A Walk Around the Block
Stoplight Secrets, Mischievous Squirrels, Manhole Mysteries & Other Stuff You See Every Day (And Know Nothing About)
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A Walk Around the Block
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Narrated by:
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Daniel Henning
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By:
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Spike Carlsen
About this listen
A simple walk around the block set journalist Spike Carlsen, best-selling author of A Splintered History of Wood, off to investigate everything he could about everything we take for granted in our normal life — from manhole covers and recycling bins to bike lanes and stoplights.
In this celebration of the seemingly mundane, Carlsen opens our eyes to the engineering marvels, human stories, and natural wonders right outside our front door. He guides us through the surprising allure of sewers, the intricacies of power plants, the extraordinary path of an everyday letter, and the genius of recycling centers — all the while revealing that this awesome world isn’t just a spectator sport. Engaging as it is endearing, A Walk Around the Block will change the way you see things in your everyday life.
Join Carlsen as he strolls through the trash museum of New York City, explores the quirky world of squirrels, pigeons, and roadkill, and shows us how understanding stoplights, bike lanes, and fine art of walking can add years to our lives. In the end, he brings a sense of wonder into your average walk around the block, wherever you are. Guaranteed.
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- By Louise Schraa on 01-09-21
By: Kurt Kohlstedt, and others
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Happy City
- Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design
- By: Charles Montgomery
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 380
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 340
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 340
After decades of unchecked sprawl, more people than ever are moving back to the city. Dense urban living has been prescribed as a panacea for the environmental and resource crises of our time. But is it better or worse for our happiness? Are subways, sidewalks, and tower dwelling improvements on the car dependence of sprawl?
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great book-terrible narrator
- By Amazon Customer on 02-04-19
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Uncommon Carriers
- By: John McPhee
- Narrated by: John McPhee
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 233
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 167
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 165
From Pulitzer Prize-winner John McPhee, author of The Founding Fish, comes the fascinating story of an often overlooked, yet vitally important part of America. This first-hand account of the transportation sector features evocative portraits of the men and women who deliver our consumer and industrial goods.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A Geologist's Curiosity/Patience and a Poet's Pen
- By Darwin8u on 09-01-14
By: John McPhee
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Rust
- The Longest War
- By: Jonathan Waldman
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 221
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 183
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 184
In Rust journalist Jonathan Waldman travels from Key West, Florida, to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to meet the colorful and often reclusive people concerned with corrosion. He sneaks into an abandoned steelworks with a brave artist and nearly gets kicked out of Can School. Across the Arctic he follows a massive high-tech robot, hunting for rust in the Alaska pipeline.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Almost too geeky for geeks
- By Norman B. Bernstein on 03-26-15
By: Jonathan Waldman
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Visit Sunny Chernobyl
- And Other Adventures in the World's Most Polluted Places
- By: Andrew Blackwell
- Narrated by: Ax Norman
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 91
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 79
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Story4 out of 5 stars 78
For most of us, traveling means visiting the most beautiful places on Earth - Paris, the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon. It’s rare to book a plane ticket to visit the lifeless moonscape of Canada’s oil sand strip mines, or to seek out the Chinese city of Linfen, legendary as the most polluted in the world. But in Visit Sunny Chernobyl, Andrew Blackwell embraces a different kind of travel, taking a jaunt through the most gruesomely polluted places on Earth.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Better than I predicted
- By Paul Luthi on 08-23-13
By: Andrew Blackwell
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The Big Roads
- The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways
- By: Earl Swift
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 172
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 155
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 153
From author Earl Swift comes the surprising history of the U.S. interstate system, a fascinating route through the dreams, discoveries, and protests that shaped these mighty roads.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Lessons from The Big Roads
- By Joshua Kim on 05-06-12
By: Earl Swift
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Windfall
- The Booming Business of Global Warming
- By: McKenzie Funk
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 70
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 59
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Story4 out of 5 stars 59
Global warming's physical impacts can be separated into three broad categories: melt, drought, and deluge. Funk travels to two dozen countries to profile entrepreneurial people who see a potential windfall in each of these forces. The melt is a boon for newly arable, mineral rich regions of the Arctic, such as Greenland - and for the man-made snow trade. Drought creates opportunities for private firefighters working for insurance companies as well as for fund managers backing south Sudanese warlords who control local farmland.
