
The Social Genome
The New Science of Nature and Nurture
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
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $13.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Christopher Douyard
-
By:
-
Dalton Conley
About this listen
A pioneering scientist presents a mind-expanding account of the sociogenomics revolution, which promises to upend everything we know about human development.
Sociogenomics brings together advances in molecular genetics and traditional social and behavioral science. The key tool is the polygenic index, which allows us to analyze DNA to measure a child's genetic potential. Today, we can estimate a child's adult height, how far they will go in school, and their weight as an adult—all from a cheek swab, finger prick, or vial of saliva. Dalton Conley and other researchers are using this new science to shed light on the ways in which genes shape our world, influencing how each person both creates and responds to the environment around them. Conley reveals a world where children's DNA influences the nurture they extract from their parents; the genes of our schoolmates affect our likelihood of smoking as much as our own DNA does; and spouses' genes influence each other's moods and behaviors.
The Social Genome presents a nuanced, powerful perspective on individual potential and social dynamics and raises critical ethical questions about how we will navigate a future where we have access to far more genetic information than ever before.
©2025 Dalton Conley (P)2025 Highbridge AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Laws of Medicine
- By: Siddhartha Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Santino Fontana
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brimming with fascinating historical details and modern medical wonders, this important audiobook is a fascinating glimpse into the struggles and "eureka!" moments that people outside of the medical profession rarely see. Written with Dr. Mukherjee's signature eloquence and passionate prose, The Laws of Medicine is a critical book not just for those in the medical profession but for everyone who is moved to better understand how their health and well-being are being treated.
-
-
Insightful, sincere and succinct. Not Mukherjee's best.
- By Saurav on 12-20-15
-
On Democracies and Death Cults
- Israel and the Future of Civilization
- By: Douglas Murray
- Narrated by: Douglas Murray
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Douglas Murray, #1 international bestselling author and renowned cultural commentator, confronts arguably the most pressing question of our time: Why are Western supporters of Palestine unwittingly aligning with an evil empire? The campus left frames the violent hostilities as white colonialists committing genocide. Yet only a third of Israelis are Ashkenazi Jews of European ancestry. Murray argues that the conflict is not a simple tale of oppressor versus oppressed, but a clash between a thriving multi-racial democracy and a death cult bent on its destruction.
-
-
Powerful. Inspiring.
- By Randall Levine on 04-16-25
By: Douglas Murray
-
A Brief History of Intelligence
- Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains
- By: Max S. Bennett
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Equal parts Sapiens, Behave, and Superintelligence, but wholly original in scope, A Brief History of Intelligence offers a paradigm shift for how we understand neuroscience and AI. Artificial intelligence entrepreneur Max Bennett chronicles the five “breakthroughs” in the evolution of human intelligence and reveals what brains of the past can tell us about the AI of tomorrow.
-
-
Flawed fundamental assumptions, good function rvw
- By Duane Leet on 06-01-24
By: Max S. Bennett
-
Erasing History
- By: Jason Stanley
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Combining historical research with an in-depth analysis of our modern political landscape, Erasing History issues a dire warning for America and the world: the worst fascist movements of humanity’s past began in schools; the same place so many of today’s right-wing political parties have trained their most vicious attacks. Yale professor Jason Stanley exposes the true danger of the right’s tactics and traces their inspirations and funding back to some of the most dangerous ideas of human history.
-
-
The bias attitude of the author
- By Elizabeth ohanna on 09-30-24
By: Jason Stanley
-
The Fire Next Time
- By: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Jesse L. Martin
- Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At once a powerful evocation of his early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice to both the individual and the body politic, James Baldwin galvanized the nation in the early days of the civil rights movement with this eloquent manifesto. The Fire Next Time stands as one of the essential works of our literature.
