-
It's All Relative
- Adventures Up and Down the World's Family Tree
- Narrated by: A. J. Jacobs
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Categories: Relationships, Parenting & Personal Development, Parenting & Families
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Premium Plus
$14.95 a month
Buy for $20.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Thanks a Thousand
- A Gratitude Journey
- By: A. J. Jacobs
- Narrated by: A. J. Jacobs
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Author A.J. Jacobs discovers that his coffee - and every other item in our lives - would not be possible without hundreds of people we usually take for granted: farmers, chemists, artists, presidents, truckers, mechanics, biologists, miners, smugglers, and goatherds. By thanking these people face-to-face, Jacobs finds some much-needed brightness in his life. Gratitude does not come naturally to Jacobs, but he sets off on the journey on a dare from his son. And by the end, it’s clear to him that scientific research on gratitude is true. Gratitude’s benefits are legion.
-
-
Feel-Good Book
- By A. Yoshida on 05-14-19
By: A. J. Jacobs
-
The Underground Girls of Kabul
- In Search of a Hidden Resistance in Afghanistan
- By: Jenny Nordberg
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An investigative journalist uncovers a hidden custom that will transform your understanding of what it means to grow up as a girl. In Afghanistan, a culture ruled almost entirely by men, the birth of a son is cause for celebration and the arrival of a daughter is often mourned as misfortune. A bacha posh (literally translated from Dari as dressed up like a boy) is a third kind of child - a girl temporarily raised as a boy and presented as such to the outside world.
-
-
Important information for all
- By emma2u on 06-04-16
By: Jenny Nordberg
-
Around the World on 50 Bucks
- How I Left with Nothing and Returned a Rich Man
- By: Christopher Schacht
- Narrated by: Jakob Lewis
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Christopher Schacht was only 19 years old and had just finished school when he put a dream into motion. With only 50 euros in savings, he traveled around the world, relying only on his friendliness, flexibility, charm, and willingness to work for his shelter and food. Christopher traveled for four years, visiting 45 countries and traversing 100,000 kilometers on foot, hitchhiking, and on sailboats.
-
-
Great story, life lessons, entertaining, but....
- By Angelina Kim on 10-07-19
-
The Year of Living Biblically
- One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
- By: A. J. Jacobs
- Narrated by: A. J. Jacobs
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our fearless author, A. J. Jacobs, tackles a new intellectual adventure, an exploration of the most influential book in the world: the Bible. He determined that the best way to explore the Bible was to live it, as literally as possible. For one year.
-
-
Excellent... But tongue in cheek
- By Jonathan on 12-04-07
By: A. J. Jacobs
-
Rush
- Revolution, Madness, and Benjamin Rush, the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father
- By: Stephen Fried
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the time he was 30, Dr. Benjamin Rush had signed the Declaration of Independence, edited Common Sense, toured Europe as Benjamin Franklin’s protégé, and become John Adams’s confidant, and was soon to be appointed Washington’s surgeon general. And as with the greatest Revolutionary minds, Rush was only just beginning his role in 1776 in the American experiment.
-
-
The narration problem can be corrected
- By Sandra L. on 09-27-18
By: Stephen Fried
-
The World Until Yesterday
- What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?
- By: Jared Diamond
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 18 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most of us take for granted the features of our modern society, from air travel and telecommunications to literacy and obesity. Yet for nearly all of its six million years of existence, human society had none of these things. While the gulf that divides us from our primitive ancestors may seem unbridgeably wide, we can glimpse much of our former lifestyle in those largely traditional societies still or recently in existence.
-
-
A visit with our ancient ancestors
- By BRB on 01-30-13
By: Jared Diamond
-
Thanks a Thousand
- A Gratitude Journey
- By: A. J. Jacobs
- Narrated by: A. J. Jacobs
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Author A.J. Jacobs discovers that his coffee - and every other item in our lives - would not be possible without hundreds of people we usually take for granted: farmers, chemists, artists, presidents, truckers, mechanics, biologists, miners, smugglers, and goatherds. By thanking these people face-to-face, Jacobs finds some much-needed brightness in his life. Gratitude does not come naturally to Jacobs, but he sets off on the journey on a dare from his son. And by the end, it’s clear to him that scientific research on gratitude is true. Gratitude’s benefits are legion.
-
-
Feel-Good Book
- By A. Yoshida on 05-14-19
By: A. J. Jacobs
-
The Underground Girls of Kabul
- In Search of a Hidden Resistance in Afghanistan
- By: Jenny Nordberg
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An investigative journalist uncovers a hidden custom that will transform your understanding of what it means to grow up as a girl. In Afghanistan, a culture ruled almost entirely by men, the birth of a son is cause for celebration and the arrival of a daughter is often mourned as misfortune. A bacha posh (literally translated from Dari as dressed up like a boy) is a third kind of child - a girl temporarily raised as a boy and presented as such to the outside world.
-
-
Important information for all
- By emma2u on 06-04-16
By: Jenny Nordberg
-
Around the World on 50 Bucks
- How I Left with Nothing and Returned a Rich Man
- By: Christopher Schacht
- Narrated by: Jakob Lewis
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Christopher Schacht was only 19 years old and had just finished school when he put a dream into motion. With only 50 euros in savings, he traveled around the world, relying only on his friendliness, flexibility, charm, and willingness to work for his shelter and food. Christopher traveled for four years, visiting 45 countries and traversing 100,000 kilometers on foot, hitchhiking, and on sailboats.
-
-
Great story, life lessons, entertaining, but....
- By Angelina Kim on 10-07-19
-
The Year of Living Biblically
- One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
- By: A. J. Jacobs
- Narrated by: A. J. Jacobs
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our fearless author, A. J. Jacobs, tackles a new intellectual adventure, an exploration of the most influential book in the world: the Bible. He determined that the best way to explore the Bible was to live it, as literally as possible. For one year.
-
-
Excellent... But tongue in cheek
- By Jonathan on 12-04-07
By: A. J. Jacobs
-
Rush
- Revolution, Madness, and Benjamin Rush, the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father
- By: Stephen Fried
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the time he was 30, Dr. Benjamin Rush had signed the Declaration of Independence, edited Common Sense, toured Europe as Benjamin Franklin’s protégé, and become John Adams’s confidant, and was soon to be appointed Washington’s surgeon general. And as with the greatest Revolutionary minds, Rush was only just beginning his role in 1776 in the American experiment.
-
-
The narration problem can be corrected
- By Sandra L. on 09-27-18
By: Stephen Fried
-
The World Until Yesterday
- What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?
- By: Jared Diamond
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 18 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most of us take for granted the features of our modern society, from air travel and telecommunications to literacy and obesity. Yet for nearly all of its six million years of existence, human society had none of these things. While the gulf that divides us from our primitive ancestors may seem unbridgeably wide, we can glimpse much of our former lifestyle in those largely traditional societies still or recently in existence.
-
-
A visit with our ancient ancestors
- By BRB on 01-30-13
By: Jared Diamond
-
Dear Leader
- Poet, Spy, Escapee - A Look inside North Korea
- By: Jang Jin-sung
- Narrated by: Daniel York
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As North Korea's State Poet Laureate, Jang Jin-sung led a charmed life. With food provisions (even as the country suffered through its great famine), a travel pass, access to strictly censored information, and audiences with Kim Jong-il himself, his life in Pyongyang seemed safe and secure. But this privileged existence was about to be shattered. When a strictly forbidden magazine he lent to a friend goes missing, Jang Jin-sung must flee for his life.
-
-
Outstanding! A life-changing listen.
- By Gotta Tellya on 09-29-14
By: Jang Jin-sung
-
When Einstein Walked with Gödel
- Excursions to the Edge of Thought
- By: Jim Holt
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 15 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Does time exist? What is infinity? Why do mirrors reverse left and right but not up and down? In this scintillating collection, Holt explores the human mind, the cosmos, and the thinkers who’ve tried to encompass the latter with the former. With his trademark clarity and humor, Holt probes the mysteries of quantum mechanics, the quest for the foundations of mathematics, and the nature of logic and truth. Along the way, he offers intimate biographical sketches of celebrated and neglected thinkers, from the physicist Emmy Noether to the computing pioneer Alan Turing and the discoverer of fractals, Benoit Mandelbrot.
-
-
A good overview of scientific theory
- By Kindle Customer on 09-11-18
By: Jim Holt
-
Spaceflight: The Complete Story from Sputnik to Curiosity
- Smithsonian
- By: Giles Sparrow
- Narrated by: Emma Hignett
- Length: 16 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This compelling story of exploration charts and celebrates humankind in space, from Sputnik's launch in 1957 through the Apollo moon landings and the International Space Station to future missions to Mars and beyond. Spaceflight chronicles how, in the six decades that followed Sputnik, the world was revolutionized by space travel and exploration. The opening up of Earth's orbit to satellites led to a revolution in communications, monitoring of the environment, and materials science.
By: Giles Sparrow
-
The David Foster Wallace Reader
- By: David Foster Wallace
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff, David Foster Wallace, Sally Foster Wallace, and others
- Length: 48 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Where do you begin with a writer as original and brilliant as David Foster Wallace? Here - with a carefully considered selection of his extraordinary body of work, chosen by a range of great writers, critics, and those who worked with him most closely. This volume presents his most dazzling, funniest, and most heartbreaking work.
-
-
It takes a lot for me to be spellbound
- By DIANE on 12-09-16
-
Friends Divided
- John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
- By: Gordon S. Wood
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could scarcely have come from more different worlds or been more different in temperament. Jefferson, the optimist with enough faith in the innate goodness of his fellow man to be democracy's champion, was an aristocratic Southern slave owner while Adams, the overachiever from New England's rising middling classes, painfully aware he was no aristocrat, was a skeptic about popular rule and a defender of a more elitist view of government.
-
-
A Great Read
- By Jean on 12-22-17
By: Gordon S. Wood
-
Unstoppable
- Harnessing Science to Change the World
- By: Bill Nye
- Narrated by: Bill Nye
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just as World War II called an earlier generation to greatness, so the climate crisis is calling today's rising youth to action: to create a better future. In Unstoppable, Bill Nye crystallizes and expands the message for which he is best known and beloved. That message is that with a combination of optimism and scientific curiosity, all obstacles become opportunities, and the possibilities of our world become limitless.
-
-
The End is Nye
- By Mark on 09-06-17
By: Bill Nye
-
Drop Dead Healthy
- One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection
- By: A. J. Jacobs
- Narrated by: A. J. Jacobs
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A. J. Jacobs tackles his most challenging experiment yet: a yearlong mission to radically improve every element of his body and mind - from his brain to his fingertips to his abs. First, he had to tackle a complicated web of diet and exercise advice, most which is nonsensical, unproven, and contradictory. Second, he had to consult a team of medical advisers. And finally, he had to subject himself, over the course of two years, to a grueling regimen of exercises and a range of diets and nutritional plans.
-
-
A comic tries a little of everything
- By Niall on 04-14-12
By: A. J. Jacobs
-
The Churchill Factor
- How One Man Changed History
- By: Boris Johnson
- Narrated by: Simon Shepherd
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the 50th anniversary of Churchill's death, Boris Johnson celebrates the singular brilliance of one of the most important leaders of the 20th century. Taking on the myths and misconceptions along with the outsized reality, he portrays - with characteristic wit and passion - a man of contagious bravery, breathtaking eloquence, matchless strategizing, and deep humanity.
-
-
Entertaining Biography
- By Jean on 01-29-15
By: Boris Johnson
-
The Disordered Mind
- What Unusual Brains Tell Us About Ourselves
- By: Eric R. Kandel
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eric R. Kandel, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, is one of the pioneers of modern brain science. His work continues to shape our understanding of how learning and memory work and to break down age-old barriers between the sciences and the arts. In his seminal new audiobook, The Disordered Mind, Kandel draws on a lifetime of pathbreaking research and the work of many other leading neuroscientists to take us on an unusual tour of the brain. He confronts one of the most difficult questions we face: How does our mind, our individual sense of self, emerge from the physical matter of the brain?
-
-
The Brain and how it forms our reality.
- By Anonymous User on 02-20-19
By: Eric R. Kandel
-
The Know-It-All
- One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
- By: A. J. Jacobs
- Narrated by: Geoffrey Cantor
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Early in his career, A.J. Jacobs put his Ivy League education to work at Entertainment Weekly. He emerged five years later knowing which stars have fake boobs, which stars have toupees, which have both, and not much else. This realization led Jacobs on a life-changing quest: to read the entire contents of the Encyclopedia Britannica, all 33,000 pages, all 44 million words.
-
-
Very enjoyable
- By Linda on 04-10-10
By: A. J. Jacobs
-
The Original Black Elite
- Daniel Murray and the Story of a Forgotten Era
- By: Elizabeth Dowling Taylor
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This cultural biography tells the enthralling story of the high-achieving Black elites who thrived in the nation's capital during Reconstruction. Daniel Murray (1851-1925), an assistant librarian at the Library of Congress, was a prominent member of this glorious class. Murray's life was reflective of those who were well-off at the time. This social circle included African American educators, ministers, lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, US senators and representatives, and other government officials.
-
-
awesome
- By Melissa on 09-27-19
-
The Disappearing Spoon
- And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reporter Sam Kean reveals the periodic table as it’s never been seen before. Not only is it one of man's crowning scientific achievements, it's also a treasure trove of stories of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. The infectious tales and astounding details in The Disappearing Spoon follow carbon, neon, silicon, and gold as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, war, the arts, poison, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them.
-
-
One great book
- By Robert on 01-26-11
By: Sam Kean
Publisher's Summary
New York Times best-selling author of The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically A. J. Jacobs undergoes a hilarious, heartfelt quest to understand what constitutes family - where it begins and how far it goes - and attempts to untangle the true meaning of the "family of humankind".
A. J. Jacobs has received some strange emails over the years, but this note was perhaps the strangest: "You don't know me, but I'm your eighth cousin. And we have over 80,000 relatives of yours in our database."
That's enough family members to fill Madison Square Garden four times over. Who are these people, A. J. wondered, and how do I find them? So began Jacobs' three-year adventure to help build the biggest family tree in history.
Jacobs' journey would take him to all seven continents. He drank beer with a US president, found himself singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and unearthed genetic links to Hollywood actresses and real-life scoundrels. After all, we can choose our friends but not our family.
Now Jacobs upends, in ways both meaningful and hilarious, our understanding of genetics and genealogy, tradition and tribalism, identity and connection. It's All Relative is a fascinating look at the bonds that connect us all.
More from the same
What listeners say about It's All Relative
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- katie
- 12-18-17
ok book
AJ please get a professional narrator! I know it must be a pride thing but it would be for the better.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jennifer
- 01-03-18
Humorous, honest and upbeat
Humorous tale of a one year journey to break the Guinness World Record for a family reunion. I enjoyed the continual return to a concept that if we are all ultimately related, then why should we be so devicive? A true answer.
The book did get a bit long, as so often is the case. At times I felt manipulated that the grand scheme of this project was really to write a book and sell. Of course i then bought it. But I am not sure that fact was ever hidden. Humor usually pulled me out of feeling too taken on a ride as the author's latest con to sell a book. Clearly he took each step and the journey was honest and filled with tales.
I am almost always a fan of the author reading his own book. I love the proper punch and pause of an author's own narration. This was not one of those times. Ever have a face not match a voice? Or a picture not match a profile? This was a narrator not matching the script. As odd as that must sound. It threw me chapter after chapter.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mauriciovz
- 03-31-19
Not the best of A.J.
Although have some funny parts, the overall book is not as good another previous stories from the very entertaining A.J. Jacobs.
interesting passages about how humanity is link but unfortunately my expectations were higher than the reality of this book.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Juan
- 12-05-17
Hilarious, Honest, and Heartfelt
As if being able to listen to this book wasn’t great enough, having the author read it gave that extra feeling that I was on this journey with him and his family. Incredibly relatable for anyone that has a passion for genealogy and their own family history. I found myself laughing while thinking I have felt many of those thoughts throughout my research as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if this book became the gateway of many others acquiring a new found love for genealogy. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that has any level of interest in genealogy but it is also far reaching in appeal past that.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Vegan Dancer
- 09-04-18
Fun Genealogy Read!
Loved this book, which I downloaded after reading a review in my Sunday newspaper. A.J. is quirky and most entertaining. So thankful he and his brain are around to encourage us to think about the big picture (who are we? what are we evolving into?) while sharing his insights into the small details of life. His concept that we are all related, and that we'll get along once we let that sink in, was just what I needed to read after the election of the divisive, negative government in 2016. Thanks, AJ!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Susan Terral
- 01-11-18
Fun book
I enjoyed seeing genealogy through his eyes. Listening to this book was a lot of fun.