While I'm waiting for the revised boards to arrive I am exploring the V2 feature of adding a small speaker/amp and audio support. The original plan was to have an ESP32 C3 super mini onboard to do cool stuff with the display and speaker. I've now learned that the C3 won't with with the Arduino "Talkie" library I was planning on using. After a consult with brother Andy, I'm looking at a different option:

MAX98357 I2S 3 Watt Class D Audio Amplifier

I know nothing about I2S but it appears it is compatible with 2040 based Pis.

It would be cool to have the board completely independent but it might be more practical to just add the speaker and I2S capabilities and let the host it's plugged into drive it.

More learning and prototyping necessary...