Inside Voice: My Obsession with How We Sound

Lake Bell

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Named Audible’s Best Nonfiction of 2022 and one of AudioFile’s 2022 Best Nonfiction Audiobooks

“A sweeping excavation of voice and what it reveals about who we are.”—Vanity Fair

Raise your hand if you cringe at the sound of your own voice, worry that you actually do sound like your mother, or have spent a sleepless night wondering if your inner and outer voices are in sync.

Now, hands down, headphones on. Lake Bell is going to tell you why you’re not alone and why your voice matters in the most deeply personal ways. 

Inside Voice unpacks the writer-director-producer-actor’s obsession with voice and all its permutations. It takes us on a journey to discover how this vital piece of our identity serves as an x-ray of our personal histories. Bell explored the power of voice in her critically-acclaimed and award-winning film, In a World, which she wrote, directed, and starred in. With this audiobook, she dives back into the rabbit hole to deliver a fun, whip-smart exploration of the psychology, social science, cultural constructs, and mechanics of our voices.

When you hear the iconic voices of Drew Barrymore, Susie Essman, Tracey Ullman, Jeff Goldblum, or Pam Grier (all contributors to the book), you know right away who they are. Interviews with these legends as well as poets, doctors, linguists, voice coaches and conversations with pedestrians on the street get to the heart of why the way we sound matters so much. Voice can be why you laugh at a certain joke or decide to trust someone or even fall in love.

Uniquely suited to audio, Inside Voice is symphonic; complete with interactive games and exercises, and an original score by Chris Bear (Grizzly Bear). You might want to buckle up. This listen is a ride.

In Inside Voice you’ll hear from: Malcolm Gladwell: Drew Barrymore, Susie Essman; Jeff Goldblum; Pam Grier; Kunal Nayyar; Tracey Ullman; Eric Bauza; Amanda Montell; Dr. Emily Morse; President of the Linguistic Society of America, Prof. John Baugh; speech language pathologist, Dr. Amee Shah; linguistics professor Victor Fernández-Mallat; dialect coach Liz Himelstein; Dr. Randolph Schnitman; writer John Colapinto; poet Sam Sax; journalists Becca Andrews and Samantha Allen; and filmmaker David Thorpe.

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