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Never Home Alone
- From Microbes to Millipedes, Camel Crickets, and Honeybees, the Natural History of Where We Live
- Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
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Publisher's summary
A natural history of the wilderness in our homes, from the microbes in our showers to the crickets in our basements Even when the floors are sparkling clean and the house seems silent, our domestic domain is wild beyond imagination.
In Never Home Alone, biologist Rob Dunn introduces us to the nearly 200,000 species living with us in our own homes, from the Egyptian meal moths in our cupboards and camel crickets in our basements to the lactobacillus lounging on our kitchen counters. You are not alone. Yet, as we obsess over sterilizing our homes and separating our spaces from nature, we are unwittingly cultivating an entirely new playground for evolution.
These changes are reshaping the organisms that live with us - prompting some to become more dangerous, while undermining those species that benefit our bodies or help us keep more threatening organisms at bay. No one who reads this engrossing, revelatory book will look at their homes in the same way again.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Critic reviews
"[An] intriguing and captivating scientific detective story...Dunn eloquently observes that many species we find in our homes have value to us." (BookPage)
"Delightfully entertaining and scientifically enlightening... [Dunn] makes a compelling case for the value of biodiversity, while also conveying the excitement of scientific investigation, demonstrating that important discoveries can be made very close to home." (Publishers Weekly)
"Scintillating...In a time of clear-eyed assessment of the environment, Dunn is a voice of reason who should be heartily welcomed." (Booklist, starred review)
What listeners say about Never Home Alone
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Paula
- 04-17-19
The most astonishing book I've read this decade!
...and I purchase over 100 books a year. This is truly an AHa! book, that startles, amazes and inspires like none I have read since the Forgotten Pollinators, a couple of decades ago. Each chapter, each story, each new concept provides new insights into our natural world that I had never imagined. I have not written a review for a couple of years, but I just had to chime in about this treasure! I can't imagine anyone reading (listening) to it without coming away with a new understanding of life on our planet. I will buy it in hard cover and pass it on to all my friends that don't listen to audio books.
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25 people found this helpful
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- Dana Hartley
- 09-20-19
The Most Riveting Story on a Micro Scale
I was hooked as soon as the book got into the history of microbiology. The reader of the audio book was excellent, giving a voice to the author as if he was speaking to me at a dinner party full of colleagues. As a wildlife biologist, my studies only included one microbiology class and no entomology (insects). I learned a lot from this book and the part that was most riveting was the studies done on the micro-organisms found within homes. The icing on the cake was that the author lives in Raleigh (I lived there for a good chunk of time), and is a prof. at NC State, my alma mater. This book made me want to simultaneously deep-clean my shower head, make my backyard more wilderness-friendly, make a sour dough bread starter, and get my hands into the earth.
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14 people found this helpful
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- Klaus Earl Loft
- 01-12-19
ecology microenvironment put in context
well presented and interesting and this so in a field with a huge lack of information.....bravo
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9 people found this helpful
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- Ron
- 03-13-19
Wonders of this planet right under our noses
I loved it! This is well researched and fascinating. It is also well written, keeping the science fun.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Ningu
- 07-21-20
Fascinating and fun
Rob Dunn makes science personal and offers hope for more effective ways to stay healthy. This book would appeal to kids, say ten and up, as well as every adult l know.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Beth Swope
- 01-24-19
Very informative and icky
A great book for seeing the universe in our own home. A bit icky and scary knowing we are never alone. Good book. Slowed down near the end.
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6 people found this helpful
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- thomas johnson
- 11-18-19
Interesting but somewhat dull
It was a good story but some of the stories were old news if you know about the last decades progress in microbiology and immunology.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Eugenia
- 12-27-20
How I Learned To Stop Fearing And Love Microbes
What perfect timing to listen to this book during a global pandemic!
At first, there was so much information about camel crickets that I almost tuned out. But I'm glad I stuck with it even through too much informational detail about microbiology.
But one of my favorite parts was about the shag carpeting of microbes on our bodies!
Can't say I liked the part about dogs and cats, but I don't think that's something that people like to hear. I just won't let a dog or cat lick my face.
But from now on I'm going to get my bread from the local bakery where they make it with their hands.
Oh and I'm going to open the windows and get all that biodiversity into our home.
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4 people found this helpful
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- H. Diaz
- 11-11-20
Fascinating book to listen to while cleaning!
