
Natural
How Faith in Nature's Goodness Leads to Harmful Fads, Unjust Laws, and Flawed Science
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $18.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Joe McQuillan
-
By:
-
Alan Levinovitz
About this listen
Illuminates the far-reaching harms of believing that natural means "good", from misinformation about health choices to justifications for sexism, racism, and flawed economic policies.
People love what's natural: It's the best way to eat, the best way to parent, even the best way to act - naturally, just as nature intended. Appeals to the wisdom of nature are among the most powerful arguments in the history of human thought. Yet Nature (with a capital N) and natural goodness are not objective or scientific. In this groundbreaking book, scholar of religion Alan Levinovitz demonstrates that these beliefs are actually religious and highlights the many dangers of substituting simple myths for complicated realities. It may not seem like a problem when it comes to paying a premium for organic food. But what about condemnations of "unnatural" sexual activity? The guilt that attends not having a "natural" birth? Economic deregulation justified by the inherent goodness of "natural" markets?
In Natural, listeners embark on an epic journey, from Peruvian rainforests to the backcountry in Yellowstone Park, from a "natural" bodybuilding competition to a "natural" cancer-curing clinic. The result is an essential new perspective that shatters faith in Nature's goodness and points to a better alternative. We can love nature without worshiping it, and we can work toward a better world with humility and dialogue rather than taboos and zealotry.
©2020 Alan Levinovitz (P)2020 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Wellness Trap
- Break Free from Diet Culture, Disinformation, and Dubious Diagnoses, and Find Your True Well-Being
- By: Christy Harrison
- Narrated by: Christy Harrison
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle.” You've probably heard this phrase from any number of people in the wellness space. But as Christy Harrison reveals in her latest book, wellness culture promotes a standard of health that is often both unattainable and deeply harmful. The Wellness Trap delves into the persistent, systemic problems with that industry, offering insight into its troubling pattern of cultural appropriation and its destructive views on mental health, and shedding light on how a growing distrust of conventional medicine has led ordinary people to turn their backs on science.
-
-
Missed the Mark
- By Kelly on 05-04-23
By: Christy Harrison
-
The Canceling of the American Mind
- Cancel Culture Undermines Trust, Destroys Institutions, and Threatens Us All—but There Is a Solution
- By: Greg Lukianoff, Rikki Schlott
- Narrated by: Rikki Schlott, Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cancel culture is a new phenomenon, and The Canceling of the American Mind is the first book to codify it and survey its effects, including hard data and research on what cancel culture is and how it works, along with hundreds of new examples showing the left and right both working to silence their enemies.
-
-
Good book, Important information, poorly read
- By pj on 12-08-23
By: Greg Lukianoff, and others
-
Fat Talk
- Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture
- By: Virginia Sole-Smith
- Narrated by: Virginia Sole-Smith
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fat Talk argues for a reclaiming of “fat,” which is not synonymous with “unhealthy,” “inactive,” or “lazy.” Talking to researchers and activists, as well as parents and kids across a broad swath of the country, Sole-Smith lays bare how America’s focus on solving the “childhood obesity epidemic” has perpetuated a second crisis of disordered eating and body hatred for kids of all sizes. She exposes our society’s internalized fatphobia and elucidates how and why we need to stop “preventing obesity” and start supporting kids in the bodies they have.
-
-
Essential reading for ALL PARENTS.
- By MaineReader on 05-11-23
-
Anatomy of an Epidemic
- Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America
- By: Robert Whitaker
- Narrated by: Ken Kliban
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of disabled mentally ill in the United States tripled over the past two decades? Every day, 1,100 adults and children are added to the government disability rolls because they have become newly disabled by mental illness, with this epidemic spreading most rapidly among our nations children. What is going on?
-
-
The author does not use a fair scientific approach
- By Michael on 08-15-10
By: Robert Whitaker
-
The Gift of Violence
- Practical Knowledge for Surviving and Thriving in a Dangerous World
- By: Matt Thornton, Peter Boghossian
- Narrated by: Matt Thornton, Salome Thornton, Peter Boghossian
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In today's modern world, we are largely isolated from the kind of savagery our ancestors faced on a daily basis. Although violence was as natural to our evolutionary development as sex and food, it has become foreign to most of us. At once demonized and glamorized, but almost always deeply misunderstood.
