Audiobooks narrated by Rachel Perry

The Understory: An Invitation to Rootedness and Resilience from the Forest Floor

'Walk in the woods with me.' That's the invitation award-winning author Lore Ferguson Wilbert extends to listeners in The Understory. On this journey, Wilbert shares her story of alienation and disorientation after years of religious and political unrest in the evangelical church. In doing so, she looks to an unlikely place-the forest-to learn how to live and even thrive when everything seems to be falling apart. What can we learn from eroding soil, the decomposition process, the time it takes to grow lichen, the beauty of fiddlehead ferns, the regeneration of self-sowing seeds, and walking through the mud? Here, among the understory of the forest, Wilbert discovers rich metaphors for living a rooted and flourishing life within the complex ecosystems of our world. Her tenderness and honesty will help listeners grieve, remember, hope, and press on with resilience.

Lore Ferguson Wilbert (Author), Rachel Perry (Narrator)

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Beyond Clueless

Marty Sullivan's life ends, basically, when her parents enroll her in a private high school. A private, Catholic, girls-only high school. Meanwhile, at their local public school, her best friend, Jimmy, comes out of the closet and finds himself a boyfriend and a new group of friends. Marty feels left out and alone, until she gets a part in the school musical, Into the Woods, and Jimmy and his new crew are in it, too! Things start looking even better when Marty falls for foxy fellow cast member Felix Peroni. And Felix seems to like her back. But the drama is just beginning . . . Can Marty and Jimmy keep up their friendship? And is Marty's new beau everything he appears to be? Or is Marty too clueless to figure it all out before it's too late?

Linas Alsenas (Author), Rachel Perry (Narrator)

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On the Art of the Craft: A Guidebook to Collaborative Storytelling

A writing companion, inspirational guide to the craft, and anthology featuring outstanding essays from the acclaimed nonprofit mentoring organization on its twenty-fifth anniversary helping underserved youth find their voice. We all have stories to tell, but not everyone gets the training or encouragement necessary to be great storytellers. Founded a quarter century ago, the Girls Write Now mentoring program has helped young women and gender expansive youth unleash their creative talent to gain confidence and skills that last a lifetime. When these underserved communities get to tell their stories in their most powerful voices, we all benefit from their insight, empathy, ideas, ingenuity, and ultimately hope. In celebration of the organization’s more than two decades working with youth, this hands-on guide gives aspiring young writers the tools they need to develop their own skills—including tips, insights on the writing and publishing process, critical thinking about the future of storytelling, and advice on how to become a writer—drawn from their creative workshops and one-on-one mentoring. With this handbook, readers everywhere can develop their own talents, thoughts, and ideas to become the writers—and leaders—they are capable of becoming, no matter their pathway in life. On the Art of the Craft is structured around three main themes: Creation, Combination, and Transformation. From the organization’s remarkable archive, current mentees have selected topical and resonant pieces and addressed them, crafting their own essay in conversation with the past. At the end of each piece, readers will find prompts they can use to craft their own responses. Both uplifting and practical, this book, written by young people, is meant to help the upcoming generations empower each other. Showcasing rising talents, offering fresh and welcome new perspectives, and providing hands-on tools, community, and encouragement, On the Art of the Craft will inspire change for all.

Girls Write Now (Author), Alice Wen, Dana Wing Lau, Elena Rey, Grace Capeless, Karen Chilton, Nicky Endres, Nikki Massoud, Rachel Perry, Reader Tbd 1, Tyla Collier (Narrator)

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The Importance of Being Educable: A New Theory of Human Uniqueness

If we hope to share our planet successfully with one another and the AI systems we are creating, we must reflect on who we are, how we got here, and where we are heading. The Importance of Being Educable puts forward a provocative new exploration of the extraordinary facility of humans to absorb and apply knowledge. The remarkable 'educability' of the human brain can be understood as an information processing ability. It sets our species apart, enables the civilization we have, and gives us the power and potential to set our planet on a steady course. While we can readily absorb systems of thought about worlds of experience beyond our own, we struggle to judge correctly what information we should trust. In this visionary book, Leslie Valiant argues that understanding the nature of our own educability is crucial to safeguarding our future. After breaking down how we process information to learn and apply knowledge, and drawing comparisons with other animals and AI systems, he explains why education should be humankind's central preoccupation. Will the unique capability that has been so foundational to our achievements and civilization continue to drive our progress, or will we fall victim to our vulnerabilities? If we want to protect our collective future, we must better understand and prioritize the importance of being educable.

