Audio only
The Headache
The Science of a Most Confounding Affliction—and a Search for ReliefBy Tom Zeller Jr.Narrated by George NewbernLength10h 18m
About this audiobook
"Required reading for anyone with a head."—Mary Roach, New York Times bestselling author of Stiff and Fuzz
"Absorbing, incisive. . . Zeller captures the profound human and scientific costs of medicine's neglect of these common conditions that affect millions of people—especially women—and points the way toward a more hopeful future."—Maya Dusenbery, author of Doing Harm
From blinding migraines to severe headache disorders known as “clusters,” chronic head pain affects 40% of the population, many of them suffering in silence. Finally, The Headache reveals the science behind a group of disorders that is as much a curse as a cultural punchline, and leads to key insights into the nature of pain itself.
Guided by his own decades-long struggle with cluster headaches, veteran science journalist Tom Zeller Jr.’s journey into headache science is at once intimate and panoramic. He visits cutting-edge clinics; interviews dozens of doctors, neurologists, and fellow headache patients; participates in clinical trials for multi-million-dollar new medicines; and even experiments with psilocybin in search of relief.
Along the way, Zeller traces the longer arc of mystery around headaches, from prehistoric skull surgery to Virginia Woolf’s assertion that, in the throes of a migraine, “language runs dry,” to reveal how headaches became one of the most under-researched afflictions in medicine—and how that is slowly starting to change.
With warmth, wit, and infectious curiosity, Zeller’s search for the origins of his own headaches becomes a journey into the inner workings of the human nervous system, and an invaluable witness to one of the most maligned conditions known to medicine.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.6 (379)
Includes Goodreads
GenreHealth and Wellness, Biography and Memoir, Science and Nature
Length10 hrs 18 mins
Narrated byGeorge Newbern
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateJul 15, 2025
LanguageEnglish
How to Make Disease DisappearRangan Chatterjee5h 26m4.5 (3.5K)$24 · $0.00
The Complete Herbal (Annotated)Nicholas Culpeper29h 8m4.5 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
A Plague Upon Our HouseScott W. Atlas MD10h 37m4.5 (3.4K)$20 · $0.00
The Cancer CodeDr. Jason Fung10h 48m4.5 (5.3K)$29 · $0.00
The Gift of TherapyIrvin Yalom7h 39m4.5 (38.8K)$26 · $0.00
EarlySarah DiGregorio9h 47m4.5 (1.3K)$29 · $0.00
Bottle of LiesKatherine Eban14h 25m4.4 (12K)$33 · $0.00
The 36-Hour DayNancy L. Mace, Peter V. Rabins17h 13m4.4 (9.2K)$28 · $0.00
FlooredSara Reardon10h 36m4.5 (1K)$29 · $0.00
Radical RemissionKelly A. Turner9h 26m4.4 (8.1K)$29 · $0.00
The Sinatra SolutionStephen T. Sinatra MD9h4.5 (899)$20 · $0.00
The Songaminute ManSimon McDermott6h 12m4.5 (280)$24 · $0.00
Sometimes BrilliantLarry Brilliant12h 27m4.5 (954)$29 · $0.00
Live Your LifeAmanda Kloots, Anna Kloots10h 54m4.4 (13.7K)$29 · $0.00
All in Her HeadElizabeth Comen13h 25m4.4 (18.2K)$33 · $0.00
The Wisdom of Your BodyHillary McBride9h 14m4.4 (6.7K)$29 · $0.00
The Alzheimer's SolutionDean Sherzai, Ayesha Sherzai9h 47m4.4 (1.9K)$29 · $0.00
Rewire Your MindsetBrian Keane6h 49m4.5 (896)$23 · $0.00
Tuning The Human Biofield: Healing With Vibrational MedicineCENTER FOR SOUND THERAPY13h 28m4.4 (2.5K)$35 · $0.00
VaccinatedPaul A. Offit8h 30m4.4 (3.7K)$26 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m4.7 (4.8K)$29 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m4.6 (178K)$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Evidence Not SeenDarlene Deibler Rose11h 11m4.6 (11.9K)$29 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
