Earth's Great Extinctions

by Rachel Phillips, The Great Courses

Approximately 66 million years ago, an asteroid struck the Earth, triggering a chain of events that would end the reign of the dinosaurs and usher in the age of mammals. Despite its colossal scale, this incident was not the only event of its kind—in fact, it wasn’t even the first. Rather, it’s only the most recent mass extinction our planet has witnessed across its 4-billion-year lifespan. In the last 500 million years alone, the Earth has experienced five major extinction events, each of which dramatically altered the planet and left a trail of fascinating geological evidence for us to uncover.

In the six lectures of Earth’s Great Extinctions, geologist Rachel Phillips digs deep into these mass extinction events, known as the “Big Five,” utilizing the fossil record to explore what caused them, how life recovered after each one, and what they can teach us about modern climate change and extinctions. From the ice age of the Ordovician period to the “Great Dying” of the Permian extinction to the climate catastrophe that ended the dinosaurs, you’ll explore the many factors that led to these events and what they can tell us about Earth in both the past and the present.

There is a growing scientific consensus that we are in the early stages of a sixth mass extinction. While the changes the planet is undergoing are human-driven, the ultimate causes—global temperature change, sea-level change, desertification, and other impacts—are not so different from the mass extinctions of the past. Better understanding how and why these catastrophic events occurred is not just an exercise in exploring the past, but a crucial step in determining our own future.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Science, History

Audible Audio

Published April 23, 2026

Reviews

[Irena Pasvinter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike the good old college level courses produced by The Teaching Company/The Great Courses in the past, these short Audible Originals often sound like a podcast alternative for listeners with short attention span. Some of them might still be excellent (for example, Who Was Jane Austen? Sorting Fact from Fiction or Medical Mysteries Across History) but more often than not they are too short, too basic and too hurried to make for a truly enjoyable and memorable listen, especially those that are only 3-hours-long or less.

For me, this was also the case of Earth's Great Extinctions -- interesting information, rushed through six 30-minute podcast-like lectures, one for each great extinction, with the supposedly upcoming six one for dessert.



Phanerozoic mass extinctions with evidence of increased microbial abundances. From the study "Lethal microbial blooms delayed freshwater ecosystem recovery following the end-Permian extinction".
(Image credit: Authors of the study: Chris Mays, Stephen McLoughlin, Tracy D. Frank, Christopher R. Fielding, Sam M. Slater & Vivi Vajda, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons.)

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well researched and presented science overview of these events. I enjoyed learning all the new stuff about these. Recommended

[Koleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve really enjoyed the Great Courses on Audible. They use a podcast-like format to take dives into specific topics. What I like about this series is that they’re less fluff, more research-based, and very structured, unlike most podcasts. (Most of the Great Courses are free for Audible members.)

Earth’s Great Extinctions was a fun listen. It was really neat learning about the geo-climatology field and how they use rocks and fossils to track hundreds of millions of years of Earth’s history.

A somewhat joking trigger warning: this book talks about climate change.

This series of lectures takes you through the 5 great extinctions in Earth’s “recent” history. It’s wild to hear how these great extinctions have wiped out 75+ percent of Earth’s species. Life then had to evolve and change.

The author concludes with a 6th lecture talking about our current climate crisis and the imminent extinction it can bring. Luckily, after some doom and gloom, the author concludes with ways humans can correct their negative impact on the world and potentially reverse or delay another great extinction.

[Hunter Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

4-4.5 stars rounded up because I really enjoyed this lecture series. Frankly it is too short and rushed and I found myself pausing and looking things up. I think the Great Courses are trying to make these bite sized lecture series even when it demands a larger format. Also, this would have been infinitely better as a streaming/visual lecture series-again I had to stop and look a ton up. Still, I love the lecturer's voice and cadence and the subject matter is acutely important. I get the visual feeling of the billionaires who run the world pushing into the quicksand of destruction all in the name of more money for their insatiable souls and there is not much us peons can do about it.

[Paul Little · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fast survey. Too fast, where we brush by undefined terms and then spend more time selling us on the 6th great extinction.

I don’t mind the narrative, but there’s just not enough detail. We throw around terms like the reader is expected to know them and we don’t really understand how each species is important or why the extinction is important.

[Nancy · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

3.5
This is a good summary of the 5 most notable extinction events in earth's past. In addition, presenter Rachel Phillips warns of a 6th extinction which appears to be in progress now due primarily to the actions of our species. Her suggestions for redress, while appropriate and possibly effective, have unfortunately been ignored by most of those in power across the globe. I fear for the future of any living thing that will be here to face the predicted probable collapse and catastrophe of life as we know it.

This is a brief but clear overview of what we now know of earth's past. The lectures do not attempt to provide much detail. A more inclusive account would require a far greater commitment of time and study. I sometimes was annoyed by her breezy delivery on a subject of such existential importance, but this series was definitely worth my time and attention.

[Christine]

When it comes down to it the earth is much older than we can really comprehend. To that end what is a very long time to us is a very short time to the planet. It was so interesting to learn about the great extinctions and how they came about, the first discussed happened because plant life came to be and that greatly changed the atmosphere resulting in the death of entire species that were able to thrive in the previous atmosphere. There were many more and the depth of science and history present is fascinating while not being completely dry. It does help that the theme for Summer Reading 2026 was dinosaurs and that there is an anthropologist as well as a paleontologist on staff at the library. They each gave presentations and this book helped me gain a more thorough understanding of what they were discussing. If you are at all interested in any of the sciences then this is likely to be a great book for you to get started understanding the beginnings of Earth, the atmosphere, several of the sedimentary layers, and so much more. They do touch on current events and how humans are effecting another possible/probable extinction event.

[James Livermore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This lecturer is obviously very knowledgeable and I enjoyed the lecture series. That said, I understand some of the negative reviews as I think this could have/should have been longer and little more explanation for those of us who are not familiar with her field of expertise. Still, enjoyable but as other reviewers stated get ready to pause and looks some stuff up (unless you are already familiar with this topic).

[DinoNat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to be friends with Rachel Phillips!
She embodies scientific communication so well and she does a great job explaining and breaking down some of the complex conditions that led up to extinction events.

[em sky-walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is great especially if you want to go into an existential crisis about how fragile life is. Thinking about the timelines of this gave me a massive headache.
Very accessible great course, though. Well written, well narrated. thanks for the crisis Rachel Phillips!

[Catherine Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another "science challenge" - a fairly heavy book on historical botany, earth sciences and biology. I really enjoyed it .. challenging to reflect on the old/new earth theories etc. and the final chapter considered the 21st century conditions for an extinction event ...

[Kalyan Raghu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Covers in brief the five major mass extinctions where around 80% species went extinct each time in the last 500 million years, how continental shifts lead to climate changes and the role of volcanoes in altering atmospheric composition thus triggering global changes.

[Marie Conrad · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a little technical, even for an engineer but it is also compelling.

[Timothy Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little summary of the five (six) great extinctions. If you know much about earth's history there isn't a lot new here but I enjoy how the information was framed.

[Amy Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a series of 6 lectures that I thought was fascinating.

[John Remedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was informative and interesting, a TGC double-whammy. For a free course, this was both bitesize and moreish, with wonderful, relaxed-but-concerned narration from Rachel Phillips.

[Mark A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Interesting. 5 Great Extinctions

[AttackGirl · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

as far as we know....