Alex H

Don't Factor the Time Length for MY NAME IS BAR..

Revisado: 01-10-25

Most Streisand fans won't need any review to buy this Audible version of the book, so this is for those who are on the fence as to buy or not.

The running time clocks in at 48 hours and 7 minutes, which sounds daunting, particularly when there is only one person providing the narration. However, Streisand not only has that incredible vocal gift, but she also has this uncanny ability to appear as though she's speaking extemporaneously and off the cuff -- even when the entire monologue was prewritten/scripted -- which she demonstrates during her concerts. She's able to do this here and comes through as if she were your best friend or favorite aunt who is finally telling you a story that keeps you glued to her every word.

I never got bored or felt like I needed to fast-forward any parts. There are also moments when she's describing a song or performance that she did, and the audible version will play a few moments of the actual recording, so you understand what it is she's describing.

Barbra discusses not only her upbringing and her rise to fame, but what drove her, her insecurities, the rejections she faced, and her tumultuous relationships with men. She talks about the death of her father and her mother's inability to show affection or nurture her young vocally gifted daughter and instead knew only how to be overly critical and dismissive (that would not change even after she became a superstar).

Streisand doesn't hold back and reveals some very painful moments from her past, but she also explains how she was able to overcome many of those issues by going to psychotherapy etc. and doing a lot of soul searching.

I loved the Audible version, and I also bought the physical book for the pictures that you can't get from the audio version. Even though MY NAME IS BARBRA clocks in at nearly 49-hours, it doesn't feel like it's that long and Barbra comes off as warm, funny, and makes the listener feel as though she is personally talking to you so there is immediacy throughout the audible book. Get it, you won't be disappointed. .

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Here’s The Solution to the “War on Drugs”

Revisado: 11-17-24

Although Dr. Hart isn’t the most animated narrator that I’ve heard, he is very effective reading his own book.
Using his professional and personal experience studying drugs and the effects on users, as well as researching past models (prohibition) that tried to stop public consumption of mood and mind altering substances, Dr. Hart comes to the solution that legalization of drugs is the answer and not the continuing failure of Nixon’s “the War On Drugs” campaign .
One might say that Dr. Hart’s solution is an overtly simple solution to a taxing complex problem, but it’s worked in Portugal.
This isn’t a “how to do drugs” manual, neither how to make and/or use illegal substances. The book addresses drug use with scientific, anecdotal, as well as personal experiences that blow away the myths and misconceptions surrounding drug use, which has inevitably led us to the so called “drug crisis” many countries find themselves in today.
Many will deride Dr. Hart’s solution, and even point to the fact that by his own admission he’s a drug addict himself, so why wouldn’t he propose legalization? But those people are missing the point. There’s a big difference between someone who consumes drugs and those who are addicts, and yet according to the law and popular opinion: if you use drugs, you are a drug addict. That misapprehension is what continues to feed the never ending drug crisis that continues “ the war on drugs” and that policy has destroyed more lives and families than any single narcotic could ever do.
Dr. Hart isn’t suggesting that there aren’t people who really are addicts or that some have lost their minds after taking a substance, but he is saying that the vast majority of users are not .

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Excellent Podcast Of Radio Plays

Revisado: 03-17-23

The "STARS ON SUSPENSE," put on by "Mean Streets Podcast," features suspenseful radio plays that feature the stars from Hollywood's Golden Age. These radio broadcasts were made back in the day before TV, Internet, etc., and are intriguing and fun to listen to. Some will even have you sitting at the edge of your seat!

If you never heard one of these radio plays, they're basically a movie without the picture. Different actors/actresses will voice the characters, you'll hear sound effects like cars, doors opening, footsteps, gunshots, etc., musical scores, and you get to hear the sponsors of the show (usually one sponsor), which are the commercial spots -- but they're so much better than today's commercials -- and that gives it a nostalgic feel, so I'm glad they weren't edited out.

