19 Empowering Listens We Love for Women's Equality Day

Author Mikki Kendall, an activist and cultural critic, asks, “How can we stand in solidarity as a movement, when there is a distinct likelihood that some women are oppressing others?” She maintains that food insecurity and access to quality education, medical care, a living wage, and safe neighborhoods are all feminist issues. Kendall’s narration of her searing collection of essays delivers a force to be listened to as she reveals the blind spot in the feminist movement.

Sleater-Kinney’s co-leaders Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein dig into 25 years of shared history, making music and making noise. Listen to this bold duo speak openly about the places, people, and movements that shaped them, as well as the evolution of their creative and personal relationship and themes they’ve followed throughout their careers—anxiety, activism, feminism, LGBTQ identity, motherhood, friendship, creativity, change, and more—all illustrated by evocative new recordings that’ll make you turn up the volume as you pay rapt attention and get into the groove

Only 10 percent of the world’s millionaires are women, making it difficult for women to wield the economic power that will create lasting equality. This audiobook will forever change the way you think about money and your ability to earn it. Author Rachel Rodgers—a Black woman, mother of four, attorney, business owner, and self-made millionaire—shares the lessons she’s learned in both her own journey to wealth and coaching hundreds of women through their journeys to seven figures. Her no-nonsense narration demonstrates that she means business, and you should too.

Margaret Atwood's iconic dystopian novel explores a broad range of issues relating to power, gender, religion, and politics. Renowned actor Claire Danes gives a stirring performance as the main character, Offred. After a staged terrorist attack kills the President and most of Congress, the government is deposed and taken over by the oppressive and all-controlling Republic of Gilead. Offred, now a Handmaid serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife, can remember better times. Despite the danger, she’s determined to end this oppression. Hold on to your seat as you listen to this captivating tale unfold.

In 2013 Assata Shakur, founding member of the Black Liberation Army, former Black Panther, and godmother of Tupac Shakur, became the first ever woman to make the FBI's most wanted terrorist list. Her trial and conviction for the murder of a white State Trooper in the spring of 1973 divided America. This intensely personal and political autobiography, beautifully read by performer Sirena Riley, reveals a sensitive and gifted woman. A major contribution to the history of Black liberation, this book is destined to take its place alongside The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the works of Maya Angelou.

Even powerful women need a little motivation, now and then. Mel Robbins is a world-renowned television host, best-selling author, and motivational speaker, but in listening to Take Control of Your Life, you’ll feel like you’re getting advice from your best friend. Plus, don't miss Robbins's first Audible Original podcast, Start Here with Mel Robbins, in which the author and motivational dynamo offers something completely new: Mel takes on 13 topics in 30 minutes each. Anxiety, money, family, career, emotional eating, relationships—whatever life is throwing at you, Mel gives you the tools you need to tackle the hardest part: that first step.

This lively and entertaining collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism comes from one of the sharpest cultural observers of her generation, Roxane Gay. In these funny and insightful essays, Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman of color while also taking listeners on a ride through popular culture and commenting on the state of feminism today. The portrait that emerges is one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society. Award-winning Bahni Turpin delivers spot-on narration, of course.

From the indie rock star of Japanese Breakfast and the author of a viral New Yorker essay that shares the title of this book, Michelle Zauner’s unflinching, powerful memoir explores growing up Korean American, losing her mother, and forging her own identity. Zauner, with humor and heart, tells of growing up one of the few Asian American kids at her school in Eugene, Oregon. As she found the life she wanted to live, she felt her Korean-ness was becoming distant. Her mother's diagnosis of terminal cancer forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her. Vivacious and plainspoken, lyrical and honest, Zauner's narration is radiant and rich.

Teresa Edwards has won more Olympic medals—four golds and one bronze—than any other basketball player in history. She is the youngest woman to win a gold medal in basketball—and the oldest. A WNBA pioneer, she’s been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. At the Atlanta Olympic games, she helped lead the USA women’s basketball squad to a golden dream of their own. Black Gold is an inspiring tale of what it costs to lose, what it takes to win, and how women can lead the way. Edwards narrates her victorious journey.