-
-
Sad and moving and powerful and beautiful
- By Darwin8u on 09-17-15
By: James Baldwin
-
The Possibility of Life
- Science, Imagination, and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos
- By: Jaime Green
- Narrated by: Jaime Green
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most powerful questions humans ask about the cosmos is: Are we alone? While the science behind this inquiry is fascinating, it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It is a reflection of our values, our fears, and most importantly, our enduring sense of hope. In The Possibility of Life, acclaimed science journalist Jaime Green traces the history of our understanding, from the days of Galileo and Copernicus to our contemporary quest for exoplanets. Along the way, she interweaves insights from science fiction writers who construct worlds that in turn inspire scientists.
-
-
A dazzling journey into the vast depths of life’s meaning!
- By E. McDermott on 08-11-23
By: Jaime Green
-
The Laws of Medicine
- By: Siddhartha Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Santino Fontana
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brimming with fascinating historical details and modern medical wonders, this important audiobook is a fascinating glimpse into the struggles and "eureka!" moments that people outside of the medical profession rarely see. Written with Dr. Mukherjee's signature eloquence and passionate prose, The Laws of Medicine is a critical book not just for those in the medical profession but for everyone who is moved to better understand how their health and well-being are being treated.
-
-
Insightful, sincere and succinct. Not Mukherjee's best.
- By Saurav on 12-20-15
-
On Democracies and Death Cults
- Israel and the Future of Civilization
- By: Douglas Murray
- Narrated by: Douglas Murray
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Douglas Murray, #1 international bestselling author and renowned cultural commentator, confronts arguably the most pressing question of our time: Why are Western supporters of Palestine unwittingly aligning with an evil empire? The campus left frames the violent hostilities as white colonialists committing genocide. Yet only a third of Israelis are Ashkenazi Jews of European ancestry. Murray argues that the conflict is not a simple tale of oppressor versus oppressed, but a clash between a thriving multi-racial democracy and a death cult bent on its destruction.
-
-
Powerful. Inspiring.
- By Randall Levine on 04-16-25
By: Douglas Murray
-
A Brief History of Intelligence
- Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains
- By: Max S. Bennett
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Equal parts Sapiens, Behave, and Superintelligence, but wholly original in scope, A Brief History of Intelligence offers a paradigm shift for how we understand neuroscience and AI. Artificial intelligence entrepreneur Max Bennett chronicles the five “breakthroughs” in the evolution of human intelligence and reveals what brains of the past can tell us about the AI of tomorrow.
-
-
Flawed fundamental assumptions, good function rvw
- By Duane Leet on 06-01-24
By: Max S. Bennett
-
Erasing History
- By: Jason Stanley
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Combining historical research with an in-depth analysis of our modern political landscape, Erasing History issues a dire warning for America and the world: the worst fascist movements of humanity’s past began in schools; the same place so many of today’s right-wing political parties have trained their most vicious attacks. Yale professor Jason Stanley exposes the true danger of the right’s tactics and traces their inspirations and funding back to some of the most dangerous ideas of human history.
-
-
The bias attitude of the author
- By Elizabeth ohanna on 09-30-24
By: Jason Stanley
-
The Fire Next Time
- By: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Jesse L. Martin
- Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At once a powerful evocation of his early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice to both the individual and the body politic, James Baldwin galvanized the nation in the early days of the civil rights movement with this eloquent manifesto. The Fire Next Time stands as one of the essential works of our literature.
-
-
Sad and moving and powerful and beautiful
- By Darwin8u on 09-17-15
By: James Baldwin
-
The Possibility of Life
- Science, Imagination, and Our Quest for Kinship in the Cosmos
- By: Jaime Green
- Narrated by: Jaime Green
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most powerful questions humans ask about the cosmos is: Are we alone? While the science behind this inquiry is fascinating, it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It is a reflection of our values, our fears, and most importantly, our enduring sense of hope. In The Possibility of Life, acclaimed science journalist Jaime Green traces the history of our understanding, from the days of Galileo and Copernicus to our contemporary quest for exoplanets. Along the way, she interweaves insights from science fiction writers who construct worlds that in turn inspire scientists.
-
-
A dazzling journey into the vast depths of life’s meaning!
