Michael Pollan On: Reducing Rumination, Reclaiming Your Attention From the Machines, and MDMA-Assisted Therapy

This is the 10% Happier Podcast. I'm Dan Harris. Hey gang, back today with one of my favorite repeat guests and uh somebody who of late I've gotten a chance to know a little bit better and uh like even more. And that is Michael Pollan, the great journalist and writer. He's out with a new book on the subject of consciousness, which I know at first might sound a little abstract, but it is directly related to happiness and its opposite, suffering.

In this conversation, we talk about how to reduce rumination, how to lower the walls of your ego, how to elevate your mundane tasks. The value of what the Zen folks called don't know mind, how to reclaim your attention from big tech, who Michael calls the colonizers of consciousness, the value of MDMA assisted therapy, and his experiences of meditating in a cave. Long way of saying this is a rangy and fascinating conversation, you're gonna love it. Before we dive in, two things. First, a quick refresher on Michael Pollan.

Many of you know this, but he has written 10 books, including How to Change Your Mind in Defense of Food and the Omnivore's Dilemma. His latest book is called A World Appears. That's what we'll be spending our time discussing today. Also, Michael has taught at both UC Berkeley and Harvard. The other thing I want to say very quickly is that if you want to upgrade your consciousness, I would love for you to check out my app, 10% with Dan Harris.

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