In 'Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human,' Richard Wrangham presents a revolutionary theory that cooking was the key factor in human evolution. He argues that the shift from raw to cooked foods led to significant physiological changes, including a smaller digestive tract and larger brain. Cooking also influenced social structures, such as pair bonding, marriage, and the sexual division of labor. The book draws on evidence from various disciplines, including anthropology, biology, and nutritional science, to support Wrangham's hypothesis that cooking was essential for the emergence of Homo erectus and the development of modern humans.
In 'Cooked', Michael Pollan delves into the art and science of cooking, examining how the four classical elements—fire, water, air, and earth—transform raw ingredients into edible and nutritious food. The book is divided into sections that focus on different cooking techniques: grilling with fire, braising with water, baking bread with air, and fermenting with earth. Pollan apprentices himself to various culinary masters to learn these techniques and explores the social, ecological, and historical contexts of cooking. He argues that cooking is essential for human well-being and that the outsourcing of cooking to corporations has significant negative impacts on health, culture, and society. The book emphasizes the importance of reclaiming cooking as an act of self-reliance and enjoyment, highlighting its role in connecting us with nature, culture, and each other.
In 'The Botany of Desire,' Michael Pollan examines how people and domesticated plants have formed a mutually beneficial relationship. He links four basic human desires—sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control—with the plants that fulfill them: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. Pollan illustrates how these plants have evolved to meet human needs and how, in turn, humans have helped these plants spread and thrive. The book delves into the history and impact of these plants on human society, highlighting the complex and often reciprocal nature of the relationship between humans and plants.
The Chrysalids is set in a future society in Labrador, Canada, where a harsh form of Christianity dominates and any genetic deviations are seen as blasphemies. The story follows David Strorm and his friends, who possess telepathic abilities, as they navigate the dangers of their society and ultimately seek refuge in a more advanced and tolerant community in Sealand. The novel delves into themes of morality, the fear of the unknown, and the complexities of utopian and dystopian societies[3][4][5].
The Paleo diet is hot. Those who follow it are attempting, they say, to mimic our ancient ancestors—minus the animal-skin fashions and the total lack of technology, of course. The adherents eschew what they believe comes from modern agriculture (wheat, dairy, legumes, for instance) and rely instead on meals full of meat, nuts, and vegetables—foods they claim are closer to what hunter-gatherers ate.
The trouble with that view, however, is that what they’re eating is probably nothing like the diet of hunter-gatherers, says Michael Pollan, author of a number of best-selling books on food and agriculture, including Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation. "I don't think we really understand well the proportions in the ancient diet," argues Pollan on this week’s episode. "Most people who tell you with great confidence that this is what our ancestors ate—I think they're kind of blowing smoke."
This week on the show, guest host Cynthia Graber has a wide-ranging conversation with Pollan that covers the science and history of cooking, the importance of microbes—tiny organisms such as bacteria—in our diet, and surprising new research on the intelligence of plants.
This episode also features a discussion of the new popular physics book Trespassing on Einstein's Lawn, by Amanda Gefter, and new research suggesting that the purpose of sleep is to clean cellular waste substances out of your brain.
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