Maria Antonieta "Tony" Osornio was a rebellious girl who fell in love and married young. One day her husband challenges her to jump out of a plane, and soon she finds herself hooked on skydiving. She soars on the adventures—until an accident leaves her a paraplegic. After much pain and many surgeries, today Tony is an inspiration who spreads her message of resilience, redefining disability, and jumping into life. Beautifully narrated by a full cast, this audiobook will change the way you look at life and how you choose to live it.

A down-to-earth global pop star. A deeply spiritual, cerebral powerhouse. A famously outspoken introvert. For her millions of fans, and the few unacquainted, rock luminary Alanis Morissette is an exercise in dichotomies and nuance. And though her most formidable traits are seemingly at odds with one another, they are completely emblematic of all of us: complex, conflicting, and, most importantly, ever-evolving. Listen closely as Alanis weaves her fascinating, funny, and at times painful autobiographical story between eight of her most anthemic/kick-ass tracks. Grab your earbuds, fast.

Samantha Irby has hit 40 and, despite what Inspirational Instagram Infographics have promised her, is increasingly uncomfortable in her own skin. After leaving her job as a receptionist at a veterinary clinic, publishing successful books and being friend-zoned by Hollywood, and leaving Chicago, she moves into a house with a garden that requires repairs and know-how with her wife in a Blue town in the middle of a Red state, where she now hosts book clubs and makes mason jar salads. This is the bourgeois life of a Hallmark Channel dream. Irby narrates her rip-roaring, smart, and edgy essay collection.

The journey begins a few months before her 20th birthday. Janet Mock is adjusting to her days as a first-generation college student at the University of Hawaii and her nights as a dancer at a strip club. Finally, content in her body, she vacillates between flaunting and concealing herself as she navigates dating and disclosure, sex and intimacy, and, most important, letting herself be truly seen. Janet makes her way through New York City and builds a career in the highly competitive world of magazine publishing—within the unique context of being trans, a woman, and a person of color. Listen closely as Mock tells you her story of searching for her purpose and place in the world—without a road map to guide her.

“Icon Cicely Tyson graces us with her hard-won wisdom in her autobiography, almost a century in the making, revisiting her youth and the work of honing her craft. Tyson shares her perspective on how she selected roles after coming face-to-face with deep racial divides while doing press for her Academy Award-nominated turn as Rebecca in Sounder in 1972. It was her mission to choose parts with the intention ‘to change the way Black women were perceived, by reflecting our dignity.’ And she did just that. Narrated by Viola Davis and Robin Miles, with the introduction provided by Tyson herself, their performances are elegant and illuminating.” —Kelley S., Audible Editor

In this exclusive audio performance, the 10-time Grammy Award-winning artist weaves her words with music and memories to give listeners the stories behind the stories of her most cherished songs. Dolly deftly uses her gift for lyrics to connect to people of all genders, generations, and geographies. Showcasing nearly 100 of her most popular songs, this one-of-a-kind audio experience delivers answers to fans’ most burning questions: How close did Dolly come to singing “I Will Always Love You” as a duet with Elvis? How did she become an actress? And exactly who was Jolene?

Gloria Steinem—writer, activist, organizer, and one of the most inspiring leaders in the world—offers a candid account of how her early years led her to live an on-the-road kind of life, traveling, listening to people, learning, and creating change. This is the story at the heart of My Life on the Road, a memoir in which Steinem reflects on the journey of her own growth in tandem with the growth of an ongoing movement for equality. Actor Debra Winger narrates this work of revelation, while Steinem lends her own voice to reading the introduction.

This comprehensive and insightful biography of the 107th Supreme Court Justice was written with cooperation of the esteemed icon herself, and draws on extensive interviews with the justice, her husband, children, friends, and associates over a 15-year span. Author Jane de Hart explores the central experiences that shaped Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passion for justice, her advocacy for gender equality, and her tireless dedication to making We the People more united and our union more perfect. Suzanne Toren narrates this epic audiobook, capturing the spirit of RBG as well as her remarkable contributions to women and our country.

I Am Malala will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world. When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. When she was 15, she was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school; few expected her to survive. Instead, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Inspired by the acclaimed podcast How to Be a Girl, this is a highly personal and beautifully narrated memoir by Marlo Mack, recounting the journey she’s been on since her three-year-old toddler declared he should have been born a girl. And Mack agreed to raise her daughter as she wished, building out her network of LGBTQIA+ support for herself and her child. This is an unforgettable narrative of a remarkable child, a truly devoted parent, and what it means to practice motherhood in transition