
Insights from recent episode analysis
Audience Interest
Podcast Focus
Publishing Consistency
Platform Reach
Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.
Most discussed topics
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Total monthly reach
Estimated from 1 chart position in 1 market.
By chart position
- 🇳🇬NG · Books#156500 to 3K
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
150 to 900🎙 Daily cadence·1,000 episodes·Last published yesterday - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
500 to 3K🇳🇬100% - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
200 to 1.2K
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Reach across major podcast platforms, updated hourly
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* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
On the show
From 16 epsHosts
Recent guests
Recent episodes
Finding the Voice
Jun 11, 2026
24m 37s
Navigating The Divorce by Freida McFadden
Jun 5, 2026
16m 36s
Three Very Different Roads Through Fiction
Jun 4, 2026
21m 08s
Still Here: Three Memoirs That Don’t Look Away
May 28, 2026
25m 55s
Working Lives in Three Audiobooks
May 21, 2026
29m 17s
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| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/11/26 | ![]() Finding the Voice | Host Jo Reed talks with contributor Leslie Fine about three audiobooks that range from memoir to thriller to literary biography. They begin with Unread: A Memoir of Learning (and Loving) To Read on TikTok by Oliver James, where narrator James Shippy brings warmth and enthusiasm to the author’s account of achieving literacy as an adult and discovering the enduring pleasures of books. Then, they turn to Tiffany Crum’s This Story Might Save Your Life. Driven by the energetic, emotionally layered narration of Julia Whelan and Sean Patrick Hopkins, its use of podcast clips, voicemail messages, and layered audio production heightens a suspenseful missing-person mystery. And they end with Judy Blume: A Life by Mark Oppenheimer; Molly Ringwald’s warm, quietly authoritative narration guides listeners through the career of an author whose books have shaped generations of readers. Together, these audiobooks prove that the right narrator can turn a good story into an irresistible listen. Audiobooks Discussed: Unread: A Memoir of Learning (and Loving) To Read on TikTok by Oliver James, read by James Shippy (Hachette Audio) This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum, read by Julia Whelan and Sean Patrick Hopkins (Macmillan Audio) Judy Blume: A Life by Mark Oppenheimer, read by Molly Ringwald and Mark Oppenheimer (Penguin Random House Audio) Support for Behind the Mic comes from HarperCollins Focus, and HarperCollins Christian Publishing, publishers of some of your favorite audiobooks and authors, including Reba McEntire, Bob Goff, Savannah Guthrie, Max Lucado, Lysa TerKeurst, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 24m 37s | ||||||
| 6/5/26 | ![]() Navigating The Divorce by Freida McFadden | On this special sponsored episode of Behind the Mic, Kirkus’ Michele Cobb is joined by acclaimed narrator January LaVoy. Together, they go behind the scenes of recording Freida McFadden’s latest bestseller, The Divorce—without spoilers. The novel explores the unraveling of a marriage, and the audiobook is performed by a trio of narrators portraying the three characters at its center: January LaVoy, Edoardo Ballerini, and Marin Ireland. Michele and January discuss the importance of honoring the author’s words, collaborating with her fellow narrators, and how January created the voice for and built the character of Veronica, the other, younger woman. Audiobook Discussed: The Divorce by Freida McFadden, read by January LaVoy, Edoardo Ballerini & Marin Ireland (Dreamscape Media) This episode of Behind the Mic is brought to you by Dreamscape Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 16m 36s | ||||||
| 6/4/26 | ![]() Three Very Different Roads Through Fiction | From haunted New Jersey suburbs to melancholy Irish landscapes to the contested wilds of the American West, Alan Minskoff joins host Jo Reed to discuss three sharply different works of fiction in audio. Tom Perrotta’s Ghost Town, narrated by Robert Petkoff, blends grief, adolescence, and the supernatural through Petkoff’s nuanced character work, while Derbhle Crotty and Darragh Shannon bring quiet emotional precision to The News From Dublin, evoking the atmosphere of longing and displacement in Colm Tóibín’s story collection. The conversation closes with Taylor Brown’s Wolvers, read by Ramiz Monsef, whose vivid performance captures the tensions between ranchers, militias, environmentalists, and wolves in the modern West. These audiobooks may share little besides the genre of fiction, but each narrator creates a fully realized world listeners can step into and stay with long after the final chapter. Audiobooks Discussed: Ghost Town by Tom Perrotta, read by Robert Petkoff (Simon & Schuster Audio) The News From Dublin: Stories by Colm Tóibín, read by Derbhle Crotty and Darragh Shannon (Simon & Schuster Audio) Wolvers by Taylor Brown, read by Ramiz Monsef (Recorded Books Inc.) Support for Behind the Mic comes from HarperCollins Focus and HarperCollins Christian Publishing, publishers of some of your favorite audiobooks and authors, including Reba McEntire, Bob Goff, Savannah Guthrie, Max Lucado, Lysa TerKeurst, and many more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 21m 08s | ||||||
