Sveriges mest populära poddar
NPR's Book of the Day

To understand consciousness, Michael Pollan looked at plants, AI and himself

12 min11 mars 2026
While researching a previous book, a mushroom trip in Michael Pollan’s garden left him curious about the boundaries of consciousness. His latest project A World Appears explores the mystery of human consciousness through scientific, philosophical and psychedelic frameworks. In today’s episode, Pollan talks with Here & Now’s Indira Lakshmanan about the sentience of plants and animals vs. our own. They also discuss “lantern” vs. “spotlight” consciousness, AI and why Pollan sees the computer as a faulty metaphor for the human brain.

To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Fler avsnitt av NPR's Book of the Day

Visa alla avsnitt av NPR's Book of the Day

NPR's Book of the Day med NPR finns tillgänglig på flera plattformar. Informationen på denna sida kommer från offentliga podd-flöden.