-
Second Nature
- A Gardener's Education
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $29.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Cooked
- A Natural History of Transformation
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Cooked, Pollan discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements - fire, water, air, and earth - to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink. Apprenticing himself to a succession of culinary masters, Pollan learns how to grill with fire, cook with liquid, bake bread, and ferment everything from cheese to beer. Each section of Cooked tracks Pollan’s effort to master a single classic recipe using one of the four elements.
-
-
A bit bland
- By Mark on 12-12-14
By: Michael Pollan
-
A Place of My Own
- The Architecture of Daydreams
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With this updated edition of his earlier book, A Place of My Own, listeners can revisit the inspired, intelligent, and often hilarious story of Pollan’s realization of a room of his own—a small, wooden hut, his “shelter for daydreams” — built with his admittedly unhandy hands. Inspired by both Thoreau and Mr. Blandings, A Place of My Own not only works to convey the history and meaning of all human building, it also marks the connections between our bodies, our minds, and the natural world.
-
-
Pollan is a great narrator
- By justin chidester on 05-07-12
By: Michael Pollan
-
This Is Your Mind on Plants
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Of all the things humans rely on plants for - sustenance, beauty, medicine, fragrance, flavor, fiber - surely the most curious is our use of them to change consciousness: to stimulate or calm, fiddle with or completely alter, the qualities of our mental experience. Take coffee and tea: People around the world rely on caffeine to sharpen their minds. But we do not usually think of caffeine as a drug, or our daily use as an addiction, because it is legal and socially acceptable.
-
-
This is a clip show.
- By Jeff W. on 07-07-21
By: Michael Pollan
-
The Omnivore's Dilemma
- A Natural History of Four Meals
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"What should we have for dinner?" To one degree or another, this simple question assails any creature faced with a wide choice of things to eat. Anthropologists call it the omnivore's dilemma. Choosing from among the countless potential foods nature offers, humans have had to learn what is safe, and what isn't. Today, as America confronts what can only be described as a national eating disorder, the omnivore's dilemma has returned with an atavistic vengeance.
-
-
Great presentation of a moral dilemma
- By MCRedding on 02-07-09
By: Michael Pollan
-
Down to Earth
- Gardening Wisdom
- By: Monty Don
- Narrated by: Monty Don
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover Monty's thoughts and garden ideas around nature, seasons, colour, design, pests, flowering shrubs, containers and much more. Hear about the month-by-month jobs he does in his own garden that he hopes are relevant to you. Monty's warm voice brings this most intimate book to life - an enriching listen for any gardener.
-
-
I loved this book.
- By Dee from Ohio on 04-19-19
By: Monty Don
-
How to Change Your Mind
- What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction, and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third.
-
-
Personal
- By Robert F. Jones on 09-02-18
By: Michael Pollan
-
Cooked
- A Natural History of Transformation
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Cooked, Pollan discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements - fire, water, air, and earth - to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink. Apprenticing himself to a succession of culinary masters, Pollan learns how to grill with fire, cook with liquid, bake bread, and ferment everything from cheese to beer. Each section of Cooked tracks Pollan’s effort to master a single classic recipe using one of the four elements.
-
-
A bit bland
- By Mark on 12-12-14
By: Michael Pollan
-
A Place of My Own
- The Architecture of Daydreams
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With this updated edition of his earlier book, A Place of My Own, listeners can revisit the inspired, intelligent, and often hilarious story of Pollan’s realization of a room of his own—a small, wooden hut, his “shelter for daydreams” — built with his admittedly unhandy hands. Inspired by both Thoreau and Mr. Blandings, A Place of My Own not only works to convey the history and meaning of all human building, it also marks the connections between our bodies, our minds, and the natural world.
-
-
Pollan is a great narrator
- By justin chidester on 05-07-12
By: Michael Pollan
-
This Is Your Mind on Plants
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Of all the things humans rely on plants for - sustenance, beauty, medicine, fragrance, flavor, fiber - surely the most curious is our use of them to change consciousness: to stimulate or calm, fiddle with or completely alter, the qualities of our mental experience. Take coffee and tea: People around the world rely on caffeine to sharpen their minds. But we do not usually think of caffeine as a drug, or our daily use as an addiction, because it is legal and socially acceptable.
-
-
This is a clip show.
- By Jeff W. on 07-07-21
By: Michael Pollan
-
The Omnivore's Dilemma
- A Natural History of Four Meals
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"What should we have for dinner?" To one degree or another, this simple question assails any creature faced with a wide choice of things to eat. Anthropologists call it the omnivore's dilemma. Choosing from among the countless potential foods nature offers, humans have had to learn what is safe, and what isn't. Today, as America confronts what can only be described as a national eating disorder, the omnivore's dilemma has returned with an atavistic vengeance.
