Mandela: The Lost Tapes  By  cover art

Mandela: The Lost Tapes

By: Richard Stengel
Narrated by: Nelson Mandela
Episodes
  • Nov 4 2022

    Special thanks to the Mandela Foundation. To find out more about the life of Nelson Mandela, visit NelsonMandela.org.

    In 1993, after 27 years of imprisonment, Nelson Mandela sat down with ghostwriter Richard Stengel to begin working on Long Walk to Freedom, a critically acclaimed memoir that would become a best seller around the globe.

    Mandela: The Lost Tapes reveals never-before-heard audio from Stengel’s interviews with the Nobel Prize winner, freedom fighter, and former South African president. Hours of rare recordings detail the turning points of Mandela’s life, key moments that shaped a revolution and the man who was to bring freedom to his nation.

    In this Audible Original, Stengel relives his intimate chats with Mandela, attempting to answer the questions ‘What made Nelson Mandela who he is?’ and ‘How can the rest of us be more like him?’

    In Stengel’s own words: “It’s partly the story about how Mandela and I wrote his memoir Long Walk to Freedom. But much more than that, it’s a story about our unusual friendship, my struggle to learn who Mandela really was, and my quest to understand what makes a human being great.”

    Mandela: The Lost Tapes provides an intimate look at who Nelson Mandela was beyond his carefully curated public persona. Through Mandela’s own words, he reveals his extraordinary journey to becoming one of the greatest leaders in modern history.

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    1 min
  • Dec 1 2022

    Nelson Mandela, the most hunted fugitive in South Africa, is captured. 30 years later, the most famous prisoner in the world, is released.

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    32 mins
  • Dec 1 2022

    After South African police step up their violent attacks against protestors, Mandela launches a guerrilla movement.

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    23 mins

His memories became the memoir.

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Featured Article: Best of the Year—The 12 Best History Listens of 2022


We’ve noticed—and applaud—a trend in our members' preferences for history: Audible listeners want to hear about events of the past with both discipline and nuance. You want authoritative synthesis and reliable facts, but also to hear about people's lived experience, preferably in novelistic detail. And all of us love some juicy reconstruction from time to time. This year, we picked the best performances to fill that tall order.

What listeners say about Mandela: The Lost Tapes

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Clear & Informative listen!

I’m not a huge fan of listening to stories, I’m a lover of reading a good book. However, listening to this wonderfully curated audible about Nelson Mandela definitely gave me more insight on his life and the TYPE of person he was. Mr. Stengel did a beautiful job with the placement of voice recordings from Mr. Mandela and including his personal input of how he viewed Mandela’s actions and relationships. This has definitely made me appreciate Nelson Mandela’s mind and character so much more.

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Mandela

Excellent in every sense. The detail is so vivid that you feel as if you are actually experiencing it in real time. My admiration of my Mandela is 10 fold after this experience. Mr Stengel you should trust that Mr Mandela would be proud .

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Inspiring!! Perfect for the times

Listened to it several times and let the meaning wash over me and engage me in internal dialog. Mandela's wisdom is as true today as it was then. Thank you, Rick Stengal, for this gift....

4 people found this helpful

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Incredible quality

Really stunning to be able to hear exactly what’s going on in Mandela’s head. Stengel is great too. One of my favorite podcasts.

4 people found this helpful

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Really excited to listen!

This sounds like it will be a fascinating listen! Looking very forward to the release.

4 people found this helpful

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Fantastic!!

Thank-you, Richard Stengel, for your authentic, instructive, inspiring, personal, compassionate profile of the man we so much admire and love!!

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Amazingly well done

The entire podcast is intriguing, well written, and a pleasure to listen. I highly recommend.

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Excellent

This podcast is fantastic. Hearing mandela I sensors and relaxed is extraordinary and rick Stengel does a brilliant job!

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HISTORICAL.

Simply amazing, historical and fulfilling to hear the voice and details of Mr. Nelson Mandela's experiences and life's journey✊🏿 MADIBA FOREVER!!!

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Awesome Simplicity

Mandela’s life - so impactful - also opens many doors and pathways for each of us! The inspired storytelling lets wisdom seep into one’s heart as deeply as a gentle rain.

3 people found this helpful

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  • Mr Jitesh K Patel
  • 12-14-22

Nelson Mandela freedom fighter

loved it. want more. hope they release the actual tapes.

insiteful series highly recommended.

may listen again, it's so good.

1 person found this helpful

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  • Alice Davis
  • 12-09-22

brilliant

this podcast will become a main source for our understanding of the liberation struggle and of the Rivonia trial.

1 person found this helpful

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  • MPFPhoesh
  • 12-06-22

9 years since your death... we miss you Madiba

South Africa sorely needs someone like Mandela to lead the country from the quagmire of disfunction with which it is badly infected. Nelson Mandela had the charisma to unite the vast majority of people in his country behind ideas of fairness, justice, forgiveness and honour... I so hope we'll get another such leader, sadly Madiba's ANC is a shambles, a shame, a travesty.

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  • David M Kellas
  • 02-05-23

Beautiful and memorable

Honest, poignant and moving. Probably the best podcast I have listened to. Don't miss it.

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  • Jack T
  • 12-29-22

Really nice insight and reflections

Very much enjoyed this! Would highly recommend,
Good editing, music and interesting footage! It’s great to hear Mandelas voice in theses. Such important history for us all.

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  • Saadia Alege
  • 12-22-22

Motivating

Hearing him speak cements his ideas of patience, positivity & focusing of good for me. Grateful to have had another opportunity to hear the most important legend of my era.

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  • Jochem
  • 12-18-22

Intriguing and intimate

Intriguing and intimate. Listening to Mandela's calm voice, explaining so many subjects. A real gem.

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 12-11-22

Amazing

Such an honour to hear this and Madiba’s voice again. Thank you to all concerned.

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  • Zohal
  • 12-19-22

Perfect accompaniment to the autobiography

A wonderful podcast! You feel immersed in the history of the time and obtain a further glimpse at Mandela's character from a different angle compared to his autobiography. As a history buff, hearing the remastered audio was fantastic and a real treasure!

1 person found this helpful

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  • Aviral Shukla
  • 03-30-23

Worth listening to on repeat

Made me feel like I was sitting next to Mr. Mandela and Mr. Stengel. A lot of learnings to take away, especially when facing hard times, whether or not they're on the same scale.

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  • Mary
  • 03-02-23

Such a great podcast!

Loved this podcast! Thank you so much for this chance to hear the story directly from Mandela himself.