Pete Cross narrates with clarity and precision, assuming just the right pace for this fascinating audiobook on the meaning of navigation. His style lets the information speak for itself, illuminating the complex science. The result is an audiobook that sounds authoritative as Bond addresses human navigation, way finding, and the positives and negatives of getting lost, doing so in a way that is well documented and convincing. This audiobook has useful insights: If you are lost, stay put. And frustrating facts: GPS gives location but takes away navigational skills. Cross also tells harrowing stories like that of Geraldine Largay, who in 2013 got lost and died when she wandered off the Appalachian Trail in Maine.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2020
Duration: 6 hrs, 45 mins
Publisher: Dreamscape
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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