Audio only
The Naked Don't Fear the Water
An Underground Journey with Afghan RefugeesBy Matthieu AikinsNarrated by Nick Nikon
Length9h 36m
About this audiobook
Winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting · A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice
“This is a book of radical empathy, crossing many borders—not just borders that separate nations, but also borders of form, borders of meaning, and borders of possibility. It is powerful and humane and deserves to find a wide, wandering readership.”—Mohsin Hamid, author of Exit West
In this extraordinary book, an acclaimed young war reporter chronicles a dangerous journey on the smuggler’s road to Europe, accompanying his friend, an Afghan refugee, in search of a better future.
In 2016, a young Afghan driver and translator named Omar makes the heart-wrenching choice to flee his war-torn country, saying goodbye to Laila, the love of his life, without knowing when they might be reunited again. He is one of millions of refugees who leave their homes that year.
Matthieu Aikins, a journalist living in Kabul, decides to follow his friend. In order to do so, he must leave his own passport and identity behind to go underground on the refugee trail with Omar. Their odyssey across land and sea from Afghanistan to Europe brings them face to face with the people at heart of the migration crisis: smugglers, cops, activists, and the men, women and children fleeing war in search of a better life. As setbacks and dangers mount for the two friends, Matthieu is also drawn into the escape plans of Omar’s entire family, including Maryam, the matriarch who has fought ferociously for her children’s survival.
Harrowing yet hopeful, this exceptional work brings into sharp focus one of the most contentious issues of our times. The Naked Don’t Fear the Water is a tale of love and friendship across borders, and an inquiry into our shared journey in a divided world.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
Audiobook details
GenrePolitics and Government, Biography and Memoir
Length9 hrs 36 mins
Narrated byNick Nikon
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateFeb 15, 2022
LanguageEnglish
I've Been to the MountaintopMartin Luther King48m5 (1)$11 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m$24 · $0.00
Pardon of Innocencethe Author, Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn (Ret.)6h 23m$23
KrantikariSanjeev Sanyal11h 44m$16 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m$8 · $0.00
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m$29 · $0.00
Legally YoursManasi Chaudhari8h 52m$29 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m$33 · $0.00
RiggedMollie Hemingway12h 48m$23 · $0.00
The Thomas Sowell ReaderThomas Sowell14h 51m$25
SledgehammerDavid Friedman8h 21m$26 · $0.00
So You Want to Talk about RaceIjeoma Oluo7h 41m$17
No EscapeNury Turkel9h 30m$28 · $0.00
In Defense of the Second AmendmentLarry Correia6h 50m$17
UnthinkableJamie Raskin15h 8m$8 · $0.00
The ManbookNick Freitas5h 43m$24 · $0.00
My Fourth Time, We DrownedSally Hayden13h 59m$23 · $0.00
A Revolution of Common SenseScott Jennings9h 29m$29 · $0.00
Statement From the Dock at the Rivonia TrialNelson Mandela2h 18m$1 · $0.00
Lessons from the EdgeMarie Yovanovitch17h 11m$40 · $0.00
Frederick Douglass: All 3 Memoirs in One VolumeFrederick Douglass42h 36m$1 · $0.00
Send MeMarty Skovlund, Joe Kent8h 10m$26 · $0.00
Ulysses S. Grant: Life of the Fearless General & Commander-in-Chief (Complete Edition - Volumes 1&2)Ulysses S. Grant30h 34m$2 · $0.00
Left for DeadEbony Canion5h 34m$17
Invisible StormJason Kander6h 48m$24 · $0.00
Forever BoyKate Swenson9h 27m$29 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m$29 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m$40 · $0.00
Evidence Not SeenDarlene Deibler Rose11h 11m$29 · $0.00
A Bridge Not Too FarDeepak Ohri4h 55m$15
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m$20 · $0.00
Will You Love Me?Cathy Glass9h 5m$29 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m$20 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m$24 · $0.00
A Narrative of Some of the Lord's Dealings With George Müller (The Complete Four-Volume Edition)George Müller43h 37m$2 · $0.00
Finding MeViola Davis9h 15m5 (2)$29 · $0.00
Scandal Between the Sheets & Stranded with the Tempting StrangerBrenda Jackson9h 22m$24 · $0.00
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s MarijuanaLaura Stack CSP, MBA9h 57m5 (1)$20 · $0.00
The Boys and MeMark Miller8h 32m$23
You may also like
The Underground RailroadWilliam Still, Sarah Bradford, Laura S. Haviland65h$2 · $0.00
Twelve Years a Slave (Unabridged)Solomon Northup10h 12m$1 · $0.00
Illustrated Edition of the Life and Escape of William Wells Brown from American SlaveryWilliam Wells Brown2h 34m$2.30
Running A Thousand Miles For Freedom – Incredible Escape of William & Ellen Craft from Slavery (Annotated)William Craft, Ellen Craft$2 · $0.00
Running A Thousand Miles For Freedom – Incredible Escape of William & Ellen Craft from SlaveryEllen Craft, William Craft3h 13m$2 · $0.00
A Romance of the RepublicLydia Maria Child13h 19m$2 · $0.00
Tigg and the Bandicoot BushrangerJackie French6h 41m$24 · $0.00
The Redemption Of Bobby LoveBobby Love, Cheryl Love9h 13m$29 · $0.00
Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom: The Escape of William and Ellen Craft From SlaveryWilliam Craft, Ellen Craft3h 14m$2 · $0.00
NewcomersGreta Gorsuch1h 16m$5 · $0.00
My New American LifeFrancine Prose8h 30m$26 · $0.00
The Waif Of The "Cynthia"Jules Verne7h 52m$2.30
Tattered TomJr. Horatio Alger5h 15m$2.30
American HeartLaura Moriarty11h 2m$29 · $0.00
A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa, but Resident of USAVenture Smith1h 45m$1 · $0.00
Night Ride into DangerJackie French4h 50m$20 · $0.00
The Jewel of the BluesMonica Chenault-Kilgore11h 59m$29 · $0.00
The Young Circus Rider; or, the Mystery of Robert RuddHoratio Alger Jr.6h 53m$2 · $0.00
Anywhere You RunWanda M. Morris9h 50m$29 · $0.00
Bright Shiny MorningJames Frey13h 38m$33 · $0.00