Michael Pollan on the Mind-Blowing Idea of Consciousness | A Slight Change of Plans

Bestselling author and journalist Michael Pollan has reshaped our understanding of everything from food to psychedelics. Now, he’s taking on a subject that has stumped thinkers for thousands of years: consciousness. This week, Michael joins Maya for a live conversation celebrating his new book, “A World Appears.” They talk about why it’s such a marvel that we even have consciousness in the first place, how researchers have explored consciousness in the past, and how Michael’s own perceptions and awareness of his inner life have changed.  You can also check out Maya’s book, “The Other Side of Change,” on Goodreads, and leave a review. #podcast #change #interview #psychology #choices #decisionmaking #consciousness #humanconsciousness #psychedelics #perception #awareness Subscribe ➡️ https://bit.ly/3yWzX4r ABOUT A SLIGHT CHANGE OF PLANS Named by Apple as the Best Show of the Year 2021, host Dr. Maya Shankar blends compassionate storytelling with the science of human behavior to help us understand who we are, and who we become, in the face of a big change. You’ll hear extraordinary stories of change from celebrities like Tiffany Haddish, Kacey Musgraves, and Riz Ahmed, as well as real-life inspirations like Christine Ha, who became permanently blind in her early twenties and went on to win the reality TV show Master Chef; Richard Harris, the Australian doctor who rescued a boys’ soccer team trapped deep inside of a cave in Thailand; and Euna Lee, the Korean-American journalist who was held captive in North Korea for 140 days. The show also features science experts, like Adam Grant, Angela Duckworth, and Katy Milkman, who share strategies for how we can live happier and more fulfilling lives. ABOUT DR. MAYA SHANKAR Maya Shankar is a cognitive scientist who served as a Senior Advisor in the Obama White House, where she founded and served as Chair of the White House Behavioral Science Team. She also served as the first Behavioral Science Advisor to the United Nations under Ban Ki-moon, and as a core member of Pete Buttigieg’s debate preparation team during his presidential run. Maya has a postdoctoral fellowship in cognitive neuroscience at Stanford, a Ph.D. from Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, and a B.A. from Yale. She has been profiled by The New Yorker and has been featured in The New York Times, Scientific American, and Forbes. She’s also been the featured guest on NPR’s All Things Considered, Freakonomics, and Hidden Brain. She’s a former private violin student of Itzhak Perlman and graduate of The Juilliard School’s pre-college program. Maya is currently a Senior Director of Behavioral Economics at Google. ABOUT PUSHKIN INDUSTRIES Pushkin Industries is an audio production company dedicated to creating premium content in a collaborative environment. Co-founded by Malcolm Gladwell and Jacob Weisberg in 2018, Pushkin has launched seven new shows into the top 10 on Apple Podcasts (Against the Rules, The Happiness Lab, Solvable, Cautionary Tales, Deep Cover, The Last Archive, and Lost Hills), in addition to producing the hugely successful Revisionist History. Pushkin’s growing audiobook catalogue includes includes the bestselling biography “Fauci,” by Michael Specter, “Hasta La Vista, America,” Kurt Andersen’s parody Trump farewell speech performed by Alec Baldwin, "Takeover" by Noah Feldman, and “Talking to Strangers,” from Pushkin co-founder Malcolm Gladwell. Pushkin is dedicated to producing audio in any format that challenges listeners and inspires curiosity and joy. STAY CONNECTED Twitter:   / slightchangepod   Instagram:   / drmayashankar   Facebook:   / drmayashankar   Website: https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/a-sli... Newsletter: https://bit.ly/41lPqaZ