-
-
Great presentation of a moral dilemma
- By MCRedding on 02-07-09
By: Michael Pollan
-
Down to Earth
- Gardening Wisdom
- By: Monty Don
- Narrated by: Monty Don
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover Monty's thoughts and garden ideas around nature, seasons, colour, design, pests, flowering shrubs, containers and much more. Hear about the month-by-month jobs he does in his own garden that he hopes are relevant to you. Monty's warm voice brings this most intimate book to life - an enriching listen for any gardener.
-
-
I loved this book.
- By Dee from Ohio on 04-19-19
By: Monty Don
-
How to Change Your Mind
- What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction, and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third.
-
-
Personal
- By Robert F. Jones on 09-02-18
By: Michael Pollan
-
In Defense of Food
- An Eater's Manifesto
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the so-called Western diet, food has been replaced by nutrients, and common sense by confusion - most of what we’re consuming today is longer the product of nature but of food science. The result is what Michael Pollan calls the American Paradox: The more we worry about nutrition, the less healthy we seem to become. With In Defense of Food, Pollan proposes a new (and very old) answer to the question of what we should eat that comes down to seven simple but liberating words: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."
-
-
Life and Death
- By James on 06-03-10
By: Michael Pollan
-
Food Rules
- An Eater's Manual
- By: Michael Pollan
- Narrated by: Michael Pollan
- Length: 1 hr and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eating doesn't have to be so complicated. In this age of ever-more elaborate diets and conflicting health advice, Food Rules brings welcome simplicity to our daily decisions about food. Written with clarity, concision, and wit that has become best-selling author Michael Pollan's trademark, this indispensable handbook lays out a set of straightforward, memorable rules for eating wisely, minute by minute, accompanied by a concise explanation.
-
-
Quick List of 64 Rules of Thumb for Better Eating
- By Stephen K on 09-14-20
By: Michael Pollan
-
The Unsettling of America
- Culture & Agriculture
- By: Wendell Berry
- Narrated by: Nick Offerman
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since its publication in 1977, The Unsettling of America has been recognized as a classic of American letters. In it, Wendell Berry argues that good farming is a cultural and spiritual discipline. Today’s agribusiness, however, takes farming out of its cultural context and away from families. As a result, we as a nation are more estranged from the land - from the intimate knowledge, love, and care of it.
-
-
love the material, meh on the performance.
- By Fireham on 07-10-20
By: Wendell Berry
-
Gathering Moss
- A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
- By: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Living at the limits of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common but largely unnoticed element of the natural world. Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites listeners to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses.
-
-
Pure lovely, insightful and inspired
- By J Dowling on 03-16-19
-
Restoration Agriculture
- Real-World Permaculture for Farmers
- By: Mark Shepard
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The restoration agriculture system described in this award-winning book works! It is possible for humans to produce staple foods using perennial agricultural ecosystems that actually improve the quality of the environment. This can be done on a backyard, farm, or ranch scale and is needed right now - on a global scale. Restoration Agriculture explains how we can have all of the benefits of natural, perennial ecosystems and create agricultural systems that imitate nature in form and function while still providing for our food, building, fuel, and many other needs.
-
-
Did not enjoy being lectured on global warming.
- By Amazon Customer on 01-09-21
By: Mark Shepard
-
The Hidden Life of Trees
- What They Feel, How They Communicate - Discoveries from a Secret World
- By: Peter Wohlleben
- Narrated by: Mike Grady
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do trees live? Do they feel pain or have awareness of their surroundings? Research is now suggesting trees are capable of much more than we have ever known. In The Hidden Life of Trees, forester Peter Wohlleben puts groundbreaking scientific discoveries into a language everyone can relate to.
-
-
I feel bad for trees that grow alone now.
- By BEAR on 01-23-17
By: Peter Wohlleben
-
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
- A Year of Food Life
- By: Barbara Kingsolver
- Narrated by: Barbara Kingsolver, Steven L. Hopp, Camille Kingsolver
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Barbara Kingsolver and her family move from suburban Arizona to rural Appalachia, they take on a new challenge: to spend a year on a locally-produced diet, paying close attention to the provenance of all they consume. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle follows the family through the first year of their experiment.
-
-
Eye opening
- By Sydney on 11-12-07
-
Entangled Life
- How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
- By: Merlin Sheldrake
- Narrated by: Merlin Sheldrake
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.
