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Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World Audible Audiobook – Original recording

Michael Pollan (Author, Narrator), Audible Originals (Publisher)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 101 ratings
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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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  1. Listening Length
    2 hours and 2 minutes
  2. Author
    Michael Pollan
  3. Narrator
    Michael Pollan
  4. Audible release date
    January 30, 2020
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Audible Originals
  7. ASIN
    B083MYJXZT
  8. Version
    Original recording
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 2 hours and 2 minutes
Author Michael Pollan
Narrator Michael Pollan
Audible.com Release Date January 30, 2020
Publisher Audible Originals
Program Type Audiobook
Version Original recording
Language English
ASIN B083MYJXZT
Best Sellers Rank #25,122 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#13 in Restaurant & Food Industry (Books)
#49 in Coffee & Tea (Books)
#51 in Hospitality, Travel & Tourism (Books)

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4.5 out of 5 stars
101 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • read quite a bit
    5.0 out of 5 stars I like the Topic
    Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    I would of bought it if it was a book
    One person found this helpful
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  • Michael
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable listen
    Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    At the end of 3 hot summer months, working landscaping, without caffeine, I decided this was the perfect book to further explore decaffeinated reality. I enjoyed Pollan's narration, and, after finishing the book and laughing at the end(SPOILER ALERT!) where he buys a cup of coffee, did the same thing myself, very curious to have a cup after a long break and see if it's a different experience. Sure enough I feel that not only my break from caffeine for a few months, but also having done physical labor in the sun for that time, was a great opportunity for a "reset". As he discusses, there is an interesting relationship between caffeine, the sun, and our bio-clock. So I would encourage anyone thinking of giving caffeine a break(really, a complete break, none at all) to explore your relationship with the sun during that period of time. Preferably done barefoot on the earth as much as possible :)
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Evan Chandlee
    5.0 out of 5 stars Paradigm-shifting Book For Those Who Enjoy Coffee!
    Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Who here loves caffeine? Yeah, me too.

    A boost of energy when you need it most, a way to make the world seem brighter, if only the duration of the slightly bitter cup before you. By far the most used psychoactive drug in the world, here we see Michael Pollan describe in wonderful detail the history of how human nature became so intertwined with the fate of a fantastic little molecule. Sharing stories and personal anecdotes, as well as research and interviews with leading experts in fields pertaining to the subject, Pollan acts as a guide on a journey after which an educated decision can be made as to whether caffeine is really helping our lives.

    This book is about more than the chemistry of caffeine, and it's about more than it's history. It's about the codependent relationship that humans formed with a little bean long ago, and the struggles, triumphs, and tribulations that we've gotten through along the way.

    Read it, listen to it. Doesn't matter. Maybe have a cup of tea while you do so, you won't regret it.
    11 people found this helpful
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  • Carlos from FL
    4.0 out of 5 stars As Coffee Drinker, I enjoyed Michael Pollan's Book
    Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    His books are well researched. As a coffee drinker, Michael includes going cold-turkey on coffee as an experiment. He shares the changes he experiences and the savoring of the first cup after hiatus from coffee. It did remind about the effects of caffeine and I did moderate my coffee consumption.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Mamazabakaka
    5.0 out of 5 stars Got me off caffeine in a couple of hours
    Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    After listening to this enjoyable and informative audible book, I gave up caffeine and started drinking a mushroom concoction called MUD/WTR. I never realized that caffeine is an addictive drug, although it should have been obvious after 50 years of drinking it. I knew that the Arabs had developed coffee to help them stay awake all night in prayer and meditation, so I wasn't surprised that I couldn't drink it late in the day without losing sleep. But Michael Pollan's research was presented in a pleasing and eye-opening couple of hours that was powerful enough to help me break my habit on the spot.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Ken Kardash
    3.0 out of 5 stars Unstimulating
    Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Despite or maybe because I had come to expect excellence from Michael Pollan, I found this serving to be lukewarm and unsatisfying. It seems to be an excerpt from his recent book, This is your Mind on Plants. I was particularly hooked by his thesis that caffeine use is the world’s largest unsupervised psychoactive drug trial, and to avoid overlap with his previous work How to Change Your Mind, I ordered the single shot.

    As usual, he provides a balanced, comprehensive review of his subject. History, chemistry, economics and geopolitics are all expertly weaved together. I was most interested in the pharmacology of how, exactly, this plant molecule energizes and lifts our mood. This is indeed addressed, but I feel the opportunity to dive deep into the fascinating brain science of alertness and depression was missed. Instead, the narrative arc revolves around his own experiment in caffeine abstinence and then reintroduction.

    Also as usual, his narrative tends to be self-absorbed, but for the first time I found it excessively so. Maybe it’s my own coffee jitters, but I found myself wincing through every detailed description of what he and his wife were ordering and at which cafe. Exacerbating this perhaps was his mildly nasal, smug speaking style, of which I had previously been blissfully unaware. Like caffeine, it can be irritating in excessive doses.
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Are Dag Gulbrandsen
    5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended
    Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    I loved this audiobook. The author is the narrator of both a personal story and a deep dive into popular science and history of coffee, tea and caffein. There is much more to both the science and history than I knew, and "How Caffeine Created the Modern World" is right on point.
    One person found this helpful
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  • solo
    5.0 out of 5 stars Thought Provoking
    Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    You will drink your cup of Joe with a renewed appreciation for the bean
    One person found this helpful
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