Who’s Listening? Actor Courtney B. Vance

In this bonus edition of Behind the Mic, host Jo Reed speaks with actor Courtney B. Vance. His shelves are lined with awards—two Emmys, a Tony, a Critics Choice Award, and several NAACP Image Awards. Vance is also a dedicated audiobook listener and occasional narrator, nominated for a Grammy for his performance of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s and Avis Lang’s ACCESSORY TO WAR. Vance’s latest project is a monumental one—narrating historian David Levering Lewis’s two-volume Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of W.E.B. Du Bois, available as an audiobook for the first time. But it’s a recording that might never have happened if Courtney B. Vance hadn’t picked up the phone and called the author. Read our review of W.E.B. DU BOIS 1868-1919: Biography of a Race:   Courtney B. Vance photo by Matthew Jordan Smith Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Support for our podcast comes from Dreamscape, the publisher of The Intruder by bestselling author Freida McFadden. The Intruder is a deadly tale of survival that explores how far one girl will go to save herself. — on-sale 10/7. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Jo Reed welcomes AudioFile contributor Kendra Winchester to Behind the Mic this week to discuss one memoir and two biographies which center three different writing lives: A deaf, mixed-race writer finding his voice in THE QUIET EAR by Raymond Antrobus, read by the author; a cultural biography of Octavia Butler, the groundbreaking science fiction and fantasy writer in POSITIVE OBSESSION by Susana M. Morris, read by Karen Murray; and an expansive biography of James Baldwin told through the lens of friendship and love in BALDWIN by Nicholas Boggs, read by Ron Butler. Read our reviews of the audiobooks at our website:  THE QUIET EAR: Published by Random House Audio POSITIVE OBSESSION: Published by Harper Audio BALDWIN: Published by Macmillan Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website Support for our podcast comes from Dreamscape, the publisher of The Intruder by bestselling author Freida McFadden. The Intruder is a deadly tale of survival that explores how far one girl will go to save herself. — on-sale 10/7. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AudioFile’s Michele Cobb is joined by Golden Voice narrator Cassandra Campbell to chat about the sixth and newest audiobook in the Shady Hollow Mystery series, MOCKINGBIRD COURT. Vulpine reporter Vera Vixen finds herself the prime suspect in what looks to be a murder. Cassandra Campbell is the voice behind all six of the Shady Hollow mysteries, and AudioFile listeners may also recognize her from her Earphones Award-winning narrations of WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING and THE SCRIBE OF SIENA. Cassandra was named an AudioFile Golden Voice in 2021. Read our reviews of some of Cassandra Campbell’s work: MOCKINGBIRD COURT: Published by Random House Audio SHADY HOLLOW: Published by Random House Audio WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING: Published by Penguin Audio THE SCRIBE OF SIENA: Published by Simon & Schuster Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   This episode is brought to you by Random House Audio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AudioFile contributor Stephen Cummings is on Behind the Mic this week with host Jo Reed. This week’s theme is all about dark academia—suspenseful and often fantastical audiobooks that take place in a campus or school setting. Two graduate students descend into hell to get a recommendation from their professor in KATABASIS by R.F. Kuang, read by Morag Sims and Will Watt; affairs are revealed in a creative writing thesis in SEDUCTION THEORY by Emily Adrian, read by Jennifer Pickens; and a teacher at a magical school needs help wrangling demons in THE INCANDESCENT by Emily Tesh, read by Zara Ramm. Read our reviews of the audiobooks at our website:  KATABASIS: Published by Harper Audio SEDUCTION THEORY: Published by Hachette Audio THE INCANDESCENT: Published by Macmillan Audio.  Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Support for our podcast comes from Dreamscape, the publisher of The Intruder by bestselling author Freida McFadden. The Intruder is a deadly tale of survival that explores how far one girl will go to save herself. — on-sale 10/7. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

British narrator David Timson has recorded numerous audiobooks for Naxos AudioBooks, including the complete Sherlock Holmes stories, five Charles Dickens novels, and a complete unabridged reading of Edward Gibbon’s DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. During his time working with Naxos as actor, director, and writer, David has also directed five of the successful audio series of Shakespeare’s plays. In 2002 he won the Audiobook of the Year Award for his reading of A STUDY IN SCARLET. David Timson sits down with AudioFile publisher Michele Cobb to discuss narrating classic crime novels and Golden Age mysteries, including works by Anthony Berkeley (aka Francis Iles) such as MALICE AFORETHOUGHT, THE PICCADILLY MURDER, and TRIAL AND ERROR, and giving voice to the extensive Sherlock Holmes and Arsène Lupin canons.  