"Suspense" was the name of the show that carried these radio plays, and you can purchase them in 7-15 hour broadcasts here on Audible, which is what I was doing originally, and then I stumbled upon the "STARS ON SUSPENSE" podcast! This is much better because the wonderful host chooses the episodes and provides info, trivia, and behind-the-scenes stuff on them. He also arranges them (grouping one celebrity's episodes together when there's a "spotlight" feature, whereas buying the shows are normally presented in broadcast order) so you can listen back-to-back shows that might have your favorite actor/actress.

I didn't realize that this podcast is active and so a new "Suspense" show is presented each week. You can also go back and listen to the earlier podcasts, so you've got lots to choose from. I have the Audible Premium Plus membership, so I get to listen to these shows without having to purchase any additional material.

I can't remember the host's name, but he has a nice speaking voice and sets each episode up and explains why he chose that particular show. I listen at night before I go to sleep and it's like having a bedtime story read to you every night.

Highly recommend it.

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A Must Have For I ❤️ Lucy Fans

Revisado: 11-30-22

I ❤️ LUCY:THE UNTOLD STORY is by the show”s Executive Producer Jess Oppenheimer and (I believe his son) Gregg Oppenheimer.

The audible book explains how Jess got involved, after writing for radio’s “The Baby Snooks Show” starring Fanny Brice, to then working with Lucille Ball on her radio show, “My Favorite Husband.”

MFH would be the precursor to ILL and the way Oppenheimer describes it, everything aligned with the casting, the writing team of Bob Carol Jr. and Madelyn Pugh, Desi Arnaz’s being a shrewd business man (which changed how sitcoms were filmed, preserved, and rerunning them) along with the wonderful comedic talent of Arnaz, Lucille Ball, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley.

The book gives listeners the inspiration for many of the storylines and details about Arnaz’s marriage to Ball. It also talks about the bitter relationship between Frawley and Vance, and how Ball was terrible at each of the first table reads of the script saying that “anyone who witnessed those first table reads would’ve said ‘keep the other three but get rid of the red head’.” Of course, Ball would be on point by the time each episode was filmed before a live studio audience, so she made it all seem so effortless.

What’s really great about ILL:TUS is that there are audio clips of scenes both from MFH and ILL, which illustrate what was being described a few minutes earlier.

Fans of ILL will recognize some of this book as excerpts were provided in the special features of each season release of ILL on DVD, but here you get the whole book. It gives listeners insight into the behind-the-scenes stories of one of the greatest television sitcoms of all time and any fan of I ❤️ Lucy would enjoy it.

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Another Great Offering of SUSPENSE!

Revisado: 10-31-22

SUSPENSE: TALES WELL CALCULATED sounds great from beginning to end with all episodes giving clear and consistent sound.

These radio plays were sponsored by “Auto-Lite” (It’s always right with auto-lite) and each episode has an announcer (in this case it’s Harlow Wilcox) who describes what the product is and what it does. However, the commercials are witty and entertaining and should not be confused with the mindless ads we have on TV, streaming services & the Internet. These plugs are nostalgic and add to the old school vibe of the recordings.

The stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age appear and each story is riveting. Agnes Moorehead has a couple of episodes on this compilation and Joan Crawford has an episode that really shows off her acting chops as she plays a screen writer who loses touch with reality and can no longer distinguish between the story she wrote and her actual life.

I’m hooked on this show SUSPENSE and have purchased more than a few from Audible.

This compilation also comes with a downloadable PDF that gives info about the series and the episodes, as well as showing photos of the talent either rehearsing or actually doing the show.

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Agnes Moorehead in “Sorry, Wring Number.” Mic drop…

Revisado: 10-26-22

I loved the movie version of “Sorry, Wrong Number” that starred Barbara Stanwyck. When I learned it was based on a short story, which was turned into a radio drama, I came to Audible to see if I could find it.

Of course, I found the stand alone radio play that was only 22-minutes long and I had no idea who was in the role, so I put it to my wish list (not wanting to waste a credit on one 22-minute story and was going to buy it later.