| 5/28/26 | ![]() Still Here: Three Memoirs That Don’t Look Away✨ | memoirsaudiobooks+4 | Michele Cobb | A Hymn to LifeThe End of My Life Is Killing Me+1 | — | memoiraudiobook+3 | — | 25m 55s | |
| 5/21/26 | ![]() Working Lives in Three Audiobooks✨ | audiobookslabor+4 | Stephen Cummings | Simon & Schuster AudioMacmillan Audio+3 | — | audiobooksDavid Pogue+7 | — | 29m 17s | |
| 5/15/26 | ![]() Exploring Kathryn Stockett’s The Calamity Club✨ | audiobook creationfemale friendship+3 | Amy Metsch | Kirkus ReviewsSpotify Audiobooks+1 | — | The Calamity ClubKathryn Stockett+5 | Spiegel & Grau | 13m 16s | |
| 5/14/26 | ![]() Horror, Held Close✨ | horror audiobooksatmosphere+4 | Alex Richey | The Beheading GameThe Body+1 | — | horroraudiobooks+5 | — | 24m 16s | |
| 5/7/26 | ![]() New Earphones Award Winners✨ | Earphones Award winnersaudiobook narration+3 | Laura Rossi | Hachette AudioRandom House Audio+1 | — | Earphones Awardaudiobooks+3 | — | 23m 25s | |
| 4/30/26 | ![]() Toni Morrison in Three Dimensions✨ | Toni Morrisonaudiobooks+4 | Kendra Winchester | Random House AudioHarper Audio+4 | — | Toni Morrisonaudiobooks+5 | — | 27m 04s | |
| 4/23/26 | ![]() Mothers, Memory, and the Search for Self✨ | identityfamily+5 | Leslie Fine | KinBoy From the North Country+1 | — | audiobooksidentity+5 | — | 24m 45s | |
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| 4/16/26 | ![]() Three Stories, Many Points of View✨ | audiobooksmultiple narrators+4 | Michele Cobb | MercyThe Storm+1 | — | audiobooksmultiple narrators+3 | — | 24m 17s | |
| 4/9/26 | ![]() Hockey, Heat, and Two Very Different Voices✨ | hockeyqueer romance+4 | Laurie Muchnick | Tantor MediaHarlequin Audio+6 | — | Game ChangersRachel Reid+5 | — | 23m 30s | |
| 4/2/26 | ![]() Lauren Groff: In Her Own Voice✨ | audiobook narrationwriting process+3 | Lauren Groff | Penguin AudioBrawler | — | Lauren GroffBrawler+5 | — | 34m 18s | |
| 3/26/26 | ![]() Middle-Grade Books in Three Voices✨ | middle-grade audiobooksnarration+3 | Laura Simeon | Listening LibraryRecorded Books+1 | — | middle-gradeaudiobooks+3 | HarperCollinsFocus | 27m 18s | |
| 3/19/26 | ![]() Writers at the Top of Their Game✨ | audiobooksnarration+3 | Alan Minskoff | Random House AudioMacmillan Audio+4 | — | audiobooksGeorge Saunders+6 | HarperCollinsFocus | 21m 54s | |
| 3/12/26 | ![]() Three Narratives, No Easy Answers✨ | audiobooksnarration+5 | Stephen Cummings | EscapePaper Cut+1 | — | EscapePaper Cut+7 | HarperCollins Focus | 26m 17s | |
| 3/3/26 | ![]() Narration in Three Keys✨ | audiobook narrationliterature+3 | Alex Ritchie | Half His AgeGraceless Heart+1 | — | audiobooksnarration+3 | HarperCollinsFocus | 20m 14s | |
| 2/26/26 | ![]() Thrillers With Teeth✨ | thrillersaudiobooks+5 | Leslie Fine | Best Offer WinsThe Sunshine Man+1 | — | thrillersaudiobooks+7 | — | 23m 37s | |
| 2/19/26 | ![]() Native Voices✨ | Native authorsaudiobook narration+3 | Kendra Winchester | Sisters in the WindWe Survive the Night+1 | — | Native Voicesaudiobooks+3 | — | 21m 08s | |
| 2/12/26 | ![]() Earphones Award Spotlight | Host Jo Reed and Laura Rossi dive into three Earphones Award–winning audiobooks: James Patterson’s Return of the Spider, Margaret Atwood’s Book of Lives, and Ryan Goldberg’s Bird City. They talk about Dion Graham and Fred Berman’s gripping dual performance in Patterson’s 34th Alex Cross thriller; Atwood’s reflective memoir in her own gravelly, unmistakable voice; and the charm of an unexpected New York City birding adventure to which Evan Sibley brings a naturalist’s clarity to the narration. Together, they explore how each audiobook offers a distinct listening experience—from high-stakes suspense to literary self-examination to close observation of the natural world. Audiobooks Discussed: Return of the Spider: An Alex Cross Thriller by James Patterson, read by Dion Graham and Fred Berman (Hachette Audio) Book of Lives, written and read by Margaret Atwood (Random House Audio) Bird City: Adventures in New York’s Urban Wilds by Ryan Goldberg, read by Evan Sibley (Hachette Audio) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 20m 31s | ||||||
