Author Michael Pollan and neuroscientist Christof Koch join moderator Shayla Love for a wide-ranging exploration of consciousness and psychedelics. Drawing on Pollan’s book A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness and Koch’s decades of research in neuroscience and consciousness science, the conversation approaches subjective experience through scientific, philosophical, literary, spiritual, and psychedelic perspectives.

The speakers consider what is currently known about consciousness, why it remains so difficult to study, and how psychedelic research may advance the field. They also examine what different disciplines and worldviews can teach us about the mind and the nature of conscious experience.