Audiobooks by Matt Richtel

The How We Grow Up: Understanding Adolescence

Building off his award-winning New York Times series on the contemporary teen mental-health crisis, the Pulitzer Prize–winning science reporter delivers a groundbreaking investigation into adolescence, the pivotal life stage undergoing profound—and often confounding—transformation. The transition from childhood to adulthood is a natural, evolution-honed cycle that now faces radical change and challenge. The adolescent brain, sculpted for this transition over eons of evolution, confronts a modern world that creates so much social pressure as to regularly exceed the capacities of the evolving mind. The problem comes as a bombardment of screen-based information pelts the brain just as adolescence is undergoing a second key change: puberty is hitting earlier. The result is a neurological mismatch between an ultra-potent environment and a still-maturing brain that can lead to anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. It is a crisis that is part of modern life but can only be truly grasped through a broad, grounded lens of the biology of adolescence itself. Through this lens, Richtel shows us how adolescents can understand themselves, and parents and educators can better help. For decades, this transition to adulthood has been defined by hormonal shifts that trigger the onset of puberty. But Richtel takes us where science now understands so much of the action is: the brain. A growing body of research that looks for the first time into budding adult neurobiology explains with untold clarity the emergence of the “social brain,” a craving for peer connection, and how the behaviors that follow pave the way for economic and social survival. This period necessarily involves testing—as the adolescent brain is programmed from birth to take risks and explore themselves and their environment—so that they may be able to thrive as they leave the insulated care of childhood. Richtel, diving deeply into new research and gripping personal stories, offers accessible, scientifically grounded answers to the most pressing questions about generational change. What explains adolescent behaviors, risk-taking, reward-seeking, and the ongoing mental health crisis? How does adolescence shape the future of the species? What is the nature of adolescence itself?

Matt Richtel (Author), TBD (Narrator)

Audiobook

Inspired: Understanding Creativity: A Journey Through Art, Science, and the Soul

'Remarkable. This profound volume informs and inspires.' —PW, STARRED review From the Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times science reporter acclaimed for “bring[ing] scientific concepts to life” (Bill Gates), a pathbreaking new investigation into the mysteries of human creativity How does creativity work? Where does inspiration come from? What are the secrets of our most revered creators? How can we maximize our creative potential? THIS IS THE STORY OF HOW WE CREATE. Creativity defines the human experience. It sparks achievement and innovation in art, science, technology, business, sports, and virtually every activity. It has fueled human progress on a global level, but it equally is the source of profound personal satisfaction for individual creators. And yet the origins of creative inspiration and the methods by which great creators tap into it have long been a source of mystery, spoken of in esoteric terms, our rational understanding shrouded in complex jargon. Until now. Inspired is a book about the science of creativity, distilling an explosion of exciting new research from across the world. Through narrative storytelling, Richtel marries these findings with timeless insight from some of the world’s great creators as he deconstructs the authentic nature of creativity, its biological and evolutionary origins, its deep connection to religion and spirituality, the way it bubbles in each of us, urgent and essential, waiting to be tapped. Many of the questions Richtel addresses are practical: What are the traits of successful creators? Under which conditions does creativity thrive? How can we move past creative blocks? The ultimate message of Inspired is that creativity is more accessible than many might imagine, as necessary, beautiful, and fulfilling as any essential part of human nature.

Matt Richtel (Author), Jonathan Todd Ross (Narrator)

Audiobook

Starke Abwehr - Unser Immunsystem: Ein medizinisches Wunder und seine Grenzen (Ungekürzt)

Ein Krebspatient im Endstadium springt dem Tod von der Schippe, ein HIV-Patient gilt als medizinisches Wunder und zwei Frauen müssen damit leben, dass sich ihr eigener Körper gegen sie wendet. Unser Immunsystem ist unser körpereigenes Verteidigungssystem, der Schlüssel zur unserer Gesundheit - und Entscheider über Leben und Tod. Matt Richtel, Bestsellerautor und Pulitzer Preis-Träger, nimmt uns mit auf eine spannende Reise in die Welt der Wissenschaft und ihrer neusten Erkenntnisse: Wieso erkranken weltweit immer mehr Menschen an Autoimmunerkrankungen? Worin liegt der bahnbrechende Erfolg der Immuntherapie? Was ist das Mikrobiom? Und was passiert, wenn die körpereigene Abwehr nicht mehr funktioniert? Vom Glück, gesund zu sein und vom Kampf gegen tödliche Krankheiten - Matt Richtel schreibt über unser Immunsystem so spannend wie ein Krimi.

Matt Richtel (Author), Sebastian Walch (Narrator)

Audiobook

An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System: A Tale in Four Lives

A magnificently reported and soulfully crafted exploration of the human immune system–the key to health and wellness, life and death. An epic, first-of-its-kind book, entwining leading-edge scientific discovery with the intimate stories of four individual lives, by the Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times journalist. “An Elegant Defense by Matt Richtel is one of those rare nonfiction books that transcends the genre. On one level it is a fascinating and engrossing account of the latest, and quite astonishing, discoveries involving the human immune system and how it works. But it is also a story about people facing mortality, about the passion of scientists searching for truth, and a meditation on death and how all of us struggle with the ultimate mystery. Heartfelt and moving, full of compassion, love, and the human drama, this is the work of a writer of high ethical character who is grappling with big issues and deep humanistic problems. What an inspiring and wonderful read. I highly recommend this extraordinary book.” —DOUGLAS PRESTON, #1 bestselling author of The Lost City of the Monkey God

Matt Richtel (Author), Fred Sanders (Narrator)

Audiobook

Dead on Arrival: A Novel

A mysterious disorder threatens to destroy the world in this high-concept thriller from Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Matt Richtel, which combines medical science, cutting-edge technology, and breathtaking suspense in the vein of Michael Crichton. An airplane lands at a desolate airport in a remote Colorado ski town. On board, Dr. Lyle Martin, a world-class infectious disease specialist, is brusquely awakened to shocking news: everyone not on the plane appears to be dead. A lethal new kind of virus may have surfaced, threatening our survival, and now Martin-one of the most sought after virologists on the planet until his career took a precipitous slide-is at the center of the investigation. The symptoms are the most confounding the experienced doctor has ever seen. Is it the work of terrorists? A biological attack? A natural occurrence? As word of the deadly sickness spreads, panic leads to violence and chaos. Armed and terrified partisans and patriots, stoked by technology and social media, have dug in, unknowingly creating fertile ground for the deadly syndrome Dr. Martin has begun to identify. As the globe begins to unravel and paranoia and hatred take hold, Martin is forced to face a question as terrifying as this syndrome itself: is the world better left unsaved? Moving at a breakneck pace from the labs of the Centers for Disease Control to the secret campus of Google X to the marble halls of the Capitol, Dead on Arrival is a brilliantly imaginative, high-concept thriller that draws on Matt Richtel's years of science and technology reporting for the New York Times, and establishes him as one of the premier technological thriller writers working today.

Matt Richtel (Author), Jonathan Yen (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention

An ordinary Utah college student named Reggie Shaw fatally strikes two rocket scientists while texting and driving. Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Matt Richtel follows Reggie from the moment of the tragedy, through the police investigation, the state's groundbreaking prosecution, and ultimately, Reggie's wrenching admission of responsibility. Richtel parallels Reggie's journey with leading-edge scientific findings regarding human attention and the impact of technology on our brains. Remarkably, today Reggie is a leading advocate who has helped spark a national effort targeting distracted driving, and the arc of his story provides a window through which Richtel pursues actionable solutions to help manage this crisis individually and as a society. A propulsive listen filled with fascinating scientific detail, riveting narrative tension, and rare emotional depth, A Deadly Wandering is an audiobook that can change, and save, lives.

Matt Richtel (Author), Fred Berman (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hooked

From New York Times journalist and syndicated comic stripcreator Matt Richtel, HOOKED is a visionary thriller for the digital era, anda novel about life, love, and high-techintrigue on the Left Coast. Whenmedicaljournalist Nat Idle narrowly survives an explosion in an Internet café after receiving a mysterious note warning him to leave immediately, he becomes enmeshed in the most dangerous assignment of his life. Nat believes that the handwriting on the lifesaving note belongs to his deceased girlfriend, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist he has been obsessively mourning, and so begins a fevered quest to solve the mystery of his lost love.The journey forces himto confront the underbelly of the digital revolution and question his own sanity. Matt Richtel'sfirst novel will leaveyou hooked at the end of every chapter. His thriller about love and other addictions is itself a compulsive reading experience, fueled by adrenaline and suspense and influenced by the pace and attitude of the Internet. It is a tour de force of romance and deception, and ahauntingcommentary on the impact new addictions are having on our lives.

Matt Richtel (Author), Kirby Heyborne (Narrator)

Audiobook