In this episode, meet business and public speaking coach Samara Bay, investigative genetic genealogist and biochemist Barbara Rae-Venter, and UCLA law professor Joanna Schwartz. Press play to hear how these authors’ specific areas of expertise informed and inspired their audiobooks.

Permission to Speak by Samara Bay
https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/667566/permission-to-speak/

I Know Who You Are by Barbara Rae-Venter
https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/679097/i-know-who-you-are/

Shielded by Joanna Schwartz
https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/677131/shielded/

S8 E6: Samara Bay, Barbara Rae-Venter, Joanna Schwartz

In this episode, meet marketing executive and entrepreneur Bozoma Saint John, poet and writer Camonghne Felix, and writer and editor Will Schwalbe. Listen in to hear these authors reflect on their recent memoirs, and on what it was like to recount the intricacies of love, loss, and friendship while recording their audiobooks. Enjoy!

The Urgent Life by Bozoma Saint John
https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/688798/the-urgent-life/

Dyscalculia by Camonghne Felix
https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/671602/dyscalculia/

We Should Not Be Friends by Will Schwalbehttps://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/586174/we-should-not-be-friends/

S8 E7: Bozoma Saint John, Camonghne Felix, and Will Schwalbe

Christian Lorentzen sat through the entirety of United States v. Bertelsmann, et al., an antitrust case taken up by the Department of Justice to block Penguin Random House’s purchase of Simon & Schuster. In this episode, he discusses the industry—born in the 1920s as part of a middlebrow revolution, and consolidating in the 1970s to ultimately become today’s Big Five publishing houses. “This corporate agglomeration seems almost inevitable,” Lorentzen explains. “If we lived under a different intellectual property regime and a different system that wasn’t capitalism, maybe things would be different.”


But does lack of competition between publishing houses really harm authors? This is the question at the heart of the trial and Lorentzen’s argument. Though the government ultimately blocked the merger between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, the trial made public some questionable practices of the Big Five, such as how publishers can prevent their imprints from upping bids against one another. For better or worse, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, Hachette, and HarperCollins are here to stay, influencing all parts of the world of books—what readers read, and what writers create for the mass market.

Read Lorentzen’s piece: https://harpers.org/archive/2023/03/at-random-simon-and-schuster-bertelsmann-merger-trial-penguin-random-house/

Subscribe to Harper’s for only $16.97: harpers.org/save

Books! The Podcast

In this episode meet comic, actor, and restaurateur Dan Ahdoot and award-winning poet and essayist Mary Karr. Tune in to learn about the distinctly individual reasons these authors were inspired to write their audiobooks.

Undercooked by Dan Ahdoot
https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/692780/undercooked/

The Liars' Club by Mary Karr
https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/324560/the-liars-club/

S8 E12: Dan Ahdoot and Mary Karr

In this episode, meet writer and actress Alexandra Auder, CNN journalist John Blake, and Live Learn Lovewell founder Emma Lovewell. Hear these authors talk about the process of narrating their memoirs: from the fascinating life experiences that inspired their work, to conveying those experiences in the recording studio.

Don't Call Me Home by Alexandra Auder: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/679125/dont-call-me-home/

More Than I Imagined by John Blake: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/706045/more-than-i-imagined/

Live Learn Love Well by Emma Lovewell: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/704082/live-learn-love-well/

S8 E17: Alexandra Auder, John Blake, and Emma Lovewell

A sample of my reading from The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende for the Narrator Mentorship Program

Jenny Barrett - The House Of The Spirits Sample

The Skating Party by Albertan author, Merna Summers analyzes the burden of choice through the lens of a child, Maida, which I suppose, mediates the severity of heartbreak and love because her child-like nature calls for rumination and the benefit of the doubt. Summers' protagonist Nathan is intriguing to Grace Hagan, the narrator, because his negligence towards his second love, Eunice, who he settles for, calls the reader to debate whether heartbreak is more about timing or the capacity to deal with such brutal truths to mitigate the severity of choices that are at odds with us. Summers asks us to be honest from the start: maybe nothing can continue after one's first experience with love.

Penguin Random House Audio Narrator Mentorship Application: "The Skating Party".

a Short excerpt from the beginning of Dune.

Narrator Mentorship Audition 2024- Diontae Black

Reading of "Parable of the Sower" by Octavia E. Butler for the 2024 Penguin Random House Audio Narrator Mentorship Program.

2024 PRH Audio Narrator Mentorship Program Sample

Nick Medina and Deborah discuss his latest release, INDIAN BURIAL GROUND, which features undercurrents of dark noir, literary, mystery and horror elements to craft an outstanding, fully captivating journey of two characters. Presented in alternating past and present chapters, Noemi and Louie will capture your hearts as they struggle to heal their fractured relationship, while righting a number of wrongs on their reservation. Fascinating characters and a chilling horror element that slow burns to a scorching blaze. 

Nick Medina - https://www.nickmedina.net/ - https://www.nickmedina.net/books  
Deborah Ledford - https://linktr.ee/deborahjledford - https://bit.ly/3kYuYvs 


Nick Medina-INDIAN BURIAL GROUND with Deborah J Ledford Authors on the Air Ep 11

Author Laurie L. Dove discusses her debut thriller novel MASK OF THE DEER WOMAN, featuring Bureau of Indian Affairs investigator Carrie Starr, is assigned to find a missing Native woman who has vanished on the reservation while researching a colony of rare beetles that could potentially shut down a profitable building venture. 

Laurie L. Dove -  https://lauriedove.com/ - https://lauriedove.com/books-laurie-dove/    
Deborah Ledford - https://linktr.ee/deborahjledford - https://bit.ly/3kYuYvs

Laurie L. Dove-MASK OF THE DEER WOMAN with Deborah J Ledford Authors on the Air Ep 12

Grace Hagan was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and is entering the fourth year of her English degree at The University of Calgary. Grace Hagan is an aspiring author. After discovering she had ADHD two years ago, reading aloud was beneficial for worldbuilding and justifying characters by picturing them scene-by-scene rather than just reading. Audiobooks connect the reader, the character, and ideally, authorial intentions that allow us to expand upon new forms of meaning and humanize each character with motley bodies, races, ethnicities, religions, colours, and creeds.

A podcast about authors reading their audiobooks from Penguin Random House Audio.

Diontae. Vocalist/Actor/Budding Voice Actor. Good (?) Naoto Player Studying Music/Musical Theatre at Auburn University. Big anime Fan/VA I also play video games

Since 1850, Harper’s Magazine has provided its readers with a unique perspective on the issues that drive our national conversation, featuring writing from some of the most promising to most distinguished names in literature—from Barbara Ehrenreich to Rachel Kushner. Listen as Harper’s editors and contributing writers take a deep dive into these topics and the craft of long-form narrative journalism.

Subscribe to the magazine for only $16.97 per year: harpers.org/save

The Authors on the Air Global Radio Network is an international digital media corporation featuring  podcasts, book reviewers and conference media coverage..  Our content is available on audio and video platforms in 153 countries.

New tracks tagged #Penguin Random House