Harvard Professor Teaches Writing (Michael Pollan Interview)
David Perell
250,620 views
This episode is presented by Wispr Flow, a tool that turns voice notes into clear writing. I use it every day and recommend it to every writer I know. Try it for free at https://ref.wisprflow.ai/howiwrite
Michael Pollan is one of my all-time favorite nonfiction writers. He has been writing about food, nature, and consciousness for decades. For him, the writing process begins with a question. He finds something he's interested in and embarks on an adventure. He experiences things, talks to people, learns, and then compiles it all into a book. His writing style feels as if he's putting an arm around you, simply reporting back what he's learned and experienced, all in a very friendly way.
The adventure we discussed most in this conversation was when he bought a cow and followed it from birth to slaughter, illustrating the industrial food system's impact on meat production. Michael has taught nonfiction writing at Harvard and UC Berkeley. At the end of the interview, he said: "I just gave you an entire semester's worth of content in one hour."
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:48 Does coffee make you more creative?
00:03:37 Do drugs make you creative?
00:10:45 How psychedelics shape your thinking
00:12:57 Journaling
00:16:29 Michael’s routine
00:18:55 Writing a 1st draft
00:20:34 Why write in the first person?
00:26:09 The Cow Story
00:34:08 Balancing stories and facts
00:39:02 Metaphors are a cheat code
00:42:48 Finding good questions
00:51:25 Reading novels
00:55:40 How Michael does research
01:01:43 What makes a good character?
01:08:35 Art expands consciousness
01:11:05 Michael’s top writing lessons
About the host
Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible.
Follow me
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
YouTube: @davidperellchannel
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSbo...
X: https://x.com/david_perell
20 Comments
0:48 Does coffee make you more creative?
3:37 Do drugs make you creative?
10:45 How psychedelics shape your thinking
12:57 Journaling
16:29 Michael’s routine
18:55 Writing a 1st draft
20:34 Why write in the first person?
26:09 The Cow Story
34:08 Balancing stories and facts
39:02 Metaphors are a cheat code
42:48 Finding good questions
51:25 Reading novels
55:40 How Michael does research
1:01:43 What makes a good character?
1:08:35 Art expands consciousness
1:11:05 Michael’s top writing lessons
Thank you for what you are doing, especially in the age of AI bringing up topics like that is tremendously important
Harvard Professor Teaches Writing (Michael Pollan Interview)
David Perell
250,620 views
This episode is presented by Wispr Flow, a tool that turns voice notes into clear writing. I use it every day and recommend it to every writer I know. Try it for free at https://ref.wisprflow.ai/howiwrite
Michael Pollan is one of my all-time favorite nonfiction writers. He has been writing about food, nature, and consciousness for decades. For him, the writing process begins with a question. He finds something he's interested in and embarks on an adventure. He experiences things, talks to people, learns, and then compiles it all into a book. His writing style feels as if he's putting an arm around you, simply reporting back what he's learned and experienced, all in a very friendly way.
The adventure we discussed most in this conversation was when he bought a cow and followed it from birth to slaughter, illustrating the industrial food system's impact on meat production. Michael has taught nonfiction writing at Harvard and UC Berkeley. At the end of the interview, he said: "I just gave you an entire semester's worth of content in one hour."
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:48 Does coffee make you more creative?
00:03:37 Do drugs make you creative?
00:10:45 How psychedelics shape your thinking
00:12:57 Journaling
00:16:29 Michael’s routine
00:18:55 Writing a 1st draft
00:20:34 Why write in the first person?
00:26:09 The Cow Story
00:34:08 Balancing stories and facts
00:39:02 Metaphors are a cheat code
00:42:48 Finding good questions
00:51:25 Reading novels
00:55:40 How Michael does research
01:01:43 What makes a good character?
01:08:35 Art expands consciousness
01:11:05 Michael’s top writing lessons
About the host
Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible.
Follow me
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
YouTube: @davidperellchannel
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSbo...
X: https://x.com/david_perell
1) The real thrill of writing isn't putting what's already in your head onto the page. The thrill is discovering ideas that you wouldn't have discovered otherwise.
2) Should you write with AI? Writing is a form of thinking, not merely a form of expression. To delegate that to a machine is to deprive yourself of a valuable way of thinking, and what's lost is the generative process itself.
3) One way to develop your writing style is to read novels before bed, which will influence your own voice and get you thinking more in metaphor than pure information.
4) A good introduction withholds something for the reader to discover later. In that way, it's the opposite of the abstract in an academic paper.
5) Michael's introductions are the most meticulously crafted parts of his book because producers and review editors often decide whether to feature a book based on the introduction alone.
6) Nobody feels proficient while writing. Unlike woodworking or an instrument, putting words on the page never becomes second nature, even after 40 years.
7) Caffeine and nicotine are focus drugs: they narrow your cognitive aperture and give you the Spotlight Consciousness you need to write, which is the opposite of the Lantern Consciousness of children who take in everything from 360 degrees.
8) Finding the right metaphor is how you persuade people without arguing. It'll do 90% of the work because you can convince people at a subliminal level.
9) The Little Guy Beating the Big System is an irresistible story archetype that goes back as far as David and Goliath. And it's why Michael Lewis keeps returning to nonconformists in books like Moneyball and The Big Short with characters who play against type and beat the big machine.
10) We live on islands of consciousness. Art is our primary means of visiting another one, and the more you visit, the broader your own consciousness becomes.