Having been hooked on the “Suspense” radio shows here on audible, I was looking to add a new compilation of the series and came across this edition “Suspense: Black Curtain.” I bought immediately and was floored when I found out the second episode was “Sorry, Wrong Number.” The teaser from the first episode gave a different working title so I didn’t know it was S,WN until the beginning of the episode. I was literally jumping up and down with glee.

Not only was I going to hear the radio play, but it was coming from the incredible Agnes Moorehead. She’s mostly know for her co-starring role on the TV series “Bewitched,” as mother-in-law Endora, but she was a force to be reckoned with even stealing scenes from Bette Davis (no easy feat) in the movie “Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte.”

Moorehead was outstanding in the second season of “The Twighlight Zone” in the episode called “the Invaders,” and she doesn’t disappoint here.

As you listen to S,WN, you’ll witness with your ears and imagination as an invalid woman becomes unglued as she can’t reach her husband on the phone, comes across a murder plot as her phone line gets crossed with another party, and she can get no help from the police or the operator.

There’s an accompanying pdf download that gives you info about the series and the episodes so you’ll know which chapter is what story (not all of the “Suspense” Audible shows have the pdf).

The episode was so popular the public requested it so much that it was replayed a few weeks later.

The rest of the stories are great all dealing with crimes, karma, irony etc., and include an announcer who sets up the story, actors playing out the characters, sounds like ringing phones, foot steps, doors creaking etc. that being each story to life, and some episodes have the sponsors plug with clever taglines.

Quality can vary from show to show, with some sounding more crisp and sharp than others (in S,WN the voices on the telephone calls are clearer sounding than the main character who is making the call, but I solved that by turning down the bass and upping the treble on my Bluetooth speakers.

Check this series out because they make fantastic bedtime stories for adults.

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Eye Opening! We've Been Studying The Hard Way

Revisado: 01-10-21

I really enjoyed Professor Thad A. Polk's course THE LEARNING BRAIN. This is the first time I've listened to one of the "great courses" so I didn't know what to expect. These are lecturers where Polk will present a specific subject on learning, how we learn, what we do to learn a new subject etc., and then he'll explain why those techniques aren't good or rather they're ineffective at helping people retain new information. Highlighting, for example, a lot of people do this including me when studying a subject even though I know in itself it isn't going to help me learn or retain the facts, but I do it anyway, in addition to taking notes. The issue is that by the time you have to take a test you won't be able to recall the information so easily.

He and his colleagues have conducted studies where they had control groups that would do a, b, c, and then they would test them to see how effectively each group learned the new subject using a specific study method, and they also use the scientific study of the brain to figure out what is going on so he knows what he's talking about.

Listening to the lecturers you'll discover how the brain works, what mistakes people do when studying, why it seems that the older we get the less we can learn a new thing, and how you can work more efficiently, so that you can ace those exams or learn a new language or skill.

Polk has a nice voice and he's animated and charismatic throughout, so you won't be bored. The only thing that I can critique him on is he'll always says "OK" when moving on to a different topic, kind of like a t nervous tick, but it's nitpicking on my part because everything else was fantastic.

He's able to distill complex information and then talk about it in terms that we lay people can understand, so you won't feel overwhelmed or confused.

The Audible book comes with a PDF (that's over 250 pages long file that you can download onto your computer so you'll have a hard copy to use as a course guide book. I didn't do that because I didn't know it was that extensive. I did download it now because I plan to listen to this again.

Now I want to explore more of these "great courses" and i hope they'll be as good as THE LEARNING BRAIN.

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Fascinating Story! Knowledge One Can Use To Improve Their Lives.

Revisado: 06-06-20

I selected this title because it was one of the free titles available for audible members otherwise I probably wouldn’t have.

Don’t let the title fool you this isn’t an Exorcist type book or even about spooky supernatural events. This book was written in 1932 or thereabouts by Napoleon Hill, whom I’d never heard of, but he wrote a book called “think and grow rich” anyway this manuscript was unpublished until 2011. However it is full of common sense ideals that will help readers it listeners understand how to maneuver the pitfalls of life.

