Author and environmentalist Bill McKibben explains the advantages of solar power and wind generators while refuting the fossil fuel industry's arguments against them. Narrator Patrick Lawlor performs this encouraging exposé with vocal skill and intelligence that makes every facet of this exceptional writing shine. His maturity as a narrator allows him to apply his impressive phrasing tools to every nuance of meaning and passion in McKibben's authoritative writing. Exposing the lies perpetrated by the fossil fuel industry and the politicians they control, McKibben offers hope that the decreasing cost of solar energy will create the political will to face the facts and remove obstacles to using this and other clean energy sources. McKibben delivers a fact-filled overview of climate change and its remedies.
Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2025
Duration: 7 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781696620758
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Dr. Plotkin is an ethnobotanist who recounts his experiences searching for new medications in the Amazon rain forest. He makes an impassioned plea for the world to stop destroying this irreplaceable resource. Since the author reads his own work, we can rely on the pronunciation of some unusual botanical terms; however, his voice (presumably not trained for performance) lacks the enthusiasm and fascination the words suggest. Furthermore, with no chapter references and few pauses between sections, transitions, such as the change of location from Ecuador to Massachusetts, are awkward.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Once again, Pollan makes the unknown make sense.
Pollan is a favorite with listeners, and rightly so. He may not possess a silken or practiced voice, and he’d be nobody’s first choice to narrate Proust, but few author-narrators are as engaging or as effectively bonded to their narrative. Pollan here explores one of the most fundamental of questions: What is consciousness? This leads him to other questions. Where exactly is consciousness located? What other species possess it? Pollan takes his listener on a journey through theories and research sites, each rendered with his signature economy and precision. Some sections may require relistening, but the difficulties lie in the subject matter, not the prose. That couldn’t be clearer or more illuminating.
Once again, Pollan makes the unknown make sense.Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2026
Duration: 8 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217282159
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2026
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