Do Plants Think, and Other Mysteries (with Michael Pollan)

In this thought-provoking episode of Stay Tuned, host Preet Bharara engages in a deep and wide-ranging conversation with author Michael Pollan about his new book, *A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness*. The discussion begins with the central mystery of consciousness—the 'hard problem'—and explores how science, philosophy, and personal experience, including psychedelics, can illuminate our understanding of subjective experience. Pollan shares his own epiphanies during psychedelic experiences, including the startling insight that plants may be conscious, a notion he investigates through cutting-edge research on plant behavior, communication, and sentience. He challenges the assumption that consciousness requires a brain, highlighting how plants use bioelectric fields and exhibit complex, adaptive behaviors without neurons. The conversation then expands to ethical questions about eating plants, the moral status of animals, and the implications of artificial intelligence gaining consciousness. Pollan argues that consciousness is embodied and rooted in feeling, not just thought, and warns against the dangers of technological hubris, especially in AI development. Ultimately, the episode presents a profound meditation on what it means to be human in an age of expanding consciousness—across species and machines.