- By E. McDermott on 08-11-23
By: Jaime Green
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Stronger
- The Untold Story of Muscle in Our Lives
- By: Michael Joseph Gross
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stronger tells a story of breathtaking scope, from the battlefields of the Trojan War in Homer’s Iliad, where muscles enter the scene of world literature; to the all-but-forgotten Victorian-era gyms on both sides of the Atlantic, where women build strength and muscle by lifting heavy weights; to a retirement home in Boston where a young doctor makes the astonishing discovery that frail ninety-year-olds can experience the same relative gains of strength and muscle as thirty-year-olds if they lift weights.
-
Carbon
- The Book of Life
- By: Paul Hawken
- Narrated by: Peter Coyote
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
I am deeper because of this….
- By Susan C. on 04-23-25
By: Paul Hawken
-
The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire
- Why Our Species Is on the Edge of Extinction
- By: Henry Gee
- Narrated by: Henry Gee
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are living through a period that is unique in human history. For the first time in more than ten thousand years, the rate of human population growth is slowing down. In the middle of this century population growth will stop, and the number of people on Earth will start to decline—fast. In this provocative book, award-winning science writer Henry Gee offers a concise, brilliantly told history of our species—and argues that we are on a rapid one-way trip to extinction.
-
-
Too many facts..no wisdom
- By Anonymous User on 03-30-25
By: Henry Gee
-
Cosmic Bullsh*t
- A Guide to the Galaxy's Worst Life Hacks
- By: Chris Ferrie
- Narrated by: Daniel Henning
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A hilarious guide to what's real (and what's not) in our vast, beautiful (and terrifying) universe.
By: Chris Ferrie
-
Is Anyone Listening?
- What Animals Are Saying to Each Other and to Us
- By: Denise L. Herzing
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you could pose one question to a dolphin, what would it be? And what might a dolphin ask you? For forty years, researcher and author Denise L. Herzing has investigated these and related questions of marine mammal communication. But the dolphins are not the only ones talking, and in this wide-ranging and accessible book, Herzing explores the astonishing realities of interspecies communication, a skill that humans currently lack.
-
The Monastic World
- A 1,200-Year History
- By: Andrew Jotischky
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 15 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the late Roman Empire onwards, monasteries and convents were a common sight throughout Europe. But who were monasteries for? What kind of people founded and maintained them? And how did monasticism change over the thousand years or so of the Middle Ages?
By: Andrew Jotischky
-
Stronger
- The Untold Story of Muscle in Our Lives
- By: Michael Joseph Gross
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stronger tells a story of breathtaking scope, from the battlefields of the Trojan War in Homer’s Iliad, where muscles enter the scene of world literature; to the all-but-forgotten Victorian-era gyms on both sides of the Atlantic, where women build strength and muscle by lifting heavy weights; to a retirement home in Boston where a young doctor makes the astonishing discovery that frail ninety-year-olds can experience the same relative gains of strength and muscle as thirty-year-olds if they lift weights.
-
Carbon
- The Book of Life
- By: Paul Hawken
- Narrated by: Peter Coyote
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
I am deeper because of this….
- By Susan C. on 04-23-25
By: Paul Hawken
-
The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire
- Why Our Species Is on the Edge of Extinction
- By: Henry Gee
- Narrated by: Henry Gee
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are living through a period that is unique in human history. For the first time in more than ten thousand years, the rate of human population growth is slowing down. In the middle of this century population growth will stop, and the number of people on Earth will start to decline—fast. In this provocative book, award-winning science writer Henry Gee offers a concise, brilliantly told history of our species—and argues that we are on a rapid one-way trip to extinction.
-
-
Too many facts..no wisdom
- By Anonymous User on 03-30-25
By: Henry Gee
-
Cosmic Bullsh*t
- A Guide to the Galaxy's Worst Life Hacks
- By: Chris Ferrie
- Narrated by: Daniel Henning
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A hilarious guide to what's real (and what's not) in our vast, beautiful (and terrifying) universe.
