
The Explorer's Gene
Why We Seek Big Challenges, New Flavors, and the Blank Spots on the Map
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Narrated by:
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Michael David Axtell
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By:
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Alex Hutchinson
About this listen
New York Times-bestselling author of Endure Alex Hutchinson returns with a fresh, provocative investigation into how exploration, uncertainty, and risk shape our behavior and help us find meaning.
Off the beaten path, following unmarked trails, we are wired to explore. More than just a need to get outside, the search for the unknown is a primal urge that has shaped the history of our species and continues to mold our behavior in ways we are only beginning to understand. In fact, the latest neuroscience suggests that exploration in any form—whether it’s trying a new restaurant, changing careers, or deciding to run a marathon—is an essential ingredient of human life. Exploration, it turns out, isn’t merely a hobby—it’s our story.
In this much-anticipated follow-up to his New York Times bestseller Endure, Alex Hutchinson refutes the myth that, in our fully mapped digital world, the age of exploration is dead. Instead, the itch to discover new things persists in all of us, expressed not just on the slopes of Everest but in the ways we work, play, and live. From paddling the lost rivers of the northern Canadian wilderness to the ocean-spanning voyages of the Polynesians to the search for next-generation quantum computers, The Explorer’s Gene combines riveting stories of exploration with cutting-edge insights from behavioral psychology and neuroscience, making a powerful case that our lives are better—more productive, more meaningful, and more fun—when we break our habits and chart a new path.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2025 Alex Hutchinson (P)2025 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
From the bestselling author of Why We Swim comes a mind-expanding exploration of muscle—from our ancient obsession with the ideal human form to the modern science of this amazing and adaptable tissue—that will change the way you think about what moves us through the world.
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Muscle wisdom
- By marksolomon on 04-24-25
By: Bonnie Tsui
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Not Too Late
- The Power of Pushing Limits at Any Age
- By: Gwendolyn Bounds
- Narrated by: Gwendolyn Bounds
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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In her midforties, Gwendolyn Bounds attended a dinner party where someone asked a little girl: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It struck Bounds: In middle age, no one asks you that anymore. So she put the question to herself. The answer set her on an unexpected five-year path of transformation from an unathletic office executive glued to her screens to an age-group medalist and world championship competitor in obstacle course racing—a demanding military-style sport requiring speed, endurance, mobility, and strength.
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Great listen
- By Modoc Bailey on 04-18-25
By: Gwendolyn Bounds
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Natural Born Heroes
- How a Daring Band of Misfits Mastered the Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance
- By: Christopher McDougall
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The best-selling author of Born to Run now travels to the Mediterranean, where he discovers that the secrets of ancient Greek heroes are still alive and well on the island of Crete, and ready to be unleashed in the muscles and minds of casual athletes and aspiring heroes everywhere.
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Excellent!!
- By Brian Flanagan on 05-11-15
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Nine Minds
- Inner Lives on the Spectrum
- By: Daniel Tammet
- Narrated by: Jess Nesling, Mark Meadows
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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A Japanese researcher in psychology sets out to measure loneliness while drawing on her own experience of autism. A quirky boy growing up in 1950s Ottawa sows the seeds of his future Hollywood stardom. In the US, a nonverbal man explores body language, gesture by eloquent gesture, in his mother’s yoga classes. Nine Minds delves into the extraordinary lives of nine neurodivergent men and women from around the globe.
By: Daniel Tammet
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Mindsight
- The New Science of Personal Transformation
- By: Daniel J. Siegel M.D., Daniel Goleman - foreword
- Narrated by: Daniel J. Siegel M.D., Darren Joel
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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A Harvard-trained physician, Dr. Siegel is one of the revolutionary global innovators in the integration of brain science into the practice of psychotherapy. Using case histories from his practice, he shows how, by following the proper steps, nearly everyone can learn how to focus their attention on the internal world of the mind in a way that will literally change the wiring and architecture of their brain.
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i like it
- By David on 04-11-25
By: Daniel J. Siegel M.D., and others
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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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I am deeper because of this….
- By Susan C. on 04-23-25
By: Paul Hawken
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There Is No Place for Us
- Working and Homeless in America
- By: Brian Goldstone
- Narrated by: Dion Graham, Brian Goldstone
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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The working homeless. In a country where hard work and determination are supposed to lead to success, there is something scandalous about this phrase. But skyrocketing rents, low wages, and a lack of tenant rights have produced a startling phenomenon: People with full-time jobs cannot keep a roof over their head, especially in America’s booming cities, where rapid growth is leading to catastrophic displacement. These families are being forced into homelessness not by a failing economy but a thriving one.
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Re gentrification has unintended consequences
- By ALB on 05-03-25
By: Brian Goldstone
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Do Hard Things
- Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness
- By: Steve Magness
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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From beloved performance expert, executive coach, and coauthor of Peak Performance Steve Magness comes a radical rethinking of how we perceive toughness and what it means to achieve our high ambitions in the face of hard things.
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Starts alright, but ends up going nowhere
- By Joseph G. Chernowski on 08-11-22
By: Steve Magness
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Camp
- Life, Leadership, and Why You Never Stop Paddling
- By: Michael D. Eisner, John McPhee
- Narrated by: Michael D. Eisner, Grover Gardner
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Updated and expanded for its 20th anniversary, Camp is former Disney CEO Michael Eisner's coming-of-age story about his time in camp and how the indispensable lessons he learned there continue to influence him in business and in life. Over the years, as a camper and a counselor, Michael Eisner absorbed the life lessons that come from sitting in the stern of a canoe or gathering around a campfire at night. In this deeply personal memoir, he recounts his experiences at one remarkable summer camp and examines how they helped turn him into the man he is today.
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Not worth the time
- By anewone on 04-25-25
By: Michael D. Eisner, and others
What listeners say about The Explorer's Gene
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- C. A. Douglas
- 03-29-25
Explore More!
Loved the research and reporting that went into this book. Hutchinson is a master at weaving amazing story telling with science. This book is very different than his previous work, Endure, but just as interesting and well written.
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- Ron Leezy
- 04-10-25
Useful topic, but boring
I like the topic because Ive never heard it covered before. But the content was incredibly boring. Id rather read cliff notes.
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