Alan Alda’s relaxed performance makes it easy to pay attention to and digest this discussion on the importance of delayed gratification. The author conducted the now famous “marshmallow experiments” with preschoolers more than 20 years ago: Eat one marshmallow now or wait a bit and get two later? It’s pure listening pleasure to hear Alda’s familiar voice and authentic engagement with this important book. The author shows how children who contained their impulses in the study demonstrated, later in life, substantially higher SAT scores, more effective goal attainment, better stress management, and more resistance to addictions. Offering promising evidence that life-draining impulsivity can be replaced by more thoughtful decision making, this is an accessible collection of brain science and behavioral strategies that can help us improve this critical life skill. T.W. 2015 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
Duration: 8 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781469249070
Publisher: Brilliance 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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