Will You Love Me?Cathy Glass9h 5m4.6 (9.3K)$29 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m4.7 (343)$20 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m4.6 (10.8K)$24 · $0.00
Finding MeViola Davis9h 15m4.6 (256.4K)$29 · $0.00
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s MarijuanaLaura Stack CSP, MBA9h 57m4.7 (384)$20 · $0.00
Birdie & HarlowTaylor Wolfe7h 50m4.6 (6.5K)$26 · $0.00
The Lives of BrianBrian Johnson9h 45m4.6 (3.5K)$29 · $0.00
I Am The StormJanice Dean9h4.6 (1.5K)$8 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$18 · $0.00
Just as I AmCicely Tyson16h 8m4.6 (99K)$33 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m4.6 (2.6K)$8 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant7h 54m4.6 (16.7K)$26 · $0.00
My Bondage and My Freedom (Annotated)Frederick Douglass15h 30m4.6 (2.4K)$2 · $0.00
Lily's PromiseLily Ebert, Dov Forman8h 54m4.6 (16.1K)$29 · $0.00
CrossroadsKaleb Dahlgren7h 56m4.6 (4.9K)$26 · $0.00
A Brief History of IntelligenceMax S. Bennett12h 18m4.6 (6.6K)$29 · $0.00
The Story of BirdsSteve Brusatte11h 49m4.6 (401)$29 · $0.00
How Stella Learned to TalkChristina Hunger7h4.5 (10.9K)$24 · $0.00
Craig & FredCraig Grossi8h 6m4.5 (9.6K)$26 · $0.00
Celebrating BirdsNatalia Rojas, Ana Maria Martinez6h 47m4.6 (330)$24 · $0.00
Saving JemimaJulie Zickefoose4h 59m4.5 (749)$20 · $0.00
Will's Red CoatTom Ryan8h 23m4.5 (2.3K)$26 · $0.00
Of Time and TurtlesSy Montgomery10h 34m4.5 (5K)$29 · $0.00
Zen and the Art of Saving the PlanetThich Nhat Hanh9h 20m4.5 (3.9K)$29 · $0.00
Bottle of LiesKatherine Eban14h 25m4.4 (12K)$33 · $0.00
IngrainedCallum Robinson8h 10m4.5 (1.1K)$26 · $0.00
The Lion Tracker's Guide To LifeBoyd Varty3h 1m4.4 (4.8K)$18 · $0.00
Born for LoveBruce D. Perry, Maia Szalavitz11h 42m4.4 (4K)$29 · $0.00
The Mountains of California (With Original Drawings & Photographs) (Annotated)John Muir11h 35m4.5 (1.1K)$2 · $0.00
The New GuysMeredith Bagby16h 50m4.4 (1.2K)$40 · $0.00
Blue PasturesMary Oliver3h 23m4.4 (3.8K)$18 · $0.00
The Rise and Reign of the MammalsSteve Brusatte13h 26m4.4 (11.1K)$33 · $0.00
VaccinatedPaul A. Offit8h 30m4.4 (3.7K)$26 · $0.00
The Light EatersZoë Schlanger10h 57m4.4 (22.8K)$29 · $0.00
Where the Lost Dogs GoSusannah Charleson11h 7m4.5 (699)$23 · $0.00
You may also like
The Gift of TherapyIrvin Yalom7h 39m4.5 (38.8K)$26 · $0.00
Republican Like MeKen Stern7h 52m3.9 (1K)$26 · $0.00
Feel It AllCasey Tanner6h 20m4.3 (1.1K)$24 · $0.00
The Core 4Stephanie Gaudreau6h 11m4.3 (553)$24 · $0.00
The Sugar JarYasmine Cheyenne6h 39m4.2 (1.1K)$24 · $0.00
Peace Is Every StepThich Nhat Hanh3h 29m4.4 (63.7K)$14 · $0.00
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck JournalMark Manson1h 21m4.2 (1.6K)$16 · $0.00
The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck (Gujarati)Mark Manson, Jatin Vora7h 29m4.4 (3.8K)$13 · $0.00
The Story of PhilosophyWill Durant19h 28m4.2 (30.3K)$32
Grounded SpiritualityJeff Brown16h 52m4.2 (447)$25
The Tantra ExperienceOSHO16h 18m4.4 (1.4K)$20 · $0.00
Eat to Beat Depression and AnxietyDrew Ramsey6h 28m4.2 (2.1K)$24 · $0.00
The Pathless PathPaul Millerd6h 14m4.2 (8K)$9.99 · $0.00
Hot and UnbotheredYana Tallon-Hicks10h 44m4.5 (600)$29 · $0.00
American BreakdownJennifer Lunden12h 46m4.1 (284)$33 · $0.00
Let Your Life SpeakParker J. Palmer2h 57m4.3 (17.4K)$12
Socrates CaféChristopher Phillips PhD7h 24m3.9 (5.9K)$17 · $0.00
Siddhartha's BrainJames Kingsland10h 38m4.1 (1.7K)$29 · $0.00
How Are You, Really?Jenna Kutcher9h 8m4.1 (5.7K)$29 · $0.00
The Day I Became a RunnerSohini Chattopadhyay13h 28m4.4 (405)$33 · $0.00