-
-
Essential
- By Andrew on 12-16-23
By: Matt Thornton, and others
-
The Edgar Allan Poe Complete Works Collection - Stories, Poems, Novels, and Essays
- By: Edgar Allan Poe
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble, Peter Noble
- Length: 59 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Edgar Allan Poe was a writer, poet, editor and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre, and is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and of American literature. Poe was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story and considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre, as well as a significant contributor to the emerging genre of science fiction.
-
-
The Finest Poe Collection
- By James on 02-13-22
By: Edgar Allan Poe
-
The Wellness Trap
- Break Free from Diet Culture, Disinformation, and Dubious Diagnoses, and Find Your True Well-Being
- By: Christy Harrison
- Narrated by: Christy Harrison
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle.” You've probably heard this phrase from any number of people in the wellness space. But as Christy Harrison reveals in her latest book, wellness culture promotes a standard of health that is often both unattainable and deeply harmful. The Wellness Trap delves into the persistent, systemic problems with that industry, offering insight into its troubling pattern of cultural appropriation and its destructive views on mental health, and shedding light on how a growing distrust of conventional medicine has led ordinary people to turn their backs on science.
-
-
Missed the Mark
- By Kelly on 05-04-23
By: Christy Harrison
-
The Canceling of the American Mind
- Cancel Culture Undermines Trust, Destroys Institutions, and Threatens Us All—but There Is a Solution
- By: Greg Lukianoff, Rikki Schlott
- Narrated by: Rikki Schlott, Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cancel culture is a new phenomenon, and The Canceling of the American Mind is the first book to codify it and survey its effects, including hard data and research on what cancel culture is and how it works, along with hundreds of new examples showing the left and right both working to silence their enemies.
-
-
Good book, Important information, poorly read
- By pj on 12-08-23
By: Greg Lukianoff, and others
-
Fat Talk
- Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture
- By: Virginia Sole-Smith
- Narrated by: Virginia Sole-Smith
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fat Talk argues for a reclaiming of “fat,” which is not synonymous with “unhealthy,” “inactive,” or “lazy.” Talking to researchers and activists, as well as parents and kids across a broad swath of the country, Sole-Smith lays bare how America’s focus on solving the “childhood obesity epidemic” has perpetuated a second crisis of disordered eating and body hatred for kids of all sizes. She exposes our society’s internalized fatphobia and elucidates how and why we need to stop “preventing obesity” and start supporting kids in the bodies they have.
-
-
Essential reading for ALL PARENTS.
- By MaineReader on 05-11-23
-
Anatomy of an Epidemic
- Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America
- By: Robert Whitaker
- Narrated by: Ken Kliban
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of disabled mentally ill in the United States tripled over the past two decades? Every day, 1,100 adults and children are added to the government disability rolls because they have become newly disabled by mental illness, with this epidemic spreading most rapidly among our nations children. What is going on?
-
-
The author does not use a fair scientific approach
- By Michael on 08-15-10
By: Robert Whitaker
-
The Gift of Violence
- Practical Knowledge for Surviving and Thriving in a Dangerous World
- By: Matt Thornton, Peter Boghossian
- Narrated by: Matt Thornton, Salome Thornton, Peter Boghossian
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In today's modern world, we are largely isolated from the kind of savagery our ancestors faced on a daily basis. Although violence was as natural to our evolutionary development as sex and food, it has become foreign to most of us. At once demonized and glamorized, but almost always deeply misunderstood.
-
-
Essential
- By Andrew on 12-16-23
By: Matt Thornton, and others
-
The Edgar Allan Poe Complete Works Collection - Stories, Poems, Novels, and Essays
- By: Edgar Allan Poe
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble, Peter Noble
- Length: 59 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Edgar Allan Poe was a writer, poet, editor and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre, and is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and of American literature. Poe was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story and considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre, as well as a significant contributor to the emerging genre of science fiction.
