Behind the Mic with AudioFile Magazine

Mina’s latest darkly funny suspense is captured in Cathleen McCarron’s Scottish lilt. Anna is betrayed by her best friend, who runs off with her husband and her children. Then a true crime podcast triggers a surprising connection to her past life.

Pop Culture Happy Hour host Linda Holmes’s debut novel is the story of a widow who doesn’t miss her husband and how she builds a new life with a baseball pitcher who has lost his skill. Julia Whelan’s performance is lively and bright.

Sports writer David Epstein’s message on why it is better to be a jack-of-all-trades than a specialist is a fascinating exploration in our culture of experts and diverse and broad learning. He uses anecdotes about sports heroes, musicians, and scientists.

Photos of the “Golden Spike” immortalize the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. Chang’s serious history reveals the contributions of thousands of Chinese workers, “the Railroad Chinese,” to the building of modern America.

Listeners are reminded why the Greek myths have endured through centuries of tellings and retellings. Six classic tales are explored with a modern retelling brilliantly presented by Derek Perkins and an insightful short essay after each tale.

PI Jackson Brodie encounters the grim crimes of human trafficking and child abuse in Atkinson’s fifth outing with the lonely British detective. Narrator Jason Isaacs plays Brodie in the BBC series “Case Histories.”

Rediscover the absurdist classic recently adapted for the small screen by George Clooney. Actor Jay O. Sanders narrates the large cast of characters with a friendly and earnest tone as they examine questions of rationality, sanity, war, and peace.

The 1986 nuclear disaster at Chernobyl is illuminated through this detailed account. Jacques Roy’s masterful narration enhances Higginbotham’s stark and terrifying history of one of the world’s greatest disasters.

It’s 1942, and L.A. is experiencing torrential storms—and is caught in the storm of WWII. The gritty story picks up after PERFIDIA, with dirty cops, lost gold, found bodies, racist propaganda, and Japanese internment camps creating a dark atmosphere.

Explore the friendship and collaboration of two luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Huges. Golden Voice Bahni Turpin gives voice to Hurston and Huges as listeners learn about their deep friendship and their falling out.

A powerful modern retelling of Shakespeare’s PERICLES made even more compelling by Tim McInnerny’s dramatic narration. In this new novel by Mark Haddon, we meet a young woman whose harsh entry into life foreshadows more hardships to come.

Essential nonfiction listening for teens and adults alike. Ann Bausum revisits the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and Vikas Adam narrates with urgency and sincerity. Listeners will be drawn in and motivated to learn more.

Kyla Garcia launches listeners into a story that ranges across space and time. Eleven-year-old Nedda is determined to be an astronaut, and she’s devastated by the Challenger explosion. She then discovers her father’s invention triggered a catastrophe.

A stunning debut novel from an award-winning poet. Ocean Vuong narrates with a devastating delivery as he tells the story of Little Dog, a gay Vietnamese boy growing up in America. It’s tender and raw, and made all the more so by his poetic narration.

Queer Eye’s resident fashion expert narrates his memoir with the perfect cheeky delivery. Fans will love listening to his unique accent as they get to know more about his road to living life on his own terms.