{"product_id":"book-hcrb","title":"Most Delicious Poison","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn evolutionary biologist tells the story of nature’s toxins and why we are attracted—and addicted—to them, in this “magisterial, fascinating, and gripping tour de force” (Neil Shubin).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA deadly secret lurks within our spice racks, medicine cabinets, backyard gardens, and private stashes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eScratch beneath the surface of a coffee bean, a red pepper flake, a poppy seed, a mold spore, a foxglove leaf, a magic-mushroom cap, a marijuana bud, or an apple seed, and we find a bevy of strange chemicals. We use these to greet our days (caffeine), titillate our tongues (capsaicin), recover from surgery (opioids), cure infections (penicillin), mend our hearts (digoxin), bend our minds (psilocybin), calm our nerves (CBD), and even kill our enemies (cyanide). But why do plants and fungi produce such chemicals? And how did we come to use and abuse some of them?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBased on cutting-edge science in the fields of evolution, chemistry, and neuroscience, \u003ci\u003eMost Delicious Poison\u003c\/i\u003e reveals:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe origins of toxins produced by plants, mushrooms, microbes, and even some animals\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe mechanisms that animals evolved to overcome them\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHow a co-evolutionary arms race made its way into the human experience\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAnd much more\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis perpetual chemical war not only drove the diversification of life on Earth, but also is intimately tied to our own successes and failures. You will never look at a houseplant, mushroom, fruit, vegetable, or even the past five hundred years of human history the same way again.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Brilliance Audio","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49351973404976,"sku":"BDhcrb","price":42.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio CD [10]","offer_id":49351973437744,"sku":"10hcrb","price":38.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/hcrb-Square-cover.jpg?v=1773849370","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-hcrb","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}