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

Stay Tuned with Preet

Vox Media Podcast Network

News, Society & Culture, Politics, Government

4.8 • 32.4K Ratings

🗓️ 2 April 2026

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Author Michael Pollan joins Preet to discuss his new book, A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness, the “problem” of studying consciousness, psychedelics in therapy, and whether plants are sentient. They also break down whether artificial intelligence can be conscious and why we shouldn’t want it to be. Then, Preet answers listener questions on possible insider trading ahead of Trump’s Iran announcements. Also, a surprising influence on Brandi Carlile’s songwriting. Spoiler Alert: it’s Thomas Jefferson. In the bonus for Insiders, Preet and Pollan discuss why you can’t have life without death. Plus, whether it’s possible to control our own thoughts. Join the Insider community for access to bonus content from Stay Tuned and weekly episodes of the Insider podcast hosted by Preet and Joyce Vance. Head to cafe.com/insider to sign up. Thank you for supporting our work. Show notes and a transcript of the episode are available on our website. You can now watch this episode! Head to CAFE’s Youtube channel and subscribe. Shop Stay Tuned merch and featured books by our guests in our Amazon storefront. Have a question for Preet? Ask @PreetBharara on BlueSky, or Twitter with the hashtag #AskPreet. Email us at staytuned@cafe.com, or call 833-997-7338 to leave a voicemail. Stay Tuned with Preet is brought to you by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	From Cafe and the Vox Media Podcast Network, welcome to stay tuned.
0:05.6	I'm Preet Bharara.
0:07.4	Our consciousness today is in some trouble.
0:11.3	It's being polluted in certain ways.
0:13.7	I've found talking to people on Book Tour that a lot of people feel like their heads are full of things they would rather not be there and that they're being colonized.
0:26.9	Welcome to stay tuned. I'm Preet Bharara. My guest this week is author Michael Pollan. His books have changed how people think about food, plants, and psychedelics. And now he's out with a new book.
0:39.3	It's called A World Appears, A Journey into Consciousness. That's coming up. Stay tuned. Support for this podcast comes from Juro.
0:57.0	What if your business had someone who could draft, negotiate, and manage contracts,
1:00.8	but never slept, eight, or took a day off?
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1:15.0	Juro gives you conversational access to your contracts and data, plus the connected workflows
1:19.5	and integrations you won't find in basic AI review tools.
1:23.5	Juro has powered 3 million contracts for a fraction of the cost.
1:27.7	Visit Juro.com slash Vox for 20% off year one.
1:33.6	Dell PCs with Intel inside are built for every moment.
1:37.1	With long-lasting battery life and built-in intelligence,
1:39.8	you can stay focused on what matters most.
1:42.1	Dell Technologies, built for you.
1:44.0	Dell.com slash Dell PCs.
1:50.0	Author Michael Pollan takes us on a journey through his new book.
	...

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