-
-
Mycology for Everyone
- By Cephalopods Revenge on 05-12-20
By: Merlin Sheldrake
-
Nature's Best Hope
- A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard
- By: Douglas W. Tallamy
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Douglas W. Tallamy's first book, Bringing Nature Home, awakened thousands of individuals to an urgent situation: wildlife populations are in decline because the native plants they depend on are fast disappearing. His solution? Plant more natives. In this new book, Tallamy takes the next step and outlines his vision for a grassroots approach to conservation.
-
-
A must read for everybody! Not just nature lovers.
- By Steve Ebert on 06-11-20
-
The Triumph of Seeds
- How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses & Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History
- By: Thor Hanson
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We live in a world of seeds. From our morning toast to the cotton in our clothes, they are quite literally the stuff and staff of life, supporting diets, economies, and civilizations around the globe. Just as the search for nutmeg and the humble peppercorn drove the Age of Discovery, so did coffee beans help fuel the Enlightenment and cottonseed help spark the Industrial Revolution. And from the fall of Rome to the Arab Spring, the fate of nations continues to hinge on the seeds of a Middle Eastern grass known as wheat.
-
-
Wonderful, Accessible Book About Little 'Ol Seeds
- By Jeff Koeppen on 09-12-18
By: Thor Hanson
-
Bringing Nature Home, Updated and Expanded
- How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants
- By: Douglas W. Tallamy, Rick Darke - foreword
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As development and subsequent habitat destruction accelerate, there are increasing pressures on wildlife populations. But there is an important and simple step toward reversing this alarming trend: Everyone with access to a patch of earth can make a significant contribution toward sustaining biodiversity. Bringing Nature Home has sparked a national conversation about the link between healthy local ecosystems and human well-being, and this audio edition will help broaden the movement. By acting on Douglas Tallamy's practical recommendations, everyone can make a difference.
-
-
Life changing
- By Villaid on 01-23-19
By: Douglas W. Tallamy, and others
-
My Garden World
- The Natural Year
- By: Monty Don
- Narrated by: Monty Don
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
My Garden World by Monty Don is a celebration of every living creature that we all share. This year has given us the enforced opportunity to learn more about the fascinating natural world around us. Whether you live in the countryside or the town, Monty's observations and insights are relevant to each and every one of us. My Garden World is Monty Don's personal journey through the natural year, month by month, season by season, observed from the immediate world around him.
-
-
This has a new twist
- By Karen on 12-21-21
By: Monty Don
Publisher's Summary
In his articles and in best-selling books such as The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan has established himself as one of our most important and beloved writers on modern man's place in the natural world. A new literary classic, Second Nature has become a manifesto not just for gardeners but for environmentalists everywhere.
Chosen by the American Horticultural Society as one of the 75 greatest books ever written about gardening, Second Nature captures the rhythms of our everyday engagement with the outdoors in all its glory and exasperation. With chapters ranging from a reconsideration of the Great American Lawn, a dispatch from one man's war with a woodchuck, to an essay about the sexual politics of roses, Pollan has created a passionate and eloquent argument for reconceiving our relationship with nature.
Critic Reviews
Featured Article: The Best Audiobooks to Feed Your Ever Growing Plant Obsession
Plant ownership has experienced a huge spike over the past two years, and it’s easy to understand why. Plants are one of the best ways to experience nature from the comfort of your own home. With such a wide variety of plants appropriate for all skill levels, almost anyone can jump in. Rather than write ourselves off as hopelessly black-thumbed, many more of us are becoming confident in our ability to keep our green friends alive and thriving.
More from the same
What listeners say about Second Nature
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- dancer
- 03-20-15
The garden will always be a work in progress...
What did you love best about Second Nature?
I'm impressed by Pollan's ability to combine history, folklore, sound gardening advice, shopping tips, environmental issues, politics, and his own experience, into one coherent and interesting story. I'm thinking about my own property differently, considering old roses over hybrids, and heirloom seed catalogues after reading this book.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Second Nature?
The cathedral pines section of the book was devastating... I was holding on, waiting for the humans to get it right in a happy ending. I also enjoyed the parts about Pollan's grandpa and father, and how they managed their gardens, lawns, and neighbors.
What does Michael Pollan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
I really like his narration style and I wish more non-fiction authors would narrate their own books. The emphasis he puts on the sentence structure is just right for what he wrote.
Many nonfiction books available here on audible.com are read in a boring monotone voice. It's so unnatural and personally I find it unpleasant. That is not the case here. Listening to him narrate his own book has been so great in fact that I'm now listening to his newer book Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation.
Any additional comments?
It was neat to hear the history of lawns, gardens, and yards, in America. Pollan's background in journalism is obvious as he keeps this topic interesting and easy to follow. I have bees, chickens, and a small garden, and loved listening this book. If you enjoy playing in the dirt; check this book out.