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4 out of 5 stars
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unintended windfalls mixed with obvious perils
- By Andy on 02-09-14
By: McKenzie Funk
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Walkable City
- How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time
- By: Jeff Speck
- Narrated by: Jeff Speck
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 993
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 872
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 863
Jeff Speck has dedicated his career to determining what makes cities thrive. And he has boiled it down to one key factor: walkability. The very idea of a modern metropolis evokes visions of bustling sidewalks, vital mass transit, and a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly urban core. But in the typical American city, the car is still king, and downtown is a place that’s easy to drive to but often not worth arriving at. Making walkability happen is relatively easy and cheap; seeing exactly what needs to be done is the trick.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting topic and thoughtful insight, subpar recording.
- By Andrew Nicks on 05-12-18
By: Jeff Speck
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Train
- Riding the Rails That Created the Modern World - from the Trans-Siberian to the Southwest Chief
- By: Tom Zoellner
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 105
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 92
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 94
Tom Zoellner loves trains with a ferocious passion. In his new audiobook he chronicles the innovation and sociological impact of the railway technology that changed the world, and could very well change it again. From the frigid Trans-Siberian Railroad to the antiquated Indian Railways to the futuristic maglev trains, Zoellner offers a stirring story of man's relationship with trains. Zoellner examines both the mechanics of the rails and their engines and how they helped societies evolve. Not only do trains transport people and goods in an efficient manner, but they also reduce pollution and dependency upon oil.
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4 out of 5 stars
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The world history of trains up to the present
- By matthew on 03-06-14
By: Tom Zoellner
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A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear
- The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (and Some Bears)
- By: Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 603
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 514
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 516
Once upon a time, a group of libertarians got together and hatched the Free Town Project, a plan to take over an American town and completely eliminate its government. In 2004, they set their sights on Grafton, NH, a barely populated settlement with one paved road. When they descended on Grafton, public funding for pretty much everything shrank: the fire department, the library, the schoolhouse. State and federal laws became meek suggestions, scarcely heard in the town's thick wilderness.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Author's Political Biases Shine Through
- By Frank on 12-20-20
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Garbology
- Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash
- By: Edward Humes
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 159
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 134
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 134
The average American produces 102 tons of garbage across a lifetime, and $50 billion in squandered riches are rolled to the curb each year. But our bins are just the starting point for a strange, impressive, mysterious, and costly journey that may also represent the greatest untapped opportunity of the century. In Garbology, Edward Humes investigates trash - what's in it; how much we pay for it; how we manage to create so much of it; and how some families, communities, and even nations are finding a way back from waste to discover a new kind of prosperity.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A phenomenal read & serious eye-opener
- By Andy Feicht on 10-07-18
By: Edward Humes
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Assembling California
- By: John McPhee
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 247
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 208
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 203
At various times in a span of fifteen years, John McPhee made geological field surveys in the company of Eldridge Moores, a tectonicist at the University of California at Davis. The result of these trips is Assembling California, a cross-section in human and geologic time, from Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada through the golden foothills of the Mother Lode and across the Great Central Valley to the wine country of the Coast Ranges, the rock of San Francisco, and the San Andreas family of faults.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Subduction leads to orogeny zones in California
- By Darwin8u on 11-30-13
By: John McPhee
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The Road Taken
- The History and Future of America's Infrastructure
- By: Henry Petroski
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Story4 out of 5 stars 45
Physical infrastructure in the United States is crumbling. The American Society of Civil Engineers has, in its latest report, given American roads and bridges a grade of D and C+, respectively, and has described roughly 65,000 bridges in the United States as 'structurally deficient'. This crisis - and one need look no further than the I-35W bridge collapse in Minnesota to see that it is indeed a crisis - shows little sign of abating short of a massive change in attitude amongst politicians and the American public.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Well put
- By Lawrence on 08-10-17
By: Henry Petroski
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Fire in Paradise
- By: Alastair Gee, Dani Anguiano
- Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 118
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 100
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 98
There is no precedent in postwar American history for the destruction of the town of Paradise, California. On November 8, 2018, the community of 27,000 people was swallowed by the ferocious Camp Fire, which razed virtually every home and killed at least 85 people. Fire in Paradise is a dramatic and moving narrative of the disaster based on hundreds of in-depth interviews with residents, firefighters and police, and scientific experts.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A gripping view of an American tragedy
- By Kalutha on 06-30-20
By: Alastair Gee, and others
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Ingenious
- A True Story of Invention, Automotive Daring, and the Race to Revive America
- By: Jason Fagone
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 34
In 2007, the X Prize Foundation announced that it would give $10 million to anyone who could build a safe, mass-producible car that could travel one hundred miles on the energy equivalent of a gallon of gas. The challenge attracted more than one hundred teams from all over the world, including dozens of amateurs. Many designed their cars entirely from scratch, rejecting decades of thinking about what a car should look like.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels.
