(upbeat music) - We're now joined by Diana Dapito, who is head of Regional Content North America for a little company called Audible.

A huge company.

Good to see you, Diana.

- You too, Steve.

Thanks for having me - Do this.

All about audiobooks, right?

- Audiobooks, podcasts, Audible Originals, whatever you wanna listen to, spoken word, we've got it.

- And so this is, let's go right to it.

I'm obsessed.

I was just talking to our team behind the scenes.

I'm obsessed old school, which basically means old, so books, mark them up, dog-eared, things in the columns.

How the heck do I do that on audiobook?

My colleague Mary Gamba, who runs our company, audiobooks, audiobook.

Now, I am out of the loop on this, am I not?

- I mean, you should be catching on to the trends.

All the cool kids are doing it.

The young people are listening.

I'm listening.

- All us kids should be doing it.

Go ahead.

- You know, it's been a growing trend, something we've been doing at Audible since 1997 though, right?

Helping people fit more books into their life, finding different ways to get more stories in.

And it's just, it's such a powerful format, a powerful medium.

So we're so excited that more people can be listening and hope you'll join them.

- I will.

I promise I'll do that.

My wife's big on audiobooks too.

Question.

- Yes.

- COVID's impact on Audible's work, particularly with the books, the audiobooks.

- Yeah, I mean, what a time for all of us.

The first impact for us was shifting our recording studios that were in-house production and those teams to remote studios, helping narrators set up studios in their own homes so they could still work and work from there.

And for people who'd been listening when they were commuting, they had to find new times in the day to listen.

So they were sitting around with their families doing puzzles and they were listening together.

They were going on longer walks with the dog and they were listening during that time.

So it really became more about shifting the use cases and the times when people were listening.

And frankly, a little bit more that they wanted to listen to those escapist fiction genres, right?

More romance, more sci-fi and fantasy, less nonfiction, less news during that time.

- A question of literacy.

We've done a lot of programming around the subject of literacy.

To what degree do you believe that audiobooks promote literacy as opposed to not helping?

- Oh, they definitely help for reluctant readers or people who are learning.

Hearing the words pronounced, there are countless studies that show how it drives comprehension, helps improve vocabulary.

And there's also studies that show how much listening and stories, especially fiction, can even help improve empathy and really expose people to cultures or others that they might not be experiencing in their everyday lives.

But on the literacy front, really just having more words, hearing more words, again, countless studies that show how helpful it is.

- So, tell me where this, I don't like quoting statistics or studies unless I know where they come from, but I'm gonna wind up doing that anyway.

You probably know this.

The average American reads one book, I think it means in a year.

But the average Audible customer is consuming about 12 books a year.

First of all, who says that?

Second of all, is that true?

- So, my understanding is that there are not a lot- - We're public television.

We have to have a source.

(laughs) - Yes.

- Go ahead.

- But my understanding, not a lot of readers out there and not a lot of volume when the average American is reading.

I'm less concerned about that.

I'm more excited about the average Audible customer who is consuming so many stories, so many hours of listening and really finding that it enriches their life.

Either, whether it's that escapist fiction or whether it's the business book that helps you land that next interview or skills to help improve on the job.

It's, you know, 12 books a year average.

- And hold on one second.

Talk to me about comprehension.

Talk to me about whatever research studies that are anecdotal.

- Yeah.

- And/or anecdotal that, I mean, to me, again, I'm obsessing over the way I consume information.

That retention, I'm thinking it can't be the same if you're not reading it.

Not true?

- It's not true, and I think maybe you haven't had the right listening experience yet.

And that's sort of what I think about critics who think listening doesn't count.

- I'm not a critic.

I'm just asking questions.

Go ahead.

- (laughs) Fair.

But for the critics who do question if listening counts or not, I think it's important to have the right experience, and sometimes that takes a few different tries.

I recommend listening to a book you already love, and you get to experience it in a new way and think about how the performance just brings such a new angle to it.

We have what we call the Audible Essentials, right?

These performances that have just stood the test of time and, you know, are really incredible.

And I think when people find that special listening experience, that really helps them understand how intimate, how powerful the experience can be, it can be life-changing.

- Before I let you go, I remember 20 years ago, one of my first books...

I hate when people say, "my first book."

But I wrote a book called "Speak from the Heart," and Simon & Schuster was the publisher, and they insisted I do it.

- Yep.

- I read the book and I'm saying 12 hours later, no voice, nothing, you know.

And the last many books that I've written, I was like, "No, I'm not doing it."

Question, how many authors do their own stuff versus somebody with a much better voice?

- Well done that you finished your first one, and I totally understand that you didn't do the others.

We've had some of the biggest celebrity actors, some of the biggest names come into the studio and say, "That was the hardest job I've ever had."

Because you don't get to work with other people.

You can only rely on the power of your voice, so it's very difficult.

I would say the author is usually the right narrator, if it's a memoir.

And that's usually.

It's not always for everybody.

In most other cases, unless you're David Sedaris, somebody else should be narrating your story, - Spoken by the expert.

She is Diana Dapito, head of Regional Content in North America for Audible.

Hey, Diana, thank you so much.

We appreciate it.

I'm gonna, my first audiobook in 2024, promise.

- All right.

We'll send you some recommendations.

Thanks so much, Steve.

- Good stuff.

Thank you.

That's Diana, I'm Steve, and we thank you so much for watching.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Celebrating 30 years in public broadcasting.

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