Lesser Beasts
A Snout-to-Tail History of the Humble Pig
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Narrated by:
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Joe Barrett
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By:
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Mark Essig
About this listen
Unlike other barnyard animals, which pull plows, give eggs or milk, or grow wool, a pig produces only one thing: meat. Incredibly efficient at converting almost any organic matter into nourishing, delectable protein, swine are nothing short of a gastronomic godsend - yet their flesh is banned in many cultures, and the animals themselves are maligned as filthy, lazy brutes.
As historian Mark Essig reveals in Lesser Beasts, swine have such a bad reputation for precisely the same reasons they are so valuable as a source of food: they are intelligent, self-sufficient, and omnivorous. What's more, he argues, we ignore our historic partnership with these astonishing animals at our peril. Tracing the interplay of pig biology and human culture from Neolithic villages 10,000 years ago to modern industrial farms, Essig blends culinary and natural history to demonstrate the vast importance of the pig and the tragedy of its modern treatment at the hands of humans. Pork, Essig explains, has long been a staple of the human diet, prized in societies from Ancient Rome to dynastic China to the contemporary American South. Yet pigs' ability to track down and eat a wide range of substances (some of them distinctly unpalatable to humans) and convert them into edible meat has also led people throughout history to demonize the entire species as craven and unclean. Today's unconscionable system of factory farming, Essig explains, is only the latest instance of humans taking pigs for granted, and the most recent evidence of how both pigs and people suffer when our symbiotic relationship falls out of balance.
An expansive, illuminating history of one of our most vital yet unsung food animals, Lesser Beasts turns a spotlight on the humble creature that, perhaps more than any other, has been a mainstay of civilization since its very beginnings - whether we like it or not.
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Excellent histgory and ecology
- By Eugene Gallagher on 09-26-20
By: William Cronon
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1493
- Uncovering the New World Columbus Created
- By: Charles C. Mann
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 17 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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More than 200 million years ago, geological forces split apart the continents. Isolated from each other, the two halves of the world developed radically different suites of plants and animals. When Christopher Columbus set foot in the Americas, he ended that separation at a stroke. Driven by the economic goal of establishing trade with China, he accidentally set off an ecological convulsion as European vessels carried thousands of species to new homes across the oceans.
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Fascinating Mindbending History.
- By Betsy Powel on 12-19-11
By: Charles C. Mann
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Against the Grain
- A Deep History of the Earliest States
- By: James C. Scott
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Why did humans abandon hunting and gathering for sedentary communities dependent on livestock and cereal grains and governed by precursors of today's states? Most people believe that plant and animal domestication allowed humans, finally, to settle down and form agricultural villages, towns, and states, which made possible civilization, law, public order, and a presumably secure way of living. But archaeological and historical evidence challenges this narrative.
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World without Women
- By Paul Richards on 04-28-18
By: James C. Scott
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The Rational Optimist
- How Prosperity Evolves
- By: Matt Ridley
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Life is getting better at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down all across the globe. Though the world is far from perfect, necessities and luxuries alike are getting cheaper; population growth is slowing; Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people's lives as never before.
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Personal
- By Robert F. Jones on 09-15-17
By: Matt Ridley
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Clash of Cultures
- Prehistory-1638
- By: Christopher Collier, James Lincoln Collier
- Narrated by: Jim Manchester
- Length: 1 hr and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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History is dramatic - and the renowned, award-winning authors Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier demonstrate this in this compelling series aimed at young listeners. Covering American history from the founding of Jamestown through the present day, these volumes explore far beyond the dates and events of a historical chronicle to present a moving illumination of the ideas, opinions, attitudes and tribulations that led to the birth of this great nation.
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good context
- By MonicaB on 03-03-20
By: Christopher Collier, and others
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Bison and People on the North American Great Plains
- A Deep Environmental History
- By: Geoff Cunfer, Bill Waiser
- Narrated by: Chuck Buell
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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This audiobook explores the deep past and examines the latest knowledge on bison anatomy and physiology, how bison responded to climate change (especially drought), and early bison hunters and pre-contact trade. It also focuses on the era of European contact, in particular the arrival of the horse, and some of the first known instances of over-hunting. By the 19th century, bison reached a "tipping point" as a result of new tanning practices, an early attempt at protective legislation, and ventures to introducing cattle as a replacement stock.
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Buffalo Gone Baby Gone
- By Jim on 03-24-18
By: Geoff Cunfer, and others
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Monster of God
- By: David Quammen
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 16 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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For millennia, lions, tigers, and their man-eating kin have kept our dark, scary forests dark and scary, and their predatory majesty has been the stuff of folklore. But by the year 2150 big predators may only exist on the other side of glass barriers and chain-link fences. Their gradual disappearance is changing the very nature of our existence. We no longer occupy an intermediate position on the food chain; instead we survey it invulnerably from above - so far above that we are in danger of forgetting that we even belong to an ecosystem.
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Great book, shame about the performance
- By Shirzy on 05-23-18
By: David Quammen
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Ramp Hollow
- The Ordeal of Appalachia
- By: Steven Stoll
- Narrated by: Brian Sutherland
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Appalachia - among the most storied and yet least understood regions in America - has long been associated with poverty and backwardness. But how did this image arise, and what exactly does it mean? In Ramp Hollow, Steven Stoll launches an original investigation into the history of Appalachia and its place in US history, with a special emphasis on how generations of its inhabitants lived, worked, survived, and depended on natural resources held in common.
