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The Second Book of General Ignorance
- Everything You Think You Know Is (Still) Wrong
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
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The Second Book of General Ignorance
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Publisher's summary
Just when you thought that it was safe to start showing off again, John Lloyd and John Mitchinson are back with another busload of mistakes and misunderstandings. Here is a new collection of simple, perfectly obvious questions you'll be quite certain you know the answers to. Whether it's history, science, sports, geography, literature, language, medicine, the classics, or common wisdom, you'll be astonished to discover that everything you thought you knew is still hopelessly wrong.
For example, do you know who made the first airplane flight? How many legs does an octopus have? How much water should you drink every day? What is the chance of tossing a coin and it landing on heads? What happens if you leave a tooth in a glass of Coke overnight? What is house dust mostly made from? What was the first dishwasher built to do? What color are oranges? Who in the world is most likely to kill you?
Whatever your answers to the questions above, you can be sure that everything you think you know is wrong. The Second Book of General Ignorance is a must-have for everyone who knows they don't know everything and an ideal stick with which to beat people who think they do.
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By: John Mitchinson, and others
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How to Invent Everything
- A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler
- By: Ryan North
- Narrated by: Ryan North
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 412
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 349
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 348
What would you do if a time machine hurled you thousands of years into the past...and then broke? How would you survive? With this book as your guide, you'll survive - and thrive - in any period in Earth's history. Best-selling author and time-travel enthusiast Ryan North tells you how to invent all the modern conveniences we take for granted - from first principles. This manual contains all the science, engineering, art, philosophy, facts, and figures required for even the most clueless time traveler to build a civilization from the ground up.
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3 out of 5 stars
-
Get the book
- By Tim McNerney on 11-26-18
By: Ryan North
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Who Ate the First Oyster?
- The Extraordinary People Behind the Greatest Firsts in History
- By: Cody Cassidy
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 359
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 303
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 303
Who wore the first pants? Who painted the first masterpiece? Who first rode the horse? Who invented soap? This madcap adventure across ancient history uses everything from modern genetics to archaeology to uncover the geniuses behind these and other world-changing innovations. With a sharp sense of humor and boundless enthusiasm for the wonders of our ancient ancestors, Who Ate the First Oyster? profiles the perpetrators of the greatest firsts and catastrophes of prehistory.
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2 out of 5 stars
-
It could be better...
- By Alex on 04-06-21
By: Cody Cassidy
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Poisons
- From Hemlock to Botox and the Killer Bean Calabar
- By: Peter Macinnis
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 79
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 72
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 71
A wide-ranging and provocative look - teeming with little-known facts and engaging stories - at a subject of the direst interest. Poisons permeate our world. They are in the environment, the workplace, the home. They are in food, our favorite whiskey, medicine, well water. They have been used to cure disease as well as incapacitate and kill. They smooth wrinkles, block pain, stimulate, and enhance athletic ability. In this entertaining and fact-filled audiobook, science writer Peter Macinnis considers poisons in all their aspects. He recounts stories of the celebrated poisoners in history and literature....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
#MyNonFictionAddiction
- By EinsteinzVice on 11-07-19
By: Peter Macinnis
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The Joy of Sweat
- The Strange Science of Perspiration
- By: Sarah Everts
- Narrated by: Sophie Amoss
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 94
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 80
Sweating may be one of our weirdest biological functions, but it’s also one of our most vital and least understood. In The Joy of Sweat, Sarah Everts delves into its role in the body - and in human history. Everts’ entertaining investigation takes listeners around the world - from Moscow, where she participates in a dating event in which people sniff sweat in search of love, to New Jersey, where companies hire trained armpit sniffers to assess the efficacy of their anti-sweat products. Along the way, Everts traces humanity’s long quest to control sweat.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Quirky topic, but engaging
- By K. Bachelor on 05-02-22
By: Sarah Everts
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Gulp
- Adventures on the Alimentary Canal
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,893
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,438
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Story4 out of 5 stars 3,443
Best-selling author Mary Roach returns with a new adventure to the invisible realm we carry around inside. Roach takes us down the hatch on an unforgettable tour. The alimentary canal is classic Mary Roach terrain: The questions explored in Gulp are as taboo, in their way, as the cadavers in Stiff and every bit as surreal as the universe of zero gravity explored in Packing for Mars. Why is crunchy food so appealing? Why is it so hard to find words for flavors and smells? Why doesn’t the stomach digest itself? How much can you eat before your stomach bursts?
