Behind the Mic With Kirkus Reviews

Bahni Turpin is an incredible narrator, honored as a Golden Voice by AudioFile Magazine in 2019. That same year, her narration of CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE, Tomi Adeyemi’s brilliant fantasy, won Audiobook of the Year. The previous year she took home the Best Female Narrator award for Angie Thomas’s powerful THE HATE U GIVE. Bahni is skilled at drawing out all of the emotion in the stories she nar...

Golden Voice narrator Dion Graham is much loved by audiobook listeners and has won numerous Earphones Awards for his narrations. Dion narrates with dexterity and so much emotion, shifting nimbly from one rich character voice to another. He has won Audie Awards for his narrations, including TROMBONE SHORTY, the children’s picture book memoir packed full of music and joy. His narration of BLACK LEOP...

Ramón de Ocampo is one of AudioFile’s 2020 Golden Voices. These narrators are the best in the audiobook business, known for their skill and versatility in bringing stories across genres to life. Ramón’s recent accolades include a 2019 Audie Award nomination for Casey McQuiston’s romance RED WHITE & ROYAL BLUE and numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and Best of the Year audiobooks. He skillfully na...

January LaVoy was named an AudioFile Golden Voice narrator last year, and she has been captivating listeners for years with her narrations. This year she won several Audie Awards, including the Fantasy award for her narration of Alix E. Harrow’s THE TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY. She has more than 30 AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrations and is frequently on AudioFile’s Best Audiobooks list...

Golden Voice narrator Simon Vance is a rock star in audiobook narration, with 71 Earphones Awards and 16 Audie Awards. He is a master of rendering character and at maintaining narrative pace and momentum. His pacing is vigorous without being too fast, his voice is endlessly listenable, and his interpretations of characters both major and minor are imaginative. In today’s episode, host Jo Reed and...

Golden Voice narrator Grover Gardner has 40 years of audiobook narrating experience and more than 1,200 titles to his name, with numerous Earphones and Audie Awards. Grover’s voice has been described as “sandpaper and velvet,” and he is skilled with using pitch and tone variations to evoke rather than imitate regional accents in his work. He often conveys that he’s having a jolly time recording, n...

Golden Voice narrator Johnny Heller is known for his varied voice, energized delivery, seemingly breathless presentation, and nuanced accents. He has more than 30 AudioFile Earphones Awards and has been a finalist for a dozen Audie Awards for his work. In his stories for young listeners, he combines childlike innocence and silliness with a debonair sophistication. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Mich...

Golden Voice narrator Robin Miles can boast 46 Earphones Award-winning audiobooks and multiple Audie Awards for her narrations. She is skilled at finding the perfect performance level for a specific audiobook, narrating lyrically or intensely as the piece demands. She is well known for her work with accents, including her narration of Zora Neale Hurston’s BARRACOON, one of AudioFile’s Best Audiobo...

Host Michele Cobb speaks with narrator Julia Whelan, one of AudioFile’s 2020 Golden Voices, as we celebrate her excellent performances across a wide range of genres. Julia Whelan won the 2019 Audie Award for Best Female Narrator for Tara Westover’s EDUCATED and has narrated numerous Earphones Award-winning audiobooks. Today Michele and Julia discuss her narration of YOU CAN’T CATCH ME, Catherine M...

Golden Voice narrator Scott Brick has narrated more than 800 audiobooks over his 20 years of narrations, and he has many prize-winning titles across genres. His voice is often characterized as masterful and authoritative, providing emotional power with small changes in his straightforward tone. He is well loved for his narrations of high profile series, including those by Brad Meltzer, Clive Cussl...

Emily Woo Zeller is one of AudioFile’s 2020 Golden Voice narrators, with compelling narrations of popular favorites such as Marie Kondo’s THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP and Mary Roach’s GULP. To many listeners, she’s known for her numerous science fiction and fantasy narrations, and part of that comes from her success with creative and believable world-building. She was nominated for a 2020...

Golden Voice narrator Arthur Morey is known for his skill with nonfiction audiobooks, especially biographies and memoirs. He projects a fine sense of authority and intellectualism in his narrations, and listeners feel as though he has thought through the works as thoroughly as the author has. He can express the emotional tone of the author’s story with subtle believability. On today’s episode, hos...