-
-
The Finest Poe Collection
- By James on 02-13-22
By: Edgar Allan Poe
-
The War on the West
- By: Douglas Murray
- Narrated by: Douglas Murray
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The War on the West, Douglas Murray shows how many well-meaning people have been fooled by hypocritical and inconsistent anti-West rhetoric. After all, if we must discard the ideas of Kant, Hume, and Mill for their opinions on race, shouldn’t we discard Marx, whose work is peppered with racial slurs and anti-Semitism? Embers of racism remain to be stamped out in America, but what about the raging racist inferno in the Middle East and Asia?
-
-
Every Human (seriously, everyone) Read This!
- By aaron on 04-27-22
By: Douglas Murray
-
There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather
- A Scandinavian Mom's Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge)
- By: Linda Åkeson McGurk
- Narrated by: Ann Richardson
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bringing Up Bébé meets Last Child in the Woods in this lively, insightful memoir about a mother who sets out to discover if the nature-centric parenting philosophy of her native Scandinavia holds the key to healthier, happier lives for her American children.
-
-
Great concept, interesting writing.
- By Kate on 11-03-17
-
How to Be an Epicurean
- The Ancient Art of Living Well
- By: Catherine Wilson
- Narrated by: Ana Clements
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In How to Be an Epicurean, philosopher Catherine Wilson shows that Epicureanism isn't an excuse for having a good time: It's a means to live a good life. Although modern conveniences and scientific progress have significantly improved our quality of life, many of the problems faced by ancient Greeks - love, money, family, politics - remain with us in new forms. To overcome these obstacles, the Epicureans adopted a philosophy that promoted reason, respect for the natural world, and reverence for our fellow humans.
-
-
So important, so badly done
- By Trebla on 01-03-21
By: Catherine Wilson
-
Raw Dog
- The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs
- By: Jamie Loftus
- Narrated by: Jamie Loftus
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hot dogs. Poor people created them. Rich people found a way to charge fifteen dollars for them. They’re high culture, they’re low culture, they’re sports food, they’re kids' food, they’re hangover food, and they’re deeply American, despite having no basis whatsoever in America's Indigenous traditions. You can love them, you can hate them, but you can’t avoid the great American hot dog. Raw Dog is part investigation into the cultural and culinary significance of hot dogs and part travelogue documenting a cross-country road trip researching them as they’re served today.
-
-
Not really about hot dogs
- By Amazon Customer on 06-25-23
By: Jamie Loftus
-
Archaeology from Space
- How the Future Shapes Our Past
- By: Sarah Parcak
- Narrated by: Sarah Parcak
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Archaeology from Space, Sarah Parcak shows the evolution, major discoveries, and future potential of the young field of satellite archaeology. From surprise advancements after the declassification of spy photography, to a new map of the mythical Egyptian city of Tanis, she shares her field's biggest discoveries, revealing why space archaeology is not only exciting, but urgently essential to the preservation of the world's ancient treasures.
-
-
So excited
- By Michael G Bell on 05-15-21
By: Sarah Parcak
-
The God Delusion
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover magazine recently called Richard Dawkins "Darwin's Rottweiler" for his fierce and effective defense of evolution. Prospect magazine voted him among the top three public intellectuals in the world (along with Umberto Eco and Noam Chomsky). Now Dawkins turns his considerable intellect on religion, denouncing its faulty logic and the suffering it causes.
-
-
Dangerous Religion
- By Rick Just on 12-21-06
By: Richard Dawkins
-
Sapiens
- A Brief History of Humankind
- By: Yuval Noah Harari
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 15 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas.
-
-
Should be required reading
- By Blue Zion on 12-22-18
-
Enlightenment Now
- The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 19 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, which play to our psychological biases. Instead, follow the data: Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West but worldwide.
-
-
We live in the best of all times
- By Neuron on 02-25-18
By: Steven Pinker
-
End Times
- Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration
- By: Peter Turchin
- Narrated by: Robin McAlpine
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Peter Turchin, one of the most interesting social scientists of our age, has infused the study of history with approaches and insights from other fields for more than a quarter century. End Times is the culmination of his work to understand what causes political communities to cohere and what causes them to fall apart, as applied to the current turmoil within the United States.