By: Chris Ferrie
-
Is Anyone Listening?
- What Animals Are Saying to Each Other and to Us
- By: Denise L. Herzing
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you could pose one question to a dolphin, what would it be? And what might a dolphin ask you? For forty years, researcher and author Denise L. Herzing has investigated these and related questions of marine mammal communication. But the dolphins are not the only ones talking, and in this wide-ranging and accessible book, Herzing explores the astonishing realities of interspecies communication, a skill that humans currently lack.
-
The Monastic World
- A 1,200-Year History
- By: Andrew Jotischky
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 15 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the late Roman Empire onwards, monasteries and convents were a common sight throughout Europe. But who were monasteries for? What kind of people founded and maintained them? And how did monasticism change over the thousand years or so of the Middle Ages?
By: Andrew Jotischky
-
How Come That Idiot's Rich and I'm Not?
- By: Robert Shemin
- Narrated by: Robert Shemin
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In How Come That Idiot's Rich and I'm Not? best-selling author Robert Shemin reveals for the first time the inner-circle secrets of the mega-wealthy. Have you ever wondered why some people attract wealth while others stay financially trapped and in debt? The key is wealth-friendly, upside-down thinking. Stick with all the old moneymaking rules and stay broke. Break them and get rich. This is the audiobook that shows you how.
-
-
Pretty interesting.
- By Mottoman on 07-08-09
By: Robert Shemin
-
The Infrastructure Book
- How Cities Work and Power Our Lives
- By: Sybil Derrible
- Narrated by: Derek Dysart
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Clean water, paved roads, public transit, electricity and gas, sewers, waste processing, telecommunication, even the Internet—all this infrastructure is what makes cities work and powers our lives, often seamlessly and silently. Virtually everything we do and consume depends on infrastructure. Yet, most people have no idea how these systems work. How is water treated? How do cities manage rainwater? Why do traffic jams exist? How is electricity generated and distributed? What happens to trash after it is picked up? How does the Internet work?
-
-
Insightful and engaging!
- By Rishabh on 03-08-25
By: Sybil Derrible
-
The Second Machine Age
- Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies
- By: Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Second Machine Age MIT's Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee—two thinkers at the forefront of their field—reveal the forces driving the reinvention of our lives and our economy. As the full impact of digital technologies is felt, we will realize immense bounty in the form of dazzling personal technology, advanced infrastructure, and near-boundless access to the cultural items that enrich our lives. Amid this bounty will also be wrenching change. Recent economic indicators reflect this shift: fewer people are working, and wages are falling even as productivity and profits soar.
By: Erik Brynjolfsson, and others
-
Alive
- Our Bodies and the Richness and Brevity of Existence
- By: Gabriel Weston
- Narrated by: Gabriel Weston
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does it mean to live in a body? For Gabriel Weston, there was always something missing from the anatomy she was taught at medical school. She’d forged an unconventional path, first studying humanities and getting an entry-level job in publishing, before a spark of inspiration set her on the path to becoming a doctor.
By: Gabriel Weston
-
Kaizen
- The Japanese Secret to Lasting Change; Small Steps to Big Goals
- By: Sarah Harvey
- Narrated by: Shiromi Arserio
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lifestyle changes can be overwhelming: It’s hard to take on major goals without falling prey to self-doubt. But with kaizen, big goals become small, approachable steps. This Japanese method first made waves in the business world by launching Toyota to success; it also adds magic to Marie Kondo’s life-changing method of tidying up. As Kondo puts it: “You can take the first small step toward your dream today, and keep taking small steps to grow your passions.” Now, Sarah Harvey unlocks kaizen’s amazing potential to enhance our everyday lives.
-
-
Reiteration of other peoples thoughts
- By MJ Quay on 05-03-20
By: Sarah Harvey
-
Eight Setbacks That Can Make a Child a Success
- What to Do and What to Say to Turn "Failures" into Character-Building Moments
- By: Michelle Icard
- Narrated by: Michelle Icard
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An invaluable playbook for anxious parents everywhere, Eight Setbacks That Can Make a Child a Success offers specific and unexpected advice about what to say, what not to say, and what to do to help children in eight categories of tense situations.