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3 out of 5 stars
-
Funtastic Voyage
- By Mel on 04-05-13
By: Mary Roach
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The Fun Knowledge Encyclopedia
- The Crazy Stories Behind the World's Most Interesting Facts - Trivia Bill's General Knowledge, Volume 1
- By: Bill O'Neill
- Narrated by: Rob Maxwell
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 98
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 97
Are you the trivia buff in your friend group? Maybe you're just always hoping to learn more random facts to keep up your sleeve. Whether you're a regular trivia fanatic or someone looking for a fun audiobook to listen to, this audiobook goes beyond the scope of general knowledge into some of the most interesting facts and intriguing trivia tidbits out there.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
this book is awesome!
- By TinkerMel on 09-27-17
By: Bill O'Neill
-
191 Fascinating World Facts That Will Blow Your Mind and Get You Thinking
- Facts You Need to Know Before You Die
- By: John Waitsburg
- Narrated by: Ross Pipkin
- Length: 1 hr and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 26
In 191 Fascinating World Facts That Will Blow Your Mind and Get You Thinking, you're going to learn about the world's secrets that will help you gain more knowledge. You will be able to use these facts with whomever, whenever, wherever; there's no wrong time to tell these fascinating facts.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Just great!!!
- By straa on 08-08-21
By: John Waitsburg
-
Mother Nature Is Trying to Kill You
- A Lively Tour Through the Dark Side of the Natural World
- By: Dan Riskin
- Narrated by: Dan Riskin
- Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 63
It may be a wonderful world, but as Dan Riskin explains, it's also a dangerous, disturbing, and disgusting one. At every turn, it seems, living things are trying to eat us, poison us, use our bodies as their homes, or have us spread their eggs. In Mother Nature Is Trying to Kill You, Riskin is our guide through the natural world at its most gloriously ruthless. Using the seven deadly sins as a road map, Riskin offers dozens of jaw-dropping examples that illuminate how brutal nature can truly be.
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2 out of 5 stars
-
Just a bunch of random animal behaviors.
- By Goddess on 05-18-23
By: Dan Riskin
-
Surviving the Extremes
- A Doctor's Journey to the Limits of Human Endurance
- By: Kenneth Kamler MD
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
Physiological constraints confine our bodies to less than one-fifth of the earth's surface. Beyond that fraction lie the extremes. What happens when we go to them? Dr. Kenneth Kamler has spent years observing exactly what happens. A vice president of the legendary Explorers Club, he has climbed, dived, sledded, floated, and trekked through some of the most treacherous and remote regions in the world. A consultant for NASA, Yale University, and the National Geographic Society, he has explored undersea caves, crossed the frozen Antarctic wastelands, and more.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent information for understanding our bodies and their limits for survival
- By CAROLYN Kazmann on 05-30-23
-
The Sediments of Time
- My Lifelong Search for the Past
- By: Meave Leakey, Samira Leakey
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
Preeminent paleoanthropologist Meave Leakey brings us along on her remarkable journey to reveal the diversity of our early pre-human ancestors and how past climate change drove their evolution. She offers a fresh account of our past, as recent breakthroughs have allowed new analysis of her team’s fossil findings and vastly expanded our understanding of our ancestors. Meave’s own personal story is replete with drama, from thrilling discoveries on the shores of Lake Turkana to run-ins with armed herders and every manner of wildlife, to raising her children....
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant!
- By tess koffler on 04-07-21
By: Meave Leakey, and others
-
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
- A New History of a Lost World
- By: Steve Brusatte
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,347
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,905
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,885
In this stunning narrative spanning more than 200 million years, Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist who has emerged as one of the foremost stars of the field - discovering 10 new species and leading groundbreaking scientific studies and fieldwork - masterfully tells the complete, surprising, and new history of the dinosaurs, drawing on cutting-edge science to dramatically bring to life their lost world and illuminate their enigmatic origins, spectacular flourishing, astonishing diversity, cataclysmic extinction, and startling living legacy.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
"The Rise of the Scientists Who Study Dinosaurs"
- By Daniel Powell on 09-16-18
By: Steve Brusatte
-
Racing the Clock
- Running Across a Lifetime
- By: Bernd Heinrich
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
Part memoir, part scientific investigation, Racing the Clock is the book biologist and natural historian Bernd Heinrich has been waiting his entire life to write. A dedicated and accomplished marathon (and ultra-marathon) runner who won his first marathon at age 39, Heinrich looks deeply at running, aging, and the body, exploring the unresolved relationship between metabolism, diet, exercise, and age. Why do some bodies age differently than others? How much control do we have over that process, and what effect, if any, does being active have?
