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Behind the Mic With Kirkus Reviews

Behind the Mic With Kirkus Reviews

By: Kirkus Audiobook Reviews
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Kirkus Audiobook Reviews Find your next great audiobook on Behind the Mic with Kirkus Reviews. Every Thursday, host Jo Reed and her guests discuss what they’ve been listening to and recommend the very best audiobooks. It’s the perfect way to keep up with new releases and hear about the ones you may have missed. Launched by AudioFile magazine in 2018, Behind the Mic now has its home at Kirkus Reviews, the most trusted voice in book discovery for more than 90 years. Visit us at kirkusreviews.com. Follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts.Kirkus Reviews 2026 Art Entertainment & Performing Arts Literary History & Criticism
Episodes
  • Listening to Short Stories That Linger

    Listening to Short Stories That Linger
    Jun 25 2026
    Host Jo Reed talks with contributor Kendra Winchester about three inventive story collections that reveal just how expansive audiobook storytelling can be. They begin with Fat Swim by Emma Copley Eisenberg, performed by a seven-person cast including Marin Ireland and Samantha Desz, where stories centered on fatness, vulnerability, and community take on added intimacy through distinct narrative voices. Then they discuss My Dear You by Rachel Khong, narrated by Xiaoling Pan, Rachel Khong, Zhen Zhao, and Annie Q. Riegel, a wildly imaginative collection that moves effortlessly between speculative fiction, satire, emotional realism, and the uncanny. Finally, they turn to Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal El-Mohtar, with narrator Rachel Elizabeth Smith bringing warmth, precision, and quiet intensity to stories filled with fairy tales, scholarship, women’s lives, and acts of self-rescue. Together, these audiobooks demonstrate how short fiction thrives in audio—each narrator shaping tone, atmosphere, and emotional texture in ways that make every story feel immediate and distinct. Audio Books Discussed: Fat Swim by Emma Copley Eisenberg, read by Kristen DiMercurio, MW Cartozian Wilson, Marin Ireland, Lindsey Dorcus, Chrysanthy Balis, Samantha Desz, and Kristen Sieh (Random House Audio) My Dear You by Rachel Khong, read by Jialing Pan, Rachel Khong, Jen Zhao, and Annie Q. Riegel (Random House Audio) Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal El-Mohtar, read by Rachel Elizabeth Smith (Macmillan Audio) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    28 mins
  • Kids Confront a Changing World

    Kids Confront a Changing World
    Jun 18 2026
    Host Jo Reed talks with Kirkus young readers’ editor Laura Simeon about three middle-grade audiobooks that explore difficult subjects with honesty, empathy, and respect for young listeners. In Phoenix by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, narrator Emma Ladji brings warmth and steadiness to young Harper’s story as she navigates her parents’ divorce, shifting friendships, and the rescued horse who becomes central to her new life. Karise Yansen’s calm, measured narration of Matthew Fox’s The Lovely Dark grounds a lyrical story of grief, loss, and the afterlife in vivid emotional reality. And in Tae Keller’s When Tomorrow Burns, a seamless ensemble cast—Eddy Lee, Annie Q. Riegel, Sara Matsui-Colby, Emily Woo Zeller, and Tae Keller—captures the uncertainty and intensity of middle school friendships unfolding against the backdrop of climate anxiety and change. Together, these audiobooks recognize that middle-grade kids confront complicated situations and deserve stories that speak to those uncertainties with honesty and care. Audiobooks Discussed: Phoenix by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, read by Emma Ladji (Listening Library) The Lovely Dark by Matthew Fox, read by Karise Yansen (Hachette Audio) When Tomorrow Burns by Tae Keller, read by Eddy Lee, Annie Q. Riegel, Sara Matsui-Colby, and Emily Woo Zeller (Listening Library) Support for Behind the Mic comes from HarperCollins Focus, and HarperCollins Christian Publishing, publishers of some of your favorite audiobooks and authors, including Reba McEntire, Bob Goff, Savannah Guthrie, Max Lucado, Lysa TerKeurst, and many more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    30 mins
  • Finding the Voice

    Finding the Voice
    Jun 11 2026
    Host Jo Reed talks with contributor Leslie Fine about three audiobooks that range from memoir to thriller to literary biography. They begin with Unread: A Memoir of Learning (and Loving) To Read on TikTok by Oliver James, where narrator James Shippy brings warmth and enthusiasm to the author’s account of achieving literacy as an adult and discovering the enduring pleasures of books. Then, they turn to Tiffany Crum’s This Story Might Save Your Life. Driven by the energetic, emotionally layered narration of Julia Whelan and Sean Patrick Hopkins, its use of podcast clips, voicemail messages, and layered audio production heightens a suspenseful missing-person mystery. And they end with Judy Blume: A Life by Mark Oppenheimer; Molly Ringwald’s warm, quietly authoritative narration guides listeners through the career of an author whose books have shaped generations of readers. Together, these audiobooks prove that the right narrator can turn a good story into an irresistible listen. Audiobooks Discussed: Unread: A Memoir of Learning (and Loving) To Read on TikTok by Oliver James, read by James Shippy (Hachette Audio) This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum, read by Julia Whelan and Sean Patrick Hopkins (Macmillan Audio) Judy Blume: A Life by Mark Oppenheimer, read by Molly Ringwald and Mark Oppenheimer (Penguin Random House Audio) Support for Behind the Mic comes from HarperCollins Focus, and HarperCollins Christian Publishing, publishers of some of your favorite audiobooks and authors, including Reba McEntire, Bob Goff, Savannah Guthrie, Max Lucado, Lysa TerKeurst, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    25 mins
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