Listen to it, I thought this was published specifically for the COVID19 crisis that’s hitting the world but I was surprised that it was published in 2011.

The premise is the author has an interview with the devil himself and is able to glean answers as to how the dark prince is able to take over people and make them do his bidding by keeping them enslaved in unhappiness and turmoil, never achieving their dreams or full potential.

I practice many of the suggestions in this book which i discovered in my own life of hard knocks like looking at adversity and failure not as permanent and negative events but as opportunities to grow, which would not have presented itself had you not had the setback.

The audio is presented as an actual play/interview with one actor playing the author and another playing the devil and both do a great job. It’s also annotated by Sharon Lechter, editor, who provides insights as to the context of the time this was written, Hill’s state of mind, etc., and know that this was written during the time just after the Great Depression and Hill had lost everything like many at that time.

Whether or not Hill actually spoke to the Devil, a figment of his imagination or had a psychotic breakdown is irrelevant to the importance of the answers that will help readers/listeners put their own lives in order and stop living in fear or in Hypnotic Rhythm.

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About 35% Poor Audio Quality

Revisado: 05-21-19

Although I'm enjoying the story lines from THE WHISTLER VOL 3, about 35% is inaudible.

I can't believe how some of the chapters (shows/episodes) made it past quality control because there are some where the static is so loud you can't hear the narration at all. Others are muffled and then there are some that start off passable but when they get to the final act the sound is either choppy, full of static, or muffled.

I've been listening to many old time radio plays so I'm well aware of the source limitations and age of these broadcasts, but the 35% or so the source material is so deteriorated that they should have been left off of THE WHISTLER VOL 3.

This also happened to the 40+ hours on the SUSPENSE RADIO SHOWS (that's another great mystery/crime radio show that's available on Audible), that I couldn't listen to it. It doesn't seem to happen on the lower (under 10-hour compilations) running time of SUSPENSE and I'm sure that it's the same for THE WHISTLER since I see that there are other comps available not in the 40+hour Volumes. I think those were compiled with stricter quality control since you're paying the same price as the 40+hour shows, but you're only getting 10-11 hours of episodes tops.

Another thing to mention is that some of the stories repeat. I'm wondering if maybe this was my user error but I could've sworn that some stories repeated; some were right after one another and some occurred after an episode or so in between.

Anyway, I'm going to listen to the end I'm at about 14-hours left, which is why I can say that about 35% is inaudible, and then request a credit so that I can try the shorter THE WHISTLER series.

Other than that the story lines are really clever and always involve people who make bad decisions, most of them trying to get out of bad circumstances, and just when you think they're going to get away with it the rug is pulled out from under them and they get caught!

I would recommend that you try one of the other versions of THE WHISTLER radio shows (the ones that are less than 11-hours) because those are probably better quality than what's offered here.

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Enjoyable and Intriguing

Revisado: 05-07-19

I enjoyed listening to Steve Hodel’s “BLACK DAHLIA AVENGER” and the author combs over lots of police evidence, news reports, eye witness accounts and provides the listener with the details behind this horrid murder.

If you’re not familiar with the crime, a woman with her child going to the store one afternoon in the late 1940s in Los Angeles, CA, came across a gruesome sight: a nude woman’s body was cut in half and displayed in a vacant lot. It was the body of Elizabeth Short and the body was completely drained of blood, her mouth was slit open at the corners giving her face a permanent grin. Autopsy reports revealed that she was tortured before she was murder and beaten about the head and face. To this day the case has not been solved.

Dr. George Hodel was a suspect in the crime and was the author’s father.

Anyway, there’s too much stuff to get into here so just listen to the audible version.

I knocked off one-star because Audible doesn’t provide you with additional downloads like pictures, diagrams, news clippings etc., that are described in the narration. I’m not sure if the physical book has those things in it but it should since the narrator refers to them during one chapter.

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