What sort of future are we birthing? Is it a future where the design of everything we need to live, from the food we grow and eat to the gadgets we rely on, to the governmental processes that dictate our lives are all hidden from view or can we retain some of the traditions that keep us happy and healthy – and spread that design mindset to everything that will form the future? Michael Pollan doesn’t explore the gadgets or the transparency of governments in his Netflix Series Cooked (based on his book Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation). Instead, he asks this very question about the future of humanity: will human beings become passive consumers (of food) or will they hold onto their biological instinct for cooking (an institution that includes meal time, providing and sharing – a suite of molecules of emotions). He breaks down the series into four parts: Fire, Water, Earth and Air. In the first episode, Fire, he connects stories across the world, from the Western Aboriginal People of the Great Sandy Desert, the Martu, to primatologist Richard Wrangham whose theory of evolution includes this: Homo Erectus is the first human when an ape learned to cook. Wrangham says it was cooking that led to our becoming human and Pollan says it is cooking that keeps us human. The episode has hypnotizing shots of fire by Director of Photography Maryse Alberti, with direction by Alex Gibney (giving Michael Pollan and the subject full clarity) – flowing bewitchingly like fire in lava. In essence, it reminds one of the palpable values of preparing one’s meals (for self, family and friends), the value of having visible fire, visible healthy lives of food (animals with free lives, one bad day) and visible food sources. Fortunately Netflix is available across South Asia. So if you’re curious, about evolution and alchemy, don’t miss this series.
Documentary four-part mini-Series
Cooked: Fire (58 minutes in English with subtitles)
Writing: Michael Pollan
Original Music: Will Bates
Editing: Michael J. Palmer
Prop Department: Craig Haft
Sound Department: Vincent Gregorio
Visual Effects: Jeffrey Burgess Reed
Production Companies: Jigsaw Productions, Netflix © 2016
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