- By Shamu from New York on 12-07-13
By: Jason Fagone
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Terrie had made it: She had launched her own public relations company with such clients as Eddie Murphy and Johnnie Cochran. Yet she was in constant pain, waking up in terror, overeating in search of relief. For 30 years she kept on her game face of success, exhausting herself daily to satisfy her clients' needs while neglecting her own. When she finally collapsed, she had no clue what was wrong or if there was a way out.
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Over 50 years after his death, Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970) is celebrated as the greatest rock guitarist of all time. But before he was setting guitars and the world aflame, James Marshall Hendrix was a shy kid in Seattle, plucking at a broken ukulele and in fear of a father who would hit him for playing left-handed. Bringing Jimi’s story to vivid life against the backdrop of mid-century rock, and with a wealth of new information, acclaimed music biographer Philip Norman delivers a captivating and definitive portrait of a musical legend.
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For millennia, humans have used one simple method to solve problems. Whether it's planting crops, building skyscrapers, developing photographs, or designing the first microchip, all creators follow the same steps to engineer progress. But this powerful method, the "engineering method", is an all but hidden process that few of us have heard of—let alone understand—but that influences every aspect of our lives.
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Blends history and technical method explanations
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When Alexander the Great died at the age of 32, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea in the west all the way to modern-day India in the east. In an unusual compromise, his two heirs - a mentally damaged half brother, Philip III, and an infant son, Alexander IV, born after his death - were jointly granted the kingship. But six of Alexander's Macedonian generals, spurred by their own thirst for power and the legend that Alexander bequeathed his rule "to the strongest," fought to gain supremacy.
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ends a bit short
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Killer Cult
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In the hunt for justice, FBI Agent Fallon Baxter unravels the deadliest mysteries. Believe. Obey. Survive. Welcome to Paradise where faith meets fear, and salvation is written in blood. Clean language and heart-stopping twists that keep you glued to the edge of your seat until the very last page. When FBI Agent Fallon Baxter returns to her hometown of Pine Ridge Falls to join the local field office, she expects a fresh start and a chance to mend her broken past. Instead, she’s thrust into the heart of darkness when a string of brutal murders shakes the quiet community. The victims, found ...
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2 out of 5 stars
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This story was pretty hard to follow.
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How to Be Black
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Beyond memoir, this guidebook offers practical advice on everything from "How to Be the Black Friend" to "How to Be the (Next) Black President" to "How to Celebrate Black History Month". This is a humorous, intelligent, and audacious guide that challenges and satirizes the so-called experts, purists, and racists who purport to speak for all Black people. With honest storytelling and biting wit, Baratunde plots a path not just to blackness, but one open to anyone interested in simply "how to be".
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4 out of 5 stars
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Funny yet insightful!
