Audiobooks Like Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

Nelson Runger narrates Isaacson's biography with a genial authority that suits a subject who was himself a natural communicator — at 25 hours, the pace is unhurried in the way that comprehensive biography tends to be, but Runger keeps the sheer range of Franklin's interests from feeling encyclopedic. Six of the recommendations are also by Isaacson, so if the author's approach to intellectual biography is what drew you in, most of the list stays in that same territory.

10 audiobooks for fans of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

  1. 1
    Elon Musk cover

    Elon Musk

    by Walter Isaacson

    Narrated by Jeremy Bobb

    ★ 4.59 ABR Score (86.6K ratings)
    ★ 4.32 Goodreads (77.3K) ★ 4.79 Audible (9.3K)
    20h 39m listening time • Released 2023
    Listen Free on Audible
  2. 2
    Steve Jobs cover

    Steve Jobs

    by Walter Isaacson

    Narrated by Dylan Baker

    ★ 4.57 ABR Score (1.4M ratings)
    ★ 4.16 Goodreads (1.4M) ★ 4.7 Audible (35.3K)
    25h 18m listening time • Released 2011
    Listen Free on Audible
  3. 3
    Einstein: His Life and Universe cover

    Einstein: His Life and Universe

    by Walter Isaacson

    Narrated by Edward Herrmann

    ★ 4.37 ABR Score (219.9K ratings)
    ★ 4.17 Goodreads (204.1K) ★ 4.57 Audible (15.7K)
    21h 30m listening time • Released 2007
    Listen Free on Audible
  4. 4
    Leonardo da Vinci cover

    Leonardo da Vinci

    by Walter Isaacson

    Narrated by Alfred Molina

    ★ 4.38 ABR Score (142.7K ratings)
    ★ 4.18 Goodreads (130.5K) ★ 4.6 Audible (12.2K)
    17h 1m listening time • Released 2017
    Listen Free on Audible
  5. 5
    The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution cover

    The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution

    by Walter Isaacson

    Narrated by Dennis Boutsikaris

    ★ 4.28 ABR Score (48.3K ratings)
    ★ 4.12 Goodreads (40.0K) ★ 4.57 Audible (8.2K)
    17h 28m listening time • Released 2014
    Listen Free on Audible
  6. 6
    A Promised Land cover

    A Promised Land

    The Presidential Memoirs • Book 1

    by Barack Obama

    Narrated by Barack Obama

    ★ 4.76 ABR Score (335.1K ratings)
    ★ 4.31 Goodreads (279.1K) ★ 4.86 Audible (56.0K)
    29h 10m listening time • Released 2020
    Listen Free on Audible
  7. 7
    Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela cover

    Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela

    Long Walk to Freedom #1-2

    by Nelson Mandela, Michael Boatman, Sharon Gelman

    Narrated by Michael Boatman

    ★ 4.58 ABR Score (100.0K ratings)
    ★ 4.36 Goodreads (94.9K) ★ 4.79 Audible (5.0K)
    27h 39m listening time • Released 2011
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  8. 8
    John Adams cover

    John Adams

    by David McCullough

    Narrated by Nelson Runger

    ★ 4.44 ABR Score (388.8K ratings)
    ★ 4.09 Goodreads (379.4K) ★ 4.69 Audible (9.4K)
    29h 54m listening time • Released 2005
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  9. 9
    [A Man in Love: My Struggle: 2 (Knausgaard)] [By: Knausgaard, Karl Ove] [November, 2013] cover

    [A Man in Love: My Struggle: 2 (Knausgaard)] [By: Knausgaard, Karl Ove] [November, 2013]

    Min kamp • Book 2

    by Karl Ove Knausgård

    Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini

    ★ 4.26 ABR Score (24.9K ratings)
    ★ 4.33 Goodreads (24.5K) ★ 4.62 Audible (464)
    21h 4m listening time • Released 2015
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  10. 10
    Means of Ascent cover

    Means of Ascent

    The Years of Lyndon Johnson • Book 2

    by Robert A. Caro

    Narrated by Grover Gardner

    ★ 4.51 ABR Score (30.6K ratings)
    ★ 4.29 Goodreads (27.8K) ★ 4.82 Audible (2.9K)
    22h 8m listening time • Released 2013

    Grover Gardner's measured, penetrating narration transforms Caro's meticulous biography into a gripping portrait of raw ambition—you hear LBJ's desperation and cunning come alive across 22 hours in a way that makes his ruthlessness feel inevitable, not distant.

    Listen Free on Audible

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