If you feel kind of gross when you sweat, Sarah Everts will make you realize how cool it is that we humans regulate our body temperatures this way. Narrator Sophie Amoss channels the author’s wry humor with impeccable timing and a slightly scratchy timbre. Everts travels down several fascinating and quirky paths—sauna theater (yes, that is a thing), sniff dating events (yes, also a real thing), and rare genetic disorders resulting in too much sweating or no sweating at all. Amoss is pitch-perfect at capturing the right tone every time. She won’t let your attention falter during the scientific explanations either. After learning that elephants flap their ears, bees vomit on themselves, and pigs roll in the mud to cool themselves down, maybe sweating isn’t so bad after all.
Pub Date: July 13, 2021
Duration: 9 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780593501979
Publisher: Random House 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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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