Survival of the Sickest
A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Survival of the Sickest
Buy for $17.09
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Eric Conger
About this listen
Survival of the Sickest reveals the answers to these and many other questions as it unravels the amazing connections between evolution, disease, and human health today.
Joining the ranks of modern myth busters, Dr. Sharon Moalem turns our current understanding of illness on its head and challenges us to fundamentally change the way we think about our bodies, our health, and our relationship to just about every other living thing on earth, from plants and animals to insects and bacteria.
Survival of the Sickest is filled with fascinating insights and cutting-edge research, presented in a way that is both accessible and utterly absorbing. This is a book about the interconnectedness of all life on earth and, especially, what that means for us. Listen to it. You're already living it.
©2007 Sharon Moalem (P)2007 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Better Half
- On the Genetic Superiority of Women
- By: Dr. Sharon Moalem MD PhD
- Narrated by: Dr. Sharon Moalem MD PhD
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 46
Here are some facts: Women live longer than men. They have stronger immune systems. They're better at fighting cancer and surviving famine, and even see the world in a wider variety of colors. They are simply stronger than men at every stage of life. Why is this? And why are we taught the opposite? To find out, Dr. Sharon Moalem drew on his own medical experiences - treating premature babies in the neonatal intensive care unit; recruiting the elderly for neurogenetic studies; and more - and tried to understand why in every instance men were consistently less likely to thrive.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
very good
- By Anabelle Cardona on 04-16-22
-
The Beak of the Finch
- A Story of Evolution in Our Time
- By: Jonathan Weiner
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 474
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 381
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 380
Rosemary and Peter Grant and those assisting them have spend 20 years on Daphne Major, an island in the Galapagos, studying natural selection. They recognize each individual bird on the island, when there are 400 at the time of the author's visit or when there are over a thousand. They have observed about 20 generations of finches - continuously.Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating in-depth look at evolution in action
- By Philip on 05-15-11
By: Jonathan Weiner
-
Fast Food Nation
- The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
- By: Eric Schlosser
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,040
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 805
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 804
To a degree both engrossing and alarming, the story of fast food is the story of postwar America. Fast Food Nation is a groundbreaking work of investigation and cultural history that may change the way America thinks about the way it eats.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Uncritical alarmist rant
- By Mark Freeman on 12-23-03
By: Eric Schlosser
-
The Clockwork Universe
- Isaac Newton, The Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World
- By: Edward Dolnick
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,900
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,321
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,333
The Clockwork Universe is the story of a band of men who lived in a world of dirt and disease but pictured a universe that ran like a perfect machine. A meld of history and science, this book is a group portrait of some of the greatest minds who ever lived as they wrestled with natures most sweeping mysteries. The answers they uncovered still hold the key to how we understand the world.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Calculus Ergo Modernity
- By Nelson Alexander on 07-09-11
By: Edward Dolnick
-
Sophie's World
- A Novel About the History of Philosophy
- By: Jostein Gaarder
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 16 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,002
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,578
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,587
One day, 14-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find two notes in her mailbox, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Sophies world
- By Daryl on 10-23-07
By: Jostein Gaarder
-
The Song of the Cell
- An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human
- By: Siddhartha Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 883
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 748
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 742
From the author of The Emperor of All Maladies, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and The Gene, a #1 New York Times bestseller, comes his most spectacular book yet, an exploration of medicine and our radical new ability to manipulate cells. Rich with Mukherjee’s revelatory and exhilarating stories of scientists, doctors, and the patients whose lives may be saved by their work, The Song of the Cell is the third book in this extraordinary writer’s exploration of what it means to be human.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beyond Words Wonderful
- By Lynn on 11-27-22
-
The Better Half
- On the Genetic Superiority of Women
- By: Dr. Sharon Moalem MD PhD
- Narrated by: Dr. Sharon Moalem MD PhD
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 46
Here are some facts: Women live longer than men. They have stronger immune systems. They're better at fighting cancer and surviving famine, and even see the world in a wider variety of colors. They are simply stronger than men at every stage of life. Why is this? And why are we taught the opposite? To find out, Dr. Sharon Moalem drew on his own medical experiences - treating premature babies in the neonatal intensive care unit; recruiting the elderly for neurogenetic studies; and more - and tried to understand why in every instance men were consistently less likely to thrive.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
