Each week, Benjamin Law asks public figures to discuss the subjects we’re told to keep private by getting them to roll a die.
asserted
them → ask → die
The numbers they land on are the topics they’re given.
asserted
they → land → ?
This week, he talks to Michael Pollan.
asserted
he → talk → Pollan
The US journalist, 71, is the author of 10 books, including The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defence of Food and How to Change Your Mind.
asserted
journalist → include → Mind
His latest book is A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness.
asserted
World → appear → Consciousness
Where did you get your sex education from?
asserted
you → get → education
In the late ’60s – when I was 13 – there were conversations among boys about sex, but it wasn’t frank conversation: just guys boasting, and there was a lot of misinformation.
asserted
guys → be → misinformation
Girls taught me a lot later.
asserted
Girls → teach → lot
I got into long-term relationships pretty early.
asserted
I → get → relationships
In high school, I had a serious relationship that lasted a couple of years, another one in college, and then I met my wife.
asserted
I → have → wife
What attracted you to her?
asserted
What → attract → her
There was a strong physical attraction, but she also seemed a somewhat mysterious person who wasn’t putting all her cards on the table.
asserted
who → be → table
What keeps you attracted to her?
asserted
What → keep → her
We also have so much to talk about – and she edits all my work.
asserted
she → have → work
Nothing leaves the house that she hasn’t read and commented on.
asserted
she → leave → that
She’s a painter and I regularly go to her studio to look at her work and offer suggestions, too.
asserted
I → ’ → suggestions
When you’re with someone that long, you’re either going to grow together or grow apart because you’re going to change.
asserted
you → ’re → someone
I feel very fortunate in that we’ve grown together and changed in all sorts of ways we find compelling.
asserted
we → feel → ways
When it comes to sex in your 70s, what should I expect?
asserted
I → come → what
Well, when I was your age, I didn’t imagine people in their 70s had sex.
asserted
people → imagine → sex
I thought it was over at 65 or something.
asserted
it → think → 65
And you’re telling me it’s not … which is making me optimistic.
asserted
me → tell → me
I’m telling you it’s not.
asserted
it → tell → you
That’s good to know.
asserted
That → ’ → ?
But I’m not going into any more detail!
asserted
I → go → detail
You’re in your 70s now.
asserted
You → ’re → 70s
When I turned 70, it came into view in a way it hadn’t when I turned 50 or 60.
asserted
I → turn → way
It wasn’t so much the prospect of dying as the limits on the time remaining.
asserted
It → die → time
At your age, it looked like it was going to go on forever: there was this horizon you could barely make out.
uncertain
you → look → age
Now I can see the horizon.
asserted
I → see → horizon
So when I’m deciding on my next book project – which could be my last – I want to be very careful that it’s important and worth doing.
uncertain
it → decide → project
I also have a 97-year-old mum, and have been through the death of my father.
asserted
I → have → father
When you lose your parents, you have this sense that you’re up against the cosmos: you no longer have these people standing between you and eternity.
asserted
people → lose → you
You’re up next.
asserted
You → ’re → ?
Does the concept of death scare you?
asserted
concept → scare → you
Suffering scares me, dying not so much.
asserted
Suffering → scar → me
I’m not a believer in an afterlife.
asserted
I → ’m → afterlife
I’m interested in the moment of death: what there might be to learn from it, what actually happens.
uncertain
what → ’m → it
I have an intellectual curiosity about it.
asserted
I → have → it
You’ve written extensively about psychedelics and the way that people use them – sometimes to meet their death … And rehearse their death.
asserted
people → write → death
…and 29 more, not listed.
The Aporia
