Michael Pollan: This Is Your Mind on Plants
Intelligence Squared27 Heinä 2021

Michael Pollan: This Is Your Mind on Plants

When you start your day with a cup of tea or coffee you are ingesting a consciousness-altering drug, which you are quite likely to be addicted to. That drug of course is caffeine, the stimulant used by 90 per cent of people on earth, and it is one of three mind-altering molecules that bestselling author Michael Pollan has been investigating for his new book This Is Your Mind on Plants, alongside morphine, produced by the opium poppy, and mescaline, found in certain cacti. In conversation with the medical doctor and broadcaster Guddi Singh, Pollan explores humanity’s longstanding and powerful attraction to psychoactive plants. Why do we go to such lengths to seek these shifts in consciousness, and why do we then hedge this desire with laws, customs and fraught feelings? And why do we categorise these compounds so reductively – calling them either a licit or an illicit drug? For, as Pollan will argue, when we take these psychoactive plants into our bodies and let them change our minds, we are engaging with nature in one of the most profound ways possible. Click here to get the Intelligence Squared discount on the book: https://www.primrosehillbooks.com/product/this-is-your-mind-on-plants-michael-pollan/ Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jaksot(1505)

Is Alex Karp the Philosopher of Silicon Valley? With Michael Steinberger

Is Alex Karp the Philosopher of Silicon Valley? With Michael Steinberger

Who does our data belong to? In this episode, Carl Miller speaks to NYT magazine journalist and author Michael Steinberger about Alex Karp, Palantir and the rise of the surveillance state. Founded i...

8 Joulu 202551min

The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two)

The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part Two)

Sanna Marin is a trailblazer in modern politics. When she became Prime Minister of Finland in 2019, she made history: at 34 she was the youngest ever leader of her country and the youngest leader in t...

7 Joulu 202535min

The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part One)

The Courage to Lead, with Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland (Part One)

Sanna Marin is a trailblazer in modern politics. When she became Prime Minister of Finland in 2019, she made history: at 34 she was the youngest ever leader of her country and the youngest leader in t...

5 Joulu 202534min

Trump, Markets and The Greatest Crash in U.S. History, with Andrew Ross Sorkin (Part Two)

Trump, Markets and The Greatest Crash in U.S. History, with Andrew Ross Sorkin (Part Two)

In 1929, the world watched in shock as the unstoppable Wall Street bull market went into a freefall, wiping out fortunes and igniting a depression that would reshape a generation. In November 2025, ...

3 Joulu 202537min

Trump, Markets and The Greatest Crash in U.S. History, with Andrew Ross Sorkin (Part One)

Trump, Markets and The Greatest Crash in U.S. History, with Andrew Ross Sorkin (Part One)

In 1929, the world watched in shock as the unstoppable Wall Street bull market went into a freefall, wiping out fortunes and igniting a depression that would reshape a generation. In November 2025, ...

1 Joulu 202538min

The Specialist | Virgil Abloh’s Reimagining of the Iconic Nike Air Force 1 for Louis Vuitton, with Brahm Wachter

The Specialist | Virgil Abloh’s Reimagining of the Iconic Nike Air Force 1 for Louis Vuitton, with Brahm Wachter

This is an episode of The Specialist, your weekly dose of wonder. In The Specialist, explore the significance and journey of an extraordinary work through the eyes of those that know it best. On to...

29 Marras 202514min

Why Do Authoritarians Want To Control The News? With Martin Moore

Why Do Authoritarians Want To Control The News? With Martin Moore

In this episode academic and author Martin Moore speaks to host Carl Miller about the global battle to control the news. Drawing from his new book 'Dictating Reality' co-authored with Thomas Colley, t...

28 Marras 202536min

What Does Test Cricket Reveal About the Legacy of Empire? With Tim Wigmore

What Does Test Cricket Reveal About the Legacy of Empire? With Tim Wigmore

What does the history of Test cricket show us about identity? In this episode, Joey D’Urso speaks to award-winning author Tim Wigmore about how the players and the stories that have shaped Test crick...

26 Marras 202542min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

aikalisa
tervo-halme
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
politiikan-puskaradio
viisupodi
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
otetaan-yhdet
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
rss-podme-livebox
io-techin-tekniikkapodcast
linda-maria
rikosmyytit
rss-tasta-on-kyse-ivan-puopolo-verkkouutiset
rss-asiastudio
the-ulkopolitist
rss-uusi-juttu
rss-fi-lainsaadanto-paremmaksi
rss-hyvaa-huomenta-bryssel
rss-50100-podcast