very good
- By Anabelle Cardona on 04-16-22
-
The Beak of the Finch
- A Story of Evolution in Our Time
- By: Jonathan Weiner
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 474
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 381
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 380
Rosemary and Peter Grant and those assisting them have spend 20 years on Daphne Major, an island in the Galapagos, studying natural selection. They recognize each individual bird on the island, when there are 400 at the time of the author's visit or when there are over a thousand. They have observed about 20 generations of finches - continuously.Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating in-depth look at evolution in action
- By Philip on 05-15-11
By: Jonathan Weiner
-
Fast Food Nation
- The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
- By: Eric Schlosser
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,040
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 805
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 804
To a degree both engrossing and alarming, the story of fast food is the story of postwar America. Fast Food Nation is a groundbreaking work of investigation and cultural history that may change the way America thinks about the way it eats.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Uncritical alarmist rant
- By Mark Freeman on 12-23-03
By: Eric Schlosser
-
The Clockwork Universe
- Isaac Newton, The Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World
- By: Edward Dolnick
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,900
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,321
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,333
The Clockwork Universe is the story of a band of men who lived in a world of dirt and disease but pictured a universe that ran like a perfect machine. A meld of history and science, this book is a group portrait of some of the greatest minds who ever lived as they wrestled with natures most sweeping mysteries. The answers they uncovered still hold the key to how we understand the world.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Calculus Ergo Modernity
- By Nelson Alexander on 07-09-11
By: Edward Dolnick
-
Sophie's World
- A Novel About the History of Philosophy
- By: Jostein Gaarder
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 16 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,002
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,578
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,587
One day, 14-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find two notes in her mailbox, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Sophies world
- By Daryl on 10-23-07
By: Jostein Gaarder
-
The Song of the Cell
- An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human
- By: Siddhartha Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 883
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 748
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 742
From the author of The Emperor of All Maladies, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and The Gene, a #1 New York Times bestseller, comes his most spectacular book yet, an exploration of medicine and our radical new ability to manipulate cells. Rich with Mukherjee’s revelatory and exhilarating stories of scientists, doctors, and the patients whose lives may be saved by their work, The Song of the Cell is the third book in this extraordinary writer’s exploration of what it means to be human.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beyond Words Wonderful
- By Lynn on 11-27-22
-
Into the Wild
- By: Jon Krakauer
- Narrated by: Philip Franklin
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 10,366
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8,345
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 8,346
In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Book that Never Left Me
- By Craig Mitchell on 08-07-07
By: Jon Krakauer
-
Your Inner Fish
- A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body
- By: Neil Shubin
- Narrated by: Marc Cashman
- Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,036
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 773
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 777
To better understand the inner workings of our bodies and to trace the origins of many of today's most common diseases, we have to turn to unexpected sources: worms, flies, and even fish.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Your Inner Fish
- By Mel on 02-03-08
By: Neil Shubin
-
The Gene
- An Intimate History
- By: Siddhartha Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 19 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,928
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,195
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,148
The extraordinary Siddhartha Mukherjee has written a biography of the gene as deft, brilliant, and illuminating as his extraordinarily successful biography of cancer. Weaving science, social history, and personal narrative to tell us the story of one of the most important conceptual breakthroughs of modern times, Mukherjee animates the quest to understand human heredity and its surprising influence on our lives, personalities, identities, fates, and choices.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
It's a Wonderful Book
- By JKC on 06-02-16
-
The Story of the Human Body
- Evolution, Health, and Disease
- By: Daniel E. Lieberman
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,720
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,474
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,474
In this landmark book of popular science, Daniel E. Lieberman - chair of the department of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University and a leader in the field - gives us a lucid and engaging account of how the human body evolved over millions of years, even as it shows how the increasing disparity between the jumble of adaptations in our Stone Age bodies and advancements in the modern world is occasioning this paradox: greater longevity but increased chronic disease.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Could Have Been Good, but...