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Code to Joy
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 21
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Story5 out of 5 stars 21
Combining six decades of clinical experience with cutting-edge research, two acclaimed leaders in the field of psychology have developed a revolutionary approach to happiness - one that's accessible and practical enough to apply at home, yet powerful enough to create a profoundly positive transformation in our lives.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Let the healing begin
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By: George Pratt PhD, and others
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The Woman Who Ran Away from Everything
- By: Fiona Gibson
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2
Kate is sick of being taken for granted by her husband Vince. It’s bad enough that she allowed herself to be dragged away from the London life she loved, but now she’s constantly compelled to keep up with the (very smug) Joneses in this small home counties town. She hates it here. What happened to the fun-loving woman she used to be? At almost 50 Kate feels lost, overlooked and like nothing is ever going to change. That is, until she comes home to an unexpected party – one that she has to cater. And that’s it. The final straw. Breaking point.
By: Fiona Gibson
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A Cathedral of Myth and Bone
- Stories
- By: Kat Howard
- Narrated by: Madeleine Lambert
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall1.5 out of 5 stars 2
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Performance2 out of 5 stars 2
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Story3 out of 5 stars 2
Kat Howard has already been called a “remarkable writer” by Neil Gaiman, and her “dark and enticing” (Publishers Weekly) debut novel, Roses and Rot, was beloved by critics and fans alike. Now you can experience her collected shorter works, including two new stories. In these stories, equally as beguiling as her novels, Howard expands into the enchanted territory of myths and saints, as well as Arthurian legend, with a novella set upon a college campus, retelling the story of King Arthur through women’s eyes.
By: Kat Howard
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Atoms and Ashes
- A Global History of Nuclear Disasters
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 104
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 92
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 91
Atoms and Ashes recounts the dramatic history of nuclear accidents that have dogged the industry in its military and civil incarnations since the 1950s. Through the stories of six terrifying major incidents—Bikini Atoll, Kyshtym, Windscale, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima—Cold War expert Serhii Plokhy explores the risks of nuclear power, both for military and peaceful purposes, while offering a vivid account of how individuals and governments make decisions under extraordinary circumstances.
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3 out of 5 stars
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This was a pretty sensational and biased book.
- By J. Seawright on 06-11-22
By: Serhii Plokhy
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Sisters in Law
- How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World
- By: Linda Hirshman
- Narrated by: Andrea Gallo
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 581
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 527
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 524
The author of the celebrated Victory tells the fascinating story of the intertwined lives of Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first and second women to serve as Supreme Court justices.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Insightful and thought-provoking
- By Jean on 09-08-15
By: Linda Hirshman
What listeners say about A Walk Around the Block
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
- Amazon Customer
- 03-13-24
it was just fun
interesting and easy to pick up or to come back to later infotainment for any age , get it !!
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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
- W. Smeglin
- 01-15-22
Eye opening book!
Spike Carlson will focus in on everyday life events you never care to think about or look at before. I thought his book was very interesting and I learned many fun facts from him. I have know started to think about what else has been passing me by and what everyday items I should learn more about. Will read again thanks Spike!
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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
- Alex Fuller
- 01-30-24
Endlessly fascinating
If you are someone who often finds themselves thinking about the infrastructure around you, then you won’t regret listening to this book. Well read and never dull.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 05-30-24
Interesting
I was initially interested in this discovery of the meaning of stuff in our daily meanderings. It IS interesting, but gets lost in the weeds so my interest waned. I would still recommend the book.
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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
- Dot the Spot
- 08-19-23
Wonderful and informative
I really enjoyed looking at things around us through his eyes. He did his homework! It helped me understand and appreciate the people that help in our daily lives that we might not see.
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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
- Chris
- 10-24-20
Great look at the infrastructure under, above and all around us.
This is a great insight into The things you see around you every day and depend on to live a comfortable modern life but often take for granted
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2 people 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
- Amazon Customer
- 05-06-23
Variety Of So Many Every Day Topics
A Great Variety Of So Many Every Day Topics
Local Author - He was highlighted in local book stores :)
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Tracy
- 02-13-24
Interesting Read
Interesting Reading learned quite a bit, though I did not appreciate the language at times, evolution as fact and pandemic talk at the end.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- KellysHero718
- 08-13-23
Dull, Uninspired
Could have been interesting and entertaining, but it was a chore from the beginning and it only got worse. Tedious.
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