Michael Pollan is a renowned author, journalist and professor at UC Berkeley. He is best known for his influential works on how humans and plants have shaped each other at the level of food, medicine, health, and culture. In this episode we discuss consciousness—what it is and how the recognition between our self vs others contributes to-- but also can impair, certain aspects of conscious experience. We discuss psychedelics, the microbiome, caffeine, and how the unconscious dialogue between our body and brain impacts our thoughts and feelings. Pollan offers a hopeful perspective on how our relationship with plants and animals – including other humans, can lead us to a healthier, and far richer experience of life. Show notes: https://go.hubermanlab.com/XLRVeiP Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman Eight Sleep: https://eightsleep.com/huberman Function: https://functionhealth.com/huberman Mateina: https://drinkmateina.com Rorra: https://rorra.com/huberman Huberman Lab Website: https://www.hubermanlab.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hubermanlab Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hubermanlab X: https://x.com/hubermanlab Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hubermanlab TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hubermanlab LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-huberman Michael Pollan Website: https://michaelpollan.com Books: https://amzn.to/4rAG20g Newsletter: https://michaelpollan.substack.com Academic Profile: https://journalism.berkeley.edu/person/pollan X: https://x.com/michaelpollan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Pollan/100044521082777 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michael.pollan Threads: https://www.threads.com/@michael.pollan Timestamps 00:00:00 Michael Pollan 00:02:50 Wendell Berry, Nature 00:06:30 Consciousness; Sentience 00:10:04 Environmental Response, Plant Intelligence; Self-Recognition 00:13:52 Sponsors: Eight Sleep & Rorra 00:20:49 Plants, Communication, Sentience, Symbiosis 00:27:37 Self-Awareness, Time; Xenobots, Instinct 00:34:32 Microbiome, Influence & Symbiosis 00:40:28 Meaning; Cortex vs Brain Stem, Homeostatic Feelings 00:47:17 Sponsor: AG1 00:48:36 Body & Brain Communication, Vagus Nerve 00:57:21 Collective Consciousness, Psychedelics, Ego, Awe 01:08:14 Filter Theories of Consciousness 01:13:28 Sponsor: Function 01:15:06 AI, Consciousness, Feelings; Memory; Quantum Effects 01:21:27 Childhood, Gardening, Interacting with Nature 01:27:08 Hope, Nature & Agency, Food Industry 01:32:21 Advocacy, Psychedelics, Food Industry 01:39:50 Sponsor: Mateina 01:44:52 Psychedelics, Ibogaine, Veterans, Politics; MDMA, Psilocybin; Risk 01:52:18 Caffeine, Caffeine Fast, Health Benefits 02:00:21 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow, Reviews & Feedback, Sponsors, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Disclaimer & Disclosures: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer

In Tongues: Adventures in the Science of Taste

Langscape 15 celebrates Terralingua’s 30th and Langscape Magazine’s 15th anniversary with stories about a united, bioculturally abundant world!

These harmful chemicals are wreaking havoc on native pollinators and making our fields, gardens and lawns toxic to the very species that help them thrive.

Join millions worldwide for Origin's Synchronized Moment of Global Unity on Oct 17, 2026, ceremony, music, and a global call to plant, pledge & participate.

A celebrated biologist and author, David joined me for IC#12 to talk about his new book, How Flowers Made Our World - The Story of Nature’s Revolutionaries. Like his earlier books, it’s a wonderful contribution toward healing our rift with wider Nature and Plants in particular. We covered a lot of ground in the hour yet could have continued for much longer. Topics included: Flowers as world-makers, champion relationship-builders and occasional tricksters; their genetic prowess and adaptability; the legacy of Linnaeus; the power asymmetry in our treatment of them and how that can be rectified; kinship and how we speak about and relate with plants on a daily basis. “The intention of the book is to.. put flowers back where they belong at the centre of how our world came to be. … Kinship isn’t a metaphor, a feel-good idea, it’s a lived reality we’re part of.” DGH dghaskell.com https://plantaeconvivae.substack.com

This interactive panel webinar will explore the growing role of Indigenous seed networks in ecological restoration, biodiversity conservation, and biocultural knowledge stewardship. Bringing together ...

Some species we label as invasive still serve a purpose by providing food or shelter to native species.

Black abundance and reclaiming plant kin

Food and Agriculture Organization urges governments to make forest restoration a national priority

The town of Lewes grants rights to all trees through an adopted charter.

On Tuesday, 27 October 2026, Dr. Minna Valjakka will deliver a lunch lecture at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, discussing the increasing attention to working with living plants among East and Southe…

Gardens as Spaces of Healing iJoin us for an online event exploring the power of gardens, ecology, and the natural world to restore mental well-being, foster…

A participatory online gathering with Sofia Batalha & Evgenia Emets What Must a Culture Remember Before It Can Regenerate a Forest? A forest is regenerated…

A writing(with)plants session is a two-hour guided gathering where participants slow down, learn more from, with and about plants and plant people, and foster imagination muscles. The session is fo…

Join our Executive Director Heidi Holliday for a virtual Forest Bathing walk. This mindful immersion in the living world will engage your senses, calm your spirit, and deepen your connection with your...

Get tickets on Humanitix - Rights of Nature in India - Promises, Limits, Alternatives hosted by GARN Asia Pacific Hub. Online. Friday October 16th 2026. Find event information.

Contrary to the bill's appealing-sounding name, it would actually lock in and intensify harms already being done to the very trees it purports to save.

One of the communities of practices that I foster for more than five years is the Writing (with) plants project. As some attendees know, during the online writing(with)plants sessions, there is a c…

How carnivorous plants trouble the order of things

A new EPA proposal could strip federal protections from more wetlands and streams, leaving vital wildlife habitat vulnerable to pollution and destruction. Tell the EPA to defend these ecosystems and k...

YouTube video by The Plant Initiative

International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, FAO and UNEP

Join our webinar and learn how to compost at home from expert Cassandra Marketos.

The Trump administration has proposed a new rule to fast-track drilling across 23 million public acres in Alaska’s Western Arctic by ending environmental reviews, eliminating public input, and rushing...

Humans have relied on peatlands for millennia, but their exploitation through drainage-based agriculture, forestry, and peat extraction has led to their widespread degradation. Yet, peatlands play a c...

YouTube video by Plant Baby Plant

Take action for the Kawahiva now! They're fighting for their survival in the Brazilian Amazon, forced to live on the run amid invasions, violence and disease from loggers and ranchers. These are the...

This is a collaborative book with 35 tree communicators from around the world. It includes ideas from Jane Goodall. Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger, author of "To Speak for the Trees and Our Green Heart: ...

Tell the administration that it should abandon its proposed changes to the Roadless Rule and Travel Management Plan.

The intertwined histories of human settlement and plants amid cultural and climatic change serve as the point of orientation in the new, eclectic essay…

Join us on September 17

Every creature deserves a voice. Join us each week to meet new animals, plants, or fungi and learn how we are all connected.

The Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia is a national treasure. Tell the U.S. Forest Service: don't close off the Mon!

Writing(with)Plants is abook for slowing down. Listen to your self, plants and other humans, learn from their memories and knowledge.  Experience plants like never beforeThe book contains 200+ pages f...

This free online mini-conference features 10+ inspiring speakers sharing about why corn is a special being and is deserving of respect.

Official website for Plantland Radio. Live 24/7 plant music and bio-sonification frequencies generated by living flora and sound artists worldwide.