I love to listen to audio books while I clean the house, and this book made me feel like... maybe I should consider HOW vigorously I clean in the future! There is so much to be gained by letting a little dirt into the house and going outside. This book was a little hard for me to get into when it started with microbes, but it quickly picked up (when talking about the history of cholera is when I really got hooked). There was a lot of attention given to camel crickets (interesting!) but there wasn't very much about millipedes or honeybees, but that's okay. The author also mentioned an interest in silverfish, something I want to know so much more about since I find them rather cute but they also eat my books. I hope there's a book about them soon! In the meantime, maybe I'll record what I find about the small creatures that I try to keep from eating my houseplants, or the little spider I have a casual agreement with to ignore so long as it stays in the corner. If you want to both cherish the "biodiversity" your pets bring into your home, while also growing suspicious of just how much our cats and dogs might affect our behavior, I absolutely recommend this book!
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4 people found this helpful
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- Jplang43
- 03-07-20
An endless diversity surrounds us!
I am a curious scientist at heart, and also lazy. This book made enjoying discoveries and revelations easy. I am also scouting microscopes and bread machines. If you are fascinated by your world then this book will feed your need to know.
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I bow down to our benevolent worm overlords
- By Kirstin on 04-17-14
By: Amy Stewart
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The Hidden Kingdom of Fungi
- Exploring the Microscopic World in Our Forests, Homes, and Bodies
- By: Keith Seifert, Rob Dunn - foreword
- Narrated by: Steven Marriott
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In this illuminating account, esteemed career mycologist Keith Seifert reveals the important role that microscopic fungi, including yeasts, molds, and slimes, play in our lives, all while remaining invisible to the naked eye. Divided into sections, each one exploring a different environment where fungi thrive, The Hidden Kingdom of Fungi introduces listeners to the fascinating world of mycology. Seifert urges us to better understand our relationship with fungi—and to plan our future with them in mind—while revealing their world in all its beautiful complexity.
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Learned a lot.
- By BlondeDude on 06-29-22
By: Keith Seifert, and others
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Delicious
- The Evolution of Flavor and How It Made Us Human
- By: Robert Dunn, Monica Sanchez
- Narrated by: Russell Bentley
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Nature, it has been said, invites us to eat by appetite and rewards by flavor. But what exactly are flavors? Why are some so pleasing while others are not? Delicious is a supremely entertaining foray into the heart of such questions. With generous helpings of warmth and wit, Rob Dunn and Monica Sanchez offer bold new perspectives on why food is enjoyable and how the pursuit of delicious flavors has guided the course of human history.
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Delicious for the gut and the brain
- By Lucy A. Pithecus on 10-14-22
By: Robert Dunn, and others
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The Wild Life of Our Bodies
- Predators, Parasites, and Partners That Shape Who We Are Today
- By: Rob Dunn
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Biologist Rob Dunn reveals the crucial influence that other species have upon our health, our well-being, and our world in The Wild Life of Our Bodies - a tour through the hidden truths of nature and codependence. Dunn illuminates the nuanced relationships that exist between homo sapiens and other species, relationships that underpin humanity's ability to thrive and prosper in every circumstance. Fans of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma will be enthralled by Dunn's powerful, lucid exploration of the role that humankind plays within the greater web of life on Earth.
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Purple prose - overwritten
- By Carlmmm on 03-04-22
By: Rob Dunn
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Never out of Season
- How Having the Food We Want When We Want It Threatens Our Food Supply and Our Future
- By: Rob Dunn
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Modern science has brought us produce in perpetual abundance - once-rare fruits are seemingly never out of season, and we breed and clone the hardiest, best-tasting varieties of the crops we rely on most. As a result, a smaller proportion of people on earth go hungry today than at any other moment in the last thousand years, and the streamlining of our food supply guarantees that the food we buy, from bananas to coffee to wheat, tastes the same every single time.
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Great listen!
- By Steve Ebert on 04-13-17
By: Rob Dunn
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A Natural History of the Future
- What the Laws of Biology Tell Us about the Destiny of the Human Species
- By: Rob Dunn
- Narrated by: Donald Chang
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Our species has amassed unprecedented knowledge of nature, which we have tried to use to seize control of life and bend the planet to our will. In A Natural History of the Future, biologist Rob Dunn argues that such efforts are futile. We may see ourselves as life’s overlords, but we are instead at its mercy. In the evolution of antibiotic resistance, the power of natural selection to create biodiversity, and even the surprising life of the London Underground, Dunn finds laws of life that no human activity can annul.
