A fascinating journey through the world’s musical cultures. Every culture on Earth has music. Every culture that’s ever existed has had it, but we don’t exactly know why. Music is not like food, shelter, or having opposable thumbs. We don’t need it to live, and yet we can’t seem to live without it. Glenn Dixon travels the globe exploring how and why people make music. From a tour of Bob Marley’s house to sitar lessons in India, he experiences music around the world and infuses the stories with the latest in brain research, genetics, and evolutionary psychology. Why does music give us chills down the backs of our necks? What exactly are the whales singing about and why does some music stick in our minds like chewing gum? Through his adventures, Dixon uncovers the real reasons why music has such a powerful hold on us – and the answers just might surprise you.

Pilgrim in the Palace of Words is about language, about the words that splash and chatter across our tongues. Some six thousand languages are still spoken on the planet, and author Glenn Dixon - an expert is socio-linguistics and a tireless adventurer - travels to the Earth's four corners to explore the way these languages create and mould societies. As one philosopher said, languages are Houses of Being. After doing graduate work in linguistics, Dixon wanted to visit these houses or ''''palaces'''' himself - to stroll along their sidewalks, knock on their doors, and peek in their windows. He wanted to see what they were hiding in their basements even if it meant a little bit of trouble. In some cases, a whole lot of trouble! Join him on his adventure as, with wit and humour, he works toward a real understanding of how and why we communicate the way we do in the Global Village.