Read our reviews of some of David Timson’s work: DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE: Published by Naxos Audiobooks MALICE AFORETHOUGHT: Published by Naxos Audiobooks THE PICCADILLY MURDER: Published by Naxos Audiobooks TRIAL AND ERROR: Published by Naxos Audiobooks Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AudioFile publisher Michele Cobb is on Behind the Mic this week with host Jo Reed. Together they dig into three True Crime audiobooks that tell haunting stories and that take place in three distinct institutions. THE FORT BRAGG CARTEL by Seth Harp, read by Dan John Miller, is a frightening tale of murders and drug trafficking at a military base; THE SLEEP ROOM by Jon Stock, read by Richard Armitage, Celia Imrie, and Antonia Beamish, is a revelation of the disturbing practices of Dr. William Sargant on his mostly female patients; and THE IDAHO FOUR by James Patterson and Vicky Ward, read by Elisabeth Rodgers, is an investigation of the infamous murders of four university students in 2022. Read our reviews of the audiobooks at our website:  THE FORT BRAGG CARTEL: Published by Penguin Audio THE SLEEP ROOM: Published by Tantor Media THE IDAHO FOUR: Published by Hachette Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AudioFile Editor and Founder Robin Whitten joins host Jo Reed this week to discuss three gripping new mystery audiobooks that share a dark wit and anti-establishment protagonists. Martin Cruz Smith’s HOTEL UKRAINE, narrated by Jeremy Bobb, is a compact suspense about Detective Arkady Renko and the early days of the invasion of Ukraine; CLOWN TOWN by Mick Herron is the ninth installment of the popular Slough House series, read by Golden Voice Gerard Doyle; and THE HALLMARKED MAN by Robert Galbraith is a lengthy but memorable 8th mystery in the Comoran Strike series, read by Robert Glenister. Read our reviews of the audiobooks at our website:  HOTEL UKRAINE: Published by Hachette Audio CLOWN TOWN: Published by Recorded Books THE HALLMARKED MAN: Published by Hachette Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Support for AudioFile's Behind the Mic comes from Blackstone Publishing: an independent, award-winning publisher of bestselling books and audiobooks. Find your next great listen at BlackstonePublishing.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AudioFile awards Earphones to exceptional audio experiences—it’s our version of a starred review, specifically for the audiobook. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Laura Rossi discuss three recent Earphones Award-winning audiobooks that delve deeply into the human experience. Laura and Jo discuss the controversial, posthumously published NOTES TO JOHN by Joan Didion, read by Julianne Moore; CRY FOR ME, ARGENTINA: My Life As a Failed Child Star by comedian Tamara Yajia, read by Tamara Yajia; and the highly anticipated memoir by Jen Hatmaker, AWAKE, read by the author. Read our reviews of the audiobooks at our website:  NOTES TO JOHN: Published by Random House Audio CRY FOR ME, ARGENTINA:   Published by Bloomsbury Publishing AWAKE: Published by Simon & Schuster Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Support for AudioFile's Behind the Mic comes from Blackstone Publishing: an independent, award-winning publisher of bestselling books and audiobooks. Find your next great listen at BlackstonePublishing.com.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, host Jo Reed and AudioFile contributor Leslie Fine review three new audiobooks that harbor family secrets and feature excellent character development. A woman grapples with her roles as wife, mother, and more in SAME AS IT EVER WAS by Claire Lombardo, read by Emily Rankin; a father and daughter are living off the grid in WHAT KIND OF PARADISE by Janelle Brown, read by Peter Ganim and Helen Laser; and a quiet English farm is disturbed by a murder mystery in BROKEN COUNTRY by Clare Leslie Hall, read by Hattie Morahan. SAME AS IT EVER WAS: Published by Random House Audio WHAT KIND OF PARADISE:   Published by Random House Audio BROKEN COUNTRY: Published by Simon & Schuster Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Support for AudioFile's Behind the Mic comes from Blackstone Publishing: an independent, award-winning publisher of bestselling books and audiobooks. Find your next great listen at BlackstonePublishing.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, host Jo Reed and AudioFile contributor Alan Minskoff review three new audiobooks, both fiction and nonfiction, that revolve around diverse types of turbulence a family might encounter: The tragic American family saga of THE SPINACH KING by John Seabrook, read by Dion Graham; ON ISABELLA STREET, a historical novel set in a pre- and post-Vietnam War Toronto, by Genevieve Graham, read by Liz Leafloor and Erin Moon; and SO FAR GONE by Jess Walter, read by Edoardo Ballerini, a satirical novel on the rise of religious fundamentalist militias. THE SPINACH KING: Published by HighBridge Audio ON ISABELLA STREET:   Published by Simon & Schuster Audio SO FAR GONE: Published by Harper Audio Discover thousands of audiobook reviews and more at AudioFile’s website   Support for AudioFile's Behind the Mic comes from Blackstone Publishing: an independent, award-winning publisher of bestselling books and audiobooks. Find your next great listen at BlackstonePublishing.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices