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Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods
- Early Humans and the Origins of Religion
- Narrated by: Peter Lerman
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
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Publisher's summary
In this book, E. Fuller Torrey draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to propose a startling answer to the ultimate question. Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods locates the origin of gods within the human brain, arguing that religious belief is a by-product of evolution.
Based on an idea originally proposed by Charles Darwin, Torrey marshals evidence that the emergence of gods was an incidental consequence of several evolutionary factors. Using data ranging from ancient skulls and artifacts to brain imaging, primatology, and child development studies, this book traces how new cognitive abilities gave rise to new behaviors.
For instance, autobiographical memory, the ability to project ourselves backward and forward in time, gave Homo sapiens a competitive advantage. However, it also led to comprehension of mortality, spurring belief in an alternative to death. Torrey details the neurobiological sequence that explains why the gods appeared when they did, connecting archaeological findings including clothing, art, farming, and urbanization to cognitive developments.
This book does not dismiss belief but rather presents religious belief as an inevitable outcome of brain evolution. Providing clear and accessible explanations of evolutionary neuroscience, Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods will shed new light on the mechanics of our deepest mysteries.
The book is published by Columbia University Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.
"This is the book I have been waiting for…" (Religion)
"Richly rewarding...Highly recommended." (Choice)
"A wonderful addition to the current corpus sitting at the intersection of religion and evolution." (Reading Religion)
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- Hybrid Humans, Göbekli Tepe, and the Genesis of the Giants of Ancient America
- By: Andrew Collins, Gregory L. Little
- Narrated by: Micah Hanks
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 144
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 133
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 133
Tracing the migrations of the Denisovans and their interbreeding with Neanderthals and early human populations in Asia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas, Andrew Collins and Greg Little explore how the new mental capabilities of the Denisovan-Neanderthal and Denisovan-human hybrids greatly accelerated the flowering of human civilization over 40,000 years ago. They show how the Denisovans displayed sophisticated advances, including precision-machined stone tools and jewelry, tailored clothing, celestially-aligned architecture, and horse domestication.
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2 out of 5 stars
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There are better sources to get real information
- By cfeagans on 09-06-19
By: Andrew Collins, and others
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Transcendence
- How Humans Evolved Through Fire, Language, Beauty, and Time
- By: Gaia Vince
- Narrated by: Gaia Vince
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
How four tools enabled humanity to control its destiny What enabled us to go from simple stone tools to smartphones? How did bands of hunter-gatherers evolve into multinational empires? Listeners of Sapiens will say a cognitive revolution - a dramatic evolutionary change that altered our brains, turning primitive humans into modern ones - caused a cultural explosion. In Transcendence, Gaia Vince argues instead that modern humans are the product of a nuanced coevolution of our genes, environment, and culture that goes back into deep time.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Far too much bias and unsupported conclusions
- By Kurt Leyendecker on 10-01-20
By: Gaia Vince
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Ancestors
- A Prehistory of Britain in Seven Burials
- By: Alice Roberts
- Narrated by: Alice Roberts
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 83
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 71
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70
We often think of Britain springing from nowhere with the arrival of the Romans. But in Ancestors, pre-eminent archaeologist, broadcaster and academic Professor Alice Roberts explores what we can learn about the very earliest Britons – from their burial sites. Although we have very little evidence of what life was like in prehistorical times, here their stories are told through the bones and funerary offerings left behind, preserved in the ground for thousands of years.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Current narrative
- By James on 06-26-21
By: Alice Roberts
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Prehistory
- Making of the Human Mind
- By: Colin Renfrew
- Narrated by: Robert Ian MacKenzie
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 207
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 142
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Story4 out of 5 stars 141
A giant of archaeology, Colin Renfrew has immeasurably improved our understanding of human history. In this passionately argued work, he offers a concise summary of prehistory - human existence that predates the development of written records - while challenging the very definition of prehistory itself.
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5 out of 5 stars
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not for the intellectually challenged
- By Anthony on 07-14-10
By: Colin Renfrew
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Masters of the Planet
- The Search for Our Human Origins
- By: Ian Tattersall
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 90
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 75
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 75
Fifty thousand years ago - merely a blip in evolutionary time - our Homo sapiens ancestors were competing for existence with several other human species, just as their precursors had done for millions of years. Yet something about our species distinguished it from the pack, and ultimately led to its survival while the rest became extinct. Just what was it that allowed Homo sapiens to become masters of the planet? Ian Tattersall, curator emeritus at the American Museum of Natural History, takes us deep into the fossil record to uncover what made humans so special.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Book, Some Sloppy Editing
- By DB on 11-23-20
By: Ian Tattersall
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The Anunnaki Connection
- Sumerian Gods, Alien DNA, and the Fate of Humanity
- By: Heather Lynn PhD
- Narrated by: Chelsea Stephens
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 629
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 545
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 545
In The Anunnaki Connection, Heather Lynn connects a diverse range of new and existing theories about the Anunnaki, offering a definitive guide to Mesopotamian gods while exploring what role they might have played in engineering mankind. The Anunnaki Connection traces the evolution of gods throughout the Ancient Near East, analyzing the religion, myth, art, and symbolism of the Sumerians, investigating: Who are the Anunnaki?
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1 out of 5 stars
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meh
- By Marco on 05-27-20
By: Heather Lynn PhD
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The Neanderthals Rediscovered
- How Modern Science Is Rewriting Their Story (Revised and Updated Edition)
- By: Dimitra Papagianni, Michael A. Morse
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 382
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 336
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 335
In recent years, the common perception of the Neanderthals has been transformed, thanks to new discoveries and paradigm-shattering scientific innovations. It turns out that the Neanderthals' behavior was surprisingly modern: they buried the dead, cared for the sick, hunted large animals in their prime, harvested seafood, and communicated with spoken language. Meanwhile, advances in DNA technologies are compelling us to reassess the Neanderthals' place in our own past.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating Subject... Soporific Reader
- By Andrew E. Yarosh on 11-21-17
By: Dimitra Papagianni, and others
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Before the Dawn
- Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors
- By: Nicholas Wade
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 925
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 516
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 517
Just in the last three years a flood of new scientific findings, driven by revelations discovered in the human genome, has provided compelling new answers to many long-standing mysteries about our most ancient ancestors, the people who first evolved in Africa and then went on to colonize the whole world. Nicholas Wade weaves this host of news-making findings together for the first time into an intriguing new history of the human story before the dawn of civilization.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing information
- By Albert on 06-15-07
By: Nicholas Wade
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The Creative Spark
- How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional
- By: Agustín Fuentes
- Narrated by: Agustín Fuentes
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 148
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 126
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 124
In the tradition of Jared Diamond's million-copy-selling classic Guns, Germs, and Steel, a bold new synthesis of paleontology, archaeology, genetics, and anthropology that overturns misconceptions about race, war and peace, and human nature itself, answering an age-old question: What made humans so exceptional among all the species on Earth? Creativity. It is the secret of what makes humans special, hiding in plain sight.
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4 out of 5 stars
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What's new?
- By Mark on 05-02-17
By: Agustín Fuentes
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The Yugas
- Keys to Understanding Our Hidden Past, Emerging Energy Age and Enlightened Future
- By: Joseph Selbie, David Steinmetz, Swami Kriyananda - foreword
- Narrated by: Paul Brion
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 421
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 362
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Story5 out of 5 stars 359
Today's view of history cannot account for ancient anomalies, such as the Pyramids and advanced knowledge contained in India's Vedas. But in 1894, an Indian sage gave us an explanation not only for our hidden past but for the trends of today and for our future enlightenment - the 24,000-year yuga cycle.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Excellent book but one slight problem
- By Z on 02-19-19
By: Joseph Selbie, and others
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God
- A Human History
- By: Reza Aslan
- Narrated by: Reza Aslan
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,518
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,328
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,319
In layered prose and with thoughtful, accessible scholarship, Aslan narrates the history of religion as one long and remarkably cohesive attempt to understand the divine by giving it human traits and emotions. According to Aslan, this innate desire to humanize God is hardwired in our brains, making it a central feature of nearly every religious tradition. As Aslan writes, "Whether we are aware of it or not, and regardless if we are believers or not, what the vast majority of us think about when we think about God is a divine version of ourselves."
