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Caffeine
Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World | Michael Pollan
26 posts | 34 read | 13 to read
Michael Pollan, known for his best-selling nonfiction audio, including The Omnivores Dilemma and How to Change Your Mind, conceived and wrote Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World as an Audible Original. In this controversial and exciting listen, Pollan explores caffeine’s power as the most-used drug in the world - and the only one we give to children (in soda pop) as a treat.
Pollan takes us on a journey through the history of the drug, which was first discovered in a small part of East Africa and within a century became an addiction affecting most of the human species. Caffeine, it turns out, has changed the course of human history - won and lost wars, changed politics, dominated economies. What’s more, the author shows that the Industrial Revolution would have been impossible without it. The science of how the drug has evolved to addict us is no less fascinating. And caffeine has done all these things while hiding in plain sight! Percolated with Michael Pollan’s unique ability to entertain, inform, and perform, Caffeine is essential listening in a world where an estimated two billion cups of coffee are consumed every day.
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NatalieR
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Pickpick

When I started listening to this audiobook, Caffeine, by Michael Pollan, I was a bit worried I was going to be left feeling guilty about my caffeine consumption. As you can tell from the picture, I love tea: tea bags, loose leaf tea, various flavors/seasons, and a variety of caffeine levels. Pollan tells the history of caffeine, impact on our bodies, and our caffeine culture. ☕️🫖

Full review at https://abookandadog.com

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Creadnorthey
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Who doesn‘t like coffee? Or tea? Or at least being fascinated with caffeine? This book, in Pollan style, gives his personal take on the subject, unfortunately the taste is almost too brief, much like my caffeine high.

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Texreader
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Pickpick

Coffee or black tea? I‘m the latter and I enjoyed very much the history of caffeine and all about its good and bad effects on mankind. The author and I don‘t share the same political points of view, but how fascinating that caffeine had a massive role to play in the advancements in math and science as caffeine was introduced right before the subjects flourished. The point: caffeine gave humans the ability to focus like never before. ⬇️

5feet.of.fury Interesting! I liked his “This is your Mind on Plants” which is about Caffeine, poppies & mescaline. He goes off on very thorough tangents. 5mo
Librarybelle Great review! 5mo
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Texreader
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HiMyNames_Alyssa
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Mehso-so

Interesting listen. Definitely written without the perspective of people with neurodivergence or mental health struggles and how caffeine affects them. Bit still really interesting and informative.

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annahenke
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I‘m joining the readathon! This September, my goal is to read 10 books from my TBR of owned books.

First book read: Caffeine by Michael Pollan

This was an interesting short essay like book. Not blown away but pretty cool.

TheSpineView Glad to have you! Good luck! 8mo
40 likes1 comment
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CoffeeAndABook
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Hey @DinoMom look what arrived in the mail today, a mere two days after posting it to Germany across the entire Atlantic from Canada!! Impressive. 😜

And what a lovely, happy surprise, thank you so much for your sweet gifts. This #athingaday has made my day!!!

What a generous thing to do 💝 Littens are the best 🙌🏼🫶🏼☀️

Have a great weekend 😎🤗🌸

DinoMom Bahahaha…. I might have gotten mixed up and sent you another one forgetting that I sent that one already …. Lol I was busy last week and obviously did not pay attention…. 🤪. Oh well, you will get another arriving at some point 🤣 (edited) 8mo
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DinoMom

@CoffeeAndABook your #athingaday was mailed today!

17/60

CoffeeAndABook Yay 😀 I‘m excited 🥳 🙌🏼 8mo
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Twainy
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Pickpick

🎧 I enjoyed this little bit of non-fiction. I have a morning caffeine ritual. I joke about it but I enjoy a cup of eye opening caffeine every morning. It was nice to hear about caffeine from a fellow caffeine consumer who went cold turkey for the story!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Smarkies
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A short audiobook on caffeine. Gives an introduction to the world of coffee and tea and how they have changed the modern world.

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Buchbeeg
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This was a short, informative listen. I really enjoyed his voice and insight on how caffeine works and feels. I would never myself give up my beloved addiction, but it's interesting to hear someone else do it :)

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MurElly
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Pickpick

Well, that was an interesting listen. Lol!
I decided to go with the route of listening to a book today while doing some chores. This one has my attention and even intrigued my family as they would come in or even pass by my room.
A good listen to make time go by faster! Just like caffeine! :))

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WJCintron
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🎧 I LOVE Coffee! Listening to this very interesting book while doing chores. It discusses the influences of caffeine through history. It also includes information about an experiment between bees and caffeinated nectar/flowers. #listening #audiobook

WJCintron UPDATE: I liked it! At the beginning he was generalizing a bit and I didn‘t like that. But then it focused more on his experience without caffeine and the history itself and it got more interesting. Loved the part of the bees. I won‘t spoil it. But that was my favorite part. In the end, no matter what, I still drank my black cup of coffee this morning and happy I did. Lol. 😂 3y
PhyllisH I‘m not a coffee drinker, but I actually enjoyed listening to the Audible. 3y
WJCintron @PhyllisH glad you liked it. I still drink my coffee. 😁 3y
40 likes3 stack adds3 comments
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Buchbeeg
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I had hoped to finish all the books I had started in 2020 before January 4th but, I never seem to make that goal!

