Beaming in from the world of storytelling, Ryan chats with Stefan Rudnicki, commonly known as “The Golden Voice of Audiobooks.” His vocal cords have graced the ears of listeners exploring every genre from science fiction, fantasy, and horror to business, self-help, and reference to memoir, biography, and non-fiction to poetry and even avant-garde literature with over 3,000 credits to his name. He’s decorated in the industry with countless Grammy, Audie, Hugo, Bram Stoker, Ray Bradbury, Madolin Cervantes, and Edinburg International Festival awards to his name. He’s also a coach, often hired by the best of the business to encourage the most effective audiobook performances out of actors like Robin Williams, Meryl Streep, Samuel L Jackson, Gabrielle Byrne, Dustin Hoffman, Diane Keaton, Annette Bening, Burt Reynolds, and Theodore Bikel, to name a few.

In this conversation, Stefan recounts his parents’ journey from Poland to the US for him to find his foundation in NYC. He talks about his studies at Columbia University and Yale School of Drama before pursuing his own life as a college professor. Never one to turn down a challenge he shares his journey in filmmaking that brought him to the Golden State before working for Dove Audio in the abridgment department. He shares the transition to audiobook performance and talks about forging partnerships with the likes of Harlan Ellison. Famously, Stefan is the voice of Ender Wiggin in the sci-fi classic Ender’s Game for which his approach to audiobook directing popularized the multi-narrational storytelling method. He talks about the process of recording multiple narrators in multiple time zones and the quality control necessary to produce great audio content. And as a lifelong music fan, Stefan shares the role music plans in his life and explains why he is so dedicated to his next crowdfunding goal of releasing a collection about Leonard Cohen.

For more information on Stefan Rudnick’s company you can find Skyboat Media on Facebook and Twitter (@skyboatmedia) or visit www.skyboatmedia.com. Stefan can be reached on Facebook (Stefan Rudnicki), Bluesky (@Stefansecho), and Twitter (@Stefansecho).

For more information on the Meditations with Ryan Zlomek podcast, you can find The World of Ryan Zlomek on Facebook, @ryanzlomek on Instagram, Bluesky, and TikTok or email [email protected].