Tonight on PBS: The Botany of Desire

Are you as excited as we are about the PBS premiere of "The Botany of Desire"? Based on Michael Pollan's best-selling book of the same name, the documentary examines the relationship between people and four plants: apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes. Click through for a preview video and highlights from the accompanying Web site.

Like the book, the documentary explores the theme of coevolution. While plants have satisfied our desires for sweetness (apples), beauty (tulips), intoxication (marijauna), and control (potatoes), we humans have been "domesticated" by plants to act much like bumblebees, spreading their particular genes around the world. The documentary looks engaging, thought-provoking, and beautiful as it takes us to the original apple orchards of Kazakhstan and the potato fields of Peru.

We're also big nerds for PBS program Web sites, and this one doesn't disappoint. It includes bonus videos like "How The Delicious Apple Got Its Name," an interactive feature on mind-altering plants (including coffee and tea), and a map where you can track the movement of plants across time and around the globe.

"The Botany of Desire" debuts on PBS on Wednesday, October 28.

• Check local listings
• Visit The Botany of Desire site

(Images: The Botany of Desire/PBS)

Comments (7)

This already played in Kansas City and it is a fabulous documentary! Don't miss it!

i signed up for cable again just for this. hah

(even though it comes out on dvd nov. 3)

Does anyone know if it will rerun on some other day? I'm going to miss the second half and I don't have cable or Tivo. Maybe it'll end up online.

@graciela Check the local listings link above. I know in my area it's scheduled to run several times.

I don't have cable, and it is running on 2 or 3 of my PBS channels, at least 2x a day. The local listings on the site even have an option to send an email reminder to you!

I believe the film is now available online, too (www.pbs.org).

Tulips, marijuana, apple trees and potatoes are all survivors in their natural habitat. Of course they won the strategic battle of surviving by getting us to work for them. Jason vista bay rehab Watsonville