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
The creation is not the creator.
- By Pedro Hernandez on 01-06-22
By: Bernd Heinrich
-
The Complete (Short) Guide to Absolutely Everything
- Adventures in Math and Science
- By: Adam Rutherford, Hannah Fry
- Narrated by: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 50
Geneticist Adam Rutherford and mathematician Hannah Fry guide listeners through time and space, through our bodies and brains, showing how emotions shape our view of reality, how our minds tell us lies, and why a mostly bald and curious ape decided to begin poking at the fabric of the universe.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Enthralling facts, great delivery!
- By Skip on 04-11-24
By: Adam Rutherford, and others
-
At Home
- A Short History of Private Life
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,437
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,690
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,674
Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of England where nothing of any great significance has happened since the Romans decamped. Yet one day, he began to consider how very little he knew about the ordinary things of life as he found it in that comfortable home. To remedy this, he formed the idea of journeying about his house from room to room to “write a history of the world without leaving home.”
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Bryson does it again
- By Robert on 10-15-10
By: Bill Bryson
-
A Short History of Nearly Everything
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Richard Matthews
- Length: 18 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 27,617
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 20,951
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 20,847
Bill Bryson has been an enormously popular author both for his travel books and for his books on the English language. Now, this beloved comic genius turns his attention to science. Although he doesn't know anything about the subject (at first), he is eager to learn, and takes information that he gets from the world's leading experts and explains it to us in a way that makes it exciting and relevant.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Only Book I reread imediatley after reading
- By Andrew on 11-09-09
By: Bill Bryson
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,025
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,758
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,767
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.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great Book, Great Narration, But...
- By Henny Button on 09-18-10
By: Sam Kean
-
You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News
- Shocking but Utterly True Facts
- By: Cracked.com
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,198
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,093
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,089
You're going to wish you never got this audiobook. Some facts are too terrifying to teach in school. Unfortunately, Cracked.com is more than happy to fill you in. Think you're going to choose whether or not to buy this book? Scientists say your brain secretly makes all your decisions 10 seconds before you even know what they are.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Buenas fabulas de humor
- By Cynthia on 10-27-14
By: Cracked.com
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Did NASA really spend millions creating a pen that would write in space? Is chocolate poisonous to dogs? Does stress cause gray hair? These questions are a sample of the urban lore investigated in this audiobook, Fact or Fiction: Science Tackles 58 Popular Myths. Drawing from Scientific American’s “Fact or Fiction” and “Strange But True” columns, we’ve selected 58 of the most surprising, fascinating, useful, and just plain wacky topics confronted by our writers over the years.
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funny
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great info
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They just throw the facts too fast
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Many of us learn about the major inventions that shape our world. But we too often overlook the objects we use every day. In The Story Behind, Emily Prokop, creator of the Webby Award nominated podcast, explores the who, how, and huh? of everything from Band-Aids to bubble gum; hypnosis to Hula Hoops; and lullabies to lead pipes. Along the way, she demonstrates how the major events of history - from wars, plagues and revolutions to historic achievements and discoveries - have influenced some of the world’s most pervasive inventions.
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One third of the book is repeated after initial description of subject under “TLDR” ..?
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From memorable disasters such as New Coke, the XFL, and Tiger Woods’ marriage to less-remembered failures such as Yugo, Cop Rock, and Microsoft’s BOB, Worst Ideas Ever revisits history’s biggest blunders. Whether it’s a pop culture failure or a political one, Worst Ideas Ever uncovers the ridiculous stories behind mistakes so huge, you’ll have to constantly remind yourself that they actually happened.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars 2,105
Here at last is a history of England that is designed to entertain as well as inform and that will delight the armchair traveler, the tourist, or just about anyone interested in history. No people have engendered quite so much acclaim or earned so much censure as the English: extolled as the Athenians of modern times, yet hammered for their self-satisfaction and hypocrisy. But their history has been a spectacular one.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Cartoons mentioned in Publisher's Summary omitted
- By Megan G. on 08-27-18
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Lies My Teacher Told Me, 2nd Edition
- By: Dr. James Loewen
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 739
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 629
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 620
In Lies My Teacher Told Me, James W. Loewen brings history alive in all its complexity and ambiguity. Beginning with pre-Columbian history and ranging over characters and events as diverse as Reconstruction, Helen Keller, the first Thanksgiving, the My Lai massacre, 9/11, and the Iraq War, Loewen offers an eye-opening critique of existing textbooks, and a wonderful retelling of American history as it should - and could - be taught to American students.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Brent
- By Brent on 07-23-20
By: Dr. James Loewen
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Lies My Teacher Told Me
- Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
- By: James W. Loewen
- Narrated by: Brian Keeler
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,962
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,224
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,229
This national best seller is an entertaining, informative, and sometimes shocking expose of the way history is taught to American students. Lies My Teacher Told Me won the American Book Award and the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Of course he has an agenda. He wrote a book!