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Woke Author Worships at the Altar of ESG
- By Dan Collins on 03-22-22
By: Rob Dunn
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Earth Moved
- On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms
- By: Amy Stewart
- Narrated by: Heather Henderson
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
They destroy plant diseases. They break down toxins. They plough the earth. They transform forests. They’ve survived two mass extinctions, including the one that wiped out the dinosaur. Not bad for a creature that’s deaf, blind, and spineless. Who knew that earthworms were one of our planet’s most important caretakers? Or that Charles Darwin devoted his last years to studying their remarkable achievements?
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I bow down to our benevolent worm overlords
- By Kirstin on 04-17-14
By: Amy Stewart
-
The Hidden Kingdom of Fungi
- Exploring the Microscopic World in Our Forests, Homes, and Bodies
- By: Keith Seifert, Rob Dunn - foreword
- Narrated by: Steven Marriott
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this illuminating account, esteemed career mycologist Keith Seifert reveals the important role that microscopic fungi, including yeasts, molds, and slimes, play in our lives, all while remaining invisible to the naked eye. Divided into sections, each one exploring a different environment where fungi thrive, The Hidden Kingdom of Fungi introduces listeners to the fascinating world of mycology. Seifert urges us to better understand our relationship with fungi—and to plan our future with them in mind—while revealing their world in all its beautiful complexity.
-
-
Learned a lot.
- By BlondeDude on 06-29-22
By: Keith Seifert, and others
-
Delicious
- The Evolution of Flavor and How It Made Us Human
- By: Robert Dunn, Monica Sanchez
- Narrated by: Russell Bentley
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nature, it has been said, invites us to eat by appetite and rewards by flavor. But what exactly are flavors? Why are some so pleasing while others are not? Delicious is a supremely entertaining foray into the heart of such questions. With generous helpings of warmth and wit, Rob Dunn and Monica Sanchez offer bold new perspectives on why food is enjoyable and how the pursuit of delicious flavors has guided the course of human history.
-
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Delicious for the gut and the brain
- By Lucy A. Pithecus on 10-14-22
By: Robert Dunn, and others
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Ayahuasca: Soul Medicine of the Amazon Jungle
- By: Javier Regueiro
- Narrated by: Javier Regueiro
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Javier Regueiro not only provides general information about ayahuasca, but he bridges the cultural gap between the native and the current use of ayahuasca by Westerners. This guide offers background about the plant medicine, its history, and how to engage with and learn through its use. It includes stories of Javier's personal experience of transformation as well as stories from those he's guided in ceremonies.
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Read this if planning on doing Ayahuasca
- By Amazon Customer on 12-21-17
By: Javier Regueiro
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Squid Empire
- The Rise and Fall of the Cephalopods
- By: Danna Staaf
- Narrated by: Emily Durante
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Before there were mammals on land, there were dinosaurs. And before there were fish in the sea, there were cephalopods - the ancestors of modern squid and Earth's first truly substantial animals. Cephalopods became the first creatures to rise from the seafloor, essentially inventing the act of swimming. With dozens of tentacles and formidable shells, they presided over an undersea empire for millions of years. But when fish evolved jaws, the ocean's former top predator became its most delicious snack. Cephalopods had to step up their game.
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Affected and tedious
- By Kate on 07-28-18
By: Danna Staaf
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Our Native Bees
- North America’s Endangered Pollinators and the Fight to Save Them
- By: Paige Embry
- Narrated by: Emily Durante
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Honey bees get all the press, but the fascinating story of North America's native bees - an endangered species essential to our ecosystems and food supplies - is just as crucial. Our Native Bees is the result of Paige Embry's yearlong quest to learn more about these forgotten, yet fundamental, creatures. Through interviews with farmers, gardeners, scientists, and bee experts, Embry explores the importance of native bees and focuses on why they play a key role in gardening and agriculture.
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Meh
- By Kim on 02-27-19
By: Paige Embry
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Gory Details
- By: Erika Engelhaupt
- Narrated by: Mari Weiss
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Filled to the brim with far-out facts, this wickedly informative narrative from the author of National Geographic's popular Gory Details blog takes us on a fascinating journey through an astonishing new reality. Blending humor and journalism in the tradition of Mary Roach, acclaimed science reporter Erika Engelhaupt investigates the gross, strange, and morbid absurdities of our bodies and our universe.
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Entertaining, educational, and unique!
- By Ashlee on 06-27-21
By: Erika Engelhaupt
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A Most Remarkable Creature
- The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey
- By: Jonathan Meiburg
- Narrated by: Jonathan Meiburg
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins