As you get used to it you can listen to audiobooks faster and faster while understanding the story (many blind people can easily go as high as 5-6×, sighted people tend to cap lower).

You can try bumping up speed by 0.25 increments, some people find it easier to understand audiobooks slightly faster [edit: you can try slowing it, too]. But I think it's more more important to find something that has a good narrator who matches the book, speaks clearly, and emotes well. (English as a second language here, the narrator makes a huge difference for me.)

The few editors I've talked to in person never got enough time to comb through everything properly. Plus not every editor is created equal, be it because of their specialty or skills.

There are books that get more time and attention, a whole team of the best editors and betas going several rounds using fancy software and their best judgement. But more books are published than ever, sell in relatively low numbers, and more and more of the publishing process is relegated to the author (even if you don't self publish), so sometimes it's one exhausted intern with barely enough time to read the whole thing.

You mean "most fantasy authors who get published and bought into bestseller lists are white or have to pretend to be white like in the 1950s"