Ramón de Ocampo is a standout narrator, and we’re pleased to name him one of AudioFile’s 2020 Golden Voice narrators. He helps listeners feel an emotional connection to the characters in the audiobooks he narrates, whether they are playful friendships or difficult and more intense confrontations. He is celebrated often for his work on children’s and young adult audiobooks, and he connects well wit...

Julia Whelan is one of AudioFile’s 2020 Golden Voice narrators, a well-deserved honor. We celebrate the best of the audiobook narrators to encourage listeners to seek out exceptional performers who have impressive narrations over a range of genres. Julia Whelan won the 2019 Audie Award for Best Female Narrator for her performance of EDUCATED by Tara Westover, and she is a frequent winner of AudioF...

JD Jackson is one of AudioFile’s 2020 Golden Voices, and he is a skilled and versatile narrator with a long list of impressive credits to his name. He narrated two of this year’s Pulitzer Prize-winning audiobooks, Jericho Brown’s poetry collection THE TRADITION and Colson Whitehead’s historical novel THE NICKEL BOYS. His narration of THE NICKEL BOYS also earned JD a 2020 Audie Awards nomination fo...

June is audiobook month, and this June we are celebrating our Golden Voice narrators on the podcast all month long. Golden Voices are the stars of the audiobook universe. We kick off our celebration with JD Jackson, a narrator with amazing range who performs with confidence and believability. He was nominated for a 2020 Audie Award for THE NICKEL BOYS by Colson Whitehead, winner of the 2020 Pulitz...

Emily Rankin’s expressive narration and graceful tone guide listeners through this sympathetic story of the extended Strick family. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb talk about the familiar themes of family life found in Emma Straub’s new and absorbing audiobook. Rankin superbly distinguishes three generations of the Strick clan, giving each character a unique and compelling persona and ex...

What if your true crime book club devolved into an actual mystery—with vampires? Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss this edgy story about darkness that lurks where we least expect it. There’s an air of disquiet in Bahni Turpin’s charming Southern drawl as she narrates as Patricia, a mother in a quiet town whose only excitement is getting together with her book club. Then an unassumi...

Fifty years after four young people were shot by the National Guard at Kent State University, Deborah Wiles gives us an honest fictional account enhanced by this production. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb discuss the moving and powerful narration of this young adult novel in verse. The narrators give voice to several witnesses, each with a unique perspective. We hear the truth as percei...

Surrender to the worlds that Stephen King has created. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Michele Cobb talk about the horror author’s latest collection of novellas, featuring gems for longtime fans and new listeners alike. Stephen King was honored earlier this year with a lifetime achievement award from the Audio Publishers Association, and the care he takes with his audiobook narrations is apparent. Th...

Musician Alicia Keys delivers her memoir with a rich, inviting style, and listeners are treated to cameos from family and friends. AudioFile’s Michele Cobb and host Jo Reed discuss this celebrity memoir that makes for an outstanding listen. Keys’s famous friends including Oprah, Bono, and Michelle Obama chime in during chapters relevant to their expertise or those that describe shared moments with...

Investigative reporter Jack McEvoy is back in Connelly’s thrilling series. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss the creepy and engaging dual narration. Peter Giles returns to portray McEvoy, the persistent and self-righteous investigator. When a one-time hookup becomes a murder victim, Jack connects the dots between her death and others across the country. Zach Villa provides the cal...

Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten appreciate the poise and directness of Jesmyn Ward’s narration of her 2018 commencement address. The author of SING, UNBURIED, SING and SALVAGE THE BONES performs the moving speech she shared with the 2018 graduates of Tulane University. With raw emotion, Ward describes her disappointment and disillusionment when, after college graduation, she had no job...

Ex-CIA operative and outsider Milo Weaver is caught up in a web of changing alliances in Steinhauer’s latest thriller. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten talk about the meticulous yet conversational narrator, David Pittu, who uses subtle yet distinctive characterizations to make the story come alive. It’s a twisty thriller and needs your attention – there are many subtleties you don’t want...

Author and narrator Adrienne Raphael’s voice is bursting with enthusiasm as she dives into the world of crossword puzzles and cruciverbalists, or people who do crossword puzzles. AudioFile’s Robin Whitten tells host Jo Reed why she enjoyed learning more about this pastime shared by many since crosswords first appeared in 1913. Whether you’ve enjoyed solving crossword puzzles all your life or are n...