Michael Pollan on the Mystery of Consciousness
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Hey folks, quick note before we get started. Our conversation today is a special one. Every year at the Next Big Idea Club, we pick the six most important books, the ones we think everyone will be talking about, and we send early copies to our members with a personal note from the author. Our first selection of 2026 is A World Appears, A Journey into Consciousness by the one and only Michael Pollan, who's our guest today. If you'd like to get an early copy of the book and join our live conversation with Michael on March 10th, please join us.
We'd love to see you there. Just go to nextbigideaclub.com. I'm Rufus Grisscomb. And I'm Caleb Bissinger. And this is the Next Big Idea.
Today, Michael Polland takes us on a journey. into consciousness. One night in 1998, two men made a bet at a bar. But this wasn't your usual bar bet, because these were unusual men. One of them was David Chalmers, an Australian philosopher best known for coining the hard problem of consciousness.
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