Mandela: The Lost Tapes
5.0/5
Critic Rating
In 1993, after 27 years of imprisonment, Nelson Mandela sat down with ghostwriter Richard Stengel to begin working on Long Walk to Freedom, a critically acclaimed memoir that would become a best seller around the globe. Mandela: The Lost Tapes reveals never-before-heard audio from Stengel’s interviews with the Nobel Prize winner, freedom fighter, and former South African president. Hours of rare recordings detail the turning points of Mandela’s life, key moments that shaped a revolution and the man who was to bring freedom to his nation. In this Audible Original, Stengel relives his intimate chats with Mandela, attempting to answer the questions ‘What made Nelson Mandela who he is?’ and ‘How can the rest of us be more like him?’ In Stengel’s own words: “It’s partly the story about how Mandela and I wrote his memoir Long Walk to Freedom. But much more than that, it’s a story about our unusual friendship, my struggle to learn who Mandela really was, and my quest to understand what makes a human being great.” Mandela: The Lost Tapes provides an intimate look at who Nelson Mandela was beyond his carefully curated public persona. Through Mandela’s own words, he reveals his extraordinary journey to becoming one of the greatest leaders in modern history.
Critic Reviews
Score: 5
Samantha Hodder • Bingeworthy • Jun 21, 2023
"As the story begins, it feels a bit like a juicy secret to learn. The primary magic of these tapes is that they hold the ability to virtually bring back to life one of the most iconic historical figures. The world only got a fleeting glance of Mandela as a free man before he died in 2013. You will listen, rapt, he reveals small parts of his personality through his unscripted words. There must have been mountains of audio to choose from, but this project manages to skillfully select those moments where humanity breaks through... Listen to this story if you would like to re-open this chapter of history. Do this and you will be graced with an eloquent, deep analysis of a public figure, never seen quite this way before."
Score: 5
Hollie Richardson • The Guardian • Dec 8, 2022
"...it makes for a vivid portrait of one of history’s political greats."
Score: 5
Alexis Soloski • New York Times • Nov 30, 2022
"“Mandela: The Lost Tapes” doesn’t function as an exposé or critique. Revelations are few. The goal is not to knock Mandela off any pedestal, but to render his statue just a bit more human. The tapes are a record of trying to get Mandela to open up, to deliver something more than a sound bite. And the podcast is a record of Stengel learning to open up as well. In its creation he divulges something that journalists don’t often admit to feeling for their sources or ghost writers for their subjects."
