Performance audiobooks

Can Uganda Block Ebola'S Spread From Neighboring Congo?

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 5 minutes

Abridged: No

Eastern parts of Democratic Republic of Congo are suffering from the second-worst outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in history, with more than 500 dead so far. Neighboring Uganda is watching with concern as the crisis unfolds, wary of allowing Ebola to spread to its people. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on measures Uganda is... Read more

Nonprofit Helping Low-Income Patients Describes Itself As ‘Match.Com Meets The Peace Corps’

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 6 minutes

Abridged: No

Physician shortages, as well as cost and distance, can make specialty care prohibitive for many low-income patients. A nonprofit aims to tackle those challenges by utilizing telehealth technology and retiring, volunteer doctors. Special correspondent Cat Wise explores “The MAVEN Project.” Read more

Arthur Brooks On Why We Hate Our Political Enemies — And How To Stop

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 6 minutes

Abridged: No

Arthur Brooks is the former president of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington, D.C., think tank. Troubled by the level of animosity in the current U.S. political landscape, he's analyzed why we increasingly hate those with whom we disagree -- and how to use love to try to persuade them instead. Brooks joins Judy Woodruff... Read more

American Indian Radio Voices

By: Colleen Keane

Narrated by: Highlights for Children

Length: 44 minutes

Abridged: No

Highlights presents American Indian Radio Voices written by Colleen Keane. This audiobook describes how American Indians have radio stations on their reservations so that they can spread the news and keep people informed, ensuring that their voices can be heard by everyone. Read more

Small businesses turn to online lenders

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 7 minutes

Abridged: No

Since the financial crisis, small business lending by banks has declined substantially according to federal data. The value of loans of less than $100 thousand dollars is down by more than 18% since 2008. But while banks have pulled back, new types of sparsely regulated nonbank lenders have stepped in as alternatives, hoping to disrupt... Read more

Author And Journalist Sarah Smarsh On Resisting ‘Bogus’ Labels That Divide Us

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 2 minutes

Abridged: No

Sarah Smarsh is an author and a journalist whose environment as an adult diverges greatly from her childhood on a Kansas wheat farm. With exposure to extremely different regions and cultures within the U.S., Smarsh shares her humble opinion on why we should resist the temptation to reduce individuals with oversimplified labels based on where... Read more

Why This Poet Says There Is No Single Story Spun On A Single Tongue

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 1 minute

Abridged: No

Erica Dawson, a professor and writer, said she was surprised while on book tour recently to be faced with the same question over and over again, about speaking for “the black experience.” Black poets never went away. We don’t only deserve the stage in tumultuous times. We aren’t just rage, says Dawson, who shares her humble opinion on... Read more

As Europe battles over border policy, migrants flood to Spain

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 4 minutes

Abridged: No

Three years into the migration crisis, Europe remains as divided as ever about how to handle the influx of people arriving illegally from Africa. Spain has overtaken Italy as their main entry point, in part because of its more welcoming stance toward immigrants. Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports on the treacherous route migrants must... Read more

With ‘Mutual Air,' This California Artist Leverages The Sounds Of Science

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 4 minutes

Abridged: No

Despite increasingly dire assessments about the outlook for climate change, it can be difficult to remain mindful of our environment’s health on a daily basis. Jeffrey Brown traveled to the Bay Area to meet Rosten Woo, a Los Angeles-based artist whose work offers an unexpected way to become more aware of pollution as we go about our lives: by... Read more

How Residents From El Paso Feel About Border Barriers

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 6 minutes

Abridged: No

Amid the roiling national debate about immigration and a border wall, construction crews in El Paso, Texas, are busy replacing 20 miles of wire mesh fencing with a bollard-style structure. Border Patrol says this kind of barrier is crucial for preventing people from crossing the border illegally. Special correspondent Angela Kocherga talks to El... Read more

Why The Midwest's Deep Freeze May Be A Consequence Of Climate Change

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 5 minutes

Abridged: No

More than a quarter of the U.S. population is expected to deal with sub-zero temperatures this week. The extreme cold has sparked some public skepticism over global warming, but scientists actually believe it is a consequence of climate change. Amna Nawaz talks to Dr. Jennifer Francis of the Woods Hole Research Center for an explanation of this... Read more

Will The Traditions Of Tiny Tangier Island Survive Or Sink?

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 8 minutes

Abridged: No

Life on Tangier Island has always been defined by water. Now it is menacing its very existence. Battered by Chesapeake Bay's relentless waves, scientists say the land’s shrinking is accelerating, as man-made climate change makes the waves from rising seawater worse. John Yang talks with Earl Swift, author of Chesapeake Requiem, and examines how... Read more

Author Marlon James On Never Outgrowing The Magical

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 6 minutes

Abridged: No

Marlon James is best known for writing literary fiction, including “A Brief History of Seven Killings,” which won the prestigious Man Booker Prize. But his latest book, “Black Leopard, Red Wolf,” draws on a lifelong love of comics and fantasy. James sits down with Jeffrey Brown to discuss why he still seeks "a sword and some sorcery" and the... Read more

How Trump’s tariffs changed the fates of these two factories

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 7 minutes

Abridged: No

How are President Trump's tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum affecting manufacturers and workers? At two different Missouri factories, there are two very different stories. Mid Continent Steel and Wire, which makes nails, has already eliminated 100 jobs. But about 60 miles away at Magnitude 7 Metals, the reopened aluminum smelter is back up... Read more

Despite Oil Wealth, Iraq'S Basra Plagued By Broken Infrastructure, Poverty And Violence

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 7 minutes

Abridged: No

Basra, in southern Iraq, contains much of the country’s oil wealth -- yet residents there are struggling just to survive. The city lacks basic services like clean water and reliable electricity, and jobs are rare. But people taking to the streets to protest what they see as government failures to provide say they've been brutally punished.... Read more

How The Autobiography Of A Muslim Slave Is Challenging An American Narrative

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 4 minutes

Abridged: No

Omar Ibn Said was 37 years old when he was taken from his West African home and transported to Charleston, South Carolina, as a slave in the 1800s. Now, his one-of-a-kind autobiographical manuscript has been translated from its original Arabic and housed at the Library of Congress, where it “annihilates” the conventional narrative of African... Read more

Why It Will Take More Than Basic Recycling To Cut Back On Plastic

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 8 minutes

Abridged: No

Around the world, waves of plastic are washing ashore and clogging landfills. Even though plastic pollution is now one of the largest environmental threats facing humans and animals, our appetite for the virtually indestructible material keeps growing. Amna Nawaz and producer Lorna Baldwin begin our series. Read more

Poet Willie Perdomo On The Value Of Writing Letters In A Digital World

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 2 minutes

Abridged: No

Texting and emailing have revolutionized the way we communicate, enabling us to be more efficient and stay in touch more easily. But they have also altered the dynamics of some of our most important relationships. Within this new digital communication landscape, what have we lost? Poet Willie Perdomo, author of The Crazy Bunch, shares his humble... Read more

Yemen'S Ongoing Civil War Creates A Life Of Loss For Children

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 5 minutes

Abridged: No

As the civil war in Yemen enters its sixth year, tens of thousands have died in the fighting, while disease and hunger have killed thousands more. The many children who have lost or been abandoned by parents have suffered the most, both physically and emotionally. Special correspondent Jane Ferguson reports on the devastating effects of the war... Read more

A Scientific Approach To Evaluating Global Anti-Poverty Programs

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 8 minutes

Abridged: No

In Ethiopia, over a quarter of the population survives on less than two dollars a day. International organizations and foreign governments provide funds to address the rampant poverty in this country and others, but little data is available to assess the effectiveness of such programs. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on one... Read more

Celeste Ng And Maxine Hong Kingston Answer Your Questions About "The Woman Warrior"

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 6 minutes

Abridged: No

Celeste Ng, author of “Little Fires Everywhere,” and Maxine Hong Kingston, author of "The Woman Warrior," join Jeffrey Brown to answer reader questions about our August pick for the NewsHour-New York Times book club, Now Read This. Ng selected “The Woman Warrior,” which was published by Kingston in 1976. Plus, Jeff announces the September book... Read more

On The U.S.-Mexico Border, Crowds Of Migrants And A "Broken" System

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 6 minutes

Abridged: No

May saw the highest number of crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border since 2007. Due to the surge and a new Trump administration policy that keeps asylum seekers in Mexico until their claims are processed, communities on both sides of the divide are struggling to handle the population influx. Many asylum seekers are families fleeing instability and... Read more

Why The Florida Keys Still Need Support, A Year And A Half After Hurricane Irma

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 7 minutes

Abridged: No

In March, FEMA ended its temporary housing program for people affected by Hurricane Irma, which slammed the Florida Keys in September 2017. But as rebuilding continues after one of the costliest storms in U.S. history, shelter for survivors and volunteers continues to be a major challenge in an area known for a critical shortage of affordable... Read more

Managing School Stress By Bringing Yoga Into The Classroom

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 2 minutes

Abridged: No

The back-to-school period can mean a stressful transition for students, parents and teachers alike. To help them manage that anxiety, the nonprofit program Y.O.G.A. for Youth is bringing techniques for mindfulness and relaxation to the classroom. Damien Henson of Student Reporting Labs has the story. Read more