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5 out of 5 stars
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His best work yet
- By Jeff M on 11-15-17
By: Reza Aslan
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The World Before Us
- The New Science Behind Our Human Origins
- By: Tom Higham
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 136
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 121
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 122
A fascinating investigation of the origin of humans based on incredible new discoveries and advanced scientific technology.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderfully Accessible
- By Deborah N on 11-02-21
By: Tom Higham
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How Language Began
- The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention
- By: Daniel L. Everett
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 300
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 252
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Story4 out of 5 stars 252
Mankind has a distinct advantage over other terrestrial species: we talk to one another. But how did we acquire the most advanced form of communication on Earth? Daniel L. Everett, a "bombshell" linguist and "instant folk hero" (Tom Wolfe, Harper's), provides in this sweeping history a comprehensive examination of the evolutionary story of language, from the earliest speaking attempts by hominids to the more than 7,000 languages that exist today.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Hard to endure
- By Michael D. Busch on 09-09-18
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On Human Nature: Revised Edition
- By: Edward O. Wilson
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 323
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 251
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 249
This revised edition of Human Nature begins a new phase in the most important intellectual controversy of this generation: Is human behavior controlled by the species' biological heritage? Does this heritage limit human destiny?
With characteristic pungency and simplicity of style, the author of Sociobiology challenges old prejudices and current misconceptions about the nature-nurture debate.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Heralding Voice...
- By Douglas on 07-22-14
By: Edward O. Wilson
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America Before
- The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization
- By: Graham Hancock
- Narrated by: Graham Hancock
- Length: 17 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,049
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,513
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,492
Stunning new archaeological discoveries in North America together with new genetic evidence have launched a revolution in our understanding of the remote past of our species and of the origins of civilization. Graham Hancock, the internationally best-selling author has been overwhelmingly vindicated by recent discoveries. America Before: The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization is a mind-dilating exploration of the mystery of ancient civilizations, amazing archaeological discoveries, and profound implications for how we lead our lives today.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fun to Think About
- By Amazon Customer on 04-26-19
By: Graham Hancock
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A Short History of Humanity
- A New History of Old Europe
- By: Johannes Krause, Thomas Trappe, Caroline Waight - translator
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 156
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 126
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 127
Johannes Krause is the director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and a brilliant pioneer in the field of archaeogenetics - archaeology augmented by DNA sequencing technology - which has allowed scientists to reconstruct human history reaching back hundreds of thousands of years before recorded time. In this surprising account, Krause and journalist Thomas Trappe rewrite a fascinating chapter of this history, the peopling of Europe, that takes us from the Neanderthals and Denisovans to the present.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not a short history of humanity
- By Brent on 05-02-21
By: Johannes Krause, and others
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The Chalice and the Blade
- Our History, Our Future
- By: Riane Eisler
- Narrated by: Riane Eisler
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 290
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 245
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 243
Riane Eisler believes that war and the "war of the sexes" are concepts neither divinely nor biologically ordained. Join the author as she reconstructs a prehistoric culture based on partnership rather than domination and traces the roots of the global shift to patriarchy. Eisler, an acclaimed scholar, futurist, and activist, also presents new scripts for living based on a more socially, economically, ecologically, personally, and spiritually balanced society. This script is in direct opposition to the tension and violence typical of what she calls the dominator model. Her vision is the partnership model, which today is struggling to reemerge. This program is an important contribution to that struggle.
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1 out of 5 stars
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the chalice and the blade
- By Anne on 07-25-08
By: Riane Eisler
What listeners say about Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- L. Ostrove
- 02-06-21
Narrator was monotone, but fascinating content
Narrator's voice droned on and it seemed like he was purposefully trying to be monotone, but the content was excellent and engaging. The contrast between the bland performance and interesting material was jarring at first, but all in all a great listen
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Deedra
- 07-22-21
Evolving Brains
This was good information.It is interesting to learn where ideas come from.Peter Lerman was a fine narrator.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
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