Narrator David Marantz elevates the message of this audiobook without calling attention to his outsized talent. His appealing tones and intellectual comfort with the material allow his phrasing to sound authentic, compassionate, and always in sync with the authors' themes. This ambitious audiobook examines how individuals and groups communicate thoughts and feelings and, thus, arouse empathy from others. Drs. Wagner and Gray raise provocative questions like why do we form close attachments with some animals and dispassionately eat others? Why do we empathize with certain people or organizations but not others? Enlightening without sounding prescriptive, this audio will make listeners take a sober look at their own emotions, how they react to others, and how they can be more responsible and enlightened citizens.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2016
Duration: 9 hrs, 45 mins
Publisher: Audible Inc./ Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
An interesting Ozark history that doesn’t quite cohere.
Author Hale presents the case of his young cousin Haley's disappearance on Cave Mountain in 2001 and the ensuing search and rescue operation, the largest in Arkansas history. Hale connects this with the murder of 3-year-old Bethany by a small and isolated religious sect decades earlier on the same mountain. Narrating these two stories in a low, slightly gruff tone, Hale weaves together family anecdotes, Ozark lore, local and broader history, and Christian theology. While the two cases are intriguing, the work lacks focus and contains extraneous details.
An interesting Ozark history that doesn’t quite cohere.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
Duration: 11 hrs, 9 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063398153
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: March 10, 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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