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Almost unlistenable
- By Golf Fan on 09-13-18
By: Steven Stoll
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The Triumph of Seeds
- How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses & Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History
- By: Thor Hanson
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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We live in a world of seeds. From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, they are quite literally the stuff and staff of life, supporting diets, economies, and civilizations around the globe. Just as the search for nutmeg and the humble peppercorn drove the Age of Discovery, so did coffee beans help fuel the Enlightenment and cottonseed help spark the Industrial Revolution. And from the fall of Rome to the Arab Spring, the fate of nations continues to hinge on the seeds of a Middle Eastern grass known as wheat.
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Delightfully simplistic!
- By Adrian on 03-30-16
By: Thor Hanson
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Mycophilia
- Revelations From the Weird World of Mushrooms
- By: Eugenia Bone
- Narrated by: Aimee Jolson
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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In Mycophilia, accomplished food writer and cookbook author Eugenia Bone examines the role of fungi as exotic delicacy, curative, poison, and hallucinogen, and ultimately discovers that a greater understanding of fungi is key to facing many challenges of the 21st century.
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Absolutely awful, insufferable, racist author
- By Rs 🦇 on 11-25-19
By: Eugenia Bone
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Animal, Vegetable, Junk
- A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal
- By: Mark Bittman
- Narrated by: Mark Bittman
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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The story of humankind is usually told as one of technological innovation and economic influence—of arrowheads and atomic bombs, settlers and stock markets. But behind it all, there is an even more fundamental driver: Food. In Animal, Vegetable, Junk, trusted food authority Mark Bittman offers a panoramic view of how the frenzy for food has driven human history to some of its most catastrophic moments.
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Mostly Junk
- By Daniel Ducat on 05-22-21
By: Mark Bittman
What listeners say about Lesser Beasts
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Colin B.
- 09-26-16
My first microhistory book - and loved it!
A really great listen. I bought the book on a whim and loved every chapter of it. Also loved the folksy accent of the narrator! Definitely would recommend to my friends!
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- Anne
- 04-28-23
Totally Great
I love single subject histories. I would recommend this book just as much as the book salt. I’ve listen to it three times because there’s so much information and I enjoyed how it’s narrated.
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- Jean
- 12-25-16
Entertaining
The dog and pig domesticated themselves. In the distant past, wild pigs came into early human settlements and stayed. Pre-Christian European societies loved the pig. Move into the desert areas and the pig was shunned. In England there were penalties for destroying oak trees as acorns made the best pig food.
What I found most interesting was the early European explorers would drop a boar and sow on an uninhabited island to make it into a future food supply stop. The Spanish conquistadores introduced pigs to South American. Essig claims it was the pig that allowed China to feed its massive population.
Essig not only covers the history of the pig but the anatomy, physiology, factory farming and the culinary arts of the pig. The book is well written and research. It provides all you would ever want to know about the pig in an entertaining and educational manner. Essig also reviews the religious views of the pig throughout history. I know that Winston Churchill is the most quoted person in the world, but I never expected to find a quote from him in a book like this. The quote is “A dog looks up to you, a cat looks down at you, but the pig looks you in the eye and treats you like an equal.” This book was a delight to read.
Joe Barrett does a good job narrating the book. Barrett is an actor and award winning audiobook narrator.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Leslie W. Stewart III
- 09-12-16
Facts and more Facts
I never thought a pig, aka, swine could be so interesting. Besides the horrible way pics and all animals of slaughter are brought to market the history of pigdom was extremely informative.
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- Mandy
- 10-13-17
Well done, but...
Great writing, and excellent narration, but I may have over estimated how interesting knowing EVERYTHING about the pig would be.
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- Anika Page
- 12-08-16
Book is great, reader is not.
If you could sum up Lesser Beasts in three words, what would they be?
Emphysema Reads a Cookbook.
Who was your favorite character and why?
The Humble Pig! I loved the descriptions of ways of cooking, and the history. Quotes of real medieval and ancient texts are excellent.
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Joe Barrett?
Someone who could breathe without difficulty. Anyone who could breathe without difficulty. I don't like hearing the constant desperate gasps for breath. It's unsettling.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Very clever, although I would have appreciated more stories about worldwide pigs, and less stories about Jews, Christians and Muslims, who I don't have much experience with, and don't interest me. Pigs are popular in more than just Europe and the North American continent.
Any additional comments?
If you can get over the awful constant pants for breath, it's a great story.
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- S. Yates
- 08-05-17
Fascinating look at the pig
What about Joe Barrett’s performance did you like?
It took some getting used to, but his unique and wry voice did the book justice and his accents and occasional characters (when quoting primary sources or literature discussing pigs) were wonderful.
Any additional comments?
Perfect blend of history and culture, evolution and culinary delight, class and society. I'll never look at bacon quite the same way. The author brings plenty of seriousness and rigor when explaining grave topics (from the current inhumane industrial pig productions to the role of pork consumption in religious persecution), but the general tone of the book is light and amusing. A great popular science/popular history book about the ubiquitous pig, and enough information to make any empathetic reader think twice before just buying the cheapest pork possible.
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1 person found this helpful
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- J. Pat Rick
- 11-19-16
Yes, it is a book about pigs
yes I can't believe I just listen to a book about pigs. but I will tell you I learned more than I thought I would and it was interesting enough to keep me listening for many hours. it is surprising at how influential the pig has been on history.
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- Troy Hallewell
- 01-11-17
Great information! Will recommend!
Great information! Will recommend to anyone interested in food production or pigs in general. Enjoyed highly!
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- Peter Dipaola III
- 06-23-15
Good micro history
If you like micro histories like Steven Rinella's American bison then you'll love this one.
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14 people found this helpful