Publisher's Synopsis
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. Yet Nature (with a capital N) and natural goodness are not objective or scientific. Alan Levinovitz demonstrates that these beliefs are indeed 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? 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, resulting in an essential new perspective that shatters faith in Nature's goodness and points to a better alternative.
