
The Talk
Conversations About Race, Love & Truth
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $12.60
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
About this listen
This powerful collection of short stories, essays, and poems is a call-to-action that invites all families to be anti-racist and advocates for change.
Thirty diverse, award-winning authors and illustrators - including Renee Watson (Piecing Me Together), Grace Lin (Where the Mountain Meets the Moon), Meg Medina (Merci Suarez Changes Gears), and Adam Gidwitz (The Inquisitor's Tale) - engage young people in frank discussions about racism, identity, and self-esteem. Featuring stories filled with love, acceptance, truth, peace, and an assurance that there can be hope for a better tomorrow, The Talk is an inspiring anthology and must-have resource published in partnership with Just Us Books, a black-owned children's publishing company that's been in operation for over 30 years. Just Us Books continues its mission grounded in the same belief that helped launch the company: Good books make a difference.
So, let's talk.
Featured contributors: Selina Alko, Tracey Baptiste, Derrick Barnes, Natacha Bustos, Cozbi A. Cabrera, Raúl Colón, Adam Gidwitz, Nikki Grimes, Rudy Gutierrez, April Harrison, Wade Hudson, Gordon C. James, Minh Lê, E. B. Lewis, Grace Lin, Torrey Maldonado, Meg Medina, Christopher Myers, Daniel Nayeri, Zeke Peña, Peter H. Reynolds, Erin K. Robinson, Traci Sorell, Shadra Strickland, Don Tate, MaryBeth Timothy, Duncan Tonatiuh, Renée Watson, Valerie Wilson Wesley, Sharon Dennis Wyeth
Features original music by Curtis Hudson.
This audiobook includes a downloadable PDF of sources and notes from the authors.
"The go-to book for talking to kids about race and privilege. Thoughtful. Thought-provoking. A must-read for every family." (Ellen Oh, editor of Flying Lessons & Other Stories and cofounder of We Need Diverse Books)
"The ingredients are all here. May this magnificent collection inspire us to move from dialogue to deep action." (Kirkus starred review)
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2020 Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson (P)2020 Listening LibraryListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Light We Carry
- Overcoming in Uncertain Times
- By: Michelle Obama
- Narrated by: Michelle Obama
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There may be no tidy solutions or pithy answers to life’s big challenges, but Michelle Obama believes that we can all locate and lean on a set of tools to help us better navigate change and remain steady within flux. In The Light We Carry, she opens a frank and honest dialogue with listeners, considering the questions many of us wrestle with: How do we build enduring and honest relationships? How can we discover strength and community inside our differences? What tools do we use to address feelings of self-doubt or helplessness? What do we do when it all starts to feel like too much?
-
-
Very Disappointing—Too Ego-filled
- By Patricia Webb on 11-29-22
By: Michelle Obama
-
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
- As Told to Alex Haley
- By: Malcolm X, Alex Haley
- Narrated by: Laurence Fishburne
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Experience a bold take on this classic autobiography as it’s performed by Oscar-nominated Laurence Fishburne. In this searing classic autobiography, originally published in 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and Black empowerment activist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Human Rights movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American dream and the inherent racism in a society that denies its non-White citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.
-
-
it's Nearly perfect
- By Kerry on 09-16-20
By: Malcolm X, and others
-
The 1619 Project
- A New Origin Story
- By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine, Caitlin Roper - editor, and others
- Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Full Cast
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project” issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together 18 essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with 36 poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance.
-
-
Comprehensive and Cutting
- By Thomas Ray on 12-30-21
By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, and others
-
Between the World and Me
- By: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Narrated by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race”, a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of Black women and men - bodies exploited through slavery and segregation and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a Black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’ attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son.
-
-
A Heartfelt Self-aware Literary Masterpiece
- By T Spencer on 07-30-15
By: Ta-Nehisi Coates
-
Worthy
- By: Jada Pinkett Smith
- Narrated by: Jada Pinkett Smith
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jada Pinkett Smith was living what many would view as a fairy-tale of Hollywood success. But appearances can be deceiving, and as she felt more and more separated from her sense of self, emotional turmoil took hold. Sparing no detail, Worthy chronicles her life.
-
-
Budda
- By Tamiko on 10-18-23
-
The 1619 Project
- Born on the Water
- By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Renée Watson
- Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones
- Length: 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 1619 Project’s lyrical picture book in verse, adapted for audio, chronicles the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the United States, thoughtfully rendered by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and Newbery honor-winning author Renée Watson.
-
-
Heartbreaking but not Broken
- By Jen on 01-26-22
By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, and others
-
The Light We Carry
- Overcoming in Uncertain Times
- By: Michelle Obama
- Narrated by: Michelle Obama
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There may be no tidy solutions or pithy answers to life’s big challenges, but Michelle Obama believes that we can all locate and lean on a set of tools to help us better navigate change and remain steady within flux. In The Light We Carry, she opens a frank and honest dialogue with listeners, considering the questions many of us wrestle with: How do we build enduring and honest relationships? How can we discover strength and community inside our differences? What tools do we use to address feelings of self-doubt or helplessness? What do we do when it all starts to feel like too much?