-
-
Boomer History
- By Kevin on 08-12-23
By: Peter Turchin
-
The Boniface Option
- A Strategy for Christian Counteroffensive in a Post-Christian Nation
- By: Andrew Isker
- Narrated by: Joel Jeffrey
- Length: 3 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You live in a dystopia. Every part of historical human existence in our world has been turned on its head. The world we live in is an inversion of what God created you to live in. All that is good is treated as though it were repugnant. All that is beautiful is treated as though it were repulsive. And the truth is forbidden while the most outrageous lies are exalted. This world did not become like this by accident or by inexorable forces of history. This world was engineered to be this way. It was designed to take the life your ancestors had and tear it apart.
-
-
Listen if you dare
- By Brent Long on 09-06-23
By: Andrew Isker
-
The Undertow
- Scenes from a Slow Civil War
- By: Jeff Sharlet
- Narrated by: Jeff Sharlet
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unmatched guide to the religious dimensions of American politics, Jeff Sharlet journeys into corners of our national psyche where others fear to tread. The Undertow is both inquiry and meditation, an attempt to understand how, over the last decade, reaction has morphed into delusion, social division into distrust, distrust into paranoia, and hatred into fantasies—sometimes realities—of violence.
-
-
I'm just not feeling this one....
- By J. Richmond on 08-04-23
By: Jeff Sharlet
-
The Intentional Father
- A Practical Guide to Raise Sons of Courage and Character
- By: Jon Tyson, David Kinnaman - foreword
- Narrated by: Jon Tyson
- Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Self-initiation is killing our young men. Without strong mentors, boys are walking alone into a wilderness of conflicting messages about who they should be as men. It's no wonder that our sons are confused about what the world expects from them and what they should expect of themselves. The Intentional Father is the antidote. This concise book is filled with practical steps to help men raise sons of consequence—young men who know what they believe, know who they are, and will stand up against the negative cultural trends of our day.
-
-
powerful, insightful, best of all, applicable!
- By Brian on 07-13-22
By: Jon Tyson, and others
Critic reviews
"A useful stepping-off point for a relevant topic." (Kirkus Reviews)
"A nuanced plea for a more informed relationship with the natural world.... Evocative, convincing.... Rich with interviews, anecdotes, and citations, Levinovitz's work makes a strong case for the wisdom of compromise and humility." (Publishers Weekly)
"In a fascinating tour across time, cultures, and ideas, Alan Levinovitz shows us how the worship of an abstract idea of nature can lead us astray in everything from our health to the laws we pass and even how we structure our governments and our way of life. This book is required reading for anyone who wants to face the scientific and moral challenges of the twenty-first century with a clear head." (Tom Nichols, author of The Death of Expertise)
What listeners say about Natural
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 10-24-21
Poor narration ruined it
It’s a shame the author did not narrate himself, as I have seen him give lectures and he is a fantastic speaker. The narrator made this difficult to get through.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joshua
- 09-05-20
A grounded offering and much needed perspective
Alan Levinovitz presents a well rounded and very grounded perspective in this time of polarity and dogmatic brand allegience and lack of critical thought and a generally ubiquitous mob mentality. The book takes the reader through many examples of how our prejudices and suppositions leave us vulnerable to marketing exploitation and how we can implicitly adopt adages as new pseudo religions. A very worthwhile read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Louis
- 01-15-21
Valuable read!
This book was on the background bookshelf of Anthony Fauci during a TV interview so I assumed it was worth reading, and it was. I am skeptical of theology as a discipline (since it seems that other disciplines do the most interesting stuff better) but this author puts it to good use, examining “natural”from a theological perspective. The reading is solid and does not distract from the text. I learned a lot.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Giulio
- 12-19-21
very good
good content. i recommend ti anybody to get a proper view of the "natural" obsession.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Scarlet O Harry
- 07-18-20
Disappointed
Not nearly as insightful and engaging as on Joe Rogans podcast. Does not respect the readers intelligence.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful