing Shadows Audiobook By Tom DeLonge, A. J. Hartley cover art
Burnout Audiobook By Emily Nagoski, Amelia Nagoski cover art
Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls Audiobook By Ann M. Martin cover art