Michael Pollan On Mind-Altering Plants, A Second Pandemic Winter. December 10, 2021, Part 1
Science Friday
Science Friday and WNYC Studios
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🗓️ 10 December 2021
⏱️ 47 minutes
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Summary
The weather is getting colder, the days are getting shorter, and the world is approaching the two year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic. Like last year, experts are wary that a winter surge in cases could happen again this year, even with the protection of vaccinations.
The Biden administration is trying to get ahead of this possibility, especially as the Omicron variant looms. A new plan prioritizing booster shots and testing has been released to get the country through another pandemic winter.
Joining Ira to break down this and other science news of the week is Umair Irfan, staff writer for Vox based in Washington, D.C. They also discuss the latest information on the Omicron variant’s virulence and genetic sequencing, and take a look at the complicated world of conserving the rarest marine mammal, the vaquita.
Three Plant-Based Chemicals That Can Change Your Brain
If you’ve enjoyed a cup of coffee, tea, or certain soft drinks today, you’ve been making use of the mind-altering properties of the chemical caffeine, which bestows an alert buzz. And we probably all know a coffee addict, who becomes cranky and irritable without their morning mug.
But there are also other plant-based compounds that affect the mind’s consciousness, including opium and mescaline—and the use of those compounds isn’t seen as acceptable in modern society.
In his book This Is Your Mind On Plants, author Michael Pollan looks at the way these three compounds have been adopted or shunned by various cultures, and why. He joins Ira to talk about the science behind their action, the history of their use around the world, and the societal and cultural factors that go into deciding which drugs are seen as acceptable by a community.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Science Friday, I'm Ira Plato. Did you enjoy that little buzz from your coffee or tea today? |
| 0:05.8 | Well, if you did, you're using a plant-based chemical caffeine to alter your consciousness. |
| 0:11.7 | Our love affair with caffeine is just one of the person-plant relationships |
| 0:16.4 | author Michael Pollan looks at in his latest book, This Is Your Mind on Plants. |
| 0:21.5 | And he is my guest this hour. First, Umar Uphide is going to join us with the latest news, |
| 0:27.4 | and he is, so there's a lot of stuff that's going on this hour. Umar Uphide, |
| 0:31.4 | Steph Rider of Vox in Washington, welcome to Science Friday. |
| 0:35.0 | Thanks for having me back. Nice to have you. Uh, walk us through this, this winter COVID-19 |
| 0:40.4 | plan that President Biden has talked about. Right, the White House is gearing up for what might be |
| 0:46.6 | another winter surge, and they're trying to get ahead of it with this multi-pronged plan. |
| 0:51.2 | And the key components of it are going to be shots, testing, treatment, and outreach. |
| 0:56.4 | And that's particularly crucial as the Omicron variant takes root. |
| 1:00.4 | And uh, what does he actually talk to me? You you talked about, uh, well, he actually talked |
| 1:06.0 | about a pathway. What's our pathway through the winter? Well, the key thing is to get people |
| 1:11.4 | vaccinated, you know, in the US right now, there are still about 30% of Americans who remain |
| 1:15.4 | unvaccinated. And if you're not vaccinated, the goal is to get people vaccinated. And if you have |
| 1:20.4 | been vaccinated, and it's been more than six months since your, uh, course of treatment, |
| 1:25.5 | then you should be getting a booster. And the FDA just this week expanded the eligibility for |
| 1:31.0 | COVID-19 vaccine boosters to 16 and 17 year olds. And so the goal is to get people individually |
| 1:36.6 | as protected as possible. Then after that, you know, we want to increase testing for the virus, |
| 1:41.6 | especially as we're trying to get ahead of this new variant that might be more transmissible. And |
| 1:45.9 | so the Biden administration just recently purchased a whole bunch of these rapid tests and |
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