The character arc of Michael Pollan
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 6 February 1955 on Long Island. Between then and now sit Oxford to 1975, a Bennington degree in 1977, a Columbia master's in 1981, an editorship at Harper's, Second Nature in 1991, The Botany of Desire in 2001, The Omnivore's Dilemma in 2006, In Defense of Food in 2008, How to Change Your Mind in 2018 and a new book in 2026. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Michael Pollan?
Seven words changed how people shop.
He studied at Mansfield College, Oxford until 1975, took a degree in English at Bennington College in 1977 and a master's in English at Columbia in 1981. He became executive editor at Harper's Magazine and a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine. His first books were about the garden: Second Nature in 1991 and A Place of My Own in 1997, which is about building a small hut to write in.
The Botany of Desire, in 2001, is the turn. It takes four plants and tells their stories from the plant's point of view, which sounds like a gimmick and is not. Then came The Omnivore's Dilemma in 2006, which followed four meals back to the ground they came from, and In Defense of Food in 2008, whose seven word argument, eat food, not too much, mostly plants, is one of the most repeated sentences in modern food writing. Food Rules followed in 2009 and Cooked in 2013.
At sixty three he started again. How to Change Your Mind, published in 2018, reported on the renewed scientific study of psychedelics, a subject he had no history with, and it became the book that moved that research into general conversation. This Is Your Mind on Plants followed in 2021 and he co-founded the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics in 2020. He is Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at Berkeley, received the Orwell Award in 2010 and the Washburn Award in 2015, and published a new book in 2026.
The moments
Michael Pollan's timeline.
The 1970s
English at Bennington
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Three institutions and two English degrees, before a word about food.
The 1980s
Executive editor
Milestone, and it changed his direction. A magazine job, which is where the reporting habit was formed.
The 1990s
Second Nature
Milestone, and it changed everything. A first book about a garden, and a second about building a hut to write in.
The 2000s
The Botany of Desire
Milestone, and it changed everything. Four plants, told from the plant's point of view. It sounds like a gimmick and is not.
The Omnivore's Dilemma
Milestone, and it changed everything. Four meals, followed back to the ground they came from.
Seven words
Milestone, and it changed everything. Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. One of the most repeated sentences in food writing.
The 2010s
The Orwell Award
Milestone. Two awards, one for the writing and one for the science.
Cooked
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Fire, water, air and earth, as four ways of making dinner.
Stay with food, or start again
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: take a new subject, taken, or stay with food. The book moved a whole field of research into general conversation, and he co-founded a Berkeley research centre two years later.
A new subject at sixty three
Milestone, and it changed everything. An entirely new subject, begun at sixty three, and made his own.
The 2020s
A centre at Berkeley
Milestone, and it changed his direction. A reporter who ended up helping to found the research centre.
This Is Your Mind on Plants
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Two more books, at sixty six and seventy one.
The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is a way of asking where a thing came from before you eat it, and the plainer proof that a writer can begin an entirely new subject in his sixties.
What he wrote
Books by Michael Pollan
- 1991
Second Nature
A gardener's education. His first book, fifteen years before the one that made his name.
- 2001
The Botany of Desire
Four plants, told from the plant's point of view.
- 2006
The Omnivore's Dilemma
A natural history of four meals, each followed back to the ground it came from.
- 2008
In Defense of Food
An eater's manifesto, and the seven words everybody quotes: eat food, not too much, mostly plants.
- 2013
Cooked
Fire, water, air and earth, as four ways of making dinner.
- 2018
How to Change Your Mind
His report on the renewed scientific study of psychedelics. An entirely new subject, begun at sixty three.
- 2021
This Is Your Mind on Plants
Three plants and what they do to a mind, reported rather than recommended.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
His found a completely new subject at sixty three and made it his own. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Michael Pollan: frequently asked questions
What people ask about his line.
What is Michael Pollan's character arc?
What is The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan?
What is Michael Pollan's food rule?
What is How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan?
Where does Michael Pollan teach?
What did Michael Pollan study?
What awards has Michael Pollan won?
Where does this timeline of Michael Pollan's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with his.
Sources
- Michael Pollan, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Knight Professorship.
- Publisher records for Second Nature, The Botany of Desire, The Omnivore's Dilemma and How to Change Your Mind.