27 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Avid Puzzler
- 01-29-14
Fun read for gardeners
I loved this book! It's full of gardening history and facts, along with Michael Pollan's observations about his own garden and the gardening scene. I especially enjoyed his comparison of plant and seed catalogs (very funny) and his history of roses (informative and entertaining). I listened to this book while weeding my own garden, and found myself laughing out loud several times. I will definitely listen to this book again.
20 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mary
- 02-05-12
Love Pollan, don't love this (but you might)
Any additional comments?
I love Michael Pollan's books The Omnivore's Dilemma, and the Botany of Desire. Sweeping history or cultural commentary, a real understanding of humanity's relation to food and plants. However, this book is about his experience of growing a garden - it's more autobiographical. More slow and meditative than sweeping. If you like that kind of thing, he's a fabulous writer so you'll enjoy this. It's just not what I expected after reading the other two books.
41 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- A reader
- 03-21-10
Lush no-nonsensical brilliance
This book already bears what Pollan will bring to perfection in Botany of Desire: cross pollination between science, history, cultural and human sociology, poetry, sheer observation, hands-on experience, tenderness, and humor. A book that enriches, teaches, entertains, and pleases enormously. The unassuming tone of Pollan's voice at every "turn of a page" gently invites the reader to follow the author along his thinking process. And the reader obliges gleefully. A perfect read anytime of year, but probably even more appropriate for the spring.
23 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J. Shultz
- 02-03-19
another great book by Micheal Pollan
I've loved all of Pollans books and this is no exception.....of course, it's much better with him reading it..... Worth the time to listen
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Shellbin
- 09-28-10
Pollan's done it again
A brilliant book, and a real treat to have Pollan himself narrate it. It's about gardening, yes, but also about Nature and our place in her. Laugh out loud funny in spots (who knew that an in-depth discussion of seed catalogues could be so hilarious?) Second Nature is a book that has the ability to challenge assumptions and cause us to look at our environment(s) in new ways. Definitely not just for gardeners!
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Darwin8u
- 02-25-20
... the Margins of our Gardens
"It may be in the margins of our gardens that we can discover fresh ways to bring our aesthetics and our ethics about the land into some meaningful alignment."
-- Michael Pollan, Second Nature
I'm pretty sure I'm now a Michael Pollan completist. This was Pollan's first, and as I typically read the first last, my usual brush with Pollan completism for now.
This book sent me back to days working in my grandmother's garden, my mother's garden, my wife and my first garden on our apartment balcony. It reminded me of wandering through Jefferson's garden at Monticello, Versailles, and the lilac gardens of Maui. Pollan was definitly influenced in his writing by Thoreau and Wendell Berry, but Pollan's philosophy in this book seems driven more by the pragmatism of William James. His basic premise is that the garden is the better metaphor for dealing with the current environmental issues confronting us; and the zero-sum-game debates surrounding development vs wilderness. I generally agree with a lot of what he says about gardens, trees, wilderness, and our need to find new metaphors for our relationship with nature that weaves together nature and man and man's culture together. He does tend to wax poetic. Pollan is basically a long-form magazine writter who, like John McPhee and others, figured out that narrative nonfiction can work in chapters made from magazine articles and confederate them together into a book. Not the best Pollan, but for Pollan fans, nature lovers, or gardeners, there is definitely enough grown in this book to feed all types.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ramon Rosario
- 01-28-19
great!
a modern-day Walden! the author both eases and stimulates the mind on a journey through a path in the garden
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- William Shelby
- 08-22-18
Michael Pollan makes me feel smarter.
In this book, as in every book of his I have read, Michael Pollan puts my experiences and aspirations into words I have not had the capacity (or time) to develop. He tells me how I feel about my garden, about the food I eat, and how to open my mind. And sometimes what he tells me about myself are my own original thoughts.
He writes with great ease and I feel like he is speaking right to me. He does his homework and he puts deep thought into the interconnectedness of everything with everything else in time and space. In a world that seems to value intellectual growth less and less, Michael Pollan makes it virtuous again. How else will we be better than we are if we don't explore where we have been, why we have built the conventions of our societies in the way we have, and why we should re-think them to fit our lives and times?
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Paul Z.
- 06-18-10
Not Bad
This book is a nice light read, though I have to say from glowing review of American Horticultural Society I was really expecting more. On one hand he states our shared criticism of Thoreau very well, yet in many ways he is writing his own updated version of Walden. There are tidbits of philosophy, history, science and art which make this a fun and encouraging read for a gardener, or someone who wishes to start gardening. On the other hand if you are looking for real philosophy, history, science or art in gardening (or biology/agroscience) you will probably want to pick up another book.
16 people found this helpful