Leslie Valiant (Author), Rachel Perry (Narrator)

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The Politics of Maps: Cartographic Constructions of Israel/Palestine

Blending science and technology studies, sociology, and geography with a host of archival material, in-depth interviews, and ethnographies, The Politics of Maps explores how the geographical sciences came to be entangled with the politics, territorial claim-making, and nation-state building of Israel/Palestine. Chapters chart the cartographic history of the region, from the introduction of Western scientific and legal paradigms that seemingly legitimized and depoliticized new land regimes to the rise of new mapping technologies and software that expanded access to cartography into the public sphere. Maps produced by various sectors like the 'peace camps' or the Jewish community enhanced national belonging, while others, like that of the Green Line, served largely to divide. The stories of Israel's many boundaries reveal that there is no absolute, technocratic solution to boundary-making. As boundaries continue to be controversial and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains intractable and unresolved, The Politics of Maps uses nationally-based cartographic discourses to provide insight into the complexity, fissures, and frictions within internal political debates, illuminating the persistent power of the nation-state as a framework for forging identities, citizens, and alliances.

Christine Leuenberger, Izhak Schnell (Author), Rachel Perry (Narrator)

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The Emotionally Intelligent Teen: Skills to Help You Deal with What You Feel, Build Stronger Relatio

Do you get upset easily, or struggle to manage difficult thoughts and feelings like sadness, anger, frustration, or worry? Many teens struggle to balance their emotions and manage stress. Awareness is a great first step, but you also need solid skills to successfully navigate your complex world, be your best, and reach your goals. In this friendly guide, psychologist Melanie McNally offers proven-effective tools to help you cultivate emotional intelligence-the ability to identify and express your emotions in healthy ways. You'll gain a greater understanding of the connection between your emotions and your behavior, learn how to stay calm during stressful or anxiety provoking situations, and discover tips to help you manage conflict with anyone in your life. You'll find foundational skills to help you: - Identify your feelings - Manage your moods - Decrease your stress levels - Set authentic and attainable goals Emotions are powerful things. By learning to understand and balance your own emotions, you'll be empowered to take control of your goals, your dreams, and your mental well-being-now and into the future!

Melanie Mcnally Psyd, Melanie Mcnally, Psy.D. (Author), Rachel Perry (Narrator)

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Getting Over Ourselves: Moving Beyond a Culture of Burnout, Loneliness, and Narcissism

In Getting Over Ourselves, human development specialist and leadership coach Christina Congleton delivers an insightful and urgently needed discussion of how millennials can move beyond the tired cliches of the self-help genre and achieve new levels of satisfaction and contentment. In the book, you'll explore how crushing levels of student debt, consecutive financial crises, and an alarming uptick in depression, substance abuse, and suicide are combining to significantly damage the potential of millennials everywhere. You'll also find concrete strategies-rooted in developmental psychology-to counteract those negative influences. Getting Over Ourselves offers: insights into why 'life hacks,' productivity seminars, and more 'adulting' are not the solutions to the issues faced by the millennial generation; frameworks that reject the idea that there is a separate, solitary self in need of constant improvement and connect you with your deeper humanity; and effective techniques for fending off burnout and ways to move beyond the unsatisfactory status quo. An essential and timely work that belongs in the libraries of millennials everywhere, Getting Over Ourselves is the antidote to the skin-deep, ineffective 'self-help' material that you've been looking for.

Christina Congleton (Author), Rachel Perry (Narrator)

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Side Hustle Safety Net: How Vulnerable Workers Survive Precarious Times

The first major study of how the pandemic affected gig workers-a sociological exploration that reads like a novel. This is the story of what the most vulnerable wage earners-gig workers, restaurant staff, early-career creatives, and minimum-wage laborers-do when the economy suddenly collapses. In Side Hustle Safety Net, Alexandrea J. Ravenelle builds on interviews with nearly two hundred gig-based and precarious workers, conducted during the height of the pandemic, to uncover the unique challenges they faced in unprecedented times. This book looks at both the officially unemployed and the 'forgotten jobless'-a digital-era demographic that turned to side hustles-and reveals how they fared. CARES Act assistance allowed some to change careers, start businesses, perhaps transform their lives. However, gig workers and those involved in 'polyemployment' found themselves at the mercy of outdated unemployment systems, vulnerable to scams, and attempting dubious survival strategies. Ultimately, Side Hustle Safety Net argues that the rise of the gig economy, partnered with underemployment and economic instability, has increased worker precarity with disastrous consequences.

Alexandrea J. Ravenelle (Author), Rachel Perry (Narrator)

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Meaning in the Moment: How Rituals Help Us Move Through Joy, Pain, and Everything in Between

Life has its ups and downs, and it can feel like we're always in the middle of a transition. Whether it's a painful end or a joyful beginning-or even an uncertain middle-theologian and minister Amy Davis Abdallah has found something that helps: rituals. In Meaning in the Moment, she shows why we need rituals to help survive and even thrive through various seasons of life. Starting with the foundation that rituals are a core, and underexplored, part of Christian practice, Davis Abdallah draws from theology, psychology, and personal experiences in creating rituals for herself and others. She offers practical guidance for listeners to create their own meaningful rituals, including three types requiring varying levels of planning and participation: right now, with friends, and at church. Listeners will emerge with fresh ways to bring their faith to life for themselves, their families, and their church communities-and ready to experience the transformative power of rituals. The book includes a foreword by W. David O. Taylor.

Amy F. Davis Abdallah (Author), Rachel Perry (Narrator)

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Wrong: How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive Our Appetite for Misinformation

An engaging look at how American politics and media reinforce partisan identity and threaten democracy. Why are so many of us wrong about so much? From COVID-19 to climate change to the results of elections, millions of Americans believe things that are simply not true-and act based on these misperceptions. In Wrong: How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive Our Appetite for Misinformation, expert in media and politics Dannagal Goldthwaite Young offers a comprehensive model that illustrates how political leaders and media organizations capitalize on our social and cultural identities to separate, enrage, and-ultimately-mobilize us. Through a process of identity distillation encouraged by public officials, journalists, political and social media, Americans' political identities-how we think of ourselves as members of our political team-drive our belief in and demand for misinformation. It turns out that if being wrong allows us to comprehend the world, have control over it, or connect with our community, all in ways that serve our political team, then we don't want to be right. By understanding the dynamics that encourage identity distillation, Wrong explains how to reverse this dangerous trend and strengthen American democracy in the process.

Dannagal Goldthwaite Young (Author), Rachel Perry (Narrator)

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The Synesthesia Experience: Tasting Words, Seeing Music, and Hearing Color

A violinist sees a scarlet form when he plays a certain note; a rock star sees waves of blue and green as he composes a ballad; an actress tastes cake when she utters the word 'table.' Described by some as a superpower this mingling of the senses is called 'synesthesia,' and the people who possess this amazing gift are called 'synesthetes.' What happens when a journalist turns her lens on a mystery happening in her own life? Maureen Seaberg did just that and lived for a year exploring her synesthesia. The wondrous brain trait is often described as blended senses, but for Maureen, synesthesia is not an idle 'brain tick' that can be explained away by science (although it does offer some important clues). It is a unique ability to tap into and reveal a greater creative universe and even the divine. Join her as she visits top neuroscientists, rock stars, violinists, other synesthetes, philosophers, savants, quantum physicists, and even Tibetan lamas in her journey toward the truth. Step into Maureen's shimmering alternate universe as she explores this fascinating subject, combining clear explanations of groundbreaking scientific research with an exploration of deeper understanding of our senses.

Maureen Seaberg (Author), Rachel Perry (Narrator)

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Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind

A provocative and original history of the scientists and writers, artists and philosophers who took drugs to explore the hidden regions of the mind Until the twentieth century, scientists investigating the effects of drugs on the mind did so by experimenting on themselves. Vivid descriptions of drug experiences sparked insights across the mind sciences, pharmacology, medicine, and philosophy. Accounts in journals and literary fiction inspired a fascinated public to make their own experiments-in scientific demonstrations, on exotic travels, at literary salons, and in occult rituals. But after 1900 drugs were increasingly viewed as a social problem, and the long tradition of self-experimentation began to disappear. From Sigmund Freud's experiments with cocaine to William James's epiphany on nitrous oxide, Mike Jay brilliantly recovers a lost intellectual tradition of drug-taking that fed the birth of psychology, the discovery of the unconscious, and the emergence of modernism. Today, as we embrace novel cognitive enhancers and psychedelics, the experiments of the original psychonauts reveal the deep influence of mind-altering drugs on Western science, philosophy, and culture.

Mike Jay (Author), Rachel Perry (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Rachel Perry