
Close to Home
The Wonders of Nature Just Outside Your Door
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Narrated by:
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Stacy Carolan
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By:
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Thor Hanson
About this listen
An award-winning natural-history writer opens the door to the nature that thrives in our yards, gardens, and parks
We all live on nature’s doorstep, but we often overlook it. From backyards to local parks, the natural places we see the most may well be the ones we know the least.
In Close to Home, biologist Thor Hanson shows how retraining our eyes reveals hidden wonders just waiting to be discovered. In Kansas City, migrating monarch butterflies flock to the local zoo. In the Pacific Northwest, fierce yellowjackets placidly sip honeydew, unseen in the treetops. In New England, a lawn gone slightly wild hosts a naturalist's life's work. And in the soil beneath our feet, remedies for everything from breast cancer to the stench of skunks lie waiting for someone’s searching shovel.
Close to Home is a hands-on natural history for any local patch of Earth. It shows that we each can contribute to science and improve the health of our planet. And even more, it proves that the wonders of nature don’t lie in some far-off land: they await us, close to home.
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Critic reviews
"Thor Hanson has done it again! In this surprising, upbeat, and exciting book, we learn that not only everyday wonders, but actual scientific discovery awaits us Close To Home. The perfect mix of science and story, told by a master of both. I loved it!"—Sy Montgomery, author of Soul of an Octopus
"Thor Hanson’s Close to Home, written with classic Hanson prose and enthusiasm, is as addictive as it is entertaining. Hanson teaches the value of looking high and low, near and far, at the fascinating natural systems we have never noticed right in our yards. And, very much to my liking, he tells us how to enhance those systems with minor tweaks to our landscapes. Thor Hanson has forced me to use the dreaded cliche: I couldn’t put it down!"—Doug Tallamy, author of Nature's Best Hope
“Thor Hanson’s Close to Home invites us to step into the ordinary and discover the extraordinary. From natural science experiments to the search for new species, Hanson reminds us that awe and wonder are as close as our own backyard. With Hanson as our guide, a walk around the block becomes an opportunity to explore, to conserve, to ask questions, and to broaden our horizons.”—Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist
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Story
As humans, we think in stories—stories that allow us to feel and share emotions. In order for this phenomenon to work, our brains and the ways in which we tell stories must be attuned to each other. But how exactly does this happen? Tapping into the essence of thinking in stories, Fritz Breithaupt draws on the latest scientific research, including a retelling study (comparable to the telephone game) with more than 12,000 participants, and experiments in which ChatGPT functions as storyteller.
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The Widows' Guide to Murder
- The Widows' Detective Club, Book 1
- By: Amanda Ashby
- Narrated by: Diana Croft
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Ginny Cole doesn’t want to be a widow. She’d rather not be forcibly adopted by an opinionated black cat. And she’d give anything not to have just found the murdered body of her rude and dislikeable new boss… So she’s as surprised as anyone to realise that she doesn’t hate being on the wrong side of the law, searching a graveyard for evidence in the company of three fellow widows, and doing a whole host of un-Ginny-like things in order to solve a fiendish mystery.
By: Amanda Ashby
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Air-Borne
- The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe
- By: Carl Zimmer
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Length: 15 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Every day we draw in two thousand gallons of air—and thousands of living things. From the ground to the stratosphere, the air teems with invisible life. This last great biological frontier remains so mysterious that it took over two years for scientists to finally agree that the COVID pandemic was caused by an airborne virus. In Air-Borne, award-winning New York Times columnist and author Carl Zimmer leads us on an odyssey through the living atmosphere and through the history of its discovery.
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Very clarifying look at how messy science can be
- By webtraverser on 03-04-25
By: Carl Zimmer
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Your Unconscious Is Showing
- Take Control of Your Life with the 12 Steps of Consciousness
- By: Dr. Courtney Tracy
- Narrated by: Dr. Courtney Tracy
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Half psychology textbook written by your best friend (who’s also a therapist), half comprehensive guide brimming with actionable insights for engaging with our unconscious positively and productively, Your Unconscious Is Showing is here to help us accept what we can’t control, courageously change what we can, and wisely know the difference.
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The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire
- Why Our Species Is on the Edge of Extinction
- By: Henry Gee
- Narrated by: Henry Gee
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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We are living through a period that is unique in human history. For the first time in more than ten thousand years, the rate of human population growth is slowing down. In the middle of this century population growth will stop, and the number of people on Earth will start to decline—fast. In this provocative book, award-winning science writer Henry Gee offers a concise, brilliantly told history of our species—and argues that we are on a rapid one-way trip to extinction.
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Too many facts..no wisdom
- By Anonymous User on 03-30-25
By: Henry Gee
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The Better Friend
- 12 Truths to Shift from Shallow and One-Sided Connections to Vibrant Friendships
- By: Grace Valentine
- Narrated by: Grace Valentine
- Length: 4 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Women crave true, vibrant friendships yet so often feel we have to resort to one-sided relationships, shallow conversations, and cliques riddled with comparison and resentment. After years of coaching women and finding community after starting over in a new city, author and podcaster Grace Valentine offers heartening truths and practical insights for finding good friends and being a good friend.
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THE WHOLE THING!
- By Anonymous User on 05-13-25
By: Grace Valentine
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Carbon
- The Book of Life
- By: Paul Hawken
- Narrated by: Peter Coyote
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Carbon is the only element that animates the entirety of the living world. Though comprising a tiny fraction of Earth’s composition, our planet is lifeless without it. Yet it is maligned as the driver of climate change, scorned as an errant element blamed for the possible demise of civilization. Here, Paul Hawken looks at the flow of life through the lens of carbon. Embracing a panoramic view of carbon’s omnipresence, he explores how this ubiquitous and essential element extends into every aperture of existence and shapes the entire fabric of life.
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Fascinating and inspiring
- By Lisa on 06-09-25
By: Paul Hawken
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The Last Manager
- How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball
- By: John W. Miller
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Long before the Moneyball Era, the Earl of Baltimore reigned over baseball. History’s feistiest and most colorful manager, Earl Weaver transformed the sport by collecting and analyzing data in visionary ways, ultimately winning more games than anybody else during his time running the Orioles from 1968 to 1982. When Weaver was hired by the Orioles, managers were still seen as coaches and inspirational leaders, more teachers of the game than strategists. Weaver invented new ways of building baseball teams, prioritizing on-base average, elite defense, and strike throwing.
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THE EARL OF BALTIMORE... ALWAYS A TREAT!
- By USA VETERAN on 03-21-25
By: John W. Miller