- By Timothy on 09-02-04
By: James W. Loewen
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Lies Across America
- What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong
- By: Dr. James Loewen
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 18 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 82
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 69
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Story5 out of 5 stars 70
Lies Across America is a reality check for anyone who has ever sought to learn about America through the nation's public sites and markers. Entertaining and enlightening, it is destined to change the way American listeners see their country.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent insight into American history
- By Amazon Customer on 02-02-24
By: Dr. James Loewen
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The Lost Continent
- Travels In Small Town America
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: William Roberts
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 916
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 763
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Story4 out of 5 stars 759
Hardly anyone ever leaves Des Moines, Iowa. But Bill Bryson did, and after 10 years in England he decided to go home, to a foreign country. In an ageing Chevrolet Chevette, he drove nearly 14,000 miles through 38 states to compile this hilarious and perceptive state-of-the-nation report on small-town America.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Written by Bryson's evil twin
- By M. S. Cohen on 08-11-14
By: Bill Bryson
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1,000 Random Facts Everyone Should Know
- A Collection of Random Facts Useful for the Bar Trivia Night, Get-Together or as Conversation Starter
- By: Tyler Backhause
- Narrated by: Philip Andrew Hodges
- Length: 3 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4 out of 5 stars 41
Have you ever had that moment when you are in the middle of a conversation and suddenly the room becomes quiet and nobody knows how to move the discussion forward? Of course you do. Haven’t we all? It’s for this reason that I decided to write this book.What better way to break that silence than to throw out some of these facts: Wolves have a serious appetite! They can eat up to twenty pounds of meat in one sitting! The first high heeled shoes were worn by Egyptian butchers to help them walk above the bloodied bodies of animal carcasses.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Fun! But had some flaws.
- By Frances R. on 08-26-18
By: Tyler Backhause
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How to Speak Science
- Gravity, Relativity, and Other Ideas That Were Crazy Until Proven Brilliant
- By: Bruce Benamran, Stephanie Delozier Strobel
- Narrated by: Braden Wright
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 219
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 196
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 192
As smartphones, supercomputers, supercolliders, and AI propel us into an ever more unfamiliar future, How to Speak Science takes us on a rollicking historical tour of the greatest discoveries and ideas that make today's cutting-edge technologies possible. Wanting everyone to be able to "speak" science, YouTube science guru Bruce Benamran explains - as accessibly and wittily as in his acclaimed videos - the fundamental ideas of the physical world: matter, life, the solar system, light, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, special and general relativity, and much more.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wowzers!
- By Ralph Temblador on 02-15-21
By: Bruce Benamran, and others
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Sundown Towns
- A Hidden Dimension of American Racism
- By: James Loewen
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 26 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 227
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 187
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 181
Sundown Towns examines thousands of all-white American towns that were - and still are, in some instances - racially exclusive by design.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Honest Reportage on American Racial's Shame
- By Anonymous User on 12-26-08
By: James Loewen
What listeners say about The Second Book of General Ignorance
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Carina Dar
- 08-07-20
A book to listen to many times
Very entertaining, I have listened to this a couple of times and will probably listen a couple more. It never gets old.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Bonnie Kennedy
- 04-07-21
It's all stuff from QI
I'd hoped it would be some extra or new information, and there is a little extra detail in it, but it's mostly just stuff that was covered in QI. It's interesting and informative, the narration is great, and I enjoyed it, but it's a little redundant.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Douglas Rotchell
- 02-26-22
Excellent time killer!
Have you ever been dragged to the Mall with your party to shop? Then this excellent collection by the Elves makes 1 hour seem like 10 minutes!
My only 2 criticism’s are I wish it was longer as I didn’t want it to end and at an average of 3 minutes a chapter it was difficult to use “end of chapter“ feature on my timer.
I am confident that the Third book in this series will not disappoint.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- 1738
- 02-13-23
The facts were… ok
I love stuff like this, it was interesting but in many sections, I didn’t have much interest. It’s subjective of course.
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