-
-
Very Disappointing—Too Ego-filled
- By Patricia Webb on 11-29-22
By: Michelle Obama
-
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
- As Told to Alex Haley
- By: Malcolm X, Alex Haley
- Narrated by: Laurence Fishburne
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Experience a bold take on this classic autobiography as it’s performed by Oscar-nominated Laurence Fishburne. In this searing classic autobiography, originally published in 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and Black empowerment activist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Human Rights movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American dream and the inherent racism in a society that denies its non-White citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.
-
-
it's Nearly perfect
- By Kerry on 09-16-20
By: Malcolm X, and others
-
The 1619 Project
- A New Origin Story
- By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine, Caitlin Roper - editor, and others
- Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Full Cast
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project” issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together 18 essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with 36 poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance.
-
-
Comprehensive and Cutting
- By Thomas Ray on 12-30-21
By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, and others
-
Between the World and Me
- By: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Narrated by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race”, a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of Black women and men - bodies exploited through slavery and segregation and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a Black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’ attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son.
-
-
A Heartfelt Self-aware Literary Masterpiece
- By T Spencer on 07-30-15
By: Ta-Nehisi Coates
-
Worthy
- By: Jada Pinkett Smith
- Narrated by: Jada Pinkett Smith
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jada Pinkett Smith was living what many would view as a fairy-tale of Hollywood success. But appearances can be deceiving, and as she felt more and more separated from her sense of self, emotional turmoil took hold. Sparing no detail, Worthy chronicles her life.
-
-
Budda
- By Tamiko on 10-18-23
-
The 1619 Project
- Born on the Water
- By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Renée Watson
- Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones
- Length: 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 1619 Project’s lyrical picture book in verse, adapted for audio, chronicles the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the United States, thoughtfully rendered by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and Newbery honor-winning author Renée Watson.
-
-
Heartbreaking but not Broken
- By Jen on 01-26-22
By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, and others
-
Before the Mayflower
- A History of Black America
- By: Lerone Bennett
- Narrated by: John Ridle
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The black experience in America - starting from its origins in western Africa up to 1961 - is examined in this seminal study from a prominent African American figure. The entire historical timeline of African Americans is addressed, from the Colonial period through the civil rights upheavals of the late 1950s to 1961, the time of publication.
-
-
Very informative, worth listening to thrice..
- By Alednam A Uonopk on 04-13-21
By: Lerone Bennett
-
How We Fight White Supremacy
- A Field Guide to Black Resistance
- By: Akiba Solomon, Kenrya Rankin
- Narrated by: Jeanette Illidge, Vallea Woodbury, Je Nie Fleming, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many of us are facing unprecedented attacks on our democracy, our privacy, and our hard-won civil rights. If you're Black in the US, this is not new. As Colorlines editors Akiba Solomon and Kenrya Rankin show, Black Americans subvert and resist life-threatening forces as a matter of course. In this audiobook, leading organizers, artists, journalists, comedians, and filmmakers offer wisdom on how they fight white supremacy. It's a must-listen for anyone new to resistance work, and for the next generation of leaders building a better future.
-
-
Brilliantly Necessary...
- By The Alchemist on 10-03-20
By: Akiba Solomon, and others
-
All American Boys
- By: Jason Reynolds, Brendan Kiely
- Narrated by: Guy Lockard, Keith Nobbs
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A bag of chips. That's all 16-year-old Rashad is looking for at the corner bodega. What he finds instead is a fist-happy cop, Paul Galluzzo, who mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter, mistakes Rashad's pleadings that he's stolen nothing for belligerence, mistakes Rashad's resistance to leave the bodega as resisting arrest, mistakes Rashad's every flinch at every punch the cop throws as further resistance and refusal to STAY STILL as ordered.
-
-
Required Reading
- By J. E. Abel on 09-18-16
By: Jason Reynolds, and others
-
Untamed
- By: Glennon Doyle
- Narrated by: Glennon Doyle
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is a voice of longing inside each woman. We strive so mightily to be good: good partners, daughters, mothers, employees, and friends. We hope all this striving will make us feel alive. Instead, it leaves us feeling weary, stuck, overwhelmed, and underwhelmed. We look at our lives and wonder: Wasn’t it all supposed to be more beautiful than this? We quickly silence that question, telling ourselves to be grateful, hiding our discontent—even from ourselves.
-
-
Shockingly shallow and self-centered
- By G. Scimeca on 03-11-20
By: Glennon Doyle
-
American Like Me
- By: America Ferrera
- Narrated by: America Ferrera, Bambadjan Bamba, Joy Cho, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America Ferrera has always felt wholly American, and yet, her identity is inextricably linked to her parents’ homeland and Honduran culture. Speaking Spanish at home, having Saturday morning salsa-dance parties in the kitchen, and eating tamales alongside apple pie at Christmas never seemed at odds with her American identity. Still, she yearned to see that identity reflected in the larger American narrative. Now, in American Like Me, America invites 31 of her friends, peers, and heroes to share their stories about life between cultures.
-
-
Not all chapters were narrated by the corresponding author
- By Katy F. on 03-09-19
By: America Ferrera
-
You Got Anything Stronger?
- Stories
- By: Gabrielle Union
- Narrated by: Gabrielle Union
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Remember when we hit it off so well that we decided we’re going to need more wine? Well, this time you and I are going to turn to our friend the bartender and ask, you got anything stronger? I promise to continue to make you laugh, but with this round, the stakes get higher as the conversation goes deeper.
-
-
Best listen of the year
- By Bethany Bruder on 09-15-21
By: Gabrielle Union
-
Dark Skin American
- By: David Spencer
- Narrated by: David Spencer
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dark Skin American, is a thought-provoking, insightful, and deeply inspiring memoir. It is a liberating resource for black youth who want to break free from the molds placed on them because of the complexion of their skin. Journey with me, as I provide a glimpse of the experiences that shaped who I became. I reveal the struggles, unfair treatment, and abuse faced because of my darker complexion. But this isn't a one-sided story. I also share my triumphs.
-
-
Well Done David
- By Scotty Golden on 07-13-19
By: David Spencer
-
Fight Song
- Six Steps to Passion, Power, Peace, and Purpose
- By: Kim Bearden
- Narrated by: Kim Bearden
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In most lives, there is a moment when we need to rise through our pain, self-doubt, fear, and mistrust and reconnect with who we are meant to be. Fight Song recounts one acclaimed educator’s journey through chaos into meaning and shows listeners how to reawaken connection with themselves and humanity. Kim Bearden is an award-winning educator whose career has spanned three decades.
-
-
Must read!
- By Laurie Phillips on 06-14-23
By: Kim Bearden
-
Somebody's Daughter
- A Memoir
- By: Ashley C. Ford
- Narrated by: Ashley C. Ford
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Through poverty, adolescence, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley Ford wishes she could turn to her father for hope and encouragement. There are just a few problems: he’s in prison, and she doesn’t know what he did to end up there. She doesn’t know how to deal with the incessant worries that keep her up at night, or how to handle the changes in her body that draw unwanted attention from men. In her search for unconditional love, Ashley begins dating a boy her mother hates.
-
-
It gives words to the journey of so many brown girls.
- By Insatiable Intuitive on 06-06-21
By: Ashley C. Ford
-
Inquire Within
- By: In-Q
- Narrated by: In-Q
- Length: 2 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this powerful and innovative book of poetry and wisdom, award-winning spoken-word poet, songwriter, and performer IN-Q inspires us to question everything we know and see around us and inside us, to discover what matters most.
-
-
Ok in the beginning
- By Nelli on 01-15-22
By: In-Q
-
How to Raise a Feminist Son
- Motherhood, Masculinity, and the Making of My Family
- By: Sonora Jha
- Narrated by: Sonora Jha
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From teaching consent to counteracting problematic messages from the media, well-meaning family, and the culture at large, we have big work to do when it comes to our boys. Informed by the author's work as a professor of journalism specializing in social justice movements and social media, as well as by conversations with psychologists, experts, and other parents and boys, this book follows one mother's journey to raise a feminist son as a single immigrant woman of color in America.
-
-
A book for the times!
- By Amazon Customer on 08-20-21
By: Sonora Jha
-
All Boys Aren't Blue
- A Memoir-Manifesto
- By: George M. Johnson
- Narrated by: George M. Johnson
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys. Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren't Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy.
-
-
This book is everything!
- By Anonymous User on 06-24-20
Critic reviews
A NEW YORK TIMES Best Children's Book of the Year
An NPR Best Book of the Year
A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year
“The essays, stories, poems and letters . . . make plain that the hard conversations we all need to have about race are part of a broad reckoning with our nation’s history. The book’s black-and-white images project love and support.” —The New York Times
“This star-studded collection of #ownvoices authors calls readers in for necessary reminders in service of everyday actions that we must pursue to cultivate real change.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Though readers of color may find a number of these entries far too familiar, there is striking versatility in the approaches, cultures, and experiences of the authors that will compel readers of all backgrounds to continue forward.” —Booklist, starred review
What listeners say about The Talk
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- cmr
- 11-27-22
Beautiful stories about tough topic
Beautiful stories about tough topic; I appreciated a lens into the frightening ways that people of color need to prepare their children for the world. I was grateful for the different viewpoints of people of color - Black, Vietnamese American, Indigenous, Persian American, Chinese American, etc.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!