Audiobooks by Matt Richtel

The How We Grow Up: Understanding Adolescence

"'This is essential reading for parents.' — Dr. Vivek Murthy, former U.S. Surgeon General Greatly expanding his award-winning New York Times series on the contemporary teen mental-health crisis, Pulitzer Prize–winning science reporter Matt Richtel delivers a groundbreaking investigation into adolescence, the pivotal life stage undergoing profound—and often confounding—transformation. One of The New Yorker's Best Books of 2025 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), Joe Knezevich (Narrator)

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

"The New York Times's Pulitzer Prize-winning science reporter ''unpacks the myths and mysteries of the creative process'' (Salon). 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? 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. Porchlight Business Book Award Winner (Innovation & Creativity)"

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

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[German] - 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)

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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)

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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)

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

"From Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Matt Richtel, a brilliant, narrative-driven exploration of technology’s vast influence on the human mind and society, dramatically-told through the lens of a tragic “texting-while-driving” car crash that claimed the lives of two rocket scientists in 2006. In this ambitious, compelling, and beautifully written book, Matt Richtel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the New York Times, examines the impact of technology on our lives through the story of Utah college student Reggie Shaw, who killed two scientists while texting and driving. Richtel follows Reggie through the tragedy, the police investigation, his prosecution, and ultimately, his redemption. In the wake of his experience, Reggie has become a leading advocate against “distracted driving.” Richtel interweaves Reggie’s story with cutting-edge scientific findings regarding human attention and the impact of technology on our brains, proposing solid, practical, and actionable solutions to help manage this crisis individually and as a society. A propulsive read filled with fascinating, accessible detail, riveting narrative tension, and emotional depth, A Deadly Wandering explores one of the biggest questions of our time—what is all of our technology doing to us?—and provides unsettling and important answers and information we all need."

Matt Richtel (Author), Fred Berman (Narrator)

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Hooked: A Thriller About Love and Other Addictions

"Nat Idle, a San Francisco writer with a medical degree, narrowly survives an explosion in an Internet cafe after a stranger hands him a note warning him to exit immediately. The handwriting on the note belongs to his deceased girlfriend, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist whom he has obsessively been mourning. So begins Hooked, a pop thriller for the Internet Age, written with the force of an adrenaline rush and the pace of an intimate email dispatch you can't stop reading. Each chapter of this novel will keep readers hooked as Nat Idle searches for the love of his life in the midst of manipulation and conspiracy."

Matt Richtel (Author), Jason Singer (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks by Matt Richtel

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