Behind the Mic: On Navigate Your Stars by Jesmyn Ward, Read by the Author

Every Monday through Friday, AudioFile’s editors recommend the best in audiobook listening. We keep our daily episodes short and sweet, with audiobook clips to give you a sample of our featured listens.

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 offers or prospects to follow her passion, writing. Ward proclaims a powerful and persuasive message: Look beyond the horizon, set your sights on a star, and sail toward it.

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Support for Behind the Mic comes from Blackstone Publishing, publisher of the audiobook of Richard Adams’ classic tale Watership Down. This May Blackstone is celebrating the centenary of the author’s birth. This is a great moment to reflect on the novel and experience it all over again, as well as introduce it to a new generation of listeners. Read by the actor Peter Capaldi, Watership Down is an exciting adventure story and an engaging allegory about freedom, ethics, and human nature. A stirring epic of courage and survival against the odds, the beloved classic continues to be discovered by readers of all ages. Watership Down from Blackstone Publishing is available wherever you get your audiobooks, including Downpour.com.