- By Trebla on 04-08-18
-
Missing Microbes
- How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues
- By: Martin J. Blaser
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 385
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 328
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 330
In Missing Microbes, Dr. Martin J. Blaser invites us into the wilds of the human microbiome, where for hundreds of thousands of years bacterial and human cells have existed in a peaceful symbiosis that is responsible for the health and equilibrium of our body. Now this invisible eden is being irrevocably damaged by some of our most revered medical advances-antibiotics-threatening the extinction of our irreplaceable microbes with terrible health consequences.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very enlightening and information well supported
- By James on 05-03-15
By: Martin J. Blaser
-
The Tipping Point
- How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
- By: Malcolm Gladwell
- Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 22,493
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 17,548
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 17,461
The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
My tipping point…for audio
- By Mod on 04-17-12
By: Malcolm Gladwell
-
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 28,123
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 21,380
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 21,277
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
-
Guns, Germs and Steel
- The Fate of Human Societies
- By: Jared Diamond
- Narrated by: Doug Ordunio
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 12,463
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 10,473
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10,429
Having done field work in New Guinea for more than 30 years, Jared Diamond presents the geographical and ecological factors that have shaped the modern world. From the viewpoint of an evolutionary biologist, he highlights the broadest movements both literal and conceptual on every continent since the Ice Age, and examines societal advances such as writing, religion, government, and technology.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Compelling pre-history and emergent history
- By Doug on 08-25-11
By: Jared Diamond
-
The Selfish Gene
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,955
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,563
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,485
Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it. His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have forced thousands to rethink their beliefs about life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Better than print!
- By J. D. May on 07-31-12
By: Richard Dawkins
-
The Demon Under The Microscope
- By: Thomas Hager
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,496
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,550
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,548
The Nazis discovered it. The Allies won the war with it. It conquered diseases, changed laws, and single-handedly launched the era of antibiotics. This incredible discovery was sulfa, the first antibiotic medication. In The Demon Under the Microscope, Thomas Hager chronicles the dramatic history of the drug that shaped modern medicine.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great Book!!!!!
- By Amazon Customer on 05-21-08
By: Thomas Hager
-
Some Assembly Required
- Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA
- By: Neil Shubin
- Narrated by: Marc Cashman
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 313
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 261
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 261
Over billions of years, ancient fish evolved to walk on land, reptiles transformed into birds that fly, and apelike primates evolved into humans that walk on two legs, talk, and write. For more than a century, paleontologists have traveled the globe to find fossils that show how such changes have happened.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting but thin. ANNOYING narration
- By MSB on 04-10-20
By: Neil Shubin
-
I Contain Multitudes
- The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
- By: Ed Yong
- Narrated by: Charlie Anson
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,853
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,325
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,307
Joining the ranks of popular science classics like The Botany of Desire and The Selfish Gene, a groundbreaking, wondrously informative, and vastly entertaining examination of the most significant revolution in biology since Darwin - a "microbe's-eye view" of the world that reveals a marvelous, radically reconceived picture of life on Earth.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Undoes what you've learned from the headlines
- By Tristan on 10-14-16
By: Ed Yong
Editorial reviews
Learn how wearing sun block could raise your cholesterol and diabetes could protect you from extreme cold. Mutation, genetic transmission, and survival of the fittest form the foundation of evolutionary law, and Sharon Moalem explains how certain genetic disease states might promote continued existence. Narrator Eric Conger's brisk pace keeps the facts coming and the interest level high, but he never sounds hurried or mumbles a word. He doesn't break his rhythm with annoying pauses for quoted material or struggle with the plethora of scientific terms. The combination of an excellent narrator and well-informed writers provides information that brings the inquisitive mind up to date on genetics that apply to our everyday lives.
Critic reviews
"A lively and enthusiastic treatise." (Kirkus Reviews)
Where does Survival of the Sickest rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Top 3.What did you like best about this story?
Educational, but yet given with a delivery of a story.What does Eric Conger bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Passion.Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I just couldn't stop listening.Any additional comments?
I searched for a part two 3 different times just in case I might of missed something! Loved this book! Will listen to it a few more times!I wish this was a series!!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Incredible!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
not a disappointment!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
For Any Interested in Biology
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
wow great intro to DNA
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It is an interesting and educational read!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Quite interesting
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
GREAT!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
What did you love best about Survival of the Sickest?
Very much enjoyed the content and the style of presentation. easy to follow with interesting theories.What does Eric Conger bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
the narration was clear.Wonderful. Fascinating science told like a mystery
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Lots of great biology terms for my students
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.