One Writer's Trip: From the Garden to the Plate and the Beyond

2016.11.17 In this autobiographical talk, Michael Pollan tells the story of the path his thinking and writing have taken since he first planted a vegetable garden under the unfortunate influence of Thoreau and Emerson. Beginning with that horticultural disaster, his work evolved into an exploration of the human engagement with the natural world. But rather than go to “the wild” in search of nature, Pollan focused on nature closer to home: the garden, the farm, the table and, most recently, the altered states of consciousness that certain plants and fungi allow us to achieve. The talk includes brief readings from several of Pollan’s previous books and a work in progress.