Caffeine
by Michael Pollan · first published 2020
5mentions
5recommended by
5HN commenters
2020–2022first – last mentioned
100% recommend
Why HN recommends it
Short, engaging history of caffeine covering its origins, early coffeehouse culture, and its role in modern society; a quick audiobook listen that suits anyone curious about where their daily coffee habit comes from.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
…without the buzz, have a cup of coffee and WOW, Im alive again! It's a brutal cycle and I fear I've done irreparable damage to my brain at this point. As an aside, I highly recommend the Audible book "Caffeine" by Michael Pollan if you haven't already heard it. It's quite brilliant.
on “The New Era of Nicotine” ↗Probably 2-3 per day for me. Side note: One of my favorite authors Michael Pollan recently published a short audiobook on the effects of caffeine, some of the history behind it, and his experience going cold turkey for a few months. Really quick and interesting 2 hour listen. It's called Caffeine. Thought I'd share since I found out about his…
on “Ask HN: How much coffee do you drink as a programmer?” ↗It is absolutely mind-altering. If you'd like to hear more, you can just check out the work this is based on, Michael Pollan's Caffeine: https://michaelpollan.com/books/caffeine-how-coffee-and-tea-... He was recently on Fresh Air discussing the book; the transcript is here: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/803394030
on “How coffee became a modern necessity” ↗If you're interested in a brief 'story' of caffeine - its roots and history leading up to its role in society today, check out Michael Pollan's 'Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World' audiobook. It's a short listen (by audiobook standards at…
on “Caffeine: A vitamin-like nutrient, or adaptogen” ↗Michael Pollan has some good history and a lot of fun anecdotes about early coffee house cultures in his recent book Caffeine. It was interesting how each coffee house had a certain business/class associated with it. The book itself is well written and short, I consumed it as an audiobook and it came in around 4 hours.
on “Lloyd's Coffee House” ↗