Let Freedom Ring 

The time has come again to get together with family and friends, light fireworks, and get your grill on for the 4th of July. But, what is it really that brings us together for the summer festivities? These audiobooks all discuss some of the most important and proudest moments in American history that give us the reasons for celebrating year after year. 

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

You may know John Glenn who orbited the earth or Neil Armstrong who walked on the moon, but do you know a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as “human computers” who would launch rockets and astronauts into space? That right there is what the inspiring story of Hidden Figures is all about. 

Amidst this era of problem-solvers was a group of exceptionally talented African American women who paved a way for generations of women of color to come. Originally teaching math in the South’s segregated public schools, these women were later called into service during the labor shortages of World War II, as America’s aeronautics industry was in dire need of anyone who had the capabilities needed. For once, these usually overlooked women had a chance at showing what they were incredibly capable of.

Even while the Jim Crow laws required them to be segregated from their white counterparts, the women of this all-black “West Computing” group helped America achieve two of the things it desired most: a decisive victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War, and a win in the sky. This inspiring listen will deepen your understanding of American history and introduce you to the women who created it.

South and West by Joan Didion

This listen by Joan Didion touches on a road trip she took alongside her husband in June 1970 through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. On this trip, Didion does what she does best – tell stories. In this listen you will find overheard dialogue, observations, interviews, and drafts of essays and articles. 

Moments where she interviews prominent local figures, describes motels, diners, a deserted reptile farm, a visit with Walker Percy, a ladies’ brunch at the Mississippi Broadcasters’ Convention, and so much more are shared in this collection of writings. She tells about the stifling heat, the almost viscous pace of life, the sulfurous light, and the preoccupation with race, class, and heritage she finds in the small towns they pass through in a way that will allow reflection and understanding of America in the early 1970s like you have not heard before. 

Revolutionaries by Jack N. Rakove

This audiobook listen will take you back to the start, the early 1770s. A time when the men building this country were living quiet, provincial lives in the rustic backwaters of the New World. They were devoted primarily to family, craft, and the private pursuit of wealth and happiness. Never were most set out to become “revolutionary” by ambition, but when events in Boston escalated, they found themselves thrust into a crisis that moved from protest to war.

Throughout this book, historian Jack Rakove shows how the private lives of these men were suddenly transformed into public careers—how Washington became a strategist, Franklin a pioneering cultural diplomat, Madison a sophisticated constitutional thinker, and Hamilton a brilliant policymaker. Rakove shows a new side to the narrative and creates a world for you to step through and put yourself in the shoes of many of our founding fathers this Independence Day. 

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

This listen has the ability to transport you into the life, mind, and body of someone experiencing the life of a runaway slave. Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia and experiences a level of exclusion unlike any other. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the opportunity of the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape together. Throughout their journey together, Cora finds herself at times getting into more trouble than expected. The Underground Railroad is the thorough and kinetic adventure tale of one woman’s extreme will to escape the horrors of bondage and slavery, allowing for meditation and reflection of the truth behind American history. 

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