Working through my audio books this week and had almost forgotten this one! Being a coffee addict, I find this horribly interesting so far.

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britt_brooke
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️ This quick #AudibleOriginal was a fine way to start my day. And lots of coffee, naturally. Caffeine is the world‘s most widely consumed psychoactive drug. Pollan takes a look at how it affects our daily lives while providing a brief history of caffeinated beverages and their influences on society. Pair this with AJ Jacobs‘s gratitude journey, Thanks a Thousand, where he pays homage to everyone who has a hand in the coffee making process.

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BayouGirl85
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Pickpick

I never realized how complicate coffee is and has been in the past. #nfn2020

November Book 9/25 #LitsyLove

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audraelizabeth
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Very interesting.

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Crinoline_Laphroaig
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Short interesting listen. Especially enjoyed history of tea vs coffee. Also I'm justifying my love of tea. It has less caffeine than coffee! ☕
#teadrinkerinacoffeeworld

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JenReadsAlot
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An enjoyable shorter audible about one of my favorite things ☕

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CoffeeK8
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The social/political history of coffee is fascinating! #mtTBR

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AmberWB
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Pickpick

This was a shorter audio book and it was really interesting. I love the way Michael Pollan writes. He takes something that could easily be pretty dry and keeps it engaging. I will be honest- this did make me rethink my caffeine habit- but I have yet to make any real changes.

Megabooks I enjoyed learning about the coffee houses (salons); they were fascinating! 4y
AmberWB @Megabooks Yes!! I had never heard of them before! 4y
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wanderinglynn
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Mehso-so

I finally started this March Audible freebie. It was okay. I enjoyed the history of tea & coffee and the science bits. But I disliked his narrative on his personal caffeine-free experience. I get that he was trying to draw parallels between his experience & the science, but it didn‘t work for me. A few personal anecdotes work okay, but he went on a bit too long for my taste.

BehindthePages I gave up coffee for a week....never again! I was not nice to be around! 😬 4y
wanderinglynn @Letora I gave it up along with wheat, sugar, & dairy for a month. The first week sucked, but then it got better. But it didn‘t last. When the month was up, I dived back into the deliciousness 😂 (edited) 4y
Crazeedi Coffee is on of my only must have, I order beans fresh roasted, grind each pot before brewing though my pour over @wanderinglynn @Letora 4y
See All 6 Comments
wanderinglynn @Crazeedi I just ordered an espresso machine. 😋☕️ 4y
Dee12083 I too listened to this book. I was hoping that I would have been a little bit more intrigued. The narrative however, was something I did not enjoy, and I did not end up finishing most of the book. It was very slow and dry. I would love to read a book of the same topic; one that ignites my interest more from a factual and narrative perspective. (edited) 4y
wanderinglynn @Dee12083 yes, I agree. I sped up the audio to finish at it, and listened to it at 1.5x speed. 4y
74 likes6 comments
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IMASLOWREADER
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late post...yay readathon done wahoo...so fitting for the last stretch of the #stayhome24in48 #readinggoal #readinglife #audiophile the author takes an on a journey through the history of the most used drug in the world & what a journey it was

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janeycanuck
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This was suuuuuper interesting, especially as someone with a caffeine intolerance. I‘ll likely listen to this a few times, it was packed full of interesting tidbits.

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CassieT
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This book is delightful and educational! I love the author‘s voice, written and oral. He clearly had a lot of fun writing this and it makes for a refreshing and quick read. I‘m a lifelong admitted and shamefully dependent caffeine addict who just last year started to significantly scale back. I‘m with the author on this one—I use it as a tool and indulge on occasion because I enjoy the experience. This read was so fun.
Recommend!

SW-T Welcome to Litsy! 🥳 #litsywelcomewagon 4y
Eggs Welcome to Litsy 🥳🌺🥳 4y
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Readswithcoffee
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I liked this Audible audiobook. I enjoy Pollan‘s writing style and found this to be informative and interesting. Read by the author.

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