| 2/5/26 | ![]() Three Literary Heavyweights: Smith, Banville, and Pynchon | Host Jo Reed and contributor Alan Minskoff dive into three remarkable audiobooks: Zadie Smith’s Dead and Alive, John Banville’s Venetian Vespers, and Thomas Pynchon’s long-awaited Shadow Ticket. They explore Smith’s incisive essays, read by the author with clarity and authority; Venetian Vespers, with Luke Thompson navigating Banville’s long, sinuous sentences; and Pynchon’s noir caper, handled with virtuosic range by Edoardo Ballerini. It’s a conversation filled with sharp insights into writing, narration, and what makes these audiobooks such compelling listens. Audiobooks Discussed: Dead and Alive, written and read by Zadie Smith (Penguin Audio) Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon, read by Edoardo Ballerini (Penguin Audio) Venetian Vespers by John Banville, read by Luke Thompson (Random House Audio) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 20m 27s | ||||||
| 1/29/26 | ![]() Backstories That Matter | This week, Michele Cobb joins host Jo Reed to dig into audiobooks built on backstory, beginning with Expert Witness, where Gabra Zackman delivers Anne Wolbert Burgess’ account of trauma, justice, and the evolution of expert testimony with clarity and restraint. Next, they turn to A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever, a joyful, detail-packed oral history of the 1984 film Spinal Tap—an ensemble cast production led by Rob Reiner, where seemingly spontaneous commentary makes the audiobook the definitive way to experience the story. The episode closes with We Did OK, Kid, a reflective memoir in which Kenneth Branagh’s elegant narration frames Anthony Hopkins’s vulnerable reflections on craft, ambition, and a life shaped by performance. Together these audiobooks show how lived experience—whether in the courtroom, on a film set, or across a lifetime in acting—gains depth and resonance when shaped by a narrator who knows when to be restrained, playful, or quietly vulnerable. Audiobooks Discussed: Expert Witness: The Weight of Our Testimony When Justice Hangs in the Balance by Ann Wolbert Burgess with Steven Matthew Constantine, read by Gabra Zackman A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap, written and read by Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer We Did Ok, Kid: A Memoir by Sir Anthony Hopkins, read by Kenneth Branagh with the author Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 22m 58s | ||||||
| 1/22/26 | ![]() Biography, Fiction, and Memoir | Stephen Cummings joins host Jo Reed to talk about Laurie Gwen Shapiro’s immersive dual biography of Amelia Earhart and George Putnam, The Aviator and the Showman; Elliot Ackerman’s unlikely and darkly comic caper, Sheepdogs; and Mike Albo’s candid, audio-exclusive memoir, Hologram Boyfriends. Cummings reflects on what surprised him about each audiobook and why these very different works held his attention to the end. Altogether, the conversation highlights how form, tone, and performance shape the listening experience. Audiobooks Discussed: The Aviator and the Showman by Laurie Gwen Shapiro, read by Stefanie Powers (Penguin Audio) Sheepdogs by Elliot Ackerman, read by Chris Andrew Ciulla (Random House Audio) Hologram Boyfriends, written and read by Mike Albo (Macmillan Audio) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 22m 48s | ||||||
| 1/15/26 | ![]() From Short Stories to Family Sagas | Contributor Alex Richey joins Behind the Mic host Jo Reed to talk about three fantastical audiobooks and how their different forms shape the listening experience. The conversation moves from Brandon Sanderson’s story collection Tailored Realities to two intergenerational stories centered on daughters—Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite and As Many Souls as Stars by Natasha Siegel—where voice and perspective carry particular emotional weight. As Alex observes, these audiobooks demonstrate how narration can enhance both broad narrative structures and more focused, character-driven works. Books Discussed: Tailored Realities by Brandon Sanderson, read by Dion Graham, January LaVoy, Michael Kramer, Ray Porter, Andre Santana, Avi Roque, Dylan Reilly Fitzpatrick, Imani Jade Powers, MacLeod Andrews, Shahjehan Khan, and Stephanie Nemeth Parker Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite, read by Weruche Opia, Nnei Opia Clark, and Diana Yekinni As Many Souls as Stars, written by Natasha Siegel, read by Kristin Atherton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 24m 15s | ||||||
| 1/8/26 | ![]() Robin Whitten: Transitions and Continuity | AudioFile Magazine is now part of Kirkus Reviews, and Behind the Mic marks the moment with a conversation with the magazine’s founder and longtime editor Robin Whitten. Robin reflects on a life spent listening, how audiobooks and audiobook reviewing has evolved, and her excitement that the work begun by AudioFile will continue and flourish at KirkusReviews. It’s a thoughtful, forward-looking conversation about continuity, change, and the enduring joy of listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices | 23m 12s | ||||||
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Chart Positions
1 placement across 1 market.
Chart Positions
1 placement across 1 market.

