-
-
Excellent book on dealing with common problems for middle school teenagers
- By Rodrigo Gonzalez on 02-19-24
By: Michelle Icard
-
Attitude
- Vision, Change, Learning, Fear, & Boldness
- By: Adam Ashton, Adam Jones
- Narrated by: Adam Ashton, Adam Jones
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Life is unpredictable and full of things we can’t control. The only thing we can truly have power over is our attitude. We don’t always have a choice in what happens to us, but we always get to choose how we respond.
By: Adam Ashton, and others
-
The Insider's Guide to Innovation @ Microsoft
- By: JoAnn Garbin, Dean Carignan, Eric Horvitz - foreword
- Narrated by: JoAnn Garbin
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Are there innovation truisms that hold from one initiative to the next? Are there strategies that appear again and again in the success stories of businesses as varied as gaming and cloud infrastructure? Are there behaviors common to creative leadership in every role, from research to sales? And if these patterns exist, could they be distilled into teachable practices? These are the questions Dean Carignan and JoAnn Garbin, two senior innovation leaders at Microsoft, set out to answer.
By: JoAnn Garbin, and others
-
Dark Traffic
- The Dangerous Intersection of Technology, Crime, Money, Sex, and Humanity
- By: Noel Thomas, Rob Suggs - contributor
- Narrated by: Noel Thomas
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As co-founder and CEO of Dark Watch, author Noel Thomas has led United States law enforcement and the judicial system into the new battleground, where high-tech data analysis is changing how criminals are caught and prosecuted. Dark Traffic arrives on a new wave of media attention and actions at the federal, state, and local government levels, and informs listeners how they can play a role in identifying and helping stop trafficking that occurs in their own neighborhood. Noel’s story of how he became aware of the issue is proof.
By: Noel Thomas, and others
-
The Genius of Birds
- By: Jennifer Ackerman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ackerman
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birds are astonishingly intelligent creatures. According to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence. In The Genius of Birds, acclaimed author Jennifer Ackerman explores their newly discovered brilliance and how it came about. As she travels around the world to the most cutting-edge frontiers of research, Ackerman not only tells the story of the recently uncovered genius of birds but also delves deeply into the latest findings about the bird brain itself that are shifting our view of what it means to be intelligent.
-
-
Wonderful read and so fascinating
- By Georgia in Denver on 03-23-25
-
Adaptable
- How Your Unique Body Really Works and Why Our Biology Unites Us
- By: Herman Pontzer PhD
- Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adaptable takes us on a tour of the human body. In each chapter, we learn how our bodies navigate an uncertain world: how we grow and mature; how our brains develop and learn; how our hearts, lungs, and digestive systems deliver oxygen and nutrients; how we manage toxins, temperature, and water balance; how we move and reproduce; how our immune system keeps invaders at bay; and how we age and decline. Along the way, we learn how to take care of our remarkable bodies, and that the universe of healthy lifestyles is vast (we don’t need the latest fad diet or cleanse!).
-
-
Surprisingly Engaging
- By user7720393 on 04-11-25
-
Birds, Sex and Beauty
- The Extraordinary Implications of Charles Darwin's Strangest Idea
- By: Matt Ridley
- Narrated by: Matt Ridley
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In all animals, mating is a deal. But few creatures behave as if sex is a simple, even mutually beneficial, transaction. Many more treat it with reverence, suspicion, angst, and violence. In the case of the Black Grouse, the bird at the center of Matt Ridley’s investigation, the males dance and sing for hours a day, for several exhausting months, in an arduous and even deadly ritual called a “lek.” To prepare for the ordeal, they grow, preen and display fancy, twisted, bold-colored feathers. When achieved